Access to Diabetes Care:
If Not Now, When?

The Covid-19 outbreak is a serious global health issue affecting people of all ages and to different extents. However, people living with diabetes have a higher risk of developing infections and becoming severely ill due to the Covid-19 virus. Epidemiology studies have shown revealed that people living with diabetes develop a more severe course and progression of the disease, especially for those 65 years old and above. This is likely because fluctuations in the blood glucose levels and presence of diabetes complications can make managing Covid-19 infections more difficult. Hence, close self-monitoring is critical in helping you or your family maintain good glycaemic control to protect the immune system.

Sources:
International Diabetes Federation
The Straits Times Health: Diabetes weakens body's ability to fight coronavirus
Comorbidity and its Impact on Patients with COVID-19

What can I do to protect me and my family?

• Wash hands frequently and avoid touching your face
• Practise social distancing
• Monitor your glucose control closely to help avoid complications caused by high or low blood glucose
• Balanced diet and regular exercise
• Be prepared to contact your physician if you show flu-like symptoms (raised temperature, cough, difficulty breathing)

Source:
International Diabetes Federation

Telehealth as a new diabetes care model in Covid-19 pandemic

Despite the introduction of several social distancing measures and restrictions, the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to many new opportunities for innovation in the time of crisis. As diabetes care physicians strive to maintain the quality of care for their patients and develop new pathways to deliver care, there is now a shift in patient-provider interaction beyond the walls of clinics and hospitals and online.

Telehealth services have long been adopted by physicians for remote monitoring and consultation for good reasons. Not only can physicians monitor their patient’s condition closely without having their patients travel down to meet them, they are also able to provide timely clinical support. This greatly reduces the risk of transmission and infection, especially in the times of a pandemic. This can be achieved with the help of telehealth innovations like Bluetooth enabled blood glucose meters, mobile application to sync data from meters and database management software. Shifting to telehealth services also have longer term benefits, such as having a robust database of their patients’ records, allowing them to track and analyse their patient’s progress.

Source:
Healio.com

How Bluetooth Meter can assist patients with diabetes management

• CodeSens™ Technology to provide the most accurate and reliable results
• SmartLog Mobile App provides enhanced data management capability which allows users to easily download their glucose results from their meter to a computer or mobile device wirelessly
• Comprehensive record of essential data (e.g. Blood glucose value, meal flagging, nutritional intake, weight etc)
• Plots trend charts to reflect changes in blood glucose value over time
• Statistics dashboard based on data inputted
• Logbook to review to data history
• Data can be shared via email or text message with physicians

International Diabetes Federation “Covid-19 & Diabetes”: https://www.idf.org/aboutdiabetes/what-is-diabetes/covid-19-and-diabetes/1-covid-19-and-diabetes.html

World Diabetes Day Website: https://worlddiabetesday.org/