Most people, while standing in line at a cafe, contemplate whether to get their regular drip coffee or treat themselves to a latte, and whether to also buy a croissant or scone.
Canadians with insulin-dependent diabetes, standing in that same line, are doing complex calculations: how many carbs are in a latte’s milk and flavour syrup? How much insulin will be needed to counterbalance it? And how much insulin is already in their system?
“People with diabetes are having to make multiple health decisions every day,” said Andrew Muirhead (pictured right), a territory manager for Insulet Canada who lives with type one diabetes, during Benefits Canada’s 2025 Chronic Disease at Work conference. “And despite the fact that we know controlling blood glucose is important for minimizing long-term complications, most people with type one diabetes don’t achieve their management goals.”
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Roughly 80 per cent of people with type one diabeties manage their condition with insulin shots and by self-monitoring blood sugar levels, said Muirhead, but the insulin injections are burdensome and stressful, with about two-thirds of patients admitting they’ve skipped shots and 20 per cent saying they’ve done so often.
While insulin pump technology reduces the amount of injections necessary, it also allows for more discreet diabetes management and improve clinical outcomes, said Pamela Borges (pictured left), head of market access at Insulet Canada, during the session.
The company’s Omnipod is a wearable tubeless insulin-filled pod. It also includes a personal diabetes management device that can also program insulin delivery from the pump. The most recent version now includes technology that continually monitors blood glucose levels and automatically increases, decreases or pauses insulin delivery depending on the results, a calculation that happens every five minutes.
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The stakes are high said Borges. In the short term, poor diabetes control leads to episodes of hypoglycemia — or low blood sugar — which involves shaking, trembling, rapid heart rate, confusion and difficulty concentrating and can also lead to seizures or unconsciousness. Hyperglycemia — or high blood sugar — involves blurry vision, fatigue, extreme thirst and frequent urination. In the long term, poorly managed diabetes can lead to higher risk of blindness, lower limb amputations and neuropathy. People with diabetes also have higher rates of workplace disability leaves and absenteeism, as well as reporting lower quality of life metrics, including higher rates of depression.
“Instead of people having highs and lows and having consequences of that, this automated insulin delivery system can now start buffering against some of those to maintain that level of control an all those glycemic outcomes,” she said.
Read more coverage of the 2025 Chronic Disease at Work conference.