lIvINg
data
wranglers
Everyone’s doing it anyway, using tools, kit and apps to track and
review aspects of their health. Most diabetics have been doing it for
their blood sugars since diagnosis, but as equipment gets cleverer
are we making the most of the data we’re generating. Are we even
looking at it?
Part 1, blood glucose meters and apps
S
ome of us like data and have Data now flows around us – statistics
no fear of downloading our are forever in the news or being sent to us What a mess
blood test results or insulin on email and put forward in marketing to No doubt, when you first start looking at
pump logs, even sharing helps up choose any particular product. your data via a download, it can look really
them with family or healthcare however, we’re not all built that way. messy and appear is if you’re rubbish at
professionals. most of us manage some When it comes to it, many diabetics do controlling your diabetes. if you think
sort of data as part of our daily lives. not like to download their own data and you’re going to have neat lines of results
anyone managing a budget – either look at it on any sort of regular basis. it’s nestling under 8mmol/L and above the
business or domestic -- is a data wrangler; understandable, it can be daunting but 4mmol/L line, think again. your results
you have numerical information and you it’s worth it in the long-run. so if you’re are more likely to look as if someone
try to make sense of it by organising it and new to analyzing data, here are a few tips, pulled out an old-fashioned blunderbuss
occasionally interrogating it. insights and a bit of advice. gun and fired a wad of buckshot at your
download.
you do have to get used to seeing all
the data in one place. it can look entirely
overwhelming and it can be hard to sort
‘the wheat from the chaff’. there are
great products out there now to help you,
with great back-up in terms of carelines.
but as more of us get used to using our
phones to buy things, share things and
take note of things, using your blood test
meter more intelligently should not be a
big stretch. You can even find apps to use
on your phone to help with your diabetes
care, even logging your blood test results.
continued over