Journalist Andy Simmonds - a diabetic for 25 years - has become one of the first to use an innovative form of treatment for the life-threatening condition.
Here Andy, a reporter with the Romsey Advertiser in Hampshire, explains how his life's improved since starting the treatment in July.

As a long-term diabetic an insulin pump has changed my life. I can now eat whenever I want and a delay on my journey home from work is no longer a major problem.

Andy Simmonds

I discovered revolutionary insulin delivery devices are available for severe diabetics at a price. Unless a diabetic has a bottomless pot of cash, he or she will have great difficulty in getting an insulin pump and the consumables to keep it going.

Pumps drip-feed small amounts of life-saving insulin into the body 24 hours a day in patients who previously had extremely poor control of their diabetes.

One advantage of the pump (pictured below) is it gives diabetics more freedom - for example they are not forced to eat if they are ill with the flu or have a tummy bug.

Only fast-acting insulin is used in pumps, which do away with the strict eating regime that diabetics controlled by insulin injections have to adhere to.

I no longer have set meal times. Just before sitting down to eat a meal, pump users press a button releasing the appropriate amount of insulin to match the carbohydrates eaten.

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