Let’s Make Our Data Work For Us
We’re applying the lessons of fitness tracking apps to diabetes. Want to be a beta tester?
When it comes to being diabetic, it can sometimes feel like you’re barely keeping up with the present, let alone being able to focus on the future.
Between checking your blood sugar constantly, calculating carbs and insulin dosages on the fly, and recalling what you did a few hour ago that brought you to your present state, it’s an eternal balancing act that requires constant attention and care.
Most of all, it requires learning and adaptation. Logbook apps can be helpful for those conscientious enough to record their meals, as they can show you how certain meals changed your blood sugar. But for many people keeping up a logbook simply falls by the wayside, swamped asunder by the minutia of everyday life.
So how can we learn and adapt our behavior, diet and treatment without spending a huge amount of time or mental effort?
Data offers us a great opportunity, but it doesn’t really help us unless we use it constructively. Blood glucose meters, CGM’s and insulin pumps are all capable of transmitting data to the cloud. Many devices can now upload data wirelessly, without annoyances like USB cables or desktop-only uploading software.
Once uploading is complete, diabetics can view their data in a variety of dashboards. Some dashboards include blood sugar data, some include insulin data, a few include both. Yet many people don’t use their dashboards unless their endocrinologists or CDE’s request their data. What’s missing?
People don’t just want to look at a their past view of their health data, they want to look to the future. Popular fitness tracking software shows people their exercise stats in beautiful dashboards, sure, but it also does something more. It encourages people to set goals, then track those goals over time. It makes exercise fun and even addictive.
Diabetics deserve software that uses data constructively, not just clinically. A chronic illness requires a never-ending motivation to improve treatment. We have all of the tools at our disposal to keep ourselves more attuned to and invested in improving our health. It’s time to use them.
Join The Beta
We’re looking for volunteers to join our beta program to help us beta test our new app for diabetics. If you’re interested, sign up here and we’ll follow up!
