In a recent tweet, Matthew Herper, who covers science and medicine for Forbes, pointed out that cardiology will be an important "collision" point between consumer IT and the practice of medicine. He's right on target as I have emphasized in a recent note about the importance of clinical information being generated by Apple watches and similar wearables (see: Apple Collaborates with Janssen on Apple Watch AFib/Stroke Clinical Trial). This note is also related to my previous notes about wearables and skin patches (see: Is Healthcare Ready to Embrace the Consumer "Wearable"; Fitbit Moves into the Health Coaching Area with Fitbit Care; AT&T Offers the LTE-M, Low-Powered Network for Uploading Wearable Health Data).
One of the reasons that this "collision" is occurring between IT and cardiovascular diseases in particular is that the latter can be assessed partly by analyzing blood pressure, pulse, and EKG. These measurements are achievable today with Apple watches and competitors. By way of contrast, liver disease diagnosis requires the measurement of serum analytes like AST and ALT. Transdermal testing of metabolites, drugs, and biomarkers is not yet ready for the general public (see: Rapid, low cost prototyping of transdermal devices for personal healthcare monitoring). Another factor that promotes the use of wearables to assess cardiovascular status is that IT enthusiasts like Eric Topol is a cardiologist and also writes books and is active on Twitter and other social media, proselytizing for the use of IT by consumers.
As one aspect of this collision, there will inevitably be arguments by some physicians that it is risky to place medical diagnostic devices in the hands of patients. I need only point out in response that the first home pregnancy testing product became available in Canada in 1971 and the United States in 1977 after delays caused by concerns over sexual morality and of ability of women to perform test and cope with the results without a doctor. (see: Pregnancy test). I think that the continuing development of various devices to monitor and diagnose disease is part of consumer-driven healthcare and, like home pregnancy testing, will be an asset for improving the general health status of our population (see: 5 predictions for consumer-driven health care in 2019).
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