Four digital tools for dealing with diabetes
While patients have a slew of medications such as Actos and other drugs available from Canada drugs online to help control their diabetes, there are now a variety of digital tools that smartphone users can utilize.
While patients have a slew of medications such as Actos and other drugs available from Canada drugs online to help control their diabetes, there are now a variety of digital tools that smartphone users can utilize. Here are a few to consider during National Diabetes Month this November.
Diabetic Connect
Alliance Health's Diabetic Connect is a social media network similar to Facebook where people with diabetes can share important information, such as treatments, product reviews, recipes, videos and relevant news stories. Members can adjust their privacy settings and there's also an "Ask a Joslin Diabetes Expert" section, where users can direct their diabetes queries to a staff member of the Joslin Diabetes Center.
Glucose Buddy
According to Mashable.com, Glucose Buddy allows users to track their daily glucose numbers, carbohydrate intake and insulin dosage. The free app, which is available for Android or iPhones, creates charts based on the data that users enter. Glucose Buddy is also accessible by creating an account on GlucoseBuddy.com.
Diabetes Tracker
Diabetes Tracker, which is a product of MyNetDiary, also allows people to track their glucose and carbohydrate intake by scanning food barcodes or inputting data manually. Diabetes Tracker, which is an exclusive iOS app, is constantly updated because users can send photos of products that are not in the database to MyNetDiary, which the company will then add. According to the news source, nearly 2.5 million people use Diabetes Tracker.
MyFoodAdvisor
MyFoodAdvisor is a free app created by the American Diabetes Association, which supplies users with a variety of recipes tailored to diabetics. People can sign up for monthly emails that give culinary advice and tips on how to reduce calories and carbohydrates in their cooking.
Diabetes Statistics
The National Institutes of Health reports that 25.8 million people of all ages and 8.3 percent of the U.S. population is affected by diabetes, but only 18.8 million people have been diagnosed with the condition. In 2007, diabetes was the seventh most common cause of death. The source also notes that the chance of dying is twice as great in people who suffer from diabetes than those who don't have the ailment.
Risk factors
It is unclear what causes type 1 diabetes, but some risk factors, according to the Mayo Clinic, include low vitamin D consumption, race - white people are more likely to develop the condition - and geographic location.
Some risk factors for type 2 diabetes are weight, leading a sedentary lifestyle, age, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels and high levels of triglycerides, reports the Mayo Clinic.
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