#247 Defining Diabetes: Standard Deviation
Defining Diabetes: Standard Deviation
Scott and Jenny Smith, CDE define the terms at the center of your type 1 diabetes care
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Pandora - Spotify - Amazon Alexa - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public or their favorite podcast app.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
In this episode of defining diabetes, Jenny Smith and I are going to define standard deviation. Defining diabetes is made possible by Dexcom on the pod and dancing for diabetes. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise the Always consult a physician before becoming bold with insulin or making any changes to your medical plan. What is standard deviation?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 0:27
Overall, it's it's the calculated amount of time a variance or deviation for a group of numbers as a whole. I mean, if you really want like the true definition of standard deviation,
Scott Benner 0:43
it's a mathematical term, right?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 0:44
It's statistics. It's a mathematical statistical term. So that we can actually measure quantify essentially the amount of dispersion in a set of values. And for an easy way to describe it with diabetes specifically, and if you're looking at your CGM report, thankfully, clarity is wonderful. It's got standard deviation right next to your overall average or your your average ghost standard deviation, the lower the value, the less variance you have low to high numbers. So if you have a standard deviation of 20, you should have glucose values that look like these little gentle rolling hills up and down. If you have a standard deviation of 73, you will have a lot of math variants that looks like you are on a roller coaster at Six Flags
Scott Benner 1:42
is this goal is standard deviation when it comes to diabetes attached to the gold numbers. So here's what I kind of learned. And if I'm wrong, then I tricked myself. And I'm wondering if I set my my I don't know low goal at 70. And my high goal at 120. But I frequently go up to 150, that makes my standard deviation look higher.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:11
Correct. Because your upper, your upper value is going up even though it's going above your target, right, you're still getting above it. Now, if you so it's giving more variance is starting at 70, you're going up to 150, you're coming back to 100, you're going back up to 150, your standard deviation is going to be higher with the same target as if you stayed 70 to 120 and down to 100 and back up to 110 and back down to 70. Your standard deviations give me a lower
Scott Benner 2:41
new it. Okay. So that means that if I'm person who gives myself this really tight goal of being between 80 and 120 all the time, but my reality is I'm more between 70 and 140, my standard deviation could at first glance look bad. I could but it technically wouldn't be because I'm still only deviating between 70 and 140. Okay, so that's just something it's probably not going to come up for a lot of people but that flummoxed me for a while I was like, how am I keeping my daughter's blood sugar so stable and my deviation looks bad? Yes, because my goals, the numbers that the app was using to make the decisions were so tight, that even a tiny bit above or below it made it look way out of whack?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 3:27
Well, and it's also specific to those values, you know, even if you had your targets that, um, you know, 80 to 80 to 150, let's say. But if you had 80 to 150, and then all the way back down to 80, and back up to 150. And all the way down to an 80, you may have a lot of time in range, you're still going to have a higher standard deviation, because it looks like a roller from a lower value to a higher value to a lower value. So again, it's the dispersion of the data points, right, it's a variance between the lower number to the higher number. So even with that still 80 to 150 as a target. Let's say she's going from 80 to 110, back down to 80. Back up to 90. That looks like those gentle rolls and the number the value change isn't as great. So the standard deviation is going to be lower. And she's still going to have good amount of time in range there, but her standard deviation will be lower because there's not as much change between the low to high value and for
Scott Benner 4:29
your health even if it's between 80 and 140. You do not want to be bouncing up and down bouncing Oh,
Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:35
not standard AV is one you definitely don't want the bounce. You want more gentle roll.
Scott Benner 4:40
So if we have standard deviation down and we have time and range down ra one c should reflect that. Gotcha.
