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Summary: Discusses software available to aid in the management of diabetes,    
   with an emphasis on packages that download data from blood glucose meters.
X-Last-Updated: 1997/04/18
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Archive-name: diabetes/software
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 18 Apr 97

	Information Technology Resources to Support Persons 
		Involved with Diabetes
    

Copyright 1994,1995, 1996 by Michael Wolfe. Re-use beyond the fair use
provisions of copyright law and convention requires the author's permission. 


New since Jan posting:  New Download information for Michael Patterson's
				Diabetic Meter Utility
						
	
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 several Web sites. 

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 (ftp, Web, commercial sources)


Acknowledgements: Vic Abell gets special mention for his help, as does 
Jo Anne Jacques who sent in two programs I haven't seen anywhere
else. Biostore corporation and Medmaster donated copies of their
commercial software. Thanks also to Ed Reid who sent me a number of
programs to review and helped me get started with this review.

Commercial Software Product of the Quarter: Mellitus Manager Version 4.0
   I. 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. Most programs started out as what I would
call "Electronic Logbooks," i.e., record-keeping programs which require users
to type into their PC all the info that was formerly written in a paper
logbook, including their blood glucose levels insulin, meals, exercise, etc.
Another class of program, however, uses meters with memory and serial
output ports to allow users to record the information on their meter and
later download it for analysis. Today, the two are converging, with the
older logbooks getting download features, and the older downloading programs
proving users the capability of entering other relevant data.
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 two programs are available for free over the Internet (one, Touch 2,
works on both DOS machines and on Unix machines, and the other, BloodPlot
works on the Macintosh). In addition, the manufacturers of the memory
meters generally sell programs for their meters.

This section covers only those packages that will download data from a meter.
Note that some are intended to be used in physician's offices, while others are
aimed at the home users. A few are intended to be used in a form of
client/server (abuse of term?) mode, in which the patient's program downloads
data from the meter and transmits the information to the physician over some
telecommunication channel, while the physician's program keeps a database
of all patient information, analyzes it, and presents the data to the physician
in a variety of online formats.

I have a tendency to judge the programs based on my own needs, which is to
download data from my meter as easily as possible and present it in a
paper-based form acceptable to my (computer illiterate) diabetologist. 

The programs are grouped as follows:

Section A are programs for the Lifescan Touch2 meter
Section B are programs that download data from other meters.

Most these programs run in DOS or Windows on a standard PC, but Eric Jensen has
written a freeware program for the Macintosh in MacPerl. 

On DOS or Windows machines, IRQ conflict problems are the most common reason
why a program won't work. The Touch2 distribution by Vic Abell
(ftp://vic.cc.purdue.edu/pub/touch2.zip) explains what to do. Also, Biostore
has offered to help people with this problem if they call 1-805-250-9709. 

The programs are reviewed below.

------------------
Section A. Software for the Lifescan One Touch meters

Note: to download data from a One Touch meter it is necessary to obtain
a cable from Lifescan. The cable is proprietary (it is not just an 
RS232.) The cable is $5.00 + two UPC codes from Lifescan strips in the U.S.
Other Lifescan country offices have their own policies. To get the cable,
U.S. users must call the 800 number on their meter and request a special
order form. Lifescan US was unable to explain the policies outside the U.S.
but posts to misc.health.diabetes indicate that the cable may be hard
(or at least very expensive) to obtain outside the U.S., and no one has
had any luck in replicating it. 

For non-U.S. readers, if your local Lifescan office charges more than $5.00 for
the cable, you still MUST get the cable to use the download feature (I suggest
trying to get a friend in the  US to get the cable for you).

This section is organized as follows: Part 1 is for DOS, Part 2 is for
Windows, and Part 3 is for the Macintosh.

Part I. DOS Based Programs

1. UTILITY, the Lifescan-provided utility software

Cost: varies by country. $5.00 in the U.S. to purchasers of One Touch strips.

