Over the past few years, new devices have been introduced that facilitate diabetes control and help make decisions in specific situations. They are smart pens or insulin syringes, with which insulin is administered, selecting the dose to be administered easily.
Until now, these smart pens are connected to the mobile phone and through an application they help you calculate the dose in case of changes in blood sugar; of meal variations or extra meals; review doses and add reminders; keep track of doses administered automatically; or monitor insulin temperature deviations, among others.
With this new device, the professionals of the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit can also have a more precise control of the patients, because they can consult the guideline used by the patients and make corrections in the treatment, if necessary.
Parc Taulí has gradually been introducing, over the last year, the smart pen in pediatric patients. At the moment, more than 80 patients are using it.
During the month of July, professionals from the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit held several sessions to train young people and their families on how to use this new device.
Dr. Jacobo Pérez, specialist doctor of the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, assures that "with this change, we are not only looking to achieve an improvement in diabetes control, reducing future complications; but we also want to improve the quality of life of patients and families by facilitating day-to-day control of the disease".
Pediatric diabetes
It is a metabolic disease caused by a lack of insulin that causes an increase in sugar in the blood (hyperglycemia) and in the urine. It is the most frequent endocrine disease in the pediatric age.
The majority of children diagnosed with diabetes correspond to type 1 diabetes, the most common; although there is a small percentage who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which is related to childhood obesity.
Although the most common age of onset has always been around the onset of puberty, the fact is that more and more patients are being diagnosed under the age of five.
El Parc Taulí treats about 180 pediatric patients with diabetes each year in its Pediatric Endocrinology Unit.
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