Setting Preferences
Diabetes Pilot allows you to set several different options in the program. These options can customize the behavior of Diabetes Pilot to your needs and help save you time while entering data.
Accessing the Preferences Functions
Customizing the Medication and Exercise Lists
Accessing the Preferences Functions
Many features in Diabetes Pilot (including the preferences functions) are accessed through menus. The menus are located in the standard location for Palm software. The following steps should help you find the menus in both Diabetes Pilot and in many other Palm programs:
- Launch Diabetes Pilot on your handheld. You should be on the main screen of Diabetes Pilot to start.
- Tap on the "menu" button on your Palm to display the menus. On most Palm handhelds, this button is painted on the screen near the lower left corner of the writing area. This will display the menus across the top of the screen.
- Tap on the menu that you'd like at the top of the screen, then tap on the item in the menu. The preferences functions are located in "tools" menu.
General Preferences
To set general program preferences, select "Preferences..." from the "Tools" menu. The general preferences screen allows you to set several options that determine how Diabetes Pilot works:
- Blood glucose ranges. Set your limits for high and low blood sugars and a target range. These values are used with various reports.
- Show BG Warnings: If this box is checked, a warning will be displayed when you enter a blood sugar that is below the "low" limit or above the "high" limit that you set above.
- Show Decimal Doses: If this box is checked, all medications are displayed with one decimal place of precision (ex. a record of 7 units would be displayed as "7.0"). If this box is not checked, records will be displayed as they are entered. Note that this does not affect how records are entered or stored, only how they are displayed on the main screen.
- For Meals Show: This specifies which nutrient is displayed on the main record listing screen for meal entries.
- Default Exer: This allows you to specify the exercise that appears as a default when you are entering a new exercise entry.
- Default Med: This allows you to specify the medication that appears as a default when you are entering a new medication entry.
- BG Units: This allows you to select between either mg/dL units (typically used in the United States) or mmol/L units (typically used throughout the world) for glucose measurements. Please note that if you change this setting, your existing glucose data and target glucose ranges will be converted to the system of measurement that you select. Please note that converting back and forth between the two systems of measurement may result in small changes to your data that are caused by rounding during the conversion process. For this reason, we recommend that you select the system that you prefer and then leave this setting unchanged.
Insulin Calculation Settings
Diabetes Pilot can calculate an estimated insulin dose when you are entering a glucose reading or a meal. These calculations are based solely on parameters that you enter. To use the insulin calculation features, these parameters must be configured for your personal needs, and the feature must be turned on.
The insulin calculation feature is provided as an educational tool that some people may find useful. It is not appropriate for everyone or for all circumstances. THE INSULIN CACLULATION FUNCTION IS A SIMPLE CALCULATION, MUCH LIKE YOU MIGHT PERFORM YOURSELF USING A POCKET CALCULATOR - IT IS NOT INTENDED AS MEDICAL ADVICE AND SHOULD NOT BE USED AS SUCH. If you do not understand this feature, please do not use it. If you do not understand what values to use on the configuration screen, please consult your doctor. In any case, by using Diabetes Pilot, you agree to assume full responsibility for your health care and you agree that Diabetes Pilot and its authors are not liable for any direct or indirect consequences of any results (correct or incorrect) returned by the program.
ALWAYS VERIFY THE CALCULATIONS WITH YOUR PHYSICIAN OR HEALTH PRACTITIONER.
Please note that the insulin calculations presented by the program when you are making glucose and meal entries consider only the current entry. The calculations do not consider any other factors, such as exercise, previous doses, previous food, or other circumstances that could significantly affect the amount of insulin that is required. You must use your own judgment to account for these various factors.
To configure the insulin calculation feature, select "Insulin Calculation..." from the "Tools" menu on the main screen. The configuration screen will be displayed:
- Calculate Insulin at Meals: If this box is checked, an insulin calculation will be displayed on the meal detail record screen when you are making a meal entry. Insulin is calculated by dividing the carbohydrate content of the meal by the value entered. So, for example, if you take 1 unit of insulin for every 15 grams of carbohydrate in a meal, you would enter "15" in the space provided.
- Subtract fiber from carbs: If this box is checked, the fiber content of the meal will be subtracted from the overall carbohydrate total when performing the calculation described above.
- Add 1U per ... Protein: If this box is checked, an additional quantity of insulin will be calculated according to the protein content of the meal. Insulin is calculated by dividing the protein content of the meal by the value entered. So, for example, if you take an additional 1 unit of insulin for every 7 grams of protein in a meal, you would enter "7" in the space provided. Note that this is in addition to the carbohydrate calculation described above and is only available when the carbohydrate calculation is used.
- Calculate Insulin Required to Lower Glucose: If this box is checked, an insulin calculation will be displayed on the glucose record detail screen when you are making a glucose entry. The insulin estimate is calculated by taking the difference between your target and the glucose entry you are currently making and dividing it by the factor that you have entered. (If the glucose reading you are entering is below your target, no correction is shown).
Customizing the Medication and Exercise Lists
When you make a medication or an exercise entry you can select the type of medication or exercise from a popup list on the details screen. These lists can be customized to meet your needs. Select "Edit Medication List..." or "Edit Exercise List..." from the "Tools" menu on the main screen.
The list will be displayed, along with four buttons:
- OK. Tap this button when you are done editing the list
- New. Adds a new item to the list
- Rename. Select an item in the list, then tap this button to rename it.
- Delete. Select an item in the list, then tap this button to delete it.