Beyond the insulin pump: Unraveling diabetes tech dependency

Abstract

The use of technology for Type 1 diabetes (T1D) has significantly developed in the last 20 years leading to several benefits in life-style management but also to potentially overreliance and addiction to such life changing devices. Insulin pumps (CSII) being small, discreet and sophisticated, offer features such as customizable basal rates, bolus calculators and integration with Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) systems becoming a must have for diabetic patients. Indeed CGM, firstly introduced in the late 1990s and now being highly sophisticated provide trends and patterns hence allowing a better management of T1D.

In this review we inquire the multifactorial aspects of dependency on diabetes technology, focusing not only on the benefits and the advancements these automations offer, but also the challenges, limits and possible risks associated with overreliance on them. Specifically, the impact that early introduction to technology had on patients, the dependency on CSII and CGM, the importance of learning and self-management skills and strategies for addressing unexpected events.