There is a growing push to employ common electronic devices to monitor chronic diseases, let patients confer with physicians remotely and encourage stricter adherence to medication, diet and exercise, the National Post reports.
For example, the average blood pressure reading of 31 patients was significantly reduced when they used a cell phone-based system that sent alerts to patients and physicians when their blood pressures got too high or too low, according to a study in this month's American Journal of Hypertension.Researchers launched the study at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto because blood pressure tends to fluctuate and is affected by external factors, but doctors usually see just an isolated reading, making it difficult to treat effectively.Study participants used a blood pressure cuff equipped with a Bluetooth device that automatically transmitted data to the cell phone, which then sent the readings to a central server.
Algorithms determined if the reading was too high or too low and sent alerts to doctors and patients when necessary using a standard landline. Doctors also received a series of readings via fax before a patient's visit. A larger clinical trial using BlackBerry devices is being conducted to confirm the initial findings.Other health care applications for cell phones also are being investigated. A Health Canada team is encouraging drug companies to record and transmit photos of patients' meals via cell phone during clinical trials for diabetes drugs in an effort to compare the effect of diet and exercise to medications, the Post reports.
In addition, cell phone network provider Qualcomm by late 2008 hopes to launch Lifecomm, a monthly service that provides health care applications to cell phones. Don Jones, Qualcomm's health vice president, said that he thinks the next major market probably will be for phones that allow patients to video conference
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