Take Control of Your Understanding: Introducing Glucose Guardian!

Living with or learning about diabetes can feel overwhelming. The constant calculations, the "what ifs," the delicate balance – it's a lot to take in. What if you could practice and learn in a safe, engaging, and realistic environment?

Welcome to Glucose Guardian – The innovative educational game that empowers you to understand the dynamics of glucose management like never before!

Master the Fundamentals, Navigate the Variables.

Glucose Guardian isn't just a game; it's a powerful learning tool designed to demystify the complexities of diabetes care. Whether you're newly diagnosed, a caregiver, a healthcare student, or simply someone looking to understand diabetes better, Glucose Guardian offers a unique, hands-on experience.

Step into a simulated day and take charge!

• Realistic Scenarios: Start your day at 5 AM and navigate through common daily events. Experience the impact of meals, insulin, exercise, and even unpredictable factors like stress and illness on your simulated blood glucose levels.
• Dynamic Glucose Simulation: Our sophisticated model includes:
  • Basal Glucose Fluctuations: Understand the body's natural glucose production and utilization.
  • The Dawn Phenomenon: Learn to anticipate and manage the common early-morning glucose rise.
  • Meal & Insulin Dynamics: Observe how carbohydrates are absorbed and how different insulin doses work over time.
  • Insulin on Board (IOB): Visualize and track active insulin in your system with our realistic IOB decay model – crucial for avoiding insulin stacking and hypos!
• Interactive Decision-Making: You're in control!
  • Log meals and count carbs.
  • Administer virtual rapid-acting insulin.
  • Choose to exercise and see its effects.
  • React to random life events that impact glucose.
• Real-Time Feedback & Learning:
  • Monitor your glucose levels with trend arrows and color-coded indicators.
  • Track your Time in Range (TIR) – a key metric in diabetes management.
  • Review the detailed Activity Log to understand the "why" behind every glucose change.
• Challenging & Rewarding Gameplay:
  • The Goal: Maintain your glucose within the target range (70-180 mg/dL) for 12 continuous hours before the simulated day ends at 10 PM.
  • Learn from Mistakes Safely: Experience critical highs and lows without real-world consequences and understand how to prevent them.

Why Choose Glucose Guardian?

• Empowerment Through Understanding: Move beyond theory. Gain practical insights into how different variables interact to affect blood glucose.
• Safe Practice Environment: Experiment with dosing, meal timing, and activity choices in a risk-free setting. Build confidence in your decision-making.
• Enhanced Learning for All:
  • Individuals with Diabetes: Deepen your understanding of your own management and explore "what-if" scenarios.
  • Caregivers & Family Members: Gain empathy and a clearer picture of the daily challenges and considerations.
  • Healthcare Professionals & Students: A valuable tool for visualizing and teaching the principles of diabetes care.
• Engaging & Interactive: Learning doesn't have to be dry. Our game-based approach makes understanding complex concepts more intuitive and memorable.
• Realistic Simulation: Developed with attention to physiological details to provide a meaningful and educational experience.

Are You Ready to Become a Glucose Guardian?

Managing diabetes is a journey of continuous learning. Glucose Guardian is here to be your insightful and interactive companion along the way.

Take the first step towards a deeper understanding. Download or access Glucose Guardian today and transform the way you learn about diabetes management!

Glucose Guardian: Play. Learn. Empower.

Glucose Guardian: Player's Guide & Benefits

Welcome to Glucose Guardian! This game is designed to be a fun and educational way to understand some of the key aspects of managing blood glucose, similar to what individuals with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes experience.

1. The Goal of the Game

Your primary objective is to maintain your simulated blood glucose level within the target range of 70 mg/dL to 180 mg/dL for 12 continuous hours.

The game day starts at 5:00 AM and the challenge to achieve the 12 continuous hours in range must be met before 10:00 PM (22:00) simulated time.

2. How to Play: Understanding Your World

Starting Conditions:

• You'll begin your day at 5:00 AM.
• Your initial blood glucose will be 190 mg/dL, which is slightly above the target range, so you'll need to take action fairly soon!

