Achieve 6 ‘C’ from Glucometer with Health App for Good Health
Many strives towards 5 ‘C’s in their lives - Cash, Car, Credit card, Condominium, and Country club;do you know that the 6 ‘C’s of glucometer with health app, can pay you high health dividends- read on to find out.
4 out of 5 Singaporeans own a smartphone. Coupling broad smartphone ownership with technological advances, mobile health (mHealth) apps help us to manage all aspects of our lives and have tremendous potential to make us healthier. Among these, apps used to monitor blood sugar have attracted a lot of attention from researchers and have shown to help Type 2 diabetics# achieve better outcomes. For example, diabetic patients who conscientiously use such apps have a 45% more reduction in their HbA1c levels*. Drop-in HbA1c, especially at the early stage, offers excellent protection against issues such as heart diseases.
mHealth apps offer 6 ‘C’s: Connect & Create, Command & Control, Communicate & Collaborate –six ways to assist you in your blood sugar management towards a healthier you. Here are details of how they help you:
1. Connect and Create
When paired with a Bluetooth enabled smart glucometer, mHealth apps can connect with your blood sugar monitor automatically to download your blood glucose readings. Recording your blood sugar readings is so much easier and error-free. Some apps give users the ability to add comments to each of these readings, such as food taken, any exercise, or insulin dose administered before the specific blood test. These further helps you and your healthcare professionals to create a complete journal for your future reference and follow-up actions.
Figure 1 Effortlessly trace your blood sugar readings & their relationship with your actions & life events
2. Command and Control
mHealth apps give you a better command of your health status. A good app will show you how your blood glucose level varies over time, and it corresponds to specific actions or events. For instance, you will learn how high your blood sugar will rise in response to three scoops of chocolate ice creams or why it is a bad idea to delay your lunch after your morning dose of antidiabetic medicine. It will also alert you to extremely high and low blood sugar, allowing you to take proper measures that can potentially save your life and improve your blood sugar management.
Figure 2 Any idea on how high will your blood sugar will be after taking one of these beauties
3. Communicate and Collaborate
A good mHealth app also enables you to communicate with your clinician. Such apps encourage collaborative care where you will be able to ask for and receive professional advice more swiftly and efficiently. A key to beating diabetes or pre-diabetes is to know and feel that you are not fighting this alone. Your doctor, nurse, and pharmacist are here to support you, so make good use of your mHealth app to communicate and work with them.
Figure 3 Fight against diabetes should not be a lonely journey.
As shown, health apps give you clear and vital information, connect you to valuable expertise, and allows you to take timely and effective action. Use the 6 ‘C’s of mHealth app to help you in your journey toward good health!
# Type II Diabetics: Insulin is a substance that instructs your body to store sugar. In Type II Diabetics, they either do not produce enough insulin or their body does not use insulin effectively, thus causing a high blood sugar level and its related health impact.
* HbA1c is a measure of how much sugar sticks onto your red blood cells; a higher level indicates more inadequate control of blood sugar. This test gives us an idea of the average blood glucose level in an individual over recent months
