Brian Sherwell (Sparks Grove) presented an innovative approach to understanding chronic health conditions through visualization at one of SXSW's Interactive sessions.

1. VISUALIZING
CHRONIC HEALTH
CONDITIONS
Brian Sherwell

2. SETTING THE STAGE

3. WHAT IS
DATA VISUALIZATION?
Data visualization is the creation and
study of the visual representation of
data.
or
“just draw it”

4. WHY VISUAL?
Approximately 70% of
the body’s sense receptors
reside within the eyes.
It is not just the amount of
information collected, but also
the subtlety of the information.
HUE
LENGTH
ORIENTATION
AREA
LOCATION
COLOR
WIDTH
SHAPE

5. WHAT IS DIABETES?
a metabolic disease in which the
body’s inability to produce any
or enough insulin causes elevated
levels of glucose in the blood.
Type1vsType2vsGestational

6. DIABETES TREATMENT
Blood Sugar Monitoring
– Single Read & Continuous
Treatment through oral mediations
and Insulin
105

7. TYPICAL INSULIN DOSING ROUTINE
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
bolus dose basal dose

8. 18.8M
children and adults in the
United States have diabetes25.8M(8.3%)
81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 07 09 11
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
1.9 MILLION NEW CASES
diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older in 2010
WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
diagnosed undiagnosed
7.0M
prediabetes
79M
Diabetes continues to be the leading cause of
kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-extremity
amputations, and blindness among adults,
aged 20 – 74.7 years.
– Center for Disease Control

9. WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
$245 billion
The total estimated cost of
diagnosed diabetes in 2012
– American Diabetes Association
$176 billion
direct
medical costs
$69 billion
reduced
productivity

10. MY AH-HA MOMENT

11. APPALACHIAN TRAIL
TREKKING
3 days 40.5 miles
122,713 steps
42.7lbs pack weight
Calories burned:
Insane!!
Georgia

12. WHAT WERE THE EFFECTS?
Calories consumed daily:
3500++
Average Blood Sugar Level:
normally needed
Basal Bolus
26 50
needed for this trip
Basal Bolus
12 0-6
Amount of insulin per day
76

13. INSULIN USAGE VS ACTIVITY
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
10k 20k 30k 40k
ACTIVITY (steps)
My normal
daily average

14. INSULIN EFFICIENCY VS ACTIVITY
0
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10k 20k 30k 40k
ACTIVITY (steps)
My normal
daily average

15. APPLICATION

16. COMPARING INSULIN TYPES
rapid acting short acting intermediate acting long acting basal
Starts 5–15 mins 15–30 mins 1–2 hrs 1–3 mins
.75–1.5 hrs 2–3 hrs 4–8 hrs 6–12 hrs
3–5 hrs 4–6 hrs 12–18 hrs 20–24 hrs
Peaks
Lasts

17. VISUAL: COMPARING INSULIN TYPES
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
rapid acting short acting intermediate acting long acting basal

18. The glycemic index is a measure of
how quickly blood glucose levels
(i.e., blood sugar) rise after eating
a particular type of food.
The effects that different foods have on
blood glucose levels vary considerably.
GLYCEMIC INDEX
Baguette 95
Pop tart 70
Yogurt 33

19. VISUAL: GLYCEMIC INDEX
0 1 2 3 4
Baguette
Pop tart
Yogurt

20. GLYCEMIC INDEX
0 1 2 3 4
Baguette

21. ALIGNMENT
Rapid acting insulin
(relative dose)
0 1 2 3 4
Baguette

22. 0 1 2 3 4
Pasta
ALIGNMENT

23. 0 1 2 3 4
Pasta
Rapid acting insulin
(relative dose)
ALIGNMENT

24. 0 1 2 3 4
Pasta
Rapid acting insulin
(relative dose)
ALIGNMENT

25. WHAT ABOUT PREDICTION
Power of data visualization is that
it is a great way to show the future

26. CURRENT PREDICTIONBloodSugar

27. BETTER PREDICTIONActivityBloodSugar
Alert!
Low blood sugar predicted
based on current activity
Inputs
activity
insulin dosage
food intake
gsr
blood pressure

28. CONCLUDING THOUGHT
visualization is key to understanding complex health issues