A Smartphone App to Help Women Diagnosed With Gestational Diabetes

By Beverleigh H Piepers

Again and again, education proves to be a boon to people who have been diagnosed with diabetes including Type 2 and Gestational diabetes. In December of 2017, the journal Acta Diabetology reported on a study showing women with a higher education level fared better than less well-educated women when dealing with Gestational diabetes.
Scientists at the Coimbra Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra and various other research facilities in Portugal compared 4490 women who had been diagnosed with diabetes during their pregnancy. Six weeks after giving birth women who had less than 6th-grade education or a 6th to 9th-grade education were at a higher risk of blood sugar abnormalities than the women who had at least one university degree. The researchers concluded intervention aimed at women with lower educational attainment could be useful for preventing Type 2 diabetes after having Gestational diabetes. Intervention could be significant because 7 percent of mothers can be expected to develop Type 2 diabetes five to ten years after having Gestational diabetes.

According to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a smartphone based feedback system was helpful for women during their pregnancy to aid in the control or the prevention of diabetes of pregnancy and optimizing the outcomes in 120 women in Israel.
The study reported on in February of 2018, took place at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel. Participants were randomly assigned to...

• routine care or
• routine care plus a smartphone application.

The smartphone participants were better able to follow instructions on self-care and averaged a fasting blood sugar level of 105 mg/dL (5.5 mmol/L) versus 112 mg/dL (6.2 mmol/L) in the usual care group...

• a total of 13.3 percent of the smartphone group required insulin treatment compared to
• 30.0 percent of the routine care only group.

The women in the smartphone group reported high satisfaction using their smartphones along with their obstetrical care in general.

In 2017 the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) approved a smartphone application for women diagnosed with diabetes during their pregnancy. The app replaces the conventional method of patient diaries and clinical appointments and so far has reduced hospital visits by one quarter. The tool is called GDm-Health and was developed by Drayson Technologies. The application works with Bluetooth or NFC, reporting blood sugar readings to the NHS. Information from the app is also accessible to the pregnant woman's obstetrician. Similar devices are being tested throughout the world and could become the standardized method for controlling Gestational diabetes and preventing the subsequent development of Type 2 diabetes worldwide.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.

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