From: MWOLFE@WVNVAXA.WVNET.EDU ("Michael D. Wolfe") Date: 29 Dec 1994 11:09:10 GMT Organization: West Virginia Network Message-ID: Newsgroups: misc.health.diabetes,misc.answers,news.answers Archive-name: diabetes/software Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 28 Nov 1994 Information Technology Resources to Support Persons Involved with Diabetes Copyright 1994 by Michael Wolfe. Re-use beyond the fair use provisions of copyright law and convention requires the author's permission. Introduction There are now many information technology products that can help with diabetes management. These include a variety of software and other on-line information resources. Software is now available for meal planning and information recording. In addition, for users of meters with memory and download features, there is now software that can automatically download readings and display them in more informative ways than the usual logbook. Most of this review is about these programs to download data from Touch II meters; however, I have started to add information about other software, as well as other on-line information sources, both commercial providers and the Internet. So far, I have found one ftp site and one Web site. I also mention America Online and Compuserve. I haven't had time to check the other commercial information providers, but Prodigy and some of the other providers also have some resources to aid with diabetes management.. Basically, then, this article is divided into three parts: I. Software to download and analyze blood glucose readings from home monitoring devices II. Other software (nutritional databases, logbooks, etc.) III. Other Electronic Information Resources Software to download and analyze blood glucose readings from home monitoring devices Many authors have written software (of varying degrees of sophistication) to help with home diabetes management. The programs are available for many machines and many operating systems. The majority of the programs are what I would call "Electronic Logbooks," i.e., record-keeping programs which require users to type in their blood glucose levels. Some of these electronic logbooks also allow the entry of other data such as insulin, meals, exercise, etc. Many of these programs may be found on America Online and Compuserve. Searching for more programs on these services is discussed at the end of this review. At least one program is available for free over the Internet, and one is available for free from the meter manufacturer. This section covers those packages that will download data from a meter. An initial search turned up only a few readily available software programs. The last of these works with the Glucometer(R) M and with the Glucometer(R) M+; the other programs work with the Lifescan One Touch meter. All these programs run in DOS or Windows on a standard PC. I have found no "turn-key" Macintosh applications at this time; however, Mac users can download to a Mac with a terminal emulator and chart the data with any charting program (I use Excel and Delta Graph). Also (again in the interest of completeness) a Macintosh program is under development and the user interface (with nothing behind it) is available for perusal on Compuserve. The Touch II programs are described first. The first two are free, the rest are commercial products or shareware. Finally, I have reproduced (without comment) a description of the software for the Glucometer M/M+. This description was emailed to me by Chris Trippel The programs are reviewed below. ------------------ Software for the Lifescan One Touch meters 1. UTILITY, the Lifescan-provided utility software This is the most accessible program: Lifescan will provide this program at no cost to U.S. users who call their 800 number on the back of the meter (1-800-277-8862 US; 1-800-663-5521 Canada). Anyone wishing to download their One Touch data must call this number for a cable. Lifescan will then send the cable (which is required by all the other programs), and will also send a copy of the program at no charge. It only took me about two weeks to get the cable, but it took me about six weeks to get the software since it was out of stock and had to be backordered. Other people report receiving the software rather quickly, then having to wait for the cable. Requirements: A PC running DOS. Lifescan will send you the necessary cable and software. Review: This program downloads a One Touch or Touch 2 meter to a PC. It does not perform any analysis or graphing. The manual suggests that the data may be analyzed with a spreadsheet and shows how the data looks when opened into Microsoft Excel for Windows. Details on how to do this are not provided in the manual. This is a very basic program, but may be all that some people need. The downloaded data can be imported into some of the electronic logbooks available. One advantage to this program is that it works for most meter settings, since it does not try to analyze the data. The user need know nothing about COM ports or BAUD rates, the program automatically selects the correct settings. It may not work if the language has been changed to anything other than English or Spanish, and will not work if the meter has been used with the old Lifescan Datamanager until the communications settings have been reset to the factory settings. For most users, it will work with no problems, except for printing. Instructions for printing have a typo, they should say: PRINT/D:LPT1, (the