This is the most accessible program: Lifescan will provide this program at no
cost to U.S. users who have purchased the cable by calling their 800 number on
the back of the meter (1-800-227-8862 US; 1-800-663-5521 Canada). The Lifescan
offices in each country are independent, and some charge (an exhorbitant
amount) for the cable and software, while others (including the U.S. office)
make these available for $5.00 to users of Lifescan strips (exclusive users of
clone strips are now precluded from using the download features). Some country
offices 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. Lifescan has been changing its policy, so this information is only valid
as of February, 1995. 

For non-US readers, if your local Lifescan office charges, you may not want to
pay for this software.


Requirements: A PC running DOS. Lifescan will sell you the necessary cable.

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, obtain
and fill out the form from Lifescan, and order the cable. After obtaining the
cable, the software may be included at no extra charge (Lifescan wasn't
clear on this).

2. TOUCH2 by Vic Abell
		
Recommended. An excellent freeware program.

Cost: freeware

Available as described below by the author.
                      
> My MS-DOS program, called TOUCH2, will possibly do what you want.
> It is available via anonymous ftp from vic.cc.purdue.edu 
[and ftp.demon.co.uk] in
> pub/touch2.zip  [or t2117.zip or touch2.tar.gz or t2117.tar.gz]
> 
> 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 <your_email_address>
> connect vic.cc.purdue.edu anonymous <your_email_address>
> 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: <your_email_address> MUST be RFC822-compliant -- e.g.,
> abe@cc.purdue.edu or 99999.9999@CompuServe.COM.
> 
> 
> Vic Abell <abe@cc.purdue.edu>
>

The program is also available on Compuserve, in the Diabetes forum. It may be 
accessed by typing

GO DIABETES
Library: 9
Download: Touch2.zip

 
Requirements: Any IBM compatible wiht a serial port and 128K memory (and,
of course, the Lifescan cable).

Review:

For those of you familiar with the old TOUCH2, there is a new and much improved
version, 1.17, which was released in May 1995. The new version, like the old
one, 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. Readings can now be
partitioned by time of day or by event code. In other words, the program will
now plot separate graphs for fasting, lunch, dinner, and bedtime values.  This
feature was labelled "essential" by my doctor. The latest edition allows values
to be plotted in chronological order (previous edition only allowed reverse
chronological order.)

I had no trouble at all downloading and installing with ftp (but was unable to
get my mailer to read the uuencoded ftpmail version).

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, although Mr.
Abell gave me quite a bit of help via email. He also includes his phone
number with the program, but I haven't called him.


Finally, as Mr. Abell says, this is not a finished, polished product. It does
everything I need, but is a bit more awkward to use than some of the
commercial or shareware packages.

One big plus to the program is that source is distributed, so programmers can
add any features they need. Also, the program is free and readily available to
anyone on the Internet. Finally, it does provide, in a somewhat unattractive
but perfectly usable format, all the information my diabetologist needs.

Other Requirements:


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. This program was developed before the UTILITY
program mentioned above, and, with the latest enhancements, provides "for free"
the essentials available in the shareware and commercial programs listed below.

While support is limited, Mr. Abell has been very helpful via email. The
documentation included has one of the most lucid explanations I have seen of
IRQ problems and how to solve them. 

---------------
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 downloaded, $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; on the
other hand, it costs $25 more than 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. Blood Glucose Monitor Version 1.1

This program is shareware.

Cost: "No specific amount will be charged by the author." People who need the
program and can't afford it are allowed to use if for free. 

"ALL OTHERS ARE EXPECTED TO PAY an amount that indicates the degree of
usefulness they believe this program offers."


Available for downloading from Compuserve Diabetes Forum or 

from
Norman E. Shimmel
1015 Bonniebrook Road
Butler, PA 16001
70043.3364@compuserve.com

Phone: (412) 283-2723

Requirements: Any DOS machine (and, of course, the Lifescan cable).
Can be run without a hard drive.

Review: An easy to use DOS program for reviewing results. Printing options are
limited for those users who need hardcopy to take to their physicians. 


