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Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

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Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#32
post #13
post #2

I think the term "consumer base" is not heartless but in fact pretty accurate. Why not spending the probably huge amount of money in a cure instead of monitoring devices ? Well, because why kill the Golden Egg Goose ? Millions of people who have to take pills every day are good recurent money. If you cure them, no more cash. (Well it's the middle of the night, I can't sleep and fill a little bit bitter...) One more t…

> If you cure them, no more cash This is pretty shortsighted. Because: - it's not like you would cure everyone at once anyway - there are always people who will develop the disease eventually so you can always make money in the long run - if you are the only effective treatment you can pretty much make the price you want, and collect massive profits that can be invested in the develop of other drugs or solutions. Nev…

You might want to look into Gensym (sp?) and their Hepatitis cure. The company got a big boost when they released the cure but now they are being pummeled by the market and analysts as the need for their cure is declining (fewer cases). There is no money in cure, money is in turning medical issues into chronic diseases. US pharma research is focused on chronic management and not cure. When was the last time a cure originated from US based research?

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#33
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Germany the Dexcom G4 system with Animas Vibe insulin pump became fully covered by the health insurance last November and a couple of weeks ago I got my system working. It is a pretty amazing improvement to my life: both the pump and CGM. The G4 transmitter has a 2.4 GHz radio and I built an extra device with Wixel and Bluetooth to transfer the data so my Android phone so xDrip+ and my Android watch can displ…

If you have an insulin pump (best if it's an older one, since newer ones are harder to hack) you should look into OpenAPS (open artificial pancreas system) https://openaps.org/ . People have code/schematics available to build a closed loop system between CGM insulin pump which automatically adjusts the dosage based on glucose levels and keeps you in range better than even the best attempts at manual dosages. Seems li…

Isn't it a bit scary to run the auto-insulin code on an android phone?

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#34
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Germany the Dexcom G4 system with Animas Vibe insulin pump became fully covered by the health insurance last November and a couple of weeks ago I got my system working. It is a pretty amazing improvement to my life: both the pump and CGM. The G4 transmitter has a 2.4 GHz radio and I built an extra device with Wixel and Bluetooth to transfer the data so my Android phone so xDrip+ and my Android watch can displ…

Unfortunately I can't get this in the UK. I asked, but they only give out to kids or people who poorly manage their T1. :(

Can you pay for it yourself with their discount?

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#35
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Germany the Dexcom G4 system with Animas Vibe insulin pump became fully covered by the health insurance last November and a couple of weeks ago I got my system working. It is a pretty amazing improvement to my life: both the pump and CGM. The G4 transmitter has a 2.4 GHz radio and I built an extra device with Wixel and Bluetooth to transfer the data so my Android phone so xDrip+ and my Android watch can displ…

Unfortunately I can't get this in the UK. I asked, but they only give out to kids or people who poorly manage their T1. :(

There's https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/libre/ which I believe you can just order online (I'm considering one myself). You have to scan the sensor yourself(it stores the data between scans) so it doesn't trigger alarms like the dexcom but for gathering data about how exercise/diet effects your levels it should do the job nicely I think.

edit: The starter pack costs £159.95, see https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/libre/products/starter-pack...

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#36

Apple appears to be working on blood glucose monitoring as a way to address Type 2 Diabetes. Either the article is very wrong, or Apple is doing something very cute here. Type 2 diabetics do check their blood glucose -- occasionally. For non-insulin-using diabetics (aka. most type 2s) medical plans typically cover less than one test per day, because the evidence is that testing more frequently doesn't accomplish anyt…

> testing more frequently doesn't accomplish anything

totally anecdotal but I test aprox 10 times per day and have reduced an A1C of 8.2 at diagnosis to 5.5 (non diabetic). I'm extremely sceptical that you can optimise your plan sufficiently with a test once per day, it's a akin to having a speedometer on your car that only gives you a speed once during the entire journey.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#37
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Germany the Dexcom G4 system with Animas Vibe insulin pump became fully covered by the health insurance last November and a couple of weeks ago I got my system working. It is a pretty amazing improvement to my life: both the pump and CGM. The G4 transmitter has a 2.4 GHz radio and I built an extra device with Wixel and Bluetooth to transfer the data so my Android phone so xDrip+ and my Android watch can displ…

Unfortunately I can't get this in the UK. I asked, but they only give out to kids or people who poorly manage their T1. :(

I suspect it's only a matter of time, if it leads to better management of blood sugar levels the long term cost savings will be huge.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#38
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have an insulin pump (best if it's an older one, since newer ones are harder to hack) you should look into OpenAPS (open artificial pancreas system) https://openaps.org/ . People have code/schematics available to build a closed loop system between CGM insulin pump which automatically adjusts the dosage based on glucose levels and keeps you in range better than even the best attempts at manual dosages. Seems li…

The Medtronic 670g was my other option, but I took the Animas Vibe + Dexcom G4 just because it's easier to hack, lots of German Diabetes hackers use it, its CGM seems to be more accurate and you can use the G4 sensors way longer than the 670g. 670g is a closed loop system, but what it does is it stops giving you the basal insulin when it thinks you are getting a hypoglycemia soon. What it doesn't do is to give you co…

The 670G completely controls basal rates; the "suspend on low" functionality arrived in a previous generation. But it won't keep your blood glucose at 5.5 mM -- it targets 6.7 mM, and there doesn't seem to be any way to change this. :-/

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#39
post #36

Apple appears to be working on blood glucose monitoring as a way to address Type 2 Diabetes. Either the article is very wrong, or Apple is doing something very cute here. Type 2 diabetics do check their blood glucose -- occasionally. For non-insulin-using diabetics (aka. most type 2s) medical plans typically cover less than one test per day, because the evidence is that testing more frequently doesn't accomplish anyt…

> testing more frequently doesn't accomplish anything totally anecdotal but I test aprox 10 times per day and have reduced an A1C of 8.2 at diagnosis to 5.5 (non diabetic). I'm extremely sceptical that you can optimise your plan sufficiently with a test once per day, it's a akin to having a speedometer on your car that only gives you a speed once during the entire journey.

Are you T1 or T2? I was specifically talking about T2s; testing multiple times a day can be useful to get a sense of daily patterns, but those patterns will tend to persist from one month to the next so there's no need to test many times a day every day.

Re: Apple Monitoring Blood Glucose

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have an insulin pump (best if it's an older one, since newer ones are harder to hack) you should look into OpenAPS (open artificial pancreas system) https://openaps.org/ . People have code/schematics available to build a closed loop system between CGM insulin pump which automatically adjusts the dosage based on glucose levels and keeps you in range better than even the best attempts at manual dosages. Seems li…

Isn't it a bit scary to run the auto-insulin code on an android phone?

I do not have an insulin pump and I'm presuming you don't with my response. The pumps I have seen make noise when they are pumping and also have an alarm (I'm not sure if that's from the pump or the reader) if your levels are on either extreme. I'm guessing malfunctioning code would only execute once by pumping too much or not pumping at all and the user would figure it out very quickly.
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