Nov. 14 is World Diabetes Day, an opportunity for those affected by diabetes to bring awareness to this health condition. Awareness is important it is estimated that one-third of adults with diabetes are unaware of their condition. In Canada alone, more than two million people have diabetes. By the end of the decade, the number expected to rise to three million.

Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin – the hormone needed to convert glucose (sugar) into energy. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, diabetes and its complications cost the Canadian healthcare system an estimated $13.2 billion every year. By 2020, it estimated that this number will rise to $19.2 billion year.

However, with advances in technology, patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different options safely and effectively achieve and sustain control of their blood sugar levels. The Lantus ClickSTAR reusable pen, now available in Canada, provides patients with an easier way to selfadminister their insulin injections and achieve their treatment goals.

The ClikSTAR pen, designed in partnership with nearly 2,000 patients and 500 nurses, is the result of more than four years of development and testing. The reusable pen has many benefits, including a low injection force, a dial and dose setting that allows patients to administer doses from one to 80 units in a single injection, numbering that is both large and clear that lessens the possibility of injection error, and a dial back safety feature to correct dose selection errors. Plus, the pen is reusable, making it ecofriendly.

“It’s an added bonus that the Lantus ClikSTAR was developed with patients’ needs in mind,” said Stacey Horodezny, a diabetes educator based at the Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga.

“For patients, ease of use, flexibility and comfort are what matter most,” she added. “For us, as nurse educators, these features are also important because they allow us to spend more time on all the other aspects of insulin and diabetes management.”