5. Glucose

Cost: Freeware to individuals; nominal charge if used in a clinic setting

Contact: WTD
    23399 Duffield RD
    Cleveland, OH 44122
    wxd2@cwru.edu

Features: Reads data from OneTouch II and Profile meters; Plots results;
Runs in DOS from a floppy disk (can be run from hard disk if desired)

Requirements: 286 or better with 640K of memory, plus the Lifescan Cable


Review: Excellent, if basic, free program that downloads and plots
results from a One Touch meter. It also handles AccuCheck meters with
the auxiliary BMC.EXE program. It's small, light, and works.


Part 2. Windows Software

Note: While I had no trouble downloading data with any of the DOS programs,
all the Windows programs had problems with my Pentium. The fix is
explained below:

=========Windows / Pentium Problem =============
I recently noticed, since being upgraded from a 486 to a Pentium, that all
the Windows-based download programs are crashing, some on the second attempt to
download, others on the first. Many people have trouble downloading if their
meter is connected to COM3 or COM4 due to IRQ conflicts.  The commercial
companies, Medmaster and Biostore, are aware of the Pentium/Windows problem.
New drivers for the serial port are supposed to fix it. The Microsoft Knowledge
Base, available from the Internet http://www.microsoft.com, America Online, and
Compuserve has a new driver, serial.386 that fixes the problem for Windows for
Workgroups. Biostore has been making the other driver, comm.386 for Windows,
available as well. Medmaster now has a version that bypasses the drivers.
Biostore suggests the following work-around 

  A bug exists in Pentium machines using the PCI bus. The bug involves the 16550
  UART chip. The bug affects serial communications in Windows 3.1 and Windows
  for WG. We have drivers that fix the problem.  
  The WinWG driver was supplied by
  Microsoft and the Win 3.1 was provided by Gateway but will work on all
  machines.  If someone would like to supply me a place to upload these drivers
  to, we'll make them available to anyone (BioStore customers or not).  An
  interim workaround involves changing the [386 Enh] section of System.ini to
  include the following line: 
  COMxFIFO=0
  Replace x with the COM port you are using for meter communications (i.e.
  COM2FIFO=0) 

T.J. De Pietro
BioStore International Inc.
805-250-9709

New Twist: Balance PC is set to run on a Pentium, and may have trouble
on a 386 or 486SX.
============================End Windows / Pentium Problem ============


2A. Freeware/Shareware Programs

1. Diabetics Assistant version 2.0 by Douglas Williams

This program is shareware. I recommend using a commercial program, rather
than this one, at this time.

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 also available on ftp.demon.co.uk in 3 zip 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. These are the official
requirements. I recommend at least a fast 386 or 486.

Review: This is a Windows-based point and click program. The new version 
supports international date formats and units, and also allows the user to
track medication. The meter can now be configured from the program. 

For those who read my earlier review, all the problems to which I alluded
in that review have been corrected, but a new bug has crept in.

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. The logbook will have readings for
fasting, noon, dinner, and bedtime. Unfortunately, the new version will not
print the logbook. An error in the print routines causes a HP printer to
eject hundreds of blank, or nearly blank, pages.

Color 3-D graphs, as well as line graphs, are also available, but, again,
these do not print well.


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.

It is a little more difficult to install than the commercial programs or the
DOS programs, and the fact that it is shareware becomes obvious as
bugs appear. In addition,  the user must still understand the SHARE utility. 

It is also very slightly more difficult than the commercial packages (or the
DOS program Touch 2) to select separate types of readings (fasting, noon,
etc.): the user must define these as codes, ensure the codes are entered
into the meter when the reading is taken, and filter based on the codes. I
don't find this a problem, but some of the other programs make this even
easier (e.g., button driven on the main screen).

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. The installation manual (who reads these things?) warns that
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 track blood glucose on the monitor, but will not
print an acceptable version of the data. 

Ian Preece has posted a much more extensive (and more favorable) review to
ftp.demon.co.uk.


(Thanks to Ed Reid for sending me a copy of version 1 to review.)

2. Diabass

Shareware, 79.- DM + 20.- DM for shipping/handling in the EEC.
Pricing and handling in other countries may be obtained for
oliver.ebert@uni-konstanz.de

Snailmail:
Oliver Ebert
Postfach 100 501
D-78405 Konstanz
Germany
Tel und Fax: +49 (7531) 171 22

This program is designed to support diabetics with a wide variety of meters
operating in English or German with American or European units.

