An app a day keeps the doctor away - how your smartphone can save your life

It used to be an apple a day that kept the doctor away - these days, it tends to be an app.

With a smartphone, millions of people are able to check out their symptoms, get quick and easy medical advice and log problems so they have a record of both their pain and treatment.

Self-diagnosis though is not a perfect science and a professional opinion is always advisable before diagnosing yourself with a condition you didn't even know you had.

But even so, today's apps are fast becoming an indispensable prescription alongside traditional drugs and regimes for patients and sufferers of a variety of conditions.

Earlier this year, the Department of Health suggested doctors should incorporate apps in their treatment plans. It now offers a page on its website where nearly 500 health apps and potential app ideas are ranked and can be commented on by members of the public and clinicians.

One doctor using apps in her consultations is GP Dr Ellie Cannon.

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She explained "I certainly think health apps have a role and I find myself recommending certain ones in my GP clinic.

"I have had particular success with 'myLast cigarette' in helping patients to stop smoking as well as 'My Fitness Pal' which is a great free weight loss tool.

"Motivating patients to change their bad habits is a very hard part of my job, so apps have proved very useful - these ones are obviously good because they are so interactive."

But Dr Cannon warned: "I am less keen on apps where the aim is to avoid an appointment with a healthcare professional - mole checkers and symptoms checkers often provide false reassurance or false alarm. They are no substitute for a face-to-face consultation."

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The iTunes App Store and Android's Google Play both have hundreds of health & fitness and medical apps, everything from help with sleep to detecting allergies while NHS Direct naturally has its own app.

Similarly, the Patient.co.uk website also has a mobile app to locate the nearest GP, dentist, pharmacy or hospital as well as providing information on common conditions.

The recently-launched SkinVision app allows people to take a picture of their skin using the phone's camera in an attempt to match moles and blemishes to a database of those that could show the early stages of a melanoma, or skin cancer.
https://skinvision.com/about

Another health app taking advantage of technology is VitaDock. By attaching a sensor to the bottom of an iPhone, patients can check their blood sugar levels or blood pressure and keep track of changes over time.
http://www.vitadock.com/vitadock.html

Similar tech is used by Withings in its body scales and blood pressure monitors that also hook into an app to record potentially dangerous patterns.


While in office, the now former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley had spoken of the benefits of apps saying: "I want to make using apps to track blood pressure, to find the nearest source of support when you need it and to get practical help in staying healthy the norm.

"Innovation and technology can revolutionise the health service, and we are looking at how the NHS can use these apps for the benefit of patients, including how GPs could offer them for free."

They have also been welcomed by patient groups and doctors' organisations, who speak of the positives while sounding a note of caution.

Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive of the Patients Association, said while they may not be right for elderly people who may find it hard to engage with technology, it welcomes "innovative new ideas that will help patients look after themselves".

She said: "These apps will help provide patients with more information and give them greater control over their own care."

But a spokesperson for the British Medical Association warned: "It is very important that patients do not start diagnosing themselves. If people have symptoms they should visit their GP so that a proper diagnosis can be made."

However, it's not just apps that are revolutionising medicine and healthcare provision.

This week at the Naidex South exhibition in London, technology is on show that is proving a force for good when it comes to helping those with medical and disability issues to live an independent life.

They include a revolutionary Ekso Bionic Suit, which helps paraplegic people to walk again. The battery-powered futuristic exoskeleton powers people with lower-extremity paralysis or weakness to stand straight and move.

And fast-growing charities such as Special Effect are using innovative computer game controllers to encourage young people with disabilities to have a better quality of life, putting them on a level playing field with the able bodied gamer.


Another organisation called Limbs Alive, based in Newcastle, is also revolutionising the treatment of those with Hemiplegia, paralysis of the arm, leg and trunk on one side of the body often caused by a stroke.


It has developed a library of video games to use within its therapy and from 2013 hopes to make this available for download via the internet so patients can play them at home using their PC or tablet computer.