I'm a Type 1 Diabetic living in the USA, where our healthcare system is an ongoing embarrassment. Diabetes treatment comes up often as an example. It's incredibly expensive and doctors rarely inform patients of affordable alternatives. Insulin and supplies are exorbitant, while for-profit insurance has always been a cruel and contradictory joke deprived of ethics and efficiency.

I have been keeping myself alive with older generation insulins that are sold at Walmart (Novolin R and Novolin N). No doctor ever informed me that this option exists. I found out about it while researching the dates that Lantus's (a long-acting insulin) patent was set to expire. [Note 1] Unfortunately the generics that came out afterwards were not priced any more reasonably.

Short of a cure for diabetes, the next best treatment is something colloquially referred to as an "artificial pancreas". This is comprised of a series of components: (a) An insulin pump and related accessories, (b) A continuous glucose monitor [CGM], (c) A means of calculating required insulin based on carbs consumed and insulin that's already in effect. At the moment, such a solution does exist - but the pump alone is 7,000 dollars.

However, it turns out that the open source community has created software that can communicate with older pumps, and works with CGMs. It takes the form of an Android or iOS app and both are completely free. The apps coordinate doses, monitor insulin on board, lower the rate at which insulin is delivered if one's blood sugar dips, etc. It's incredible. And it was released before two years before anything from commercial manufacturers was available.

Here are the links for both solutions:

Android - openaps.org/
iOS - loopkit.github.io/loopdocs/

[1] Incidentally, I ran across a forum of Lantus pharmaceutical reps (a) bragging about six-figure incomes, and (b) blaming Type 1 Diabetics for their condition - all while griping about what a loss of patent protection meant for their privileged lifestyles.

#Diabetes,#HealthCare,#Insulin,#InsulinPump,#LoopKit,#OpenAPS,#OpenSource,#T1D,#TypeOneDiabetes

There are certain inevitable trends among social media platforms thus far. Commercial Social Media Platforms "CSMPs" seek to attract as many eyeballs as possible, as well as harvest data, creating an attractive product for advertisers. Controversy drives engagement. This creates highly perverse incentives and dishonest practices.

Trust in CSMPs is irrevocably eroded . Meta/Facebook is a dumpster fire. Musk's purchase of Twitter has rendered a barely profitable mess into a debt-soaked sinking ship. It is clear that these models are failing.

CSMPs also seek to become exclusive walled-gardens to, again, retain users' data and eyeballs. We liken this to the Online Service Providers of old (AOL, Compuserv, Prodigy, etc.). The World Wide Web challenged this model and rendered it laughably obsolete.

The Fediverse's role is analogous with regard to CSMPs. Fedi is inherently interoperable and scalable in a way that CSMPs cannot swiftly address. This is as profound as ISPs and the web were to the irrelevance of walled-garden OSPs.

Now here's where the important bit comes in: Federated platforms will evolve to become the norm. Anarchistic organizing and dispute resolution, in a space that disincentives status quo propaganda (commercial, religious, political) is a real game changer. The road ahead is very exciting for us all.