For people new to diabetes it can be quite a daunting prospect to assimilate all the new information needed to control diabetes and safeguard your health. The fundamental principle underlying most diabetic treatment is understanding the impact that sugar will have on a persons blood glucose level. In order to control this the person is required to modify their eating and exercise behavior and monitor their blood. Diabetic software can help to monitor a persons blood more effectively and efficiently. Ultimately it can give the person more control of their diabetic condition. This article will look at some of the features of diabetic software and how it can help you.
Diabetic software comes in two broad groups. The first group is educational in nature. The aim is to teach people about controlling blood sugar levels. I would say this type of software is aimed at people who do not understand diabetes or have just been diagnosed with it. Children and parents of children with diabetes would also find these tools useful and instructive.
The most popular educational software is called AIDA. It is a simulator of a typical persons insulin use and blood sugar levels over a day. Various variables can be entered into the simulator. These include the persons weight, their meal times and carbohydrates intake during the meal, their levels of short and long acting insulin and their kidney and liver conditions. With these variable the simulator will plot a graph of blood sugar level over the day. This can be instructive or can be used to model a persons real conditions (although the site says it is for educational purposes only and should not be considered as advice).
The other type of diabetic software is for monitoring an individuals blood readings over time. Most of these tools are on line and you have to register to use the software. In some cases the software is run by the particular company that produces the blood sugar meter that you are currently using.
The blood sugar meter is the equipment that you use to test your blood. You can plug the meter into your computer and all your readings will be downloaded and mapped into various types of graphs. You can select various variables and times to analyze. For example you could analyze your blood sugar level during exercise times. This would give you a pattern over time of wherever your blood sugar level fits within an acceptable range (determined by your doctor). You can then plan ahead for future exercise.
Many of these sites will accept more than one type of meter reader and each one will offer a variety of reports that can be printer out or saved.
Diabetic software is useful in managing diabetes because it educates or analyzes your condition. This can make you more informed and better equipped to understand and treat the disease.