Managing Blood Glucose and Exercise at Thriveabetes 2018

One of the most ask questions in the online diabetes community is in relation to managing blood glucose and exercise, fitness, or any physical activity when you live with type 1 diabetes. The challenge of exercise reducing glucose levels dramatically, even hours afterwards, and the frustration of having to replace the glucose burned with extra calories put people off for many years.But now we have more research and more knowledge on the science and exercise is less frustrating.

We have brought the expertise of Dr. Alistair Lumb, amateur cyclist James O’Reilly and former senior county GAA footballer, Kevin Nolan. Here’s a little of what we have in store.

DR ALISTAIR LUMB

Type 1 diabetes; Managing Blood Glucose and Exercise

Alistair is a Consultant in Diabetes and Acute General Medicine at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He is also one of the key organizers of the OneTouch Sports Weekend (formerly known as the Animas Sports Weekend) in the UK since it began. Thriveabetes exhibition coordinator, Christine Meehan, who has been an enthusiastic cyclist, runner, boot camp participant for many years, attended this event last October and said she learned so, so much from it.

JAMES O’REILLY

Diabetes & Exercise - My Personal Experience

James was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2006, when he was 19 and only developed a passion for cycling in 2013.

However, based on medical advice, he was only doing rides of up to two hours in duration and it was only out of curiosity that he did a google search for “professional athletes with type 1 diabetes” that he realized he could go beyond. He started following the NovoNordisk Team Type 1 professional cycling team and broke through that barrier.

In 2015, James was featured in an Irish Times article because he took part in the 2015 mHealth Grand Tour which involved a 1,500km cycle with 20,000 metres of climbing over 10 days with 26 riders, all with type 1 diabetes.

And in 2016, he took part in Team Novo Nordisk’s Development Camp. James wrote a blog post for Thriveabetes just before he went off on this trip. You can read more here.

Follow James on: Facebook  Twitter @semajoreilly

KEVIN NOLAN

Diabetes Doesn’t Stop You Type 1 Adult Panel

Kevin Nolan is a former Gaelic footballer for Dublin Senior team and continues to play for Kilmacud Crokes. He played on the team when they won the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship for the first time in sixteen years. Kevin was named the man of the match in that game.

Four days after experiencing the euphoria of Dublin winning the 2011 All Ireland Football Final, he was diagnosed Coeliac disease. Three months after that, in December, he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. After weeks of sitting out training he did finally get back out with the team and played to another victory in 2013. He no longer plays at Senior level and is a teacher based in Lucan.

Follow Kevin on Twitter @KevinNolan7

THRIVEABETES CONFERENCE INFORMATION

Saturday, February 24th 2018 The Red Cow Hotel, Naas Road, Dublin. ADVANCED REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED Includes a hot lunch and refreshments valued at €25.

Additional Information;

Full Conference Programme and schedule

Venue Information (Getting there and Staying there)

Speaker Profiles (still waiting on a couple of speaker biographies and photos)

Register Here.

If cycling or football isn’t your thing here are a couple more Irish Sporting Role Models.

IRISH SPORTING DIABETES ROLE MODELS

Stephen Clancy Professional cyclist from Limerick diagnosed at 19, member of Team NovoNordisk aiming to make it into the 2021 Tour de France.

George Clancy, IRFU International Rugby Referee

Alan Sothern Irish international hockey player

Mary Flynn, dietician and show jumper dxd aged 41 DI mag Autumn 2010

Catherine Brady World Champion Kick

Kenneth Sweeney, Former Senior County footballer in Sligo

Alan Kernaghan Former ROI Footballer

Smarter Contour Next One Diabetes App

On the 12th December, Ascensia (formerly Bayer) announced an improved version of the Contour Next One App which accompanies the Contour Next One glucose meter. I spoke with Joseph Delahunty, Global Head of Communications just before Christmas where he explained the new features. I did a trial with the Contour Next One blood glucose meter and app back in December 2016 and this is my review of the product back then.

