The number of people with diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. Around 50 million people in India are suffering from Type 2 diabetes, making it the diabetes capital of the world; 87 million is the expected number of diabetics in India by the year 2030. And, 3.4 million is the estimated number of deaths caused due to high blood sugar, as per WHO.
“These figures indicate the grim reality faced by India and the world—we’re coping with a diabetes epidemic which is nothing short of a ticking time bomb,” says Amitabh Nagpal, CEO and founder of a Gurgaon-based start-up Life in Control.
Ironically, medical health experts assert that regular check-ups and timely detection plays a vital role in controlling and managing the problem. In fact, they feel that patient adherence to medication and lifestyle modifications play an important role in diabetes management helping patient’s lead normal lives.
It is to address this lack of patient compliance that Life in Control was formed, asserts Nagpal, a Stanford graduate. “It is a new-age diabetes management programme that connects everybody involved in the diabetes care ecosystem, making mHealth a big boon in chronic disease management,” he adds. Founded in 2015, Life in Control received $4.2 million funding from US-based RoundGlass Partners, and has reached out to 100 doctors and have served about 40,000 people so
Life in Control’s biggest strength lies in the fact that it works to empower patients. “We allow individuals to independently manage diabetes while helping doctors drive better patient outcomes,” he says.
The Life in Control app offers more than just convenience; it encourages patients to make better choices in terms of healthy eating, more exercising and reducing stress. It provides a unique three-pronged benefit to its users:
* Better diagnosis and self-care
* Doctors can use remote monitoring for managing health
* Provides patients with day-to-day support and real-time guidance.
The start-up provides patients with day-to-day support and real-time guidance to adhere to their treatment plan and manage their glycemic levels. The mobile intervention platform is an easy to use app that aids compliance in three steps:
* Customers can set up a digital diabetes care plan wherein doctors design a personalised care programme based on the patient’s condition
* Patients can use the app to view plan, log details and follow daily tasks
* Professional coaches guide patients by motivating them to achieve their goal.
The journey so far
Nagpal says, “Our team comprises professionals from the healthcare industry, IT and even the medical industry. We have reached close to a 100 doctors along with some of the largest pathology labs, through whom we have managed to help more than 1 lakh diabetics with our app. We aim to reach 10,000 doctors in the coming years.” Recently, in association with the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDAI), Life in Control DiaHelp, a 24/7 toll free helpline service was created to aid millions of diabetes patients and their
“We are also in the process of launching a companion app that the patient’s caregiver/ family can use to have transparency in their care and motivate them further,” Nagpal summarises.