What do you think about this program?

[irina140]

I came across this program that CAN CALCULATE INSULIN DOSES FOR PEOPLE WITH INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES. The web site is here:
http://juri.dia.ru/eng/

there is a lengthy explanation on how it works and I hope you'll have time to read the whole thing, but I think it is worth the try. The concept seems to be very reasonable and interesting.
The program was developed by a Russian guy and originally I read the explanation in Russian (I'm from Russia).

[Tatermom]

Looks complicated.

[rzrbks]

Injecting insulin doesn't really create any discomfort. If I need to inject just 1 unit of insulin, I will do it. I can't understand when people say: "Oh no! I can't believe I have to inject myself so often!"

To me, this reads like

"The Secret of My Success will be the Secret of Your success"

That's going to be true for some folks, for others, it ain't gonna work.

Doesn't seem to take into account that everyone is different and what works for Yuri might not work for Yohanson

[irina140]

I think it only looks complicated because of the very detailed description. In two words the program can be explained like this:
1. First you calculate how much insulin it would take to "cover" 12g of carbs, using your previous experince or the method he described.
2. you plug in that number and whatever carbs you ate into the program and it will give you the units of insulin you have to take.
This helps to take just the right amount of insulin without overdosing/underdosing.
What approach do you take now: take a specific number of units your doctor presribe every day or do you adjust the dosage yourself based on what food you eat?

[spike]

I think it only looks complicated because of the very detailed description. In two words the program can be explained like this:
1. First you calculate how much insulin it would take to "cover" 12g of carbs, using your previous experince or the method he described.
2. you plug in that number and whatever carbs you ate into the program and it will give you the units of insulin you have to take.
This helps to take just the right amount of insulin without overdosing/underdosing.
What approach do you take now: take a specific number of units your doctor presribe every day or do you adjust the dosage yourself based on what food you eat?

A modern pump can do that for you. If you are on shots, knowing your carb/insulin ratio, you divide your carbs by the ratio and take that amount of insulin. I'm not clear as to what value this "program" you speak of really has for a diabetic's insulin regimen.

[seacomp]

it will give you the units of insulin you have to take.

Yes and No. The program does that but that is sort of trivial; us carb counters do that that everyday, everymeal, in our head. What's unique about the program, or actually about the approach, since the program itself is no big deal, is the "two shot" approach the author has.
He recommends taking both a shot of rapid-acting insulin (e.g. humalog) AND a shot of short-acting (regular insulin) for each meal. The total insulin dose is broken between the two types according to the gyclemic index and the ratio of protein to carbs.
I Have not seen anyone who injects with syringe or pen take this approach, but from I gather the pumpers use features like "extended bolus", "stacked boluses", etc. to get the same effect.
The initial setup of the program is someone complicated but the ideas involved are familar to anyone who has developed his or her "ratios" for use with MDI.

[seacomp]

A modern pump can do that for you. If you are on shots, knowing your carb/insulin ratio, you divide your carbs by the ratio and take that amount of insulin. I'm not clear as to what value this "program" you speak of really has for a diabetic's insulin regimen.
Actually, what the program does is to caluculate two shots of insulin to accomplish the same effect you are getting from a modern pump.
Remember this guy is Russian and the standard of living is such over there that pumps pretty much don't exist for ordinary people.

[irina140]

I'm on shots and never used a pump, so I don't know how they work. I think the value of the program would be to know exactly how many units of insulin to take based on the food you eat and your specific carb to insulin ratio.

[irina140]

Remember this guy is Russian and the standard of living is such over there that pumps pretty much don't exist for ordinary people.

This is true. The price of a pump would cost you your 2 year salary ( for an average person). Healthcare (doctor visits and tests) is free in Russia, but not medications and supplies (sometimes insulin is free though)

[seacomp]

I think the value of the program would be to know exactly how many units of insulin to take based on the food you eat and your specific carb to insulin ratio.
I don't know what regimine you're on, but people on strict control MDI calculate that number, exactly, all the time. What they don' really consider (or, at least, I don't) is the time of effect of both the food and the insulin. This is what this guy adds.

[seacomp]

I think the value of the program would be to know exactly how many units of insulin to take based on the food you eat and your specific carb to insulin ratio.
On second thought there are probably many people who would want to have that number but aren't too comfortable with doing the math in their heads. Were someone to set the program up for them, and control the testing needed to get the appropriate ratios, the program could be valuable for the simple, one-level calculation.
However, in my experience it is dangerous to rely on a program to do the thinking for you. If you just take the output of a program and act on it without though very dangerous problems can happen. You type 91 grams of carb rather than 19 and it tells you to inject 16 units rather than 3 - big problem.
Having much experience in software, I never trust the stuff.

[Erin]

"two shot" approach the author has.
He recommends taking both a shot of rapid-acting insulin (e.g. humalog) AND a shot of short-acting (regular insulin) for each meal. The total insulin dose is broken between the two types according to the gyclemic index and the ratio of protein to carbs.

I actually used to do that. Not to the great mathematical extent the author does, (i'd usually just split the dose 50/50) because I did it when I was still on NPH. It did give me a greater level of accuracy than I had just on regular and NPH, but I didn't see a significant enough change that I'd want to do it with a basil insulin like Lantus.

I have a "Program" for figuring out my insulin to carb ratio and my correction bolus. It is called a notecard that I keep with my glucometer. On one side it has a T chart with grams of carb on one side, and the appropriate bolus on the other, on the other side of the card it has another T chart with bsl's on one side and the appropriate bolus on the other. I am bad at doing math in my head, but I can handle adding two numbers together.