A review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that insulin pumps can be risky and have been linked to injuries and deaths.

Insulin pumps are usually used by teenagers with type 1 diabetes (also called “juvenile diabetes”), which accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of all diabetes cases, affecting 12 to 24 million people globally.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and differs from type 2 diabetes, which is far more common and usually affects adults.

Insulin regulates blood sugar levels and if blood sugar levels go too high, heart disease, blindness and kidney failure can result.

Insulin pumps offer an alternative to multiple daily shots of insulin by syringe. They are about the size of a mobile phone and deliver a continuous low level of insulin into the body through a plastic tube with a small tip that inserts under the skin and is taped in place. Patients can tell the device how much insulin to give before each meal based on the estimated carbohydrates in the meal.

The FDA urged parents to keep a watch on their children’s use of pumps, as many times the devices fail to function properly.

The warning comes after the agency was notified that, between 1996 and 2005, there were 13 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries among young people using insulin pumps to treat type 1 diabetes. Eighty-two percent of the adverse events resulted in teens being hospitalized.

“The FDA takes pediatric deaths seriously. Parental oversight and involvement are important. Certainly teenagers don't always consider the consequences,” said lead author of the review, Dr. Judith Cope, the Associated Press reported.

Parents are urged to make sure that teens use the pumps correctly and also that they do not malfunction and become damaged.

The findings of the review appeared in the May 6 issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.