Daylight Saving Time threat for insulin pumps

People with diabetes using insulin pumps can face serious dangers when the hour goes back from Daylight Saving Time.
Insulin dosing errors
Forgetting to change the clock in the insulin pump can lead to dosing errors which causes too much or too little insulin being delivered to patients.
“Some diabetes patients who use insulin pumps may forget to change the clock that is found in these devices,” said Saleh A. Aldasouqi, MD, FACE, of Michigan State University. “Forgetting to change the time can result in insulin dosing errors that can be harmful”.
Adverse effects can include hyperglycemia, from too little insulin, or hypoglycemia, from too much insulin, which could lead to longer-term effects such as diabetic ketoacidosis.
Bolus effects
Basal and bolus are the two forms of insulin delivery from a pump, with researchers concerned that bolus doses could be significantly affected.
“Since this delivery method is timed around meals, if a patient eats lunch around noo, they’ll get their burst of insulin at the wrong time,” said Aldasouqi. “If it’s too much or too little, it could send them to the hospital or worse”.
Insulin pump technology does not currently have clocks that adjust automatically between time differences, but for now, Aldasouqi warns that responsibility lies with the patients to make sure their insulin pump is set correctly.