Month: December 2006

iTunes and bridge design

I love reading Joel Spolsky's blog, Joel on Software.  He has a way of writing and presenting an idea or concept that makes me think more deeply about the topic.  His most recent post regarding the difference of design between two bridges was used to illustrate how elegance of design in software in just as important as utility.

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Guinea Pig

The results of my recent blood tests indicate I have an HbA1c of 7.5. What!!!! No way. This does not make sense to me. I test 5-6 times a day, before and after meals. According to my meter (FreeStyle Flash) my 15 days average is 104. That should put the HbA1c between 5 and 6. Something strange is happening here.

I just finished reading "Think like a pancreas" and I remember reading about the Dawn Phenomenon. While sleeping the body releases certain hormones which can have the effect of raising blood sugar. One can go to bed with a reading of 95 and wake up with a reading of 108. So I performed a test. I went to bed at 10 PM and woke up during the night (2AM and 4 AM) to take blood glucose readings. The numbers are as follow:

Time meter reading
10 PM 95 mg/dL
2 AM 95 mg/dL
4 AM 94 mg/dL
6:30 AM 108 mg/dL

The last set of numbers I took just after waking up. My numbers appear to be higher in the morning than they were when I went to bed. For my last blood test, I recall my bedtime numbers ( I need to start keeping a log ) before going to bed were just over 100. The lab tests show that my urine glucose was 128 mg/dL and my blood glucose was 111 mg/dL the morning I took the test ( about 7:30 AM). Does this mean I suffer from the Dawn Phenomenon? This would likely explain that rather high HbA1c number.

So how do I deal with this? Not sure. I can skip my bedtime snack. I did that last night and my BG was 108 mg/dL so that was not much help. I plan to increase my basal dosage by 1 unit and repeat last nights tests. I guess some experimentation ( on myself !! ) is in order. Now I'm scared!!