It has the help tips that Microsoft customers have come to expect.

It has support for Accu-Chek, Accutrend, and One Touch meters, as well
as support for import from such programs as Diabetic's Assistant, PC-Link
MelliSys, MelliComp, and several others.

The program estimates Ha1c, and provides the option of recording information
obtained from each visit with the user's physician.

When I tried it with my One Touch Profile, it only downloaded 43/250 readings.

On my Touch 2, it only downloaded 100/250 readings.

The capabilities and flexibility of the program with regard to language,
meters, and units is quite extensive; my only reservation is that I had
problems getting it to work correctly.


3. Diabetic's Meter Utility

Cost: Freeware

Availability: download from http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/patterso/

Written by: Michael Patterson
	    (many thanks Michael) 	

Features: Reads a touch2 or profile meter. Runs in Windows. Can be run from a
floppy. Generates very nice graphs, and is very easy to use.

Requirements:Any PC with Windows 3.1, 95, or NT, Lifescan Interface cable.


Review: An excellent Windows freeware program for downloading and graphing
from a Touch II or Profile meter. Easy to use, worked for me
"out of the box."

2B. Commercial Programs


While the commercial programs provide a few more features than the 
shareware or freeware programs listed above, the biggest advantage is to
the new user. Commercial programs are fully supported, with friendly staff
who don't mind helping absolute novices. Both Biostore and Medmaster have
been extremely helpful with any problems that I had.


1. Biostore Pro

Cost: $79.95 + $4.00 S&H
 
		Call 1-800-435-1992 (orders)
                     1-805-250-9709 (information only)


This replaces the program Biostore L. I do not have a copy available for
review at this time. However, I would like to mention that
Biostore has been extremely helpful providing support for users, and that 
the previous version was well worth the (lower) price.

They did mail me a crippled version, but it self-destructed before I had
time to review it. They have since mailed me another crippled version,
but I haven't had the time to try to review it.


2. Medmaster

Cost $79 (includes S&H)

Call 1-800-455-4GSC


Installation: The software arrives on disks which must be unprotected. The
installation disks are not copy protected, and the manual advises making a
backup. Installation follows the usual Windows protocol: run a:setup from the
program manager in Windows. As with Biostore, I had some trouble, but the
support staff were very helpful. They have developed a version that does
not use the defective Windows drivers. It is still in beta; however, for
users of 386 machines, the current version should work.

This program started out in section 2 as a sophisticated logbook in which
users could record exercise, meals, and insulin and plot the impact of each.
With the addition of the download feature, it appears to be a very powerful
and full-featured program. The program allows the user to track all food eaten
(with help to tranlate from food items to exchanges), to track insulin taken
(and different types for those who mix), to track exercise taken (with
translations from an activity to calories consumed),  as well as downloading
blood glucose readings. The idea is to develop a model for blood sugar levels
as a function of insulin, food, and exercise.

It provides excellent statistics and data for a physician who uses a PC;
however, I found that printing out the data is limited to a single month
at a time, and requires more time than I care to spend.

3. 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


Review: Not available at this time.


4. Level

Cost: $79.00 (includes shipping and handling)

Call: 1-800-682-9375 or write

HealthWare
P.O. Box 5396
Buena Park, CA 90620

System Requirements: Windows 3.0 (3.1 recommended), IBM or compatible 286 
or above. If the software is to be used with a Touch II meter, the
user must obtain the LifeScan cable (mentioned above) to use with the
meter. Cabling requirements for other meters are not known at this time.

Features: Downloads data from LifeScan One Touch II. The company hopes to
have software for other meters at some point.

Review: Not available at this time. A demo version will be sent to anyone
calling the 800 number, but I do not have a full version available to
review. The demo version crashed my (admittedly fragile) machine.