Defining diabetes on the Juicebox Podcast. Cast is brought to you by Dexcom on the pod and dancing for diabetes, there are links in the show notes and Juicebox podcast.com to all the wonderful sponsors. But if you want to find out more about getting a free no obligation demos the Omni pod, you can go to my omnipod.com forward slash juice box to get started on the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor dexcom.com forward slash juice box and to learn about the good that's being done at dancing for diabetes, go to dancing the number four diabetes.com Thanks for checking out defining diabetes. Come back every Friday is Jenny and I break down a new word or phrase that is impacting your life with Type One Diabetes. Those of you on social media can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. And of course the podcast is available in every podcast player you can imagine and at Juicebox podcast.com. please consider sharing the show with a friend more even though enemy. I mean if they have type one diabetes, and you don't like them, they still deserve good blood sugars. Hey, one last thing I want to thank you the podcast continues to grow exponentially in downloads and subscribers month after month. Right now it's the middle of July in the podcast already has more downloads in July of 2019 than it had just three months ago, in the entire month of April. And let me tell you something. There were a lot of downloads in April. You are growing a community and teaching people how to be healthier.
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!
#245 Defining Diabetes: Time In Range
Defining Diabetes: Time In Range
Scott and Jenny Smith, CDE define the terms at the center of your type 1 diabetes care
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Pandora - Spotify - Amazon Alexa - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public or their favorite podcast app.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
In this episode of defining diabetes, Jenny Smith and I are going to define timing range. Defining diabetes is made possible by Dexcom on the pod and dancing for diabetes. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, the Always consult a physician before becoming bold with insulin, or making any changes to your medical plan. Jenny, in the diabetes world, we are now hearing a lot more about the idea of being in range than the time that you're in that range. So when people hear those words, time and range, what does it mean?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 0:37
Really, it's a better visual of how much time you're spending within a within a target range, overall definition of of time and range, the range for that is about 70 to 180. That's overall, if you have your own range that you want to stick with, let's say you want to be 80 to 140, or 70 to 120, that would be your individual aimed timing range, right. And you can adjust that, you know, if you're using index calm, you can adjust your own settings. So that clarity reports give you your time, specifically in the range that you have requested to be. But the that it represents, overall, the amount or the percent of the overall glucose values that are ending up within that range that you want to be within. Okay, it's more important than a one fee. Ah, I am a professional. And time in range is more important to look at than a one C. Okay, so now if I said,
Scott Benner 1:42
You're saying between 70 and 180, and my time and you Those are the numbers, and my time range is is 100% in there, and I and my agency is out 6.4 you'd rather that be the truth than my eight one Cb 5.9. But I'm under 70 and over one at an appreciable amount of time.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:05
Right? Exactly, exactly. That's why the a one c it's a, it's a place to start. But now that we have the technology that we have, the glucose monitors the CGM, the things that give us so much more information than finger sticks and an A one C, the ability to visually see how much are we seeing within that range? And how much variance that's another standard deviation is how much variance? Do you see within that time and range? Are you gentle rolling hills? Or are you roller coastering? within your time in range?
Scott Benner 2:41
Don't jump ahead, forgetting sorry, deviation. Next, hold on. Here's a little note for any of you who have ever shared your time and range chart online without showing us what your top and bottom numbers were when you set it up. We don't care if you show us the numbers, the range you're staying in. That's impressive, but don't tell me Look, I've been arranged 100% of the day and not tell me you might have it set at 50 and 400. Yeah, okay. If you're gonna share online share everything. Defining diabetes on the Juicebox Podcast is brought to you by Dexcom on the pod and dancing for diabetes, there are links in the show notes and at Juicebox podcast.com to all the wonderful sponsors. But if you want to find out more about getting a free no obligation demo of the Omni pod, you can go to my omnipod.com forward slash juice box to get started on the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor dexcom.com forward slash juice box and to learn about the good that's being done at dancing for diabetes, go to dancing the number four diabetes.com Thanks for checking out the finding diabetes. Come back every Friday as Jenny and I break down a new word or phrase that is impacting your life with Type One Diabetes. Those of you on social media can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. And of course the podcast is available in every podcast player you can imagine and at Juicebox podcast.com. please consider sharing the show with a friend more even though enemy. I mean if they have type one diabetes, and you don't like them, they still deserve good blood sugar's Hey, one last thing I want to thank you the podcast continues to grow exponentially in downloads and subscribers month after month. Right now it's the middle of July. And the podcast already has more downloads in July of 2019 than it had just three months ago, in the entire month of April. And let me tell you something. There were a lot of downloads in April. You are growing a community and teaching people how to be healthier.
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!
