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2024-02-05

Welcome to News from Loop and Learn

Master Your DIY Closed-Loop Insulin Delivery System

Published on 5 February 2024.

In this edition:

Upcoming Zoom Sessions

Zoom Sessions use this link:

Topic Recorded? Time Date
Loop and Learn: Informal Discussion no 19:00 UTC 8 February
Loop and Learn: Informal Discussion no 19:00 UTC 14 March

Loop and Learn: Informal Discussion in 2024 is scheduled on the second Thursday of each month.

Time Zone Converter

Need help figuring out when an event happens in your time zone? Try the SavvyTime: UTC Converter.

February Food Events

We have 3 big events in February that center around food.

Chinese New Year

While we don’t have Chinese New Year specific articles, the principles in our Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day articles apply. Lots of carbohydrates are consumed and often, lots of fat.

Super Bowl LVIII

Kick off is at 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, 11 February. Here are some great tips to help manage your blood glucose while you enjoy the Super Bowl Party. Go, Team!

Valentine's Day

Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate... and a few other indulgences... this is what many of us enjoy around Valentine’s Day, 14 February. We’ve got you covered!

New Shortcut to Log a Nightscout Treatment

A new shortcut, Treat, specifically crafted for children and/or their caregivers, is now available. With this shortcut, low blood sugar treatments can be logged as a note in Nightscout directly from an iPhone, Apple Watch or Siri. This is especially important when treatments are not recorded in the Loop/iAPS app. (There are cases when users do not want the treatment logged in the app but those monitoring remotely need to know if low glucose has been treated.) The note is visible in Nightscout, facilitating remote monitoring by parents and caregivers. This enhances T1D management communication, helps in identifying treatment patterns, and can help indicate the need for adjustments in diabetes management settings.

To use (once you install it):

  • On iPhone: Find the shortcut in the Shortcuts app and tap to run it.
  • On Apple Watch: Add the shortcut to your watch face or the Shortcuts app and tap to execute it.
  • Via Siri: Activate by saying “Hey Siri, log low treatment” or a custom phrase set during the shortcut setup.

When setting up this shortcut, you’ll be asked to enter:

  • Nightscout Website Address: The full URL of your Nightscout site (e.g., https://yoursite.herokuapp.com), where the shortcut will log treatment entries
  • API_SECRET for Nightscout: The API_SECRET (password) for the Nightscout site, be sure to enter it without trailing spaces
  • Your Name: The name of the user (child with T1D or caregiver) for identification in treatment logs

Important Note:

Information logged via this shortcut is visible on your Nightscout site as a note and can be viewed with compatible apps like LoopFollow, without affecting the Loop/iAPS app operations.

This shortcut is based on contributions by Katie DiSimone and Daniel Mini Johansson.

If you have never used shortcuts before, refer to LoopDocs Shortcuts.

Lock Your Phone

  • Lock your phone before you put it in your pocket, purse or backpack so that no accidental button pushes will occur
  • Be sure to lock your phone after delivering a bolus, so that you won’t accidentally cancel it
  • Check back to make sure boluses or other actions you have taken went to completion

Check Your Battery

Loop Follow is one of our recommended apps. It has many useful features, including a wide array of alarm capabilities - great for T1D kids, caregivers and T1D adults!

We want to be sure you know that it uses a lot of battery and recommend that you check your usage often and be sure to charge your phone more often when using it.