5. Mellitus Manager

Cost: $79.95 + $5.00 S&H Total $84.95

Contact: EuMedix, Inc.
P. O. Box 720278
San Diego, CA 92172-0278
Credit Card Orders: You may order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover through 
  Public Software Library by calling  (800) 2424-PSL  (ORDERS ONLY).
  Request Product # 11254  (Mellitus Manager)
  TECHNICAL SUPPORT TOLL FREE 800-455-4105
May also be contacted via email at 
Compuserve: 70410,754 (70410.754@compuserve.com) 

Features: Downloads data from Touch 2 meters, MediSense, and Accu-Check  and
displays results as graphs, logbooks, or summary statistics. 

Requirements: Windows 3.1, (also said to work with WinNT and/or Win95; I have
to accept the company's word), 386 or better, 4MB RAM, 1.9 MB disk space,
Lifescan cable. 

Install Program: Mellitus Manager writes quite a few files to the
Windows System Directory; however, it also has an Uninstall program
to get rid of them.

Review: This is one of the few programs that allowed me,  1/2 hour before
my quarterly visit to the diabetologist, to install the program out
of the box, download and print out my data in logbook format. For users who
wish to take their blood sugars regularly, download them occasionally, and
print the results in a format which is "diabetologist friendly," this program
comes closest to being ideal. 

It also includes the ability to manually enter glucose, insulin, food
eaten, and exercise.  It has the provision to automatically
track sick days, stress, ketones, physician visits, eye and foot exams,
bloodwork, and hypos.

Its main attraction, at least to me, is the extreme ease of installation
and use.

Version 4 has a lot of help for the new user, as well as clinic support
and individual support.

6. Glucostat v2.0

Cost: $65
Contact: Glucoware
P. O. Box 43369
Cleveland, OH 44143-0369
Phone: (216) 460-1051
email: 75053.2114@compuserve.com

Requirements: 80386 CPU or better, Windows 3.x, 8MB RAM recommended,
10 MB disk space, mouse. 

Main features: A monitoring program for recording and graphing all aspects
of diabetic life. Two types of insulin, meals
(text description), and glucose levels.

Installation: Beginning with this program (I won't reinstall all the
others) I will note how well behaved the program is. Glucostat writes
quite a number of files to \windows\system, which could be a problem; it
also writes to \windows\msapps. Current thinking is that this should be
avoided by applications. This does not mean that Glucostat is any worse
than other programs reviewed here, as I just began this caveat--an
uninstaller will be needed to remove Glucostat if one should decide to do
so. Many of the other programs have this problem, so it isn't really
fair to criticize Glucostat alone, but this information will be 
included in all future reviews.

Review: This program is off to a very good start. It provides a
fairly good interface for downloading data from a meter, and
lots of tables and charts. It also has extensive electronic
logbook features for meals, exercise, insulin, etc.

It works best if the user sets event codes for breakfast, lunch, dinner
and snacktimes. Otherwise, it uses times of day.

I say it is off to a good start because it seems to have been developed on a
very large screen monitor with a resolution of at least 800 X 600, and not
really tested for usability on a standard size monitor---i.e., the buttons and
instructions were a little inconveniently placed on my 640 X 480
monitor.

Likewise, the graphs, while very nice, printed on two pages rather
than fitting themselves to a page. This is distracting for pie 
charts. This problem can be fixed by properly setting up the printer,
but it does not automatically adjust based on the printer configuration
stored in Windows.

The program graphs histograms (frequency of each blood sugar
reading), 30 and 90 day graphs.

It does a table of readings sorted by breakfast, lunch, dinner and
snacktime.

It has modem upload and download features, and works with a variety
of meters (I can only test with the touch2 at this time, so I
don't really know how well it works with other meters.)

Overall, I think this could develop into an excellent commercial
product.

7. In Touch, by Johnson and Johnson
Phone: the 1-800 number on your meter. US 1-800-227-8862

Cost: $69 + 1 boxtop, or $89

Systems: Windows, only

Requirements: Windows 3.1 or 95, 386 required, 486 recommended.

Review: Originally, Johnson & Johnson gave away meters, cables and software
in order to sell their strips; then, the strip was cloned, so they now
either charge and/or require boxtops from their strips. In the case
of their DOS software, a boxtop suffices; in the case of the Windows
version, $69 + boxtops are required. Since this column is currently
unsupported, I can't really review the software unless they send me
a review copy. The mother of one of the programmers wrote to me to
say that it is a very good product, and I have no reason to doubt her;
however, I have not seen the product at this time.

