Apps for Your Health

We have noticed in the office that an increasing number of patients have made the switch from standard mobile phones to "smart" phones - as have most doctors.

Besides functioning as phones, iPods, cameras, email receptacles and GPS systems, these devices and the apps designed for them, have also become an asset to both patients and their physicians.

If not only as a great place to keep your medication list, patients can also download as assortment of apps to

• Record and track blood pressure,
• Monitor your blood sugar trends,
• Count calories and break down food labels
• Take your pulse!

We have highlighted below just a few of the hundreds that are out there, but there are such a diverse array of helpful apps out there that we leave it to you to give us some other good ones!

iTriage - What they say: Created by two ER docs, iTriage helps you answer the questions: “What medical condition could I have?” and “Where should I go for treatment?” It also lets you save, easily access, and share the healthcare information most important to you. iTriage has been downloaded millions of times in over 80 countries and consistently receives a 4.5 (out of 5).

Glucose Buddy - Using Glucose Buddy, people with diabetes can manually enter their glucose numbers, carbohydrate consumption, insulin dosages and activities. Once the data has been entered, users are able to see trends and adjust their diets, meds and even activity, to better control their blood sugar.

Fooducate - Just pick up a product from the shelf, scan it, and let Fooducate do the rest. Scan and choose healthy groceries. Over 200,000 unique UPCs! As featured in USAToday, NYTimes, WSJ, Lifehacker, Gizmodo and on ABC, FOX, NBC and more...

BPMontior - The BPMonitor keeps track of your important health stats, right on your iPhone or iPod touch. It is one of the best health tracking apps, with features hard to find anywhere else. These include:
1. Ease-to-use interface to record your blood pressure, weight and heart rate
2. Support tracking for multiple people; one program for your entire family
3. Graphical charts for visual trend and warning
4. Stats table with average values for the past weeks
These are the ones we like but there are literally hundreds more out there for every health-related topic from assessing visual acuity to interpreting x-rays. The Medical category in the iTunes App store is a wonderful resource and we hope that you can point us to some additional great finds.