Hi-tech pump gives diabetic ‘new lease of life’

It’s being described as a “breakthrough towards an artificial pancreas” and it has certainly transformed the life of diabetic Mary Vaughan.

According to the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin, Mary is the first person in Ireland to benefit from a new type of insulin pump — the MiniMed 640G — which works in combination with a sensor that automatically stops insulin delivery before glucose levels are predicted to drop dangerously low, therefore avoiding a “hypo” before it happens.

A “hypo” — hypoglycemia — can cause dizziness, trembling, collapse or even coma. Mary, whose Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to produce insulin, had experienced several comas, she says.