8. Balance PC

Cost: $59.95, available in phamacies

Contact: MediLife, Inc.,
30 Monument Square
Concord MA 01742
Toll Free: 1-888-656-5656

Features: Lifestyle interview and suggestions, food database, reports,
downloading of "leading" meters. Multimedia lessons on diabetes management.
Internet access package. Multiple-users database. Video on usage. 

Requirements:Windows (3.1, 3.11, WFW) or Windows 95, 8MB RAM, 40MB disk space,
CD-ROM version requires CD ROM.

Install Program: Uses the InstallShield Wizard.

Review: This program starts with a health interview and suggestions for
improving your lifestyle. There is also a videotape, which I haven't
seen yet. BalancePC provides a library of reference materials about
diabetes, at least in the CD-ROM version, and keeps very elaborate
records of diet, exercise, insulin, etc., with a very easy to use
interface. The program downloads readings from Accu-Chek, One Touch, 
and Precision meters.

It allows the user to edit out any readings that should not be included.
Once input and edited, it transfers readings to a database; this transfer
is rather slow.

The graphs rely heavily on color, so are not transparently available
to show one's physician. The combined readings are fairly unreadable;
however, one can print each time of day out separately.

Another limitation is that it doesn't read a Profile very well--it
failed to read my insulin data from the Profile, or the event
codes; however, it did use time of day, which would work with the
Touch II.

Overall, the program has a lot to offer to assist in management of
diabetes; however, there are better programs for downloading
and displaying data from a meter. I have therefore put in a more extensive
review under "Other Software."

Part 3. Software for the Macintosh

There is currently one program for the Macintosh, 

1. BloodPlot 0.91beta

Cost: Freeware 

Availability: 
ftp://www.astro.wisc.edu/outgoing/jensen/diabetes/BloodPlot.sea.hqx
(see Touch2 above for my problems with ftp and compression)

Author:
Eric Jensen
1221 E. Johnson St. #1
Madison, WI 53703 USA
jensen@astro.wisc.edu

Requirements: At least 1536K free memory. It has been verified that
it runs on a Centris with System 7.5, and it probably runs
on any Mac with enough free memory. The Disk footprint is just 400K.

Review: Like the much older Touch2 Program, this is freeware. The outputs
include an Excel text file and a histogram plot. For my purposes, this
is adequate, if not as attractive as the commercial program; on the other hand
it is the only program for the Macintosh, so it wins the Annual Award 
for best Macintosh program to download glucose readings.

It is supposed to be Profile compatible, but I can't test that at this time.
===================================

Section B: Software for other meters.

1. Glucofacts(R)+ Diabetes Management System software

I have reproduced (without comment) a description of a software package for
the Glucometer M/M+. This description was emailed to me by Chris Trippel, who
works for the manufacturer. (I don't have a Glucometer.)

This software works with the Glucometer M and M+ meters.

Cost:  $49.95.
       
Call: 1-800-348-8100.

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.


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

2. Level (referenced above). This program does One Touch, Glucometer, and
AccuChek meters, and does have a demo version. $79.00

For all meters, hardware must be ordered from the meter vendor; for the
Glucometer and AccuCheck, basic download software must be ordered as 
well. This program then imports the downloaded data and does additional
analyses beyond that provided by the vendor-supplied software.

3. In Touch

Cost: $89.99, or $69.99 with purchase of One Touch Profile Meter

From Johnson and Johnson, U.S. 1-800-227-8862, Cananda, 1-800-663-5521.

4. Mellitus Manager (See above)

This program, according to the ad, reads AccuChekR Advantage and Easy, and the
Medisense Precision and Companion/Medisense 2 meters, but I have only
been able to test its operation with my Touch2 meter. 

It was the easiest of the Touch2 programs to use, and is highly
rated for those with Touch2 meters, so it might be worth checking out
for those with other types of meters.

=============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.

