Chuck Norris saves lives with killer apps

Chuck Norris

I'm from an era when a phone was just a phone. Some of you may remember those days. For a lot of folks my age, viewing a portable phone as a device for a whole lot more than just talking seems a little strange. But as our population continues to age, the ability of a new category of applications for mobile phones to track the health of patients could save lives. In the world of smart phone apps, this development may even lead to a shift from the overriding focus of the social aspect of phone apps to something more serious.

Two Silicon Valley startup companies, AliveCor and Vital Connect, are banking on just that. Both recently received a green light and seal of approval from the Food and Drug Administration for their new mobile apps designed to monitor a patient's health status from home. This FDA approval may lead to a big step forward in the digital health industry.

AliveCor's app essentially transforms a smart phone into a portable electrocardiogram. It is designed to detect atrial fibrillation, a form of cardiac arrhythmia that affects about 1 in 4 adults older than 40. If the device detects an abnormality, the information can be sent to a cardiologist for review, allowing the doctor to intervene before the onset of a stroke or another life-threatening event.

The app is currently available to consumers and can be downloaded free, but it requires the purchase of a universal attachment plate.

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Vital Connect received FDA clearance for the HealthPatch MD, which patients can adhere to specific areas on their chest to track such things as heart rate, pulse variability, respiratory rate and skin temperature. If the person using the app opts in, his physician will be immediately notified if the numbers hit or exceed set thresholds. It was created with patients with chronic conditions in mind, for short-term monitoring after a patient is discharged. It will also enable home health care professionals to monitor those patients with more serious risks on a 24-hour basis.

Patients need a prescription to buy the device, which is expected to be available in the United States by the end of the year. It is currently available in the European Union and Canada.

Both companies are part of a burgeoning remote wireless health monitoring trade aimed at saving lives by prompting care that can prevent fatal outcomes, as well as managing health in a more efficient way. It is an approach that also makes it easier for patients and doctors to track care and treatment and eliminates unnecessary visits to a doctor's office or hospital.

Though this particular field has a ways to go before it can be considered mainstream, there are many mobile apps currently available that address any number of health needs. Some are free; some require a subscription service or purchase. Here are a couple of them:

• Breast Cancer Diagnosis Guide. Created by Breastcancer.org, it allows breast cancer patients to enter and track details of their disease and treatment, from the size of the tumor to the presence or absence of estrogen receptors. Doctors have found it useful in helping patients grapple with the flood of information they get when first diagnosed, as well as in staying on top of details as they consult various doctors, from surgeons to radiation oncologists.
• Wireless Pulse Oximeter. Made by iHealth Lab Inc. for people with trouble sleeping, this mobile app can record blood oxygen levels during the night, helping a doctor determine whether a person has sleep apnea. To use it, a patient goes to bed wearing a fingertip sensor, which wirelessly links to the phone.

Perhaps the greatest utility among mobile health apps is in assisting doctors by providing hand-held databases of drugs and diseases and sophisticated monitors. The following are but a few that do that:

• CellScope Oto. Developed by CellScope Inc., this app allows a smart phone to become an otoscope, the instrument doctors use to look into the ear. With this app and the accompanying optical device, a doctor can record video of a child's ear, for example, and then show the images to family members to explain the diagnosis. It can also help eliminate an unnecessary use of antibiotics.
• Epocrates. This is considered one of the oldest and most established medical mobile apps. Epocrates Inc. claims that nearly half of U.S. physicians routinely rely on it. It is similar to the mammoth Physicians' Desk Reference book, providing doctors, wherever they might be, with the latest on basic information about drugs, the right dosing for adults and children, and warnings about harmful interactions.
• Isabel. Created by Isabel Healthcare, it is a helpful guide for doctors in reaching diagnoses. The doctor enters symptoms, and the app lists possible diagnoses, as well as any medications that could cause the symptoms.
• ResolutionMD. It allows doctors to look at X-rays and other images on a smart phone or tablet as soon as images are available, no matter the doctor's location (as long as there's cell service or Wi-Fi).

It will be interesting to see whether this vision of mobile health comes to pass, but it would be nice if they would invest a little more time on some of the medical symptoms and conditions caused by our obsession with smart phones. A 2011-12 study in Hong Kong, where sales of smart phones are among the highest in the world, revealed musculoskeletal pain or discomfort in different parts of the body from the use of this electronic device, including neck, shoulder, wrist and finger pain.

According to a report in Boston magazine, psychologists are studying other medical phenomena caused by smart phone use. One is nomophobia, the fear of being out of contact without one's mobile phone. Another is called phantom vibration syndrome. It's incorrectly feeling or hearing your cell phone going off.

Oops, excuse me. I'd better answer that ...

Write to Chuck Norris with your questions about health and fitness. Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at ChuckNorrisNews.blogspot.com.