August 12th, 2011 by Medgadget in Health Tips, Research
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It seems intuitive (at least to Medgadgeteers) that mobile technology can be used to improve health outcomes, but we still need studies to actually put data behind this idea. A recent study of the DiabetesManager mobile health platform from WellDoc is a step in this direction. We last reported about WellDoc’s mobile diabetes application in 2010, and since that time it has been tested in a clinical trial and was shown to reduce HgbA1c by 1.9%.
The DiabetesManager is a behavioral coaching and clinical decision support system. Patients enter details about blood glucose values, medications, and behaviors via mobile phone, and health care providers receive quarterly summaries based on this information. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
November 13th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, True Stories
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“Brrrrr…it’s a little chilly outside today,” I said to BSparl as I tucked her blanket snug around her wiggly little self in the car seat. She waved at me and showed me her sock.
“Yes, that’s a nice sock, birdy. Okay, let’s get out of here and get you into the car so we can go home!”
The automatic doors parted and a brisk gust of wind came and skipped down my collar. With the baby’s car seat safely tucked into the belly of the carriage, I ventured out to find my car in the massive parking lot.
“Ha ha, where did Mommy leave the car?” I said out loud, walking up and down the parking lot aisles and pressing the alarm on my keys. Nothing. No flashing lights, no subtle little “beep” noise from my Honda. Nothing but a sea of cars and I had no idea which one was mine.
“Am I getting old?” I asked BSparl. “Mmmmmm!” she proclaimed, raising her teething toy into the air.
I walked for several minutes, combing the lot for my car. And the wind kept whipping, only this time it felt good because it kept whisking the sweat off the nape of my neck. I felt dizzy. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
June 3rd, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Research
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Millions of people with diabetes are forced to endure multiple finger pricks daily — an unpleasant practice that may impede compliance, and whose reliability is operator-dependent.
Now, Dr. Paul Barone and Dr. Michael Strano at the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering are developing a new approach to glucose monitoring.
Building on work they previously published in ACS Nano, the new technology employs a nanoparticle “tattoo” as a glucose sensor, which can then be continuously monitored by a device on the surface of the body. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
May 29th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Humor, True Stories
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You know you’re a diabetic mommy when…
- The bottle of glucose tabs is just as important as the bottle of breast milk in the diaper bag.
- You have already started wondering how you’re going to explain juice as “medicine” to the kiddo.
- When you wake up for 3am feedings and they double as a 3am blood sugar check.
- You start cooing sweetly at your meter when it gives you a result of 100 mg/dl. (“Oooh, what a good meter you are! Yes you are!”)
- Your baby ends up with a dot of blood on the back of her pajamas from your middle-of-the-night blood sugar check that didn’t stop bleeding right away.
- When you talk about “the pump,” you need to clarify “the insulin one, not the boob one.”
- Sometimes you have to draw numbers to see who gets to feed the baby. And by “draw” we mean blood samples.
- Nothing makes you happier than a full baby with a clean diaper and a full pump with a full battery.
- You need a diaper bag just for diabetes supplies.
- Your bedside table has just as many burp clothes as used test strips gathered at its base.
And when the Dexcom starts to “BEEEEEEEP!” you wonder if it needs a diaper change.
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
March 20th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Patient Interviews, True Stories
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I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just before I started second grade, back in 1986. I played with Barbie dolls, colored countless coloring books with my box of Crayola 96 (sharpener in the back), and sported a messy ponytail as often as my mom would allow.
But my life also included dozens of plastic bags filled with orange-capped syringes. And black meter cases that zipped up the side and held my glucose meter. And small vials of bandaid-scented insulin. My childhood was colorful and fun and just like every other kids’, but there were some dreary bits of diabetes management as a running thread.
I wish there had been things like this to hold my meter in when I was growing up with type 1 – because these meter cases are awesome:
This meter case was created by Kyrra Richards, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2007. I think it is GORGEOUS. After her diagnosis, Kyrra created Myabetic – a specialty store stocked with playful and cool glucose meter cases. She sent me a few of her meter cases to review here on SUM, and she also offered to share a little bit of her story. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
