EFFICIENCY OF MOBILE APPS FOR SELF-MANAGEMENT IN TYPE II DIABETES: (REVIEW).

Diabetes affects millions of patients worldwide. Despite huge improvements in diabetes pharmacotherapy, innovations in glucose diagnosis and monitoring, and the use of insulin pumps, many people with diabetes are not meeting their glycemic control targets and would benefit from greater flexibility and more individualized diabetes management. All guidelines for the management of type II diabetes mellitus focus on lifestyle changes and self-management. Self-management includes changing eating habits and increasing physical activity. Nowadays, computer and mobile applications are increasingly convenient and widespread tools for self-help, their functions include glycemic control, adapted diets, and educational materials about the disease. Users can be not only patients but also medical personnel. Mobile apps can help people manage their health and well-being, promote healthy lifestyles, and access useful information whenever and wherever they need it. These tools are being implemented almost as quickly as they are being developed. Experts estimate that in 2017, for example, there were 325,000 medical applications available on smartphones, which corresponds to 3.7 billion downloads of mobile medical applications by smartphone users worldwide. The article presents an overview of the effectiveness of electronic devices, programs, and applications for smartphones for the self-management of patients with type II diabetes.

GESTATIONAL DIABETES: PREVALENCE AND RISKS FOR THE MOTHER AND CHILD (REVIEW).

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is chronic hyperglycemia during gestation in women without previously diagnosed diabetes. This hyperglycemia is caused by impaired glucose tolerance due to pancreatic ß-cell dysfunction in the setting of chronic insulin resistance. GDM has been found to affect approximately 4-16.5% of pregnant women worldwide. The large range of prevalence is associated with different approaches to the diagnosis of gestational diabetes, which are addressed in recent organizational documents but have not yet been introduced into wide clinical practice, and therefore prevalence figures vary between countries, as well as between regions of one country. Studies have shown that overweight and obese patients or people with a family history of any form of diabetes are more likely to have GDM and the incidence of GDM increases with the age of the pregnant woman. It has been proven that half of the cases of GDM occur as a relapse in a subsequent pregnancy. Consequences of GDM include an increased risk of maternal cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as macrosomia and birth complications in the infant. There is also a long-term risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in the child. Despite the fact that management strategies, insulin therapy, and behavioral therapy have been discussed for a long time, the effectiveness of these methods is insufficient. This review discusses what is currently known about the epidemiology, pathophysiology of GDM, and maternal and child outcomes.