Diabetes has no cure but is controllable.In 2014, 422 million people were affected by this chronic disease, 62 million of them in America.
With the aim of having a better control over this ailment, for a few years technology and medicine have become great allies.
An example of this is Social Diabetes, a mobile application that stores information in the cloud or SINDIE, a tool developed by researchers from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) that applies artificial intelligence for the control of pregnant women suffering from gestational diabetes.And Glucosentry, an intelligent bracelet that has a glucose meter.
An application created by researchers from the University of La Plata (UNLP), in Argentina, Diabetes Link has recently joined to these solutions.This app allows you to register parameters such as glycemia, the amount of carbohydrates ingested, injected insulin, physical activity performed, body weight and blood pressure.
“The appropriate monitoring and treatment are the only tools that have those who suffer from it to lead a practically normal life (...).Beyond the knowledge he gives to the person with diabetes, this information is useful for doctors, especially when adjusting the treatment of a patient, ”explains the Bachelor of Systems and Software Engineering specialist, Lisandro Delía.Link diabetes, he adds, "offers all its functionality for free for the benefit of the community."
Delía leads the project together with Enzo Rucci, Doctor of Computer Science, both researchers from the Computer Research Institute of the UNLP Faculty of Computer Science.Paula Erbino and Joaquín Pujol, graduates in systems, form the development team.The project, designed in early 2018, also has the collaboration of researchers from the Center for Experimental Endocrinology and applied, in particular Dr. Juan José Gagliardino.
The app is very simple and allows to mainly evaluate three parameters: glycemia, pressure and weight.For the first, it shows the evolution of blood glucose in a range of selected dates.For blood pressure, it provides a chart based on how many measurements they found in the finish line and how many were found above the upper limit established in the configuration.And for the weight it provides a graph that illustrates the evolution of the body mass index (BMI) over time, indicating the limits of overweight, obesity, healthy state and state below the appropriate weight.
In addition, the app details tabulated, for each day and food, the physical activity carried out, the carbohydrates ingested and the measurements of blood glucose and insulin determined before and after each intake.
All this, according to Delía, allows the doctor to know the evolution of the person, in order to adjust the treatment (changes in the food plan; in physical activity; in the number, type and quantity of insulin and/or/orin other medications).
Both the supervised and the supervisor (which can be a relative), have access at all times to a section of frequency questions about the disease (causes and consequences or specifications about treatment).
At the moment, the app is available at Google's PlayStore for all Android devices."We are working to also be available in the iOS app store in the short term and thus increase the scope," adds Delía.