Insulin Therapy Analysis

System: Windows
Cost $49.95 + $4 S&H

Call: 1-800-510-1024

Predicts impact on blood glucose of various events.



Blood Glucose Diary

Downloadable from Prodigy

-------------------------

SUGARMINDER 2.1

Cost: U.K. 39.95 pounds sterling.

System: Windows

Phone: +44 481 832 631
   Fax +44 481 832 515

Contact: 
Pulse Technology Group
36 Caro Mio 1, Sark
Channel Islands, GB (via Guernsey) GY9 0SE
100635.2157@compuserve.com

Free demo available on compuserve. Since I don't review demos,
no review is available at this time.

-------------------------
Comprehensive Programs

Balance PC


Cost: $59.95, available in phamacies

Contact: MediLife, Inc.,
30 Monument Square
Concord MA 01742
Toll Free: 1-888-656-5656

Features: Lifestyle interview and suggestions, food database, reports,
downloading of "leading" meters. Multimedia lessons on diabetes management.
Internet access package. Multiple-users database. Video on usage. 

Requirements:Windows (3.1, 3.11, WFW) or Windows 95, 8MB RAM, 40MB disk space,
CD-ROM version requires CD ROM.

Install Program: Uses the InstallShield Wizard.

Review: This program appears in the downloading section; however, the
download feature is rather an afterthought. The program includes a video-
tape explaining that it enables the user to record lifestyle details
in less than 3 minutes a day. The video explains how to use the program, 
which is easily the most sophiticated comprehensive program I have seen.

It has on the CD-ROM an extensive library of books to help the users
improve their lifestyles. It explains diabetes for the new user, and
has tips and information for experienced diabetics. It has provisions for
up to 8 users, so all members of the family can track their weight, diet,
medical check-ups, illnesses and exercise, which is not a bad idea even for
non-diabetics. 

It provides a diabetic cookbook, and has a large database of foods and 
nutritional analyses, so one can, for example drag a bowl of cereal from
the food window to the log window and have exchanges, vitamins, etc. 
automagically added to the log.

As the video explains, the record-keeping is the main function of the 
program, followed by the library. The ability to download from a
download capable meter is the last item mentioned, and is not as good
as some of the other programs; it does not yet support the Profile, for
example.

Overall, this can be a very worthwhile program for the person who is
sufficiently motivated to use information technology to improve their
control.


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. 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 

Ohio Distinctive Software Executive Diet Helper and Weight Loss Planner

Cost: $8.00 + $3.00 shipping and handling

Platform: PC or Macintosh

Review: I don't have the latest program. An earlier version was quite 
simple, but not bad for the price.

Available from:
Ohio Distinctive Software
4588 Kenny Road
Columbus, OH 43220
(614) 459-0453

C. Educational/Simulation Software

AIDA

Cost: freeware

Contact:  http://www.diabetic.org.uk/aida.htm

Requirements: DOS with 540K free RAM

Review:

This program simulates the glycemic effects of carbohydrates and insulin. It is
intended to be a training tool, both for the individual diabetic and for
the student of diabetes. The student is given cases where the patient is
out of control, and asked to prescribe a new regime to achieve euglycemia.
Answers are provided.

The individual diabetic can enter carbohydrates ingested and insulin taken, and 
compare this with actual blood sugar readings to understand, in general,
what is happening. The program warns that it's recommendations should NOT
be used by the individual for modifying their regime; the only function
of the recommendations is for the training described above.

The program is a DOS program with a user interface that is not altogether
adherant to modern interface design principles; however, the program
is a useful tool for the student and/or diabetic.

I highly recommend it for medical students, interns, and residents. For
diabetic educators who want to use it in their training, it may well
be a useful adjunct. Some diabetics may also want to experiment with the
program for a better understanding of their disease, again, with the caveat
that its recommendations are not intended to be used in lieu of a 
diabetologist.

D. Unclassified Software

1. GlucoStat V2.0

Cost: $65

Contact:
Gary P. Argento                                                                 
Glucoware Company                                                             
P.O Box 43369                                                                  
Cleveland, Ohio 44143-0369                                                      
PH: 800-774-4448  

Review: Not available at this time. Mr Argento asked that his product
be included, but I really don't know anything about it yet. As soon as
I get more information, I'll include it. Meanwhile, interested persons
can call his 800 number.

