Technology is an incredible and rapidly developing part of our lives, which can have far-reaching positive effects on your health. The advancement of devices such as the Fitbit and other wearable technology helps people keep track of their daily activity levels and reach their exercise goals. Sometimes, technology advances so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with everything out there. Here are five ways modern technology is improving health around the world.
Tracks Fitness and Nutrition
Whether you are into running, weight training, cycling or hiking, one of the biggest challenges is to actually keep track of your fitness progress.
Technology can be our friend, especially when it comes to fitness. Whether you’re trying to get more active or just want to improve your current workout, there are apps for pretty much everything these days. From the basics like tracking your steps and running distances to specific training programs, you will find dozens of apps that will definitely help you get in shape and stay motivated.
Improves Communication with Medical Professionals
In the old days, going to see a doctor pretty much meant sitting in a room and trying to explain your symptoms to someone who’d just heard them all before. Today, with the increasing digitisation of health care, you can communicate better. In fact, patients are able to communicate with doctors and nurses 24/7 without having to schedule office visits. In fact, technology makes it easy to have an online GP appointment, meaning you have better access and can easily fit an appointment into your schedule.
Enables Preventative Healthcare
Technologies such as wearable tech, mobile apps and household trackers are growing rapidly. Some of these technologies are already being used in the prevention space, helping us to finally understand what a “healthy” lifestyle is and how to maintain it. These technology tools also focus on diagnostics – wearables that detect signs of illness and track biological data to provide real-time or predictive information on a patients’ health. This can lead to detecting omens of cardiac problems, cancer and many other diseases.
Technology means easy access to medical information
The Internet has democratised access to health research. Blogs, platforms and journals are part of the media revolution, helping to spread information and connect patients with relevant news about their health issues.
Today, the technology exists to quickly access global health information. Health education can also be delivered on-demand and without practical limits. Using mobile devices and tablets, it’s easier than ever before to find high quality, easy-to-understand medical information for specific conditions.
Technology can help Predict Outbreaks
Lastly, a global health alarm system is now available that will use information from social media, Wikipedia, and Google Trends, as well as other online sources, to spot disease outbreaks as soon as possible. The new system picks up on signals that a region’s health ministry might miss in its surveillance data. Used properly, this system will not only help predict hotspots related to specific health conditions but also suggest recommendations and advice on how to stay safe.
Technology has many uses, and their advancements in the field of healthcare are just one of them. As society evolves, our uses for technology continues to evolve, too. These are just a few ways we have done that in recent years.
