Insulin pumps are more effective at controlling blood sugar than insulin injections in Type 1 diabetics, according to the longest and largest study ever conducted comparing the two treatments.
 

The study published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, also found pumps cause fewer complications than shots.
 

Lead researcher Elizabeth Davis, with Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Australia, compared the experiences of 345 children on insulin pump therapy with a similar number of children receiving insulin shots for more than seven years.
 

The results showed pump therapy was more effective at controlling blood glucose control than injections. The children using pumps also have fewer episodes of dangerously low blood sugar than those getting injections.
 

Researchers noted the increasing use of insulin pump therapy over the last 15 years, particularly in children, has been driven by improvements in pump technology.
 

"This is the largest study of insulin pump use in children. It also has the longest follow up period of any study of insulin pump therapy in children," Davis said. "Our data confirm that insulin pump therapy provides an improvement in glycemic control which is sustained for at least seven years ... Although this is not a randomized trial, it is 'real life' experience in a large population based sample over a prolonged time period and as such provides important information."