What gets measured gets manged!
There are so many things you can measure to see how things are going. It’s easy to get overwhelmed because:
What gets measured gets managed
It’s easy to burn out following ten different things!
I will keep it super simple.
Let’s focus on the three most important measures.
- Percentage time in range (4.0-10.0mmol/L or 70-180mg/dL)
- HbA1c (mmol/mol or %)
Time in range (4.0-10.0mmol/L or 70-180mg/dL)
You are familiar with time in different glucose ranges, I have been banging on about them from the start. Here is a graphic from the latest international consensus statement of where to aim for. There is a lot more on the For John – Research page.
I think 70% time in range is a good place to start. However, by following Dynamic Glucose Management, 70% is the basement.
We are going up to the penthouse.
I created this table that allows you to choose what time in range you would like.
The catch is that you must set the high alarm accordingly and use the GAME part of Dynamic Glucose Management to achieve it.
Don’t start too fast.
Rome was not built in a day. Take baby steps like I did, and improve 5% every two weeks or so.
HbA1c (mmol/mol or %)
This picture explains HbA1c measures how much glucose is stuck to your red blood cells. The more glucose stuck, the higher the blood glucose has been for the last three months.
The HbA1c measurement is like a crystal ball. It allows you to see how healthy you will be on the future.
This is a famous graph from the biggest trial ever done on people with type 1 diabetes.
It shows the risk of nasty small blood vessel complications goes up as HbA1c increases.
Aim to keep HbA1c at or below 48mmol/mol (6.5%). If you keep time in range above 80%, this is almost guaranteed.
CONGRATULATIONS, you have laid strong foundations.
You are now ready for the game changer.
Next step: Dynamic Glucose Management