As someone who has had type 2 diabetes for six years, I understand how tough it can be to deal with this lifelong condition. It’s also difficult–not to mention dangerous–because, unfortunately, I do not manage it as well as I should. Like many people, my demanding job (owning and running three marketing and investment companies) often gets in the way.

However, one great part of my job is that I get to learn a lot about new mobile apps. As a result, I’ve seen many that are useful for people with diabetes. I would like to share a list that may help others in the diabetes community.

One note: We all have different needs, and not every app can help everyone. Some people need help monitoring their meal plans. Others may need to keep their healthcare providers regularly informed of their blood glucose levels. Still more live in remote areas, and feel lonely because they don’t know many other people with diabetes. People who live in rural communities may also need to pay more for treatment because there are fewer experts around.

I have broken down my list by topic, and included specific apps that may help those who need assistance in a specific area. At the end, I have listed two multi-purpose diabetes apps that may be all-in-one solutions. Keep in mind, however, that they might not be suitable for children or senior citizens. Regardless, I hope that you will find this list helpful!

 

Glucose Monitoring

• Diabetes Log lets you track your blood glucose levels, as well as other things that people with diabetes need to monitor. It’s a simple app compared to others. It doesn’t come with a lot of bells and whistles, and so may benefit people who are not used to using digital devices.

• Diamedic is particularly useful for people with type 1 diabetes, because it can track basal program settings in insulin pumps, calculate appropriate insulin doses during meals, and provide glucose level histories in graphs and charts.

• Glucose Buddy records and monitors blood glucose levels, and can also provide reminders to check your levels and take medicines at specific times. The app’s data can be synchronized to the Glucose Buddy website, as well as your social media profiles.

• Glooko can download glucose readings from insulin meters, and create records so that you can track your levels over time. This can help you use the results when you visit your healthcare provider.

 

Diet Tracking & Carbohydrate Counting

• TRACK3 tells you the nutritional content of restaurant menu items and foods at the grocery store. You can save the information to your “favorites” so that you can log your meals more easily.

• Fooducate scans bar-codes and tells you whether the particular food has high levels of sugar, trans fat, and other things that people with diabetes should avoid. Upgraded accounts can also show you information about gluten and other food allergens.

• The Diabetes App is all about sugar. It can tell you the number of grams of sugar in many different foods. It also provides a calendar, Twitter sharing, blood pressure tracking, and more.

 

Fitness & Health Monitoring

• LogFrog uses an interactive pinwheel with 24 exercise routines, as well as specific sections to record medical and dental examinations, laboratory values, and electrocardiogram and X-ray findings. Historic blood glucose levels can be viewed in blocs of seven, thirty, or ninety days.

• Your Diabetes Diary (Apple / Android) can be used by people with diabetes, as well as their healthcare providers. There are specific versions of the app for healthcare providers and guardians (parents or others who care for minors). The app logs weights and heights, cholesterol and creatinine levels, and dental and foot exams.

 

Lifestyle Management

• MediSafe Project is a cloud-synced, mobile medicine-management system that helps people with diabetes work healthier behavior into their daily lives. It does this by reminding them–and their loved ones–to take their medicines in the right doses. The brothers who created the app did so after their father accidentally double-dosed on insulin.

 

Healthy Recipes

• Diabetic Audio Recipes Lite has a library of recipes that are low in sugar, including appetizers, main dishes, sides, and desserts. An audio feature lets you listen to the preparation instructions as they cook. You can also add your own notes to the recipes you enjoy.

 

Community

• Diabetic Connect connects people with diabetes so that they can make friends, help each other, and share advice on managing the disease. No one truly understands diabetes except for those who live with it, so this app can help you feel less lonely.

• HelpAround is a mobile community of people who form discussion groups based on specific interests. For example, there are community discussions specifically for teenagers with diabetes, mothers of children with diabetes, and more.

 

Multi-Purpose Apps

Different people have different needs. Some may need help with managing only one aspect of their diabetes, while others may need much more assistance. Here are some apps that have several of the functions that I outlined above:

• Diabetes Buddy lets you record medical data, the amount of time you exercise, and how many carbs you eat. In addition, you can add personalized recipes and see the nutritional information of the foods you cook.

• Diabetes Pilot has a database with nutritional information on thousands of food items in terms of carbohydrates, fat, protein, fiber, sodium, and cholesterol. It also has a logbook to track medicine intake, food, weight, and blood glucose levels. And, it has an insulin calculator that takes a given meal and then determines the number of insulin units required to reach your target blood glucose level.

Readers, have you had any positive or negative experiences with these apps? Are there others that you would recommend? I invite further discussion in the comments below, and would love to hear what others in the diabetes community think.