Top 5 Apps For Diabetes Management

Top 5 Apps for Diabetes Management

We live in a tech-centric world, and smart phone apps have become the new tools of today. Apps can certainly make living with diabetes more manageable. However, with so many out there it can often be difficult weeding out the best. Apps for diabetes can be used to log blood sugars, count carbohydrates, lose weight, and record exercise. Some apps do it all, but you may want to use them for a specific purpose.
Please note that the apps I will be discussing may not work for everyone and you will have to use your judgment as to what app is best for you—these are my top five because these have worked best for my patients.
dLife
I personally love this app because it has a feature that allows you to search a library of over 400 videos on cooking demos and real life stories from real people. The app has a Q&A feature where you can search from over 4,000 questions related to diabetes—answers are provided from both experts and people in the community. The food section of the app can help with recipes and its database includes information about 25,000 foods with full nutritional analysis for your diabetes diet. If you choose to use the logging feature of the app, you can elect to share your glucose readings and insulin doses with your health care provider by emailing them directly from the app.
Price: dLife is a free app that is available for both iPhone and android devices.
Go Meals
GoMeals is a nutrition focused app that has a wide search engine for counting carbohydrates. With over 40,000 common food items to select from and over 20,000 restaurant menu items, you are bound to f Continue reading

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Diabetes & Alcohol? Here’s what you need to know

People suffering from diabetes should never have to feel left out when it comes to having a good time. One thing that has forever gone hand in hand with social gatherings and festivities is alcohol. Everyone has their own relationship with it, but for diabetics, it is especially important to understand what alcohol intake involves
Key Points:
Beers and Carbo-loaded Cocktails are Bad-for-you. Much of the adult beverages we consume are filled with harmful carbs and calories all of which pose a serious threat to one’s health.
Know your limit! Getting drunk is dangerous, excessive drinking is easy to do and difficult to recover from, whether you have a pre-existing condition or not. Essentially what alcohol does is damage the functionality of most of your organs. For instance, cirrhosis can occur in the liver, which causes intense cell damage and scarring.
Not all booze is bad! New studies find that certain alcohols can help maintain sugar levels at healthy levels. Unlike carb heavy beers or sugar filled cocktails red wine and gin have been found to improve the conditions of diabetes. Studies coming out of Europe and the Middle East are showing that alcohol can be used to help produce healthy amounts of insulin in the body.
What can I drink and how much of it?
Many sources offer different systems but the most simple one is to just be aware of what types of alcohol have which effects. Just remember that any considerable amount of alcohol is a bad idea, these recommendations are to be kept in great moderation and with great consideration.
Beer
Due to the large amounts of carbs, Continue reading

Medtronic Recalls Diabetes Infusion Sets for Overdose Risk

1 in 2 million sets susceptible to excess insulin delivery
Company to replace sets at no cost; no financial details given
Medtronic Plc is recalling a disposable device used with the company’s insulin pumps, after discovering that the part can trigger an excessive dose of the drug and put patients at risk of hypoglycemia.
About one in every two million infusion sets manufactured before April may be associated with the complication, which occurs when a membrane that’s used to release pressure from inside the pump gets wet and blocks the vents, said Francine Kaufman, chief medical officer of Medtronic’s diabetes group. The risk of an excessive insulin dose is greatest right after the patient changes the infusion set, which is done every three days, she said.
“Shortly after that change, the patient could experience insulin over-delivery,” she said in a telephone interview.
There haven’t been any deaths associated with the flaw, Kaufman said. Most patients who had a problem were aware that their blood sugar had gone too low and were able to treat the condition. Others called an ambulance, went to the hospital or saw their doctors, she said.
For patients with an infusion set that is in and working, nothing needs to be done, said Annette Bruls, president of Medtronic’s diabetes service and solutions business. Medtronic says it has fixed the problem and patients can use the devices that were made from April on.
Medtronic, based in Dublin and run from Minneapolis, said the majority of the cost from the recall is expected to be incurred in the second quarter of the com Continue reading

The Surprising Link Between Your Sleep and Gestational Diabetes

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Quick Read
Not sleeping enough may contribute to gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes, elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy, carries significant risks for both moms and babies.
A new study shows that pregnant women who sleep less are more likely to have gestational diabetes.
Sleep in pregnancy is challenging. Good eating habits, exercise and avoiding screen time before bedtime can all help, as can making sleep a priority.
Pregnancy is hard work—and it’s definitely not always comfortable. The hours are long, you may have heartburn and hemorrhoids and be sick to your stomach.
Meanwhile—surprise!—you’re getting bigger everywhere you look, sometimes even your feet.
Your body is flooded with hormones. Add that to your changing emotional landscape and it’s no wonder you’re having trouble sleeping.
Unfortunately, the results of a recent study suggest that pregnant women who sleep less than 6 hours and 15 minutes a night are almost three times more likely to have gestational diabetes as those who sleep more.
What is gestational diabetes?
Even if you’re a healthy mom-to-be doing everything right, you can still develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Like diabetes itself, gestational diabetes is elevated levels of blood sugar, specifically during pregnancy, says Vishesh Kapur, M.D., M.P.H., founder of the Sleep Medicine Center at Harborview.
When you’re pregnant, you are at the mercy of your hormones. Progesterone, a hormone produced by your placenta, helps make sure that baby gets all the nutrients needed to grow, says Continue reading

New type 2 diabetes treatment 'easier, cheaper' option

About 20,000 Australians suffering type 2 diabetes will be able to swap twice daily injections for a weekly treatment, and save around $1,600 per year under a new medicine to be placed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley announced the new diabetes treatment Exanatide will be subsidised under the PBS from September 1, along with an extra $70 million investment in the scheme for a cervical cancer drug and a treatment for a rare growth disease.
"This is easier, it's cheaper and most importantly for people with type 2 diabetes, up to 20,000 who can benefit from this treatment, it will avoid long term complications," Ms Ley said.
"Unfortunately Australia has a very high rate of diabetic amputations, all of which are avoidable.
"This is part of our government's commitment to listing medicines without fear or favour on the PBS, once advised by our expert committees."
The national peak body for diabetes has welcomed the listing.
"What it means is for a lot of people living with type 2 diabetes they have several injections a day and this will actually reduce that to once a week," the association's Renza Scibilia said.
"It's an absolutely huge improvement to quality of life, to ease of treatment as well, and we know that means people are more likely to be using the treatment as it is prescribed by their healthcare professional."
Women not responding to cervical cancer treatment will have access to the drug Avastin, which will cost the Government $60 million to list on the PBS.
The Health Minister said it would greatly ease the financial imp Continue reading