One of the new features that I am pleased with is the “Data Export” to any software programme feature. This means that you can upload to the software programmes that you’re other diabetes devices us. Another is the "Text Reminders".

The feature that Ascensia is most excited by is the “My Patterns” feature which notifies and prompts you of the patterns it has identified and then makes suggestions to you on how to address those patterns.

As an insulin pump user, the app doesn’t work for me because I can’t input exact insulin doses to 2 decimal places. However, if anyone out there would like to try this meter and app and would like to write a review I would love to hear from you.

Here is the Ascensia Press Release detailing the new features. There are links to find out more about the meter and app at the very bottom.

ASCENSIA DIABETES CARE LAUNCHES SMARTER VERSION OF CONTOUR®DIABETES APP WITH NEW FEATURES TO SUPPORT SELF-MANAGEMENT

Newbury, United Kingdom, 12th December, 2017 - Today, Ascensia Diabetes Care has announced the launch of its upgraded version of the CONTOUR®DIABETES app in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It includes the new My Patterns feature, which can more intelligently analyse blood glucose results received from the CONTOUR®NEXT ONE meter, providing personalised meaningful feedback to help improve diabetes self-management for patients. This new release will be available from today in the Apple App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android).

The CONTOUR®DIABETES app seamlessly connects to the CONTOUR®NEXT ONE blood glucose meter.

MY PATTERNS FEATURE

The My Patterns feature on the upgraded CONTOUR®DIABETES app analyses data received from the meter to identify and notify the user of sub-optimal patterns in their blood glucose readings. Once it has notified the user that a pattern has been identified, the CONTOUR®DIABETES app will prompt users about the possible causes of the pattern and provide guidance to help address it. It allows patients to set reminders or use testing plans to help improve their sub-optimal blood glucose patterns, and will track their progress to see if the pattern improves over time.

The latest version of the app includes the ability to recognise 14 different patterns and includes 11 different structured testing plans. The app will continue to evolve in the future to include additional patterns and testing plans, as well as adding new features and functionality.

My Patterns has been developed using behavioural science concepts and is based on the Information, Motivation and Behavioural Skills model for chronic diseases that was pioneered by psychologist Dr William Fisher. The basis of this model is that people with diabetes need actionable information, motivation to act on that information and specific behavioural skills, in order to make changes that can improve the management of their diabetes. Studies that have assessed this model have demonstrated that the presence of all three elements of this model in people with diabetes are associated with more frequent blood glucose testing and improved self-management actions

The My Patterns feature of the CONTOUR®DIABETES app is designed to support the user in these three areas and support more effective self-management, enabled by technology. Heather Daly, Independent Nurse Consultant, commented: “Self-management is critical in diabetes.

One of the keys to effective diabetes self-management for patients is to provide them with tools that can help them to understand how their lifestyle or activities affect their diabetes and how they can make adjustments. Digital and mobile technologies have significant potential to assist people with diabetes improve their self-management behaviours through personalised solutions. The new CONTOUR®DIABETES app represents a real advance in the use of data for diabetes management by identifying sub-optimal patterns and providing tailored reminders that can support patients in making improvements.”

Ros Barker, Country Head UK and Ireland for Ascensia Diabetes Care, said: “This latest upgrade to the CONTOUR®DIABETES app provides patients with a smarter tool that can help to make the self-management of their diabetes easier. We are very excited to be able to bring this new innovation to people with diabetes. At Ascensia we are listening to feedback from people with diabetes about their needs, and are continuing to invest in the further development of the CONTOUR®DIABETES app, so that we can provide solutions that make diabetes self-management better, easier and smarter.”

CONTOUR®NEXT ONE ACCURACY

The CONTOUR®NEXT ONE blood glucose monitoring system has remarkable accuracy and published study data has shown that it exceeds the EN ISO 15197:2015 accuracy criteria in both the laboratory and clinical setting. The study showed that 95% of results were within ±0.47 mmol/L or ±8.4% of the laboratory reference values for glucose concentrations <5.55 mmol/L or ≥ 5.55 mmol/L respectively, when tested via subject obtained fingerstick.

