Pulsatile i.v. insulin therapy for severely out of control diabetes.

A recently published National Institutes of Health study shows that tight blood glucose control is critical to averting diabetic complications. However, a small fraction of patients with diabetes cannot safely achieve tight blood glucose control even under the regimen employed in the study. Pulsatile i.v. insulin therapy (PIVIT) can help these severely ill patients gain control of their diabetes. After more than a decade of research, PIVIT is now in routine clinical use for severely out of control diabetes. PIVIT is performed on an outpatient basis at a number of hospitals and clinics around the United States. The clinical availability of PIVIT for severely out of control diabetes offers an important alternative for the approximately 1% of patients who are unable to attain the benefits of tight control through conventional means.