Diabetes Prevention APP

Currently, clinically proven formal diabetes prevention APPs have an intervention efficiency of 32%-47% for high-risk groups such as those with abnormal glucose tolerance and family history of diabetes, which is 2.3 times more effective than traditional offline manual intervention. However, it can only be used as an auxiliary tool and is completely unsuitable for patients with type 1 diabetes and brittle diabetes as the only management method, nor can it replace clinical medical advice.

Last month, I was following up with Dr. Zhang from the community health service center on high-risk groups. I met Lao Zhou, a 42-year-old programmer who lives in the West Community. Last year, his physical examination showed that his fasting blood sugar was 6.4mmol/L, which is the red line for pre-diabetes. At first, he wrote his blood sugar records on a notepad, but he often missed notes due to his forgetfulness. After using it for half a month, he fell flat. Later, he tried a prevention APP that was bound to a home blood glucose meter. The data was automatically synchronized, and the sugar control plan could be implemented based on his commuting and eating habits. Even the takeaways he often ordered were marked with carbohydrate content. After using it for three months, the glucose tolerance test was back to the normal range.

However, there has been a lot of noise in the industry about the role of this type of APP. Most researchers in the field of public health are optimistic. After all, my country's high-risk population for diabetes has exceeded 400 million, and there is a shortage of millions of specialized chronic disease managers. People in third- and fourth-tier cities and counties have no access to professional daily guidance. Even if the APP can only give some standardized and correct suggestions, it is better than guessing on your own. However, clinical endocrinologists are generally cautious. I talked to Director Li of the Endocrinology Department of the city hospital. Last year, she received 7 patients who had problems with the intervention plan adjusted according to the APP. One patient who used to take half a tablet of metformin was well controlled, but after seeing the APP saying that his blood sugar was normal for a week, he stopped taking the medicine without authorization. Half a month later, he went to the emergency room with ketoacidosis.

Don’t tell me, there are so many prevention APPs on the market now. I have a young colleague who has just been diagnosed with high blood sugar. He uses AI image recognition, which can calculate the carbohydrates and glycemic index after taking a photo of a meal in a few seconds. He takes pictures of meals in the cafeteria every day, and when he calculates that the carbohydrates exceed the limit, he goes downstairs and walks for 20 minutes. He has lost 12 pounds in half a year, and his fasting blood sugar has been stable at around 5.4mmol/L. Aunt Wang, an elderly person living alone in the community, uses a version that connects data with the community hospital. As long as her blood sugar exceeds the warning line for three consecutive days, the community's chronic disease manager will call and inquire within 24 hours. Last time she ate Mi San Dao given by her granddaughter for three days in a row, she received a reminder on the day when the data became abnormal, and she adjusted her diet in time, and there was no major problem.

But there are also many people who fall into traps. A while ago, a patient came to the outpatient clinic and said that after following the sugar-control meal of an APP for two months, his blood sugar did not drop much and he became anemic. I looked through the APP he used, and I didn’t even include the basic medical history of iron deficiency anemia he filled in. Red meat was almost not allowed in the menu. It was a one-size-fits-all template. There are also apps that are full of advertisements for sugar-lowering tea and sugar-controlling rice as soon as you open them. They say they are "APP-exclusive discounts," but in fact they are all IQ taxes charged on advertising fees.

Seriously, if you belong to a high-risk group for diabetes and want to choose a suitable APP to use, don’t just look at the downloads and ratings in the app store. First, look at two core information: One is whether there are medical-related registrations, especially if the data is connected to formal medical institutions, at least they will not recommend blind plans to you.； The other is whether it can make personalized adjustments based on your basic diseases and daily habits. If you fill in the form that you have gout, and it recommends low-sugar seafood recipes to you every day, then just uninstall it.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the Diabetes Prevention APP is just a tool to save you trouble. Just like a computer for your cycling, it can tell you your speed and calculate your mileage. If you really want to exercise by cycling, the core thing is that you have to ride every day. You can’t expect to lose weight automatically just by buying an expensive computer. The APP can help you record data, give you reminders, and save you the effort of checking the glucose meter and calculating calories. But when it comes to whether it can prevent diabetes, it ultimately depends on whether you can keep your mouth shut and move your legs and stick to healthy living habits. If you expect that everything will be fine with the next APP, it is better to save some phone memory as soon as possible.