Diabetes prevention: Apple worked on new app
Apple's employees were able to test an application over a longer period of time to keep their blood sugar under control. But will it be published?
Diabetes measurement via smartphone: Apple is not yet making an offer here.
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So far, the Apple Watch has not been able to determine the wearer's blood sugar – even though Apple has been working on this feature internally for years. Now the company is said to have at least internally tested an app that can help people without such a sensor to prevent a prediabetes condition from becoming true type 2 diabetes. However, it remains unclear whether it will ever be released to the public.
Storing food, understanding connections
The test is said to have run until this year and involved selected people who had already been diagnosed with prediabetes by means of a blood test. In addition to the app, they also used regular blood glucose meters available on the market to log the values in the app – together with the food consumed –. The background idea was to show people how certain foods affect blood sugar, according to the financial news agency Bloomberg, which spoke to sources at Apple.
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For example, if a user ate pasta and then noticed a rise in blood sugar, they could be told that it would be better to switch to a high-protein diet. Among other things, the experiments were intended to help investigate ways in which blood sugar data could be incorporated into a future Apple Health product. At the moment, the central health application does not yet have any "food logging" option – in contrast to competing products.
A long-standing project
Even if Apple does not succeed in giving the Apple Watch an accurate sensor, the company could at least integrate third-party offerings – There have long been sensors that can be permanently attached to the body.
However, the company is said to have made progress with its attempts to implement non-invasive glucose monitoring. Apple already had its first projects in this area 15 years ago. However, it could still be years before commercialization. According to Bloomberg, the current app project was only indirectly linked to the blood glucose monitoring project. It is conceivable that Apple will initially only display glucose deviations and warn of a prediabetes status, for example, but will not pass on exact measurement values.
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