Key Factors Affecting Your Glucose:

• Simulated Time: The game progresses in 5-minute intervals (ticks).
• Basal Glucose Changes:
  • Basal Rise: Your body (in the game) naturally produces some glucose, causing a slow, steady rise over time.
  • Passive Utilization: Your body also uses some glucose naturally, causing a slow, steady drop. In the current simulation, the net effect of these two is a slight passive drop if no other actions are taken.
• Dawn Phenomenon: Be prepared! Between 4:00 AM and 7:59 AM each day, your glucose will experience an additional rise, simulating a common physiological event. You'll see a log message when this becomes active.
• Meals (Eating):
  • Click the "Eat Meal" button.
  • You'll be prompted to enter the number of carbohydrates (in grams) for your meal.
  • Eating carbs will cause your glucose to rise over a period of about 2 hours as they are absorbed.
• Insulin:
  • Click the "Take Insulin" button.
  • Enter the number of units of rapid-acting insulin you want to administer.
  • Insulin will lower your glucose over its action period (typically around 4 hours).
  • Insulin on Board (IOB): The game tracks how much insulin is still active in your system. This value will decrease over time as the insulin is used up. Keep an eye on your IOB to avoid "stacking" insulin and causing a severe low.
• Exercise:
  • Click the "Exercise" button.
  • Choose an exercise type and duration.
  • Exercise generally lowers your blood glucose. The impact depends on the duration and intensity (intensity is currently pre-set per exercise type).
• Stress Events:
  • You can manually trigger a "Stress Event," or they might occur randomly.
  • Stress typically causes your blood glucose to rise.
• Other Random Events: Life is unpredictable! Be ready for:
  • Mild Hypo/Hyper Events: Small, unexplained drops or rises in glucose.
  • Illness: Can cause your glucose to rise.
  • Sudden Activity: An unexpected burst of physical activity can lower your glucose.
  • Equipment Issues:
    • Sensor Errors: Your glucose readings might become unreliable ("???") for a period.
    • Infusion Site Issues: Your insulin might become less effective for a while.

Game Interface: Key Information at a Glance

• Glucose Level: Your current blood glucose in mg/dL, with a trend arrow (↑ for rising, ↓ for falling, → for stable). The color will also change:
  • Green: In target range (70-180 mg/dL)
  • Orange: High (above 180 mg/dL)
  • Red: Low (below 70 mg/dL)
• IOB (Insulin on Board): Shows how many units of active insulin are still working in your system. This will decrease over time.
• Simulated Time: The current in-game time.
• TIR (Time in Range): The percentage of the total simulated time you've spent within the target glucose range (70-180 mg/dL).
• Action Buttons: "Eat Meal," "Take Insulin," "Exercise," "Stress Event." These are your tools for managing glucose.
• Activity Log: Shows a history of events, actions, and significant glucose changes. This is crucial for understanding what's happening and why.

3. Winning and Losing

• Winning: Successfully maintain your blood glucose between 70 mg/dL and 180 mg/dL for 12 continuous hours.
• Losing (Game Over):
  • Prolonged Critical Hypoglycemia: Glucose below 50 mg/dL for 1 simulated hour.
  • Prolonged Critical Hyperglycemia: Glucose above 350 mg/dL for 1 simulated hour.
  • End-of-Day Challenge Failure: If you haven't achieved the 12 continuous hours in range by 10:00 PM (22:00) simulated time.

If the game ends, a summary dialog will appear. You can then choose to "Play Again."

4. Benefits of Playing Glucose Guardian

This game isn't just about winning; it's about learning and practicing! By playing, you can:

• Understand Cause and Effect: See directly how food, insulin, exercise, and other factors influence blood glucose levels.
• Learn about Timing:
  • Observe how long it takes for carbs to affect glucose.
  • See the duration of insulin action and how IOB changes.
  • Understand that actions have consequences that unfold over time.
• Practice Decision-Making: Make choices about insulin doses, carb intake, and activity in response to changing glucose levels and anticipated events.
• Experience Realistic Challenges: Encounter and learn to manage common diabetes-related occurrences like the Dawn Phenomenon, unexpected highs and lows, and even simulated equipment issues.
• Grasp Key Concepts:
  • Insulin on Board (IOB): Understand why it's important to track active insulin to prevent over-correction.
  • Time in Range (TIR): See how your actions contribute to this important metric.
• Develop Proactive Strategies: Learn to anticipate glucose changes (e.g., before meals, during the Dawn Phenomenon) and take steps to stay in range.
• Safe Learning Environment: Experiment with different approaches without real-world health consequences.