Hyderabad is also known as a diabetic care capital of the country and endocrinologists have ‘Forum for Injection Technique and Therapy Expert Recommendations (FITTER)’ to communicate the correct insulin injection technique for better diabetes management, said president of Endocrine Society of India, Sanjay Kalra, who is also a consultant at Bharti Hospital at Karnal, Haryana.
“It has been 98 years since insulin was injected by Dr. Bernard Zinman on a boy named Leo Thompson at the Toronto General Hospital but patients are still scared of injections despite technological advancements to make it painless,” he said at a press conference on Friday along with Rakesh Sahay, professor and head of the department of endocrinology, Osmania Medical College and Osmania General Hospital.
Launching an awareness campaign on safe insulin injection practices organised by BD-India on ‘Insulin Injection Day’, the doctors said research has shown that most patients have been using the needle more than once and given injections within the same area causing lumps and leading to thickening of skin.
The golden rules of FITTER include: use fresh needles for every new injection; always inject into the healthy fatty layer under the skin; 4 mm needles should be inserted at 90 degrees angle; injecting the insulin into areas on abdomen, thighs, buttocks and upper arms – rotating injection sites so as to ensure it is used only once every four weeks, and check for lumps.
Crucial for diabetics
“For most people living with diabetes, insulin is an essential treatment and it is very critical that it is injected using the right technique,” the doctors said.
Oral intake of insulin treatment is still a long way off and injected insulin is going to be prevalent for some more time, they said. These awareness programmes are being taken to medical students, paramedic and nursing personnel apart from patients.
“Insulin therapy is a crucial part of diabetes management and we understand the importance of right insulin injection techniques as a maker of diabetes injection devices for more than 90 years now,” said managing director-BD India and South Asia, Pavan Mocherla.
