Insulin pumps help combat fatal cardiovascular disease among diabetics

The risk of dying from cardiovascular disease is 50 percent lower among type 1 diabetes patients who use insulin pumps than among those who take multiple daily injections, Swedish researchers said on Monday.

A new study from Sweden's Sahlgrenska Academy based on the Swedish National Diabetes Register has found that insulin pump therapy significantly reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

"The effect had been fully verified," said Isabelle Steineck, a researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

The researchers' next step will be to identify the specific mechanisms that explain the extra benefits of insulin pump therapy. Steineck believes that one reason for the difference between the two therapies is that the insulin pump method is accompanied by more extensive patient training and more frequent blood glucose monitoring.

"There is a rationale for insulin pump treatment resulting in more stable blood glucose concentrations than multiple daily injections," said Steineck. "Previous studies have shown that insulin pumps can reduce the frequencies of severe hypoglycemic episodes. Severe hypoglycaemia can be a risk factor for cardiovascular events, particularly among high risk individuals."

Steineck pointed out that she and her colleagues are unsure whether the observed effect among insulin pump users is due to continuous infusion of insulin or to intensified glucose monitoring. However, the researchers insist that insulin pumps not only make life easier for patients, but represent a safe and effective treatment method.

"This is good news for anyone with type 1 diabetes," said Soffia Gudbjornsdottir, diabetologist and director of the Swedish National Diabetes Register. "But not everybody wants to use a pump, and the biggest priority is still to optimize blood glucose monitoring."

Approximately 20 percent of Swedish type 1 diabetes patients have access to insulin pump therapy, but earlier studies at Sahlgrenska Academy have demonstrated that when it comes to offering the therapy, there is great variation between Swedish hospitals, with anywhere from 12 percent to almost 30 percent of patients receiving pumps.