6 ms·

Preventive medicine is a bit one. If your fitness watch could measure blood glucose, I think it would be a ton more impactful in terms of health outcomes.

malfist 22d ago
In what way? Nondiabetic folks self regular glucose just fine on their own.
- simmerup 22d ago
  In the same way a step counter encourages people to walk more, a glucose monitor on your watch could discourage you from eating that extra donut
  - malfist 22d ago
    Does a step counter do that? All studies I've seen say they don't cause people to adapt their behavior
    - cj 22d ago
      This study says otherwise: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-help-people-count-steps-to-get-healthy.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-he... Even if it doesn’t increase steps on average, it will absolutely still work with someone who’s self-motivated and not just looking for a quick fix.
- jimbobimbo 22d ago
  That's what I thought too, until I got my last bloodwork results and started wearing one of the OTC continuous glucose monitors. That device helped a lot to switch diet habits.
  - robbiep 22d ago
    Can you be specific about what your bloodwork results showed and what special insights your CGM gave you and what behavioural changes it led to? My anecdotal experience from doctor colleagues giving CGM to patients is that it does 3/5ths of fuck all to everyone except those with actual insulin dependent diabetes (T1 or T2) because when you get down to it the insights aren’t that great and most people actually aren’t that invested in shifting the dial on their health that much. But I’m fascinated by examples to the contrary
    - sroussey 22d ago
      I did it for a month and learned what kinds of things led to spikes and what did not and it wasn’t always obvious without the monitor.
    - RHSeeger 22d ago
      Seeing just how much rice can impact your blood sugar is eye opening. Sticking to a "half the normal amount" of rice when eating Indian/Asian food can help a lot with blood sugar. And keeping blood sugar in check _seems_ to have a fair amount of researching backing up the idea that it's healthier and makes you feel better
      - malfist 22d ago
        Sure it impacts it. But what does that matter? Your body is very efficient as self regulating
        jimbobimbo 22d ago
        It is very efficient until it's not. When it's not, it sucks. You don't have to have full on diabetes to experience the suck.
        owebmaster 22d ago
        > Your body is very efficient as self regulating Yet the mind of most people is terrible at that, we love to overeat our body regulations.
- dredmorbius 22d ago
  Diabetes (as with much else) is a continuum. Many people are prediabetic, or experience periods of high or low blood sugar. There are also multiple types of diabetes, not just the generally-known Type I / II split, but gestational (affecting pregnant women), Type 5, malnutrition-related, and others. (See Wikipedia for a listing: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types>.) Other factors can also influence blood sugars, including infections, physical activity, and stress.
- al_borland 22d ago
  I know, logically, that if I eat a bunch of carbs or sugar my blood sugar will rise. I know if I go for a walk right after a meal it will help blunt the rise. Eating fiber at the start of a meal is also supposed to help avoid the spike. However, I can’t quantify any of these things, so it feels too abstract. If I was able to see numbers and real-time impacts of my actions, it seems like it would do wonders for adherence to various protocols. It seems like it could also provide a warning signal if levels are chronically elevated due to diet and lifestyle factors, which would eventually lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes if left unchecked.
- joelthelion 22d ago
  High blood glucose causes a host of bad health issues even in non-diabetic people: visceral fat, liver fat, inflammation, cardiac disease... You don't need to wait to be diabetic to embrace good dietary habits, and a glucose monitor would go a long way helping people make that transition.

malfist 22d ago

In what way? Nondiabetic folks self regular glucose just fine on their own.

simmerup 22d ago
In the same way a step counter encourages people to walk more, a glucose monitor on your watch could discourage you from eating that extra donut
- malfist 22d ago
  Does a step counter do that? All studies I've seen say they don't cause people to adapt their behavior
  - cj 22d ago
    This study says otherwise: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-help-people-count-steps-to-get-healthy.html https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/11/pedometers-he... Even if it doesn’t increase steps on average, it will absolutely still work with someone who’s self-motivated and not just looking for a quick fix.
jimbobimbo 22d ago
That's what I thought too, until I got my last bloodwork results and started wearing one of the OTC continuous glucose monitors. That device helped a lot to switch diet habits.
- robbiep 22d ago
  Can you be specific about what your bloodwork results showed and what special insights your CGM gave you and what behavioural changes it led to? My anecdotal experience from doctor colleagues giving CGM to patients is that it does 3/5ths of fuck all to everyone except those with actual insulin dependent diabetes (T1 or T2) because when you get down to it the insights aren’t that great and most people actually aren’t that invested in shifting the dial on their health that much. But I’m fascinated by examples to the contrary
  - sroussey 22d ago
    I did it for a month and learned what kinds of things led to spikes and what did not and it wasn’t always obvious without the monitor.
  - RHSeeger 22d ago
    Seeing just how much rice can impact your blood sugar is eye opening. Sticking to a "half the normal amount" of rice when eating Indian/Asian food can help a lot with blood sugar. And keeping blood sugar in check _seems_ to have a fair amount of researching backing up the idea that it's healthier and makes you feel better
    - malfist 22d ago
      Sure it impacts it. But what does that matter? Your body is very efficient as self regulating
      - jimbobimbo 22d ago
        It is very efficient until it's not. When it's not, it sucks. You don't have to have full on diabetes to experience the suck.
      - owebmaster 22d ago
        > Your body is very efficient as self regulating Yet the mind of most people is terrible at that, we love to overeat our body regulations.
dredmorbius 22d ago
Diabetes (as with much else) is a continuum. Many people are prediabetic, or experience periods of high or low blood sugar. There are also multiple types of diabetes, not just the generally-known Type I / II split, but gestational (affecting pregnant women), Type 5, malnutrition-related, and others. (See Wikipedia for a listing: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Types>.) Other factors can also influence blood sugars, including infections, physical activity, and stress.
al_borland 22d ago
I know, logically, that if I eat a bunch of carbs or sugar my blood sugar will rise. I know if I go for a walk right after a meal it will help blunt the rise. Eating fiber at the start of a meal is also supposed to help avoid the spike. However, I can’t quantify any of these things, so it feels too abstract. If I was able to see numbers and real-time impacts of my actions, it seems like it would do wonders for adherence to various protocols. It seems like it could also provide a warning signal if levels are chronically elevated due to diet and lifestyle factors, which would eventually lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes if left unchecked.
joelthelion 22d ago
High blood glucose causes a host of bad health issues even in non-diabetic people: visceral fat, liver fat, inflammation, cardiac disease... You don't need to wait to be diabetic to embrace good dietary habits, and a glucose monitor would go a long way helping people make that transition.