Want a Healthy Heart? There’s an App for That

If you’re old enough to remember, you had to love the gadgets from the original Star Trek series, especially the phaser, transporter, and whatever they called the machine that instantly created whatever food you were hungry for. Even GrubHub can’t do that.

When I first heard about Scanadu, a real life version of Dr. McCoy’s tricorder, it took me by surprise. And yet, the device is here, or at least awaiting FDA approval to measure heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, ECG and other readings simply by holding a tiny device to your temple for a few moments.

Still, I have concerns. Dr. McCoy was an M.D. This gadget is for you and me. And people are so neurotic these days, is everyone going to freak out and run to the emergency room every time they see an abnormal reading? I mean, how is an average person supposed to interpret all that data?

You can’t just pick up the phone and call your doctor. Let’s face it, medicine is a business and that’s not exactly how they make their money. They want you to come in. And doesn’t that leave us right back where we started?

Apple’s HealthKit may provide a framework to aggregate personal health information to share with medical professionals, but what if you’ve got a serious condition like high blood pressure or heart disease or you’re prediabetic? Will these gadgets and apps do you any good or just make you confused and paranoid?

Enter Hello Heart, a new iPhone and Apple Watch app designed to help more than 100 million Americans suffering from chronic heart conditions. The app integrates measurements and test results and helps patients make sense of all the data through personalized dashboards that explain what the numbers actually mean.