manual says PRINT D:/LPT1, which is wrong). In any case, users MUST call the number on the back of their meter in order to get the cable that comes with the program. Excel, Lotus, or Quattro power users may find that this program is all that they need. 2. TOUCH2 by Vic Abell The second option, written by Victor A. Abell, is described in the FAQ for misc.health.diabetes. This information is repeated below: > My MS-DOS program, called TOUCH2, will possibly do what you want. > It is available via anonymous ftp from vic.cc.purdue.edu in > pub/touch2.zip or pub/touch2.tar.Z. > > If you do not have ftp access, you can get a copy of a TOUCH2 > distribution file by email by sending an email letter to: > > ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com > > In the body of the letter put: > > reply > connect vic.cc.purdue.edu anonymous > chunksize 100000 > binary > uuencode > get /pub/touch2.zip > quit > > If you want touch2.tar.Z instead, put its name in place of touch2.zip > in the "get" directive. If you want btoa encoding instead of > uuencoding, replace the "uuencode" line with "btoa". > > CAUTION: MUST be RFC822-compliant -- e.g., > abe@cc.purdue.edu or 99999.9999@CompuServe.COM. > > > Vic Abell > The program is also available on Compuserve, in the Diabetes forum. It may be accessed by typing GO DIABETES Library: 9 Download: Touch2.zip Review: TOUCH2 is very easy to use. It downloads the data from the meter and displays both the numeric glucose levels and a graph. It provides average blood sugar readings, as well as average checkstrip and control readings. It also allows users to set all the adjustments on their meters from their PC, e.g., to turn the beep on or off, set for US or metric readings, etc. Printing the graph is done with DOS characters, so it provides the basic information, but does not look as attractive as a more sophisticated graphics program. Users wishing nice graphs can import the data into a graphics package. For programmers, source code is available, so any desired feature can be added by anyone with a C compiler. One drawback is that users must have ftp and pkware, and know how to use them. Users without ftp access to the internet must have a good email package. This is "freeware", so limited support is available. Another drawback is that this is a DOS program that may be incompatible with Windows. Based on one internet posting, some users have had trouble getting the program to work in a DOS window under Windows; however, I had no problems getting the program to function in a DOS Window. A final problem is that the program does not do a great deal more than the Lifescan utility. My doctor found the output hard to interpret. She wanted a program which graphs all fasting readings separately, all noon readings, etc. Again, source is distributed, so programmers can add all these features, and the program is free. The single graph, while disparaged by my doctor, did provide her with enough information, just not in as accessible a form as she would like. Requirements: This software runs on any DOS machine. It does not even require a hard drive, since the program will fit on a single 360K floppy. The user will, however, need the Lifescan cable, available for free by calling the toll-free number on the back of the meter. The current version is not guaranteed to work with Windows, although I have been able to run it in a DOS Window. For someone with ftp access, the zip file mentioned above requires PKUNZIP version 2 or later. For someone without ftp access, the ftpmail version arrives uuencoded in two parts. My mail package (Pegasus) cannot handle two-part uuencoded files, so I was unable to use the ftpmailed version. Basically, anyone who must use ftpmail is dependent on having a good email package on their system. Vic Abell sent me a number of suggestions that I tried to get the mailed version to work, for which I thank him; however, none of them worked with my email package. There is also a Unix (R) tar version. The diabetic community owes Vic Abell a debt of thanks for writing this program and making it freely available. --------------- Aside: the above instructions for getting touch2 from vic.cc.purdue.edu apply to getting software from ftp.demon.co.uk, as well as other ftp sites. --------------- 3. OTVIEW by Merritt Island Technologies This program is shareware Cost: $25.00, if download, $29.00 if disk is ordered by mail, $30.45 if ordered by credit card. Available for downloading from ftp.demon.co.uk, Compuserve, and many local bulletin boards, including their own SPACECON BBS (407) 459-0969. More information can be obtained by writing to Tom.McKeever@mit.com or to TOM MCKEEVER MERRITT ISLAND TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 253 MERRITT SQUARE, SUITE 616 MERRITT ISLAND, FL 32952 Requirements: Any PC with DOS 2.1 or later and a little over 200K of memory, i.e., almost any PC acquired in the last 5 years. It can run from Windows, although it is a DOS program, and it supports a Mouse. To use the graphics, an EGA or VGA graphics adapter is required. The PC must have a modem port as well. Finally, the free cable obtained from Lifescan with Utility is required. The program does not require a hard drive in order to run: it will fit on a 360K floppy disk. Like TOUCH2, if downloaded as a ZIP file, it does require PKUNZIP. If obtained by ftpmail, the same problems mentioned in the TOUCH2 review may be encountered. Review: I found this program easier to install and use than TOUCH2, and better documented; on the other hand, it costs $25 more than Touch2. Like TOUCH2, OTVIEW provides basic downloading and graphics. Unfortunately, my diabetologist does not find the output from any of the above programs very useful: she needs Morning, Noon, Evening, and Bedtime readings provided separately. I would probably use TOUCH2 or UTILITY, both of which are free, rather than pay $25 for this program. 