Top 10 Smartphone Apps for Your Health
With a myriad of smartphone apps available on the market today there are those that could help you stay healthy, collecting important data and providing vital information. Some of the applications we selected for this article are used in iPhones, others in Android-running phones and there's one that was developed exclusively for Windows Phone 7. Find out more about these apps by reading the information below.
iPhone
Blood Pressure Monitor
Developed by Withings, the blood pressure monitor could help millions of people suffering from high blood pressure worldwide. Health specialists say that checking your blood pressure regularly is a must. This is because hypertension in most case goes unnoticed and could lead to serious heart problems.
Withings' blood pressure monitor is a device that connects to iPhone, iPod or iPad. With the help of a special free application preinstalled on your iPhone, the gadget makes it possible for the user to record their blood pressure and save the information on a secured online space. The data can be then shared with healthcare specialists.
READ MORE…iHealth
This is another application that can help the user suffering from high blood pressure. Dubbed iHealth Blood Pressure Monitoring System, the application allows you to estimate blood pressure and heart rate. With the help of the iPhone application, a blood pressure cuff and portable dock, users can check and record collected data.
By placing the handset on the dock it not only helps you get the latest data on your heart rate and blood pressure but also charges the smartphone. The gathered information is then uploaded from the cuff to a computer so the user could examine it on a larger screen.
DailyBurn
Concerned about calories and fat in your meal? This application allows smartphone user to calculate the amount of calories in a specific food. The developers say that the app can estimate calories when the user takes pictures of a dish.
Then the app runs through a large database of nearly 500,000 items and in a short amount of time offer the user information on the calories, proteins, vitamins and fat contained in that dish.
The information can be easily shared on Twitter or FourSquare.
IVF Baby in the Making
Trying to conceive a baby? Developed by Kim Konopa for couples who are trying to conceive through invitro fertilization, this application features a calendar that can be used by woman who is about to get pregnant to organize her appointments to the doctor, medications and other important data.
It is worth mentioning that designer Kim Konopa is a mother who is aware of what it's like to undergo IVF. She developed the application together with her 22-year old son.
Due to the fact that IVF treatment is an expensive procedure, the program can also help couples manage their budget. During the development of the app Konopa consulted her reproductive endocrinologist while developing the baby making application.iBreastfeed
Medela is a famous firm that based on different studies performed by breastfeeding specialists develops high-quality breastpumps and breastfeeding accessories.
Its application for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch offers a lot of valuable information on breastfeeding and baby care to new moms. It also has a number of features that will help women improve their breastfeeding experience.
One of the features is called the Breastfeeding-Friendly Places. It helps women find a place for nursing or breast pumping. The program makes use of GPS navigation and Google Maps to look for locations that are approved for the purpose. READ MORE…
Bedometer
Developed for those who enjoy sex, this app calculates the amount of calories the user has burnt during intercourse.
Its author is Livvy Thompson, a 25-year-old woman who lives in Islington, North London. The idea of such an application came after she started thinking on ways to make her less energetic partner more active.
The Bedometer estimates the time and intensity of each sexual act, and informs the user about the number of calories they have burned during sex. To use the app just put the iPhone on your bed and by using the motion sensor the device will be able to do all estimations.
Android
SparkRecipes
Hungry for healthy food? The SparkRecipes app for Android-running smartphones features over 280,000 recipes loaded into the database.
The interface is very comfortable and it allows users to easily study the health-conscious recipes, being able to get information on fat, calories and more for each type of dish.
In addition, the app allows the user to search for a specific recipe based in particular nutrition needs.
Everything is quite easy: select the recipe, save it to favorites and that's it.
DailyData
With a great evolution on the map market, users may soon use their handsets as personal portable doctors.
DailyData is one of those applications that can help an Android user detect an illness if there is such. The program was developed by MIT Media Lab and it alerts the user in case it detects health problems.
The app examines SMS data, calling data and locating data. It detects the alterations that could indicate the starting point of some illnesses. For instance, the onset of depression can be described by the alterations in the way the user communicates.
In the future, the developers of the app hope that DailyData would be popular among caretakers.
FatSecret
This is another app that helps the user keep track of the calories consumed. The application has a large database of calorie counts for a large variety of foods that the user usually eats at home or at a restaurant.
With the help of a barcode scanned, FatSecret instantly pulls in data on food for any pre-packaged goods. But the most interesting feature of this app is that is stores all of the collected information in a Food Diary in which the user can see the total amount of calories, fat, carbohydrates and more consumed.
In addition, FatSecret has an exercise diary, a weight tracker and even a personal journal.
Windows Phone 7
Lifelens
Developed by Cy Khormaee, a Harvard Business School student, and the team from Lifelens, this application can be used to diagnose malaria.
Built to be used on smartphones running Windows Phone 7, the app comes with a microscope lens connected to the back of a handset. The program was written in Microsoft Silverlight, an application framework for developing and running internet applications. It can read a blood sample placed on the attached lens.
Everything is rather easy to use - just place a blood sample on the lens and the application automatically magnifies for a more accurate analysis.
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