Health apps that help diabetes
Diabetes apps have enormous potential, given that more than 2.7 billion individuals in the world use smartphones and about 0.5 billion people already use mobile apps for diet, physical activity, and chronic disease management .
Right now you can find about 500,000 health-related apps available for wireless devices (usually smartphones). That is twice the number that was available just four years ago.
Most apps provide general wellness information, but there is a growing number that help people manage a certain condition. The apps designed to help manage diabetes are among those most commonly available and in fact more than 1 in 6 apps have been designed for people with diabetes.
Do you want help sticking with a treatment plan? There is an app for that.
Need to track your blood glucose levels? There is an app for that.
Want to track calories in and exercise you do? There is an app for that.
Digital health apps can be generally broken down into three categories:
1. those used for tracking wellness
2. those that function as stand-alone medical devices (e.g., for titrating insulin)
3. those that display, download, and/or use data from medical devices that diagnose, prevent, monitor, or treat a condition (e.g., blood glucose monitoring, CGM, insulin pump or automated insulin delivery [AID] system [also known as “closed-loop” control system])
We found that, across the U.S. and Europe, mobile apps intended to manage health and wellness are largely unregulated unless they meet the definition of medical devices for therapeutic and/or diagnostic purposes.
1. Apps used for tracking wellness
There are apps that are considered low risk and they kind of get a free pass. The FDA calls this "enforcement discretion" and it does not actively regulate it because it is not worth their time and resources. Here are examples of low risk apps:
Health focused strategies for diet and exercise - My Fitness Pal
Logging blood sugars and meals in a version that does not offer treatment recommendations - Glucose Buddy
So is it good that FDA does not get involved? I vote yes because it decreases competition and allows for my innovation. Good stuff comes from that. For example, I love this app called UnderMyFork. The caveat is that this does not come without risks. For an examples,
Carbohydrate counting is not accurate in some apps. You have to check more than one resource and do your investigative work to know. That could be dangerous to a diabetic titrating insulin to carbs.
2. Apps for a stand alone medical device
As it does with medications, the FDA regulates medical devices to ensure that they are safe and effective. The health apps designed to manage diabetes are in that category of medical devices. Such apps must be cleard by the agency before they are made availabble to the public. An example of an app:
Dario Smart Glucose Meter System- read sugar results from a meter that attaches to your phone
InPen Smart Pen- that offers to titrate your insulin for you.
3. Apps to display analyze interpret etc data
These are going to be the highest risk and that is and example of a Freestyle Libre continuous glucose monitor- reads sugar results from device attached to your fatty tissue and goes to your phone
If I had to pick 5 most essential that did not have to do with diabetes or glucose monitoring, but helped with health wellness,then I would choose
Organic living
Healthy Living & Dirty Dozen (Tie)
Monitoring your eating patterns
Ate
Sticking to things
stickK
Stress Relief
Insight timer or Headspace (Tie)
Exercise
OpenFit
I do not agree with the websites and authors that advertise any one diabetes app. Typically those are getting kickbacks by advertising analytics and creates bonds with other companies. There cannot possibly be a recommendation to fit a blanket of different types of people with different stages of diabetes and different lifestyles. The point is that the choice is so highly individualized. It depends on things that you have already: glucometers, type of phone, type of computer software…. Then you have to add that to match an app that depends on your problems and your activities and how much time you have to spend in the app. As a diabetes specialist who is always educating herself, I am "in the know" of the different apps. I have used the trial and error method in addition to a lot of research. I can help to guide you if you would like. Schedule with me, Kristin Loyd, at Evolve Diabetes.
If I had to pick 5 most essential that did not have to do with diabetes or glucose monitoring, but helped with health wellness, then I would choose
Organic living
Healthy Living & Dirty Dozen (Tie)
Monitoring your eating patterns
Ate
Sticking to things
stickK (so-so)
Stress Relief
Insight timer or Headspace (Tie)
Exercise
OpenFit
