I was asked to rerun this column and respectfully I post it again.
Okay—here is the idea. While we wait for so many things from a cure to better tools for management like a bionic/artificial pancreas; here is my idea.
Knowing one of the BIGGEST fears for parents is losing our child(ren) (or loved one like a spouse or a person with diabetes) while they sleep from a diabetes reaction—I offer the following challenge for better minds than me to work through, and could be done fairly quickly I imagine.
Knowing that tools like the CGM are already in place where a radio frequency is sent from the sensor to the device that reads blood sugar (and I get that it is not perfected yet)—cannot the same radio frequency be utilized to send a low or low trending blood sugar alarm to a device that could be triggered to wake up the entire household with the warning that the person with diabetes may be in trouble. Perhaps at 60—or 55—or perhaps you can set it to the number you like that works best for you. THIS cannot be a far stretch for the device to do from the alarm it is already activating—just make it a real loud activation. REAL LOUD.
Why does it have to be the whole ball of wax for an AP with reading glucose numbers and dispensing insulin and all that yada yada with FDA, algorithms, etc etc etc . (when it comes, great; but we have a long haul before it gets here—this is for the NOW—this is technology available NOW).
JUST WAKE US UP DAMN-IT
Ring bells—turn on lights—send in the cows—-make the frequency trigger something; THIS cannot be all that hard with available technology.
The CGM is already equipped to set of an alarm, based on info it receives from a sensor…right? All I’m saying is to have an ad hoc attachment that can sit on the night stand and get the same frequency that the CGM receives and activate whatever is needed to wake up the entire household when that number from a diabetes reaction is reached.
The answer? Nope. But a step until what we wait for is ready? Yep.
I would sleep a little better…….wouldn’t you?
Send this and share this with everyone and anyone to whoever is out there and willing to listen.
Thoughts?
I am a Diabetes Dad
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