ACCU-CHEK® Insulin Delivery Systems

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For Healthcare Professionals

This section contains information specifically for healthcare professionals that have an interest in Diabetes. To access this area you must be registered on this site and be logged in.

Services for Professionals

Under 18?

This section is for under 18's and contains a great interactive tool to help you and your family learn more about diabetes.

Managing Diabetes

- The interactive web tool for children and families. It may be helpful to look at this section with your parents at first.

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Helping others pump

School bus

Parents are pumped up

Because severe hypoglycemia and health risks are down.
As any parent of a child with diabetes knows, low blood sugar episodes (hypoglycemia) can be sudden and frightening.

The good news: Insulin pump therapy has been shown to significantly decrease severe hypoglycemia in youth. Recent studies showed that adolescents and young children on insulin pump therapy had over 50% fewer episodes.1,2

Today’s children with diabetes also have the opportunity for better blood glucose control than any generation before.

A research study reported in Pediatric Diabetes showed that, compared to multiple daily insulin shots, children on insulin pump therapy for 12 months significantly and consistently lowered their A1C levels.3 Many diabetes-related health problems—such as eye, kidney and heart disease—are the result of high levels of blood glucose affecting organs over time. So doctors are encouraged that today’s young diabetes patients can achieve consistent, lower blood sugar levels from an early age, that can continue for a lifetime.

When their blood sugar isn’t spiking up and down, kids feel better throughout the day, which helps active kids do all the things they like to do.

Episodes of severe low blood sugar in children

1 Nimri R, Weintrob N, Benzaquen H, Ofan R, Fayman G, Phillip M. Insulin pump therapy in youth with type 1 diabetes: a retrospective paired study. Pediatrics. 2006;117:2126-2131.
2 Weinzimer S, Ahern J H, Doyle E, Vincent M, Dziura J, Steffen A, Tamborlane W. Persistence of benefits of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion in very young children with type 1 diabetes: a follow-up report. Pediatrics. 2004;114:1601-1605.
3 Ahern J H, Boland E, Doane R, Ahern J J, Rose P, Vincent M, Tamborlane W. Insulin pump therapy in pediatrics: a therapeutic alternative to safely lower HbA1C levels across all age groups. Pediatric Diabetes. 2002;3:10-15.

Too low a level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. This occurs when a person with diabetes has injected too much insulin, eaten too little food, or has exercised without extra food. A person with hypoglycemia may feel nervous, shaky, weak, or sweaty, and have a headache, blurred vision, and hunger. Hypoglycemia is treated by consuming a carbohydrate-rich food such as a glucose tablet or juice. It may also be treated with an injection of glucagon if the person is unconscious or unable to swallow. Also called an insulin reaction.

A test that measures a person's average blood glucose level over the past 2 to 3 months. Hemoglobin (HEE-mo-glo-bin) is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen to the cells and sometimes joins with the glucose in the bloodstream. Also called hemoglobin A1C or glycosylated (gly-KOH-sih-lay-ted) hemoglobin, the test shows the amount of glucose that sticks to the red blood cell, which is proportional to the amount of glucose in the blood.

The two bean-shaped organs that filter wastes from the blood and form urine. The kidneys are located near the middle of the back. They send urine to the bladder.

Pump Therapy Basics

Understanding how the pump works.

The pancreas versus the pump
The pancreas of a person without diabetes regularly releases small quantities of insulin into the body to regulate blood glucose levels. The amount of insulin released varies with each individual’s internal clock, as well as factors such as physical activity, metabolism, stress and illness. When a person eats, the pancreas releases an extra surge of insulin to regulate blood glucose levels. Insulin pump therapy is a treatment that closely imitates the action of the pancreas, providing a constant supply of insulin to the body and extra doses as they are needed.
Insulin pump therapy

Pump therapy versus injection therapy

In contrast to insulin pump therapy, conventional insulin injection therapy does not imitate the action of the pancreas. A blanket injection of long-acting insulin may not correspond to the body’s varying needs during the course of the day—and those using this technique may be forced to plan meals and other aspects of life according to their injection schedules. Intensive injection therapy, involving multiple daily injections of long- and intermediate-acting insulin, is an improvement over conventional injection therapy but does not provide the continuous precise insulin delivery of an insulin pump which most closely mirrors the release of insulin in a person without diabetes.
Intensive insulin injection therapy

480 precise doses of insulin every day

Four doses just can’t measure up. The four daily doses of insulin that the average person on intensive injection therapy receives just can’t match the precision of 480 doses per day—one dose every three minutes—delivered by an ACCU-CHEK® Spirit Combo insulin pump. Pump therapy gives you frequent doses of fast-acting insulin, all day and night. The rate of your basal delivery can be tailored to your body’s metabolic needs and can allow you to sleep, exercise and eat with greater flexibility and peace-of-mind. Your pump can be programmed to deliver bolus doses of insulin before meals or snacks to compensate for your caloric intake. You can determine the precise amount and timing of each bolus.
Sample basal rate profile

A gland positioned near the stomach about the size of a hand that secretes insulin, glucagon, and many digestive enzymes.

A hormone secreted by the beta cells of the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Needed by many cells to use glucose for energy.

The main sugar found in the blood and the body's main source of energy. Also called blood sugar.

Inserting liquid medication or nutrients into the body with a syringe. A person with diabetes may use short needles or pinch the skin and inject at an angle to avoid an intramuscular injection of insulin.

A type of insulin that starts to lower blood glucose within 4 to 6 hours after injection and has its strongest effect 10 to 18 hours after injection. See ultralente insulin.

Refers to a continuous supply of low levels of insulin, as in insulin pump therapy.

An extra amount of insulin taken to cover an expected rise in blood glucose, often related to a meal or snack.

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A user-friendly software program that clearly displays your diabetes information, helping you make better decisions and enable better communications with your doctor.

How much do your numbers change throughout the day?

See how reducing highs and lows can help you feel better. Watch the video now.

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