Many recent studies have shown that pumps are both safe and effective
for toddlers and young children, so long as the parents are highly
motivated.1-6
All of these studies showed an improvement in HbA1c and reduced
severe hypoglycaemia by up to 53 percent as well as increased confidence
and independence by parents in caring for their child's diabetes.1-6
Pumps have been used for many years for teenagers, however it has
only been in recent years that pumps have been considered a choice
of treatment for toddlers and young children.
Because they can address many of the particular problems that parents
of toddlers and young children with diabetes experience:
- frequent hypoglycaemia, particularly at night
- unpredictable food intake
- unpredictable physical activity
- require very low doses of insulin
- have frequent viral illnesses
- the inability of the child to convey symptoms of hypoglycaemia
to parents
- gives the ability to program a food bolus dose which can be
evenly delivered over a period of time (e.g. 1 hour) and that
can be cancelled if the child does not eat all of the food during
this time
- is able to deliver repeated small bolus doses in accordance
with their eating habits
- delivers insulin in increments as low as 0.05u and each dose
is precisely measured
- allows different basal patterns to cope with days of extra activity
where not as much insulin is required or to cope with days of
inactivity or sickness where more insulin is required
- gives the constant even delivery of insulin and the use of only
short acting insulin helps to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia
- Medtronic Bolus Wizard helps to take the guesswork out of calculating
the right bolus dose or correction dose to bring the blood glucose
back within tight control to minimise the risk of developing complications
- a child block feature that disables the buttons so that no insulin
can be accidentally programmed
- a remote control to enable a bolus dose of insulin to be given
without using the buttons on the pump, so that the child cannot
learn how to deliver a bolus to himself
- the Paradigm pump is small so that it can be easily worn in
a very small backpack or in a colourful small soft pouch on a
belt or in a pocket away from little fingers. Children learn very
quickly not to interfere with the pump.
- the Paradigm pump performs 1 million safety checks a day giving
parents peace of mind
- Medtronic is the only company to have a range of infusion sets
to suit all ages, even for babies just weeks old
- the soft Teflon cannula of the Medtronic Silhouette and Quick-set
infusion set allows children to play and do normal "kid stuff"
without being bothered by the cannula
- Medtronic have automatic inserters to quickly and painlessly
insert the cannula
The answer to the specific needs of toddlers and young children:
Medtronic Paradigm® REAL-Time System
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