4. Diabetics Assistant by Douglas Williams This program is shareware. Cost: $30.00 Available for downloading from America Online, Compuserve, or by writing Douglas A. Williams 13725 174th Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 This is available on ftp.demon.co.uk in 3 files. Requirements: Windows 3.1, Dos 3.3 or later, 286 processor, 2 MD RAM, 2.5 MB free hard drive space, mouse or other pointing device. Review: This is a nice Windows-based point and click program, but is written by a red-blooded American for red-blooded Americans (:-). i.e., the program cannot be configured to accept data from any meter that has been changed from standard US settings. A cryptic error message ensues if the meter has been changed to another language, MMOL, or European date formats. Baud rate cannot be set in the program, but must be set on the meter to 9600. The meter cannot be configured at all from the program. The program will take the data and produce a facsimile of a normal (i.e. paper) logbook for users who prefer the old-style data display. Some doctors prefer this format, and this program allows users to check their blood with their One Touch, then generate the log book just before their scheduled visit to the doctor. Color 3-D graphs are also available. The logbook will have readings for fasting, noon, dinner, and bedtime. The user can use the meter event codes for fasting, normal, bedtime, etc. The program can then graph each event code separately. This is shareware, and some users may experience difficulty. My only real complaint with this program is that it is somewhat difficult to install. As I mentioned above, it is only compatible with the standard US settings on the Touch 2 meter. It also requires the user to understand the SHARE utility. My own experience was that, fifteen minutes before my scheduled appointment with my doctor, I tried to download the readings from my meter, and the program crashed my PC. The problem is that my PC was set up with SHARE installed using the defaults. A message is provided if SHARE has not been installed at all. Diabetics Assistant requires that SHARE be installed with /L:500. Again, this is shareware, so users must carefully read the install manual. Once properly installed, the program will satisfy most users' requirements. Apparently, Ian Preece has used this program with almost no problems (once he changed his meter from European units to American units.) (Thanks to Ed Reid for sending me a copy of this program to review.) (Also note that Ian Preece is planning to put this on his anonymous ftp site. He has also written a much more extensive review and posted it to the site.) 5. Biostore L Cost: $49.95. Call 1-800-435-1992 (orders) 1-805-288-1301 (information only) This will be reviewed in a future update. 6. Diastats 2.0 Cost $29.95 + 3.50 S&H Call 1-800-252-7492 or write Orchard Enterprises P.O. Box 847 La Miranda, CA 90637 --------------- Software for Glucometer meters. 7. Glucofacts(R)+ Diabetes Management System software This software works with the Glucometer M and M+ meters. Cost: $49.95. Call: 1-800-348-8100. I don't have a Glucometer M, so the following is a descriptions sent to me by the manufacturer. The following facts about the Glucofacts software were sent to me by Chris Trippel. Mr. Trippel's information is reproduced here without comment. -------------------------------cut here------------------------------ The following is a description of the Glucofacts(R)+ Diabetes Management System software. Miles Inc., Diagnostics Division developed the Glucofacts(R)+ Diabetes Management System to collect data from Glucometer(R) M and Glucometer(R) M+ Blood Glucose Meters, store the data in files, and integrate this data into a complete series of useful statistical reports and graphs which can be evaluated on-screen or via hard copy. It is ... is easy to use. ...saves time. ...provides an efficient means for displaying meter data. ...provides an efficient means for maintaining cohesive and thorough Glucometer histories. Notes: Glucofacts+ DMS runs in the DOS environment. The Glucofacts+ DMS version 2.01 ships on 3 1/2" disk only. There is no demo software. The price for the Glucofacts+ DMS version 2.01 is $49.95. The product code is 5044B. The Glucofacts+ DMS version 2.01 (5044B) can be ordered by calling 1-800-348-8100. You will be asked to provide the serial number on your Glucometer M+/M. For more information on data management products such as Glucofacts+ DMS please contact: Miles Inc. - 1-800-348-8100 Thank you for your interest in Glucofacts+ DMS. Chris Trippel =============End of Part I================= II. Other Software Programs (Nutritional Databases, etc.) ---------------------- Commercial Logbooks (these programs track your data like paper logbooks, but do not download from a meter). All track test results, insulin, and meals. MedMaster System: Windows Cost: $59 Phone: 1-800-455-4GSC Glucostat System: Windows Cost: $55+S&H Phone: 1-800-774-4448 ------------------------- Food Databases The MEALMATE.ZIP on ftp.demon.co.uk is a typical example of a shareware food database. It has exchange equivalents for many common foods, and a recipe function that adds ingredients to compute the exchange equivalent of the recipe. It is a simple, easy to use program, although a cracker was listed as a meat exchange, so, like all shareware, it is to be used at the user's risk. The author requests donations of whatever the user thinks the program is worth. A number of food databases are available from Nutrisoft for persons with heart problem, obesity, etc. The one most relevant to this group is Diabetic Nutrition. All these databases are available from Nutrisoft, P.O. Box 8226 Stanford, CA 94309. The cost is $39 per copy. The entire database includes approximately 10,000 food items. Shareware versions may be obtained from America Online, Compuserve, ftp.cica.indiana.edu in /pub/pc/win3/misc/nsdn33.zip (URL: ftp://ftp.cica.indiana.edu/pub/pc/win3/misc/nsdn33.zip) This has been submitted to ftp.demon.co.uk as well, but is not yet available. These programs, while distributed as shareware, are commercial quality with a nice user interface and a large database of food items. They also have nutritional information based on current weight, activity level, etc. They can be reached by email at NutriSoft@aol.com ================End of Part II===================== Part III. Other Electronic Information Resources FTP Site Ian Preece has also set up an anonymous ftp site just for diabetes related programs at ftp.demon.co.uk He has an article about this site and how to use it in this newsgrous. Readers with ftp or a good mail program can get software from this site; as of September 1994, very few programs were available. I found a meal planning program, MEALMATE.ZIP, a simple meter reading program, OTVIEW.ZIP, and the Diabetic Assistant as of October 1994, but I expect many other shareware and freeware programs will be posted here over the next few weeks. A brief discussion of ftp and ftpmail is in the FAQ (general) by Ed Reid, and is repeated below in the section on getting the Touch2 program by Vic Abell. Web Site For those with a web viewer, the following URL has a great deal of diabetes related information: http://islet.medsch.wisc.edu This is maintained by the University of Wisconsin Childrens Diabetes Center, and includes connections to the American , the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Canadian Diabetes Association, and the British Diabetes Association. Commercial Services Software, discussion and support groups, and general information on diabetes are available from America Online, Compuserve, and Prodigy. Compuserve proabably has the most extensive collection of information, but is also the most expensive (as of this writing) and I, personally, found it the most difficult to use. Browing Diabetes Related information and downloading software on America Online and Prodigy costs $3/hour. Compuserve costs about $4/hour. All three are frequently changing rates and plans, so these rates may have changed by now. America Online I find this the easiest to use. For example, for users who want to download software, America Online has three versions: DOS, Windows, and Macintosh, and each version has a file search tool which will find all programs for that operating system by keyword. The "Diabetes" keyword will find about a dozen programs, total. There are three Mac programs. All are written in Hypercard, and all are electronic logbooks that require manual data entry. One is a day-by-day calendar for 1990, the second is the 1990 calendar updated for 1993, and the third is yet another Hypercard stack for manually entering your blood sugar readings, along with some general information on diabetes. There are also four logbooks for windows and DOS: Control Diabetes, for Windows, a $29 shareware program from Nutrisoft, Blood Glucose Program, a freeware program for DOS written with a dbase compiler (I'm not sure which one); diabetic glucose monitor, a $5.00 Geos shareware program (I can't even read the instructions without a copy of Geos); and sugar31, a $20.00+$2.00 shipping DOS shareware program written in Clipper. (Thanks to Ed Reid who sent me copies of these programs to review.) Compuserve. A large library of programs is available on Compuserve, but I, personally, had difficult finding and downloading them. Compuserve has two tools, IBMFF and MACFF which search some of the forums for programs for the appropriate operating system, but the diabetes forums are not searched by these software searching tools, so only about four programs (none very useful) turn up in an IBMFF or MACFF search. Searching is somewhat easier with a navigator program such as CIM. Without the CIM, Compuserve is rather user-hostile, and even with the CIM, Compuserve can be difficult to use to find relevant Diabetes information and software. In addition to the America Online programs, one interesting program I only found on Compuserve is Fast Monitor. This is written as Windows DLL files which are accessed via an Excel macro. While I found this interesting (and at least one person on the Compuserve forum really likes it, I couldn't get this to work. For those who get this program to work, Compuserve also has a macro that is an add-on to FastMonitor, called Arrange, which has been recommended as a very useful add-on to FastMonitor. Compuserve has several other programs for downloading, as well as logbooks. Future reviews will include these programs.