Lowcate: A New App Aiming to Make Severe Lows Safer
- Alyssa Faulkner
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
The Lowcate app, developed by Daia Diabetes, is designed to help people with type 1 diabetes share important information, including location and glucagon information, quickly if a person with diabetes experiences a severe low blood sugar episode. This app is currently only going to be available in the US.
The idea is simple: the app links to a person’s continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and allows trusted contacts to see their blood glucose levels. It also shares key emergency information such as what type of glucagon the person uses, where it is stored, how to administer it, and the user’s location. This can be especially helpful for people who may not know much about diabetes, such as a new college or university roommate, colleagues, or friends.
The developers spoke to the diabetes community while creating the app, carrying out more than 100 stakeholder interviews with people living with type 1 diabetes and others involved in diabetes care.
Severe hypoglycaemia can have a real impact. In the United States, there are 100,000+ emergency room visits each year due to low blood sugar. The aim of Lowcate is to help reduce these emergencies by making it easier for others nearby to respond quickly.
The app is classed as a low-risk software as a medical device, meaning it doesn’t provide treatment advice, but instead focuses on sharing useful safety information.
One question is whether enough people with diabetes carry glucagon on a day-to-day basis for an app like this to work effectively. Although trends suggest that more people are carrying glucagon thanks to newer, easier-to-use options, is it enough for the app to be widely applicable?
While the app could be useful for adults living independently, there has also been growing interest from parents of children with type 1 diabetes who want others close to their child to have quick access to emergency guidance.
Lowcate is currently available on the iOS App Store in the United States and costs $5 to download. The developers are also actively looking for partners to help expand the project further and reduce this initial cost to users.
If you want to look into this app, you can find out more here:
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