Κινητά έξυπνα τηλέφωνα και υγεία (mHealth)

του Γιάννη Καριψιάδη*, medlabnews.gr

Γνωρίζετε ότι τα εν χρήσει κινητά τηλέφωνα είναι πλέον περισσότερα από τις οδοντόβουρτσες;

Σύμφωνα με τις αναφορές πωλήσεων κινητών τηλεφώνων, υπολογίζουμε περίπου 2 δισεκατομμύρια κινητά ενεργά το 2015 (τα μισά είναι έξυπνα)

Κάθε ήμερα ενεργοποιούνται 1.5 εκατομμύρια εξτρά έξυπνα κινητά. 20% (300.000) εγκαθιστούν Εφαρμογές Υγείας που έχουν σχεδιαστεί για το Android ή iPhone.

33% των χρηστών ψάχνουν πληροφορίες σχετικά με την Υγεία στο Διαδίκτυο.

And this is per day!
Today we count 10.000 Health Apps in the iTune store.

Most of them are regarding:

• Weight loss (more than 1500)
• Heart (more than 475)
• Blood Pressure (more than 250)
• Medicine management (more than 125)

All the above is defined today as Mobile Health or mHealth.
We may even be users of mHealth devices, that are not smart phones and not even know it.

Traveling the last weeks in various European cities, and using the subway in each one, I was very impressed to realize that the people of up to 45 years old, are very time conscious. They get in the train hooked on their tablet or phone, do not even look around, they continue traveling like this and only when they get off they may look up to make sure they do not miss their station.
And the same thing happens in London or Paris, Athens, Bucharest or Kiev.
Even in Ukraine, where there is some war going on around.
It seems that the Mobile lifestyle has already conquered the world. 
We depend on our smart phones more than our basic needs, as food and water, or electricity.
In some African villages, where there is no electricity, there are solar batteries that ensure the proper function of the mobile phones.
Statistically speaking the use of mHealth applications is by 30-50% greater than in developed markets.

Does this have to do with:

1. Low household income -> self-diagnosis and treatment at no cost?
2. No trust to local doctors -> great need for second opinion especially from the West?
3. No access to local Medical Professionals/ Centers  -> the only solution

(Write us your opinion; it will be interesting to publish the results)

It is natural to see an explosion on mHealth applications and many benefits for us:

• immediate access 24/7 - 7 days a week
• convenience
• emergencies
• second opinion
• distance monitoring from your doctor
• communication with your doctor and other doctors located even in other continents
• special health information
• thousands of wellness programs for a healthy lifestyle (diet-exercise-special sports) and many communities to join in with similar interest people and share your experiences

No matter what we hear about radiation out of these smart things, the mobile phone is already a companion and a tool to help us live a better healthier life, as long as we discipline its use and manage to sleep away and off-line..

“STAY TUNED: Next article will be a tour on tech gadgets (WT) that we can wear to improve our health (WT=Wearable Technology)”

* Yannis Karipsiadis. 
a global citizen, an mHealth entrepreneur, working in London, Athens, Kiev and Bucharest. Has served as the CEO and founding partner in big multinationals, in CRM/Customer Experience, Telecoms, Banking and Biotechnology. Active in the Stanford entrepreneurial community, believes that mHealth has more to offer in developing markets

LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/ykaripsiadis/  Twitter: @YannisKaripsiad