April 6th, 2016 Developing Good Habits
A good habit I developed over the years of my diabetes is to log (daily if possible) readings of my glucose levels, blood pressure and heart beat. If the readings are out of range from my normal numbers, I do it more than once. I need to be honest, though, there are times when I forget to monitor my blood pressure or check my glucose level. What can I say except that I'm human right?
Why am I doing this? Mainly because the doctor like to look at the logbook to check how well I am doing since my last visit.
How do I keep this log? There are several ways, the simplest being just a paper log. You are welcome to download the log and use it immediately.
Let me just explain the set-up of this low-tech log. There are six columns:
- Date (mm/dd/yy)
- Time
- Blood Pressure (Remember most blood pressure monitors tracks not only the systolic and diastolic, but also the heart rate. The systolic reading is the higher number showing the pressure in the arteries when the heart muscle contracts. The second number is the diastolic and this measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart muscle is resting between beats and refilling with blood. More details are available in the American Heart Association’s web site, heart.org.
- Systolic
- Diastolic
- Heart Rate
- Glucose Level
For every low-tech solution to the logbook, there are many more high-tech solutions. If you have a smart phone, there is most likely an app that you can log this information. For iPhone users, a health app is available and it looks like this. There is a dashboard where one controls which information you want to store and display. Android phones have similar apps.
Another smart phone application, Glucose Buddy, is a Diabetes Logbook Manager w/syncing, Blood Pressure and Weight Tracking, The developer is Azumio Inc.
Other web-based applications are available as well. For example, MySugars, an app from www.mydiabeteshome.com displays sugar levels in actionable charts and graphs together with high and low blood sugar levels.
Do not forget, regardless of whether you use a low-tech or high-tech solution, the objective is to monitor these very important statistics in order for you and your doctor to manage your diabetes.