#243 Defining Diabetes: A1c
Defining Diabetes: A1c
Scott and Jenny Smith, CDE define the terms at the center of your type 1 diabetes care
You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Alexa - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public or their favorite podcast app.
+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner 0:00
In this episode of defining diabetes, Jenny Smith and I are going to define a one C, defining diabetes is made possible by Dexcom on the pod and dancing for diabetes. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before becoming bold with insulin, or making any changes to your medical plan.
A one c Jenny, we're going to define a one c because some people like to say it out all fancy, right? How do they say it those people who like to give the actual letters the BDC, GG afterwards or whatever, what's the whole thing?
Jennifer Smith, CDE 0:42
hemoglobin, a one C is essentially the full term for it, right? hemoglobin a one C, typically, it's tested anywhere between two to four times a year by most and knows or primary care doctors. And essentially shows how well blood sugars have been controlled over about a three month time period, mainly because it refers to the life cycle of your red blood cells. And that's the hemoglobin part of a one fee. the life cycle of a red blood cell is such that you have turnover about every 90 days. So about every three months, you've got this turnover of red blood cells. And with hemoglobin being a piece of it and the glucose sticking to the hemoglobin, then we can measure overall the amount of sugar that was circulating within that three month time period. Now one other piece to a one C is knowing that the month closer to the draw for a one fee has more weight into the a one c value, then the three month ago. Month. Does that make sense? No.
Scott Benner 1:59
Sad again.
Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:00
Because the rates of the blood cell turnover, you are going to have more, I guess, more impact and more of those new blood cells within the past 30 days than the ones from three months ago. So many people say well, I had you know I had anyone see done, you know, three months ago, but in the past three or four weeks, I was in Italy on vacation eating all the pizzas in the whole entire country. I had a honeymoon or I had whatever. And man my blood sugar's were like all over the place. Well, it's probably not as indicative of an A one see them as it may have been over the course of three months. Because this past month has been crazy. Right?
Scott Benner 2:43
Okay, Isaac, Isaac, that makes sense. It does now, because I paid more attention. It's not that you didn't explain it? Well, the first night, it got a little too technical for my little head. But and back in the day, right? far enough ago, this was the only real measurement we had of people's, you know, quote unquote, success with their diabetes. Right? Your agency was your doctor looked at your agency and said, this is your average blood sugar for the last 30 days for 90 days. Right. And that was it right? There's so much conversation around a once a, you know, some people feel like it's a test that they pass or fail, some people are scared to go get it because they don't want to hear, you know, you're gonna hear annoying people like me tell you that I don't really worry about it anymore. Because I have an expectation of where it's going to be in it mostly goes where I expect it to be. It's not even something I think about anymore, to a great extent. But there's more that goes to it. So as you're listening to this definitions, you're going to hear one about time and range, and variability and things like that. And try to think of those all together. Defining diabetes on the Juicebox Podcast is brought to you by Dexcom. On the pause and dancing for diabetes, there are links in the show notes at Juicebox podcast.com to all the wonderful sponsors. But if you want to find out more about getting a free no obligation demo valmy pod, you can go to my on the pod.com forward slash juice box to get started on the Dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor dexcom.com forward slash juice box and to learn about the good that's being done at dancing for diabetes, go to dancing the number four diabetes.com Thanks for checking out defining diabetes. Come back every Friday is Jenny and I break down a new word or phrase that is impacting your life with Type One Diabetes. And since you're still here, I don't really say this very often, but you could follow me on Facebook or Instagram. I'm actually on my blog and podcast pages on Facebook. I'm now at bold with insulin on Facebook and Instagram. They won't let me merge them together. I would the biggest most active account is at Juicebox Podcast but they're still at art in this day and I started at bold with insulin hoping that one day I'd be able to blend them all together. For now though, I believe at Juicebox Podcast is the way to go on Instagram Juicebox Podcast is on Twitter and you know it's pretty much everywhere but I really find Instagram and Facebook to be the most active. By the way, those of you who are asking for t shirts, you got to me I'm working on it. Hold tight.
Please support the sponsors
The Juicebox Podcast is a free show, but if you'd like to support the podcast directly, you can make a gift here. Recent donations were used to pay for podcast hosting fees. Thank you to all who have sent 5, 10 and 20 dollars!