NEWTON SOFTWARE

Pocket DiabetiCare 1.10

Cost: $20

Available from: http://www.halcyon.com/dcapp/OrcaWare

Review: Not available. However, for those seeking Newton Software, this is 
the first product I've seen.

PSION PDA SOFTWARE

Free Program available by email from KlausStahl@aol.com, or download from
http://members.aol.com/klausstahl/home.html

Review: Not available; however, this is the only software for the Psion PDA
that I've seen. Suggested use: use the Psion instead of a paper logbook.
================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 March 1995, several programs were available. I found the following:
Diabetic Assistant (1 and 2), bsm, glucofacts +, mealmate, nsdn version 3.3
otview, and touch2. OTVIEW, TOUCH2, and Diabetic Assistant are reviewed
above. I believe the others are either logbooks or nutrition/meal planning
programs. I expect many other shareware and
freeware programs will be posted here eventually. A brief
discussion of ftp and ftpmail is available above in the section on getting the
Touch2 program by Vic Abell. Either ftp or ftpmail may be used to access any of
these programs.
 
Web Sites


A good site is at
http://www.niddk.nih.gov
the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease
of the National Institute of Health. Unless and until it gets Newted, this would
seem to be the Official Government Diabetes Site. A great deal of information
for diabetics, researchers (and, of course, diabetic researchers).

The official American Diabetes Associate site is at (where else)
http://www.diabetes.org
It looks like a ported gopher site, complete with cruft.
A good place for a newly diagnosed diabetic.

One of the better UK sites is at 
http://www.diabetic.org.uk
This site provides AIDA, among its many other offerings.

A top rated site qua site is
http://www.nd.edu/~hhowisen/diabetes.html
This was rated in the top 5% of all Web pages. Well laid out, with
lots of neat Web tricks, and some useful diabetes information and links.

A small private Diabetes Site is at
http://www.airnet.net/~jsmith/Diabetes.html
There's not much here, yet, but I understand it's under development.
I mention it because it links to this faq.

Diabetes Net is at
http://www.diabetesnet.com
"For Active and Proactive People with Diabetes"
This is primarily a commercial site to sell diabetes products, but
it has quite a bit of useful information.

For more information on Biostore, check out their
website: http://www.bizscape.com/biostore
This site has some general information, plus a much more extensive
description of biostore products than is given here.

http://pages.prodigy.com/CA/nutrigenie/rxdmdiet.html
has some free nutritional software

The following was one of the first diabetes sites on the Web.
It was a good site, but was down as of 18 October 1995 at 5pm EDT.
The disclaimer said it is down indefinitely due to circumstances
beyond the authors' control.
 "Great news, the Diabetes Knowledgebase has now officially moved to its
  new permanent home at:
  http://www.biostat.wisc.edu/diaknow/index.htm
  Also, since it is now an officially sanctioned site, it will
  have a great deal of permanence." --official announcement of move.
As of 5pm EDT on 18 October, this site was down (:-(

Also, some diabetic information may be found at

http://cancer.med.upenn.edu:3000/ 

"World Health Net has been launched! Its current address is 

http://oceania.org/world_health/
" -- official announcement of opening.

Pharamceutally sponsored sites

    http://www.ihlth.com - OTC products for diabetics

    http://www.epill.com - Rx and OTC products




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.) 

America Online now has a regular chat program for diabetics. Each Sunday
evening at 8:30PM Eastern time there is a live diabetes support group meeting
on America On Line. It takes place in an AOL "private" room named, "Diabetes." 
America OnLine currently charges approximately $3.00 per hour.

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.

The Compuserve forum, Diabetes, is highly recommended on the internet by
participants. While I found diabetes related software easier to find on
America Online, the Compuserve Forum is easier to find than the America
OnLine equivalent, and the Compuserve forum has much more information.
Currently, it is $4.80/hour.

Future reviews will include these programs.
