Innovation Quotient

DiabetesIQ -  Interactive App Manages Diabetes

Yes, the world is changing very rapidly. Every day we wake up, there are new products, processes, technologies and ideas that are better and more effective than the ones we had yesterday. This has changed the dynamics of what we do and how we think. And as the result of new innovations, we have the chance to live better and longer. The result is that are able to take control of our lives in ways that are more fun and efficient than ever before. With new technologies, and apps evolving every day, we now scan bar codes, send faxes, pay bills, bank checks, and even send emails using our handheld devices. And there is much more. Almost all previously complex or inconceivable wonders can now be done reliably by just pressing a few buttons.  And it’s not all for fun and games, there are serious apps being developed for life threatening conditions.

Health Care as an area that is always hungry for innovation and new technologies and Medical Research is one of the most technologically advanced fields. Researchers are constantly seeking and finding new ways that can be relied on to help save or improve more lives. So, for the Health Care professionals seeking ways to stop the epidemic of Diabetes, there is serious “app” news. Just this week, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Diabetes Teaching Center and a Massachusetts company called QuantiaMD developed a new smart phone app, DiabetesIQ.  Its goal, reported the San Francisco Business Wire, is to connect the theory of managing diabetes to everyday reality by allowing users to share and compare results. The maker’s hope is that it “will help improve human health by turning the task of managing diabetes into an interactive game experience and bringing it to users, through educative games and quizzes where participants compare their answers with others.”  Diabetes is serious business but DiabetesIQ wants to improve health for diabetics with some fun and games.

Diabetes is a chronic and complex disease that has been around since 1552 BC, and is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States alone. Statistics show that there is an estimated 26 million Americans with both diagnosed as well as undiagnosed diabetes but they would be cared for by probably less than 4000 medical personnel trained in diabetes management. “Education is a fundamental part of therapy,” said Martha Nolte Kennedy, the medical director of the UCSF Diabetes Teaching Center. “Almost anything you do can change your blood sugar and your response to insulin.”

This app is expected to assist patients with diabetes by offering them a complete Diabetes Self Management Curriculum and also provide the public with timely information to better manage the disease. According to, Nolte Kennedy the app was the logical next step – a way of reaching a broader audience, including the youngest generations of people with diabetes. “We’re very enthusiastic about the approach,” she said. If successful, this could be a significant leader for those developing applications to seek improvement in other fields of medical care.

image credit: ucsf.com

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Frank E. Gatera Jr. is a computer professional, writer and a nursing student. A native of Rwanda living in Michigan, he lives and works in the Midwest. He is starting an NGO, NoLongerADream that will be helping orphans in Rwanda and survivors of the 1994 Genocide get a second chance at education and learn new vocational skills. He can be reached at frankgatera@gmail.com