For more information, visit www.contournextone.co.uk (UK) and www.contournextone.ie (Republic of Ireland).

Our year in review

We are winding down the Thriveabetes planning for 2017 and taking a well earned break for the holidays. This is always a good point to say "Thank You" for the outpouring of support we have received in planning an event like Thriveabetes and how grateful we are for all of that support. Thriveabetes would not happen if our community did not support it - thank you so much for every "like", comment, share, click and subscription. If you are new to Thriveabetes or new to the diabetes "club" I've put together a mini review of our 2017.

Here are some of our 2017 highlights for us.

October

As 2017 began, we launched into planning our next major Thriveabetes event at a level that was sustainable by our team of volunteers. In October, we opened registration to Thriveabetes 2018 which takes place on Saturday 24th February in The Red Cow Hotel, Dublin. As of this morning, we have 135 people registered with children's’ places filling up fast.

Advanced booking is required to attend. We do urge people to register early as last year we completely sold out two weeks before and had a huge waiting list that we couldn't accommodate.

People can register on our website here.

Our event focuses on the everyday challenges of living with type 1 diabetes and we have speakers from the US, UK and from all over Ireland. Learn more about our speakers here.

August

The Kavanagh Family in Naas pulled out all the stops to help us raise the funds we needed to make sure that the cost of an event like Thriveabetes 2018 is completely covered. They organised a concert with some amazing artists including Luka Bloom.

May

We were very fortunate to have Dr. Stephen Ponder, author of “Sugar Surfing” visit Ireland and ask us to organise a workshop on this method of managing glucose levels in the real world. Here’s is my review of what I learned at it.

Guest Posts from the Diabetes Community

We love it when members of the community send us their stories to share and we hope to continue to share stories from the diabetes community in 2018. Here's a collections of those stories:

• Managing Type 1 Diabetes in College by Emma Wright, pwd
• Finding Diabetes Support by Davina Lyon, pwd
• Taking Diabetes to Mount Kilimanjaro by Michael Murphy, pwd
• Diabetes on The Four Peaks of Ireland by Kieran Flanagan, pwd
• Nightscout Diabetes Management by Susan McGrath, D-Mum
• It's not JUST my Diabetes by Eimear Downey, pwd
• Diabetes OFFline support is Important too by Pam Kavanagh, D-Mum
• Bright Spots and Landmines; Book Review by Niamh Downes, pwd
• Run, Rebecca, Run by Rebecca Flanagan, D-Mum
• Diabetes Project by the Sunrise Foundation by Matilda Chongwa, founder of the Sunrise Foundation

January 2018

In the new year, fully recharged, it will be all systems go for Thriveabetes 2018: confirming exhibitors and sponsors, spreading the word through the diabetes community and looking forward to an A-MAZING day on Saturday 24th February.

Thank You for your Support

None of this would be possible without our team of volunteers and the huge support we get from the diabetes community. And the main mission of Thriveabetes is to introduce as many people with diabetes as possible to peer support. For each of us finding diabetes peer support is so important to helping us manage our diabetes. I feel these images and quotes from the International Diabetes Federation’s World Diabetes Congress go a long way to explain just how much your support means to us.

“Peer support isn't about asking for help, it’s meeting other people, seeing what & how they do it- and replicate. It's just like babies learn! @grumpy_pumper #IDF2017 #doc #dedoc”

This image taken by Bastian Hauck, @tadorna, created by Manny Hernandez, @AskManny, founder of the Diabetes Hands Foundation is the best illustration I’ve seen on how peer support bridges the gap between people with diabetes and healthcare professionals.

To all of you we give you our deepest thanks and hope that you will continue to give us your feedback to improve Thriveabetes all the time.

Happy Christmas!

From the Team: Gráinne, Christine, Ken, Brian, Roisin, Eimear, Davina, and Paula.