• Websites
www.childrenwith diabetes.com
www.diabetes.org
www.jdrf.org
www.minimed.com/pumptherapy
• Cell phone applications
Carb Counting with Lenny the Lion
Glucose Buddy
Fast Food Calories
WaveSense Diabetes
A recent explosion in technology is making it easier — and more enjoyable — for children with diabetes to live with the disease.
“Kids love anything that speaks their language, and their language is cell phones and computers,” said Yelena Nicholson, DO, a pediatric endocrinologist at Dayton Children’s. “When they can use technology to manage their diabetes, they can be more independent and in control. We don’t want kids to fear diabetes. We want them to have a normal life.”
The use of an insulin pump is becoming more prevalent in children with Type I and II diabetes; Nicholson has prescribed it for children as young as 16 months.
“The pump is quite beneficial for very young children,” Nicholson said. “It is capable of delivering 1/40th of a unit of insulin, which may be all that a small child needs at a given time. The smallest dose an insulin syringe or pen can deliver is a half unit.”
Insulin pumps are worn 24 hours a day and deliver rapid-acting insulin around the clock through a catheter placed under the skin, eliminating the need for daily insulin shots. By the age of 10 or 11, most children can be trained to use the pump and change the insulin set (a needle and catheter) as needed, about every two to three days.
Families also can use the pump to communicate important information to their doctor — from the comfort of home.
“Using a USB port, they can download data from the pump to their computer, then email it to my office,” Nicholson said. “Then a doctor or nurse can see how much insulin the child is getting and make sure they are testing the pump and changing their insulin set on schedule.”
Many children with diabetes wear a glucose meter, which can be used in conjunction with an insulin pump, syringe or pen. This device is worn on the skin and measures blood glucose levels hundreds of times a day, sounding an alarm if levels get too low or too high.
Some glucose meters can even be connected to Nintendo DS systems, which convert the test results into points on the game console. Those points allow patients to unlock new levels and mini-games.
Families also can access the child’s medical chart electronically and use email to ask their doctor a question or request a prescription refill.
“I still see my patients every three months, but the technology makes it easier to track their progress and see what’s going on,” Dr. Nicholson says. “For me, it means less time on the phone and more time in front of the computer, which is a big time savings. Most importantly, all of this technology improves diabetes care tremendously.”
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