Paula Deen and MTV's True Life: I Have Diabetes

Diabetes has been in the news quite a bit this week with Paula Deen's recent type 2 diabetes declaration and last night's MTV True Life: I Have Diabetes.

I have been tracking and participating in the discussions with the diabetes online community (DOC) via social media on my mobile phone. The primary message that the diabetes online community has been one of noting that the suffering that goes with a chronic disease like diabetes is inevitable but 'You are not alone'. They have also noted that helping each other helps themselves as mentioned here on twitter upon noting the daily struggles of having diabetes in the MTV True Life piece:

When the conversation is healing, as the diabetes online community clearly shouts that it is, mobile health platforms that allow continuation of the conversation become medicine. I am hopeful that by increased recognition, mobile health and 'social medicine' for chronic diseases, like diabetes, will be as common as cough drops and Vicks vapor rub for the common cold...but MUCH more healing!

Pinterest and Health?

If you don't know what Pinterest is? You are in for a very special treat. Think of Pinterest as a beautiful digital corkboard that lets you "pin" your favorites online, whether it's a website, picture, video, or link. It's a great way to collect design inspiration for healthy meals or to gather recipes in one place with a lot of visual cues. And because it's a social site, you also see what other people are pinning and share your own. Here is a screen shot of one of the boards on my profile:

All you do is download the PinIt icon to your favorites toolbar and whenever you come across anything you especially like, you PinIt and it gets logged into your account. No copying links and emailing them, no saving JPEGS. Sooo easy. With the app you're able to access your's and everyone else's pins from your iOS device. If you're out on the town and want a recommendation for a great steak, check out a friend's pins labeled "eating."

I think the pinterest platform provides a great opportunity for mobile health entrepreneurs, particularly in engaging healthy eating behaviors. I personally have found myself EXCITED to try cooking new healthy pinterest recipes in a way that I have not experienced before. What are your thoughts?

Sugar and Mobile Health!

I am currently working on a carbohydrate counting app specifically for people with diabetes so 'sugar' has been on my mind a lot lately. The app is under development so I can't tell you details yet except to say that I am excited about it!



Carbohydates and sugar play a huge role in diabetes (type 1 or type 2). The role is different, however, when it comes to prevention as type 1 diabetes is not caused by 'too much sugar'. However, the role of carbohydrates and sugar in the treatment of all types of diabetes is equally important. Within the medical community, there are those professionals that believe more in the evidence for a low fat diet for wellness versus the low carbohydrate diet for wellness. It is my professional and personal opinion that lower carbohydrate diets are actually the healthiest for anyone who is prone to develop diabetes or who already has diabetes. An excellent summary of the low carbohydrate evidence is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all



Like a lot of Americans, I eat too many carbohydrates when I am eating without mindfulness. Today, I have started a 21 day sugar and carbohydrate detox (supervised by my doctors) so that I can see if this reduces my carbohydrate cravings (made worse by working on my carbohydrate counting app lately). When I am done, I will return to eating carbohydrates but in a lower quantity.

I am using Calorie Tracker by Livestrong.com iPhone app to journal my food entries and my Fitbit pedometer device to keep track of my daily exercise and sleep. And, just so you know, I do not have any disclaimers or financial relationships with any of these companies...I am a health and wellness consumer in this case just like you.

My 2012 Prediction: Action Not Theory

I predict that 2012 will be a year of actions and not just theory in mobile health. This is primarily due to a realignment of payment incentives (or lack of payment) by the Affordable Care Act which will go into action in October. Starting in October, hospitals will be financially penalized for readmitting Medicare patients whose relapses were preventable. Low-cost technology tools such as mobile health programs or remote monitoring devices will pay for themselves — and then some — if they prevent even a single $10,000 hospital readmission.  It is just simple math.


Therefore, I predict that hospital systems and payors will be turning more and more to evidence-based mobile health purchases and implementations that affect health outcomes. My partner Duet Health and the EndoGoddess app are now speaking with several different collaborating partners and will fill you in with details when things become official so stay tuned! Watch for exciting developments for patient-centered, outcome-centered mobile intervention ACTION in 2012!

Holidays and Technology

As a doctor at family gatherings, I am often asked numerous medical questions by family members each year which started during my first year of medical school. But now, as a technology entrepreneur, I get asked technology questions too. Over the holidays, one of the kid's iTouches met the toilet, and appeared to stop working. Tears quickly ensued in the 8 year old little girl's eyes until the 'technology family members' came to the rescue with the special instructions (which they searched for with their smartphones) to bring it back to life: low-grade heat and rice. The first Christmas miracle of the night pictured here.

The second Christmas miracle of the night came in the form of new interest in mobile technology from an older relative who still finds email intimidating. However, she's finding herself  now open to the idea of smartphones for their ease in sending pictures to her grandchildren. Mobile technology just feels more approachable to her than PCs, and now she may soon be purchasing an iPhone!

Smartphones and tablets dominated my family's and friend's wish lists this year so it wasn't a surprise to me that a lot of app shopping seemed to be occuring on Christmas day. I'm super excited to report that the EndoGoddess app picked up a batch of new customers thanks to all of those 'technology family members' in living rooms across the country on Christmas day!

A New Year and A New App?

The end of the year is approaching and we are all likely planning how we are going to convert our new years resolutions into actions. For organizations such as hospital systems or for individual physicians practices, perhaps mobile health is on that list. A great first step to putting that resolution into action is reaching out to a mobile partner. My partner (and disclaimer, happily my employer too) is Duet Health by eProximiti. Duet Health is building great white-label apps (including the EndoGoddess App) from the ground up. Here is a demo:

Will we be building your app be next?? :)

How A Diabetes Pilot Study Led To App Development

The EndoGoddess App developed from the seeds of a diabetes SMS texting pilot study that I created and executed in 2010. The pilot study showed how weekly standardized texting conversations between the physician and teen patients could improve health outcomes. This piece was filmed August 2010 at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio by NBC: