
How ML Helps Diabetic People - fessa
http://www.glucoguide.com
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barneso
I'm a diabetic (type one, since 1988) who has also been doing ML startups for
the last 15 years. My HbA1C scores have always been below 6, controlled with a
two to four blood test per day and long/short (currently Novorapid and Lantus)
insulin regime. I've always been sporty, and have done some more difficult
things like hiking to Everest base camp without a porter, cycling from
Montreal to Lake Placid and back, and a few 24 hour rogaining events. In other
words, broadly I've managed my diabetes quite well.

I've always been tempted to do something with ML and the datasets I collect
off my own body, but I have never seen this point. In my experience, the thing
that allows for good diabetic control is a doctor who can help a person
understand their own body's reaction as a dynamic system, rather than a rigid
schedule or an external system that tells them what to do. A product like this
would be most useful in my opinion as a learning aid.

The place I see this kind of data being extremely useful is in the insurance
industry. I currently pay a 400% premium on my life insurance due to being
diabetic, but my control is extremely good. Were it to allow me to obtain
reasonable insurance coverage, I'd be more likely to be willing to go through
the data collection headaches involved with this kind of product.

~~~
fessa
The professor who started this ML company actually did what you mentioned.

His Hb1aC a number of years ago was a a bit over 12%, which is dangerous, and
he ran data analytics on himself to see how he could reduce it. Now he's at
6.4%.

He then turned it into an app, with some multi-food image recognition, did a
clinical study at a university, and started bringing it into market.

I agree, the insurance issue is a two sided headache, they want to charge more
and more while you want to pay less because you know it's for your own good be
be healthy.

But nevertheless, we started reaching out to a few insurance companies: any
particular suggestions you have in mind though?

~~~
barneso
That is a good origin story! I would contend though that it was the performing
of the data analytics on himself (which helped keep it top of mind and helped
him to develop an internal model) that was the most helpful. People simply
using the app may find it less so. (Not trying to dump on the product, merely
giving my thought processes when I decided not to in the past).

