Australian boy fitted with world's first diabetic insulin pump

Canberra, April 15
An eight-year-old boy from the Australian city of Brisbane has been fitted with the world's first device to reduce his risk of a hypoglycaemic attack -- a medical emergency that results in an abnormally diminished content of glucose in the blood, a media report said on Wednesday.

Xavier Veivers-Brown was having four or five attacks a day but hasn't had such emergency since his insulin pump was fitted last month, the Brisbane Times reported citing the boy's mother.

The symptoms of a hypoglycaemic attack include weakness, sweating, light-headedness, headaches and dizziness. Regular monitoring of insulin levels in the blood is required to avoid medical complications in people with the condition.

Managing the disease with insulin pumps rather than the old pin-prick test and insulin injection method has been considered the best. But they have their downsides. The pumps deliver a steady stream of insulin into the blood, which can bring on an attack if it's not cut off as blood sugar levels drop.

The new pump can cut off the supply of insulin about half an hour before a predicted hypoglycaemic attack, preventing four out of five hypoglycaemic events, the daily said.

It was developed by doctors at Prince Margaret Hospital in Perth. The Wesley Hospital in Brisbane is one of the first in the world to offer the model.