You can gather health data and track it using various smart devices. Most of us know about the popular Fitbit wearable which tracks our fitness. I’m not up to speed on what latest Fitbit devices can do, but these and similar items can do ever more as smart technology advances.
I mentioned about various items where you can monitor aspects of your health related to MS, and I mentioned smart watches in previous post.
My direct experience of this is with the Apple Watch. From the manufacturer here’s what such is capable of:
A funny anecdote is one which one of my surgeons related to me. He had bought one for his elderly mother to keep her as safe and connected as possible. Not familiar with the device he wanted to try it out first himself and then customise it for her. He went to a mad bit of a party, got very inebriated and made the unwise decision to have fun on a skateboard. He fell off and made a nasty but not serious acquaintance with the floor. It triggered a very embarrassing notification to his wife, mother and the emergency services!
When buying an Apple or any other equivalent smart watch there are options. Because MS affects vision, and in my case close vision, I chose the option with the larger face. You can buy the newest and most-up-to-date one if you can afford it. They are very expensive items so you can go for a lower spec model once it has the fall detection & notification features, and you can go for a “refurbished” one. That is a used model which has been well examined, and any repairs needed done to bring it to full selling spec. Can be well worth considering when the budget is tight. Often people buy the latest model and hand in a perfectly good used one in part exchange. O e thing to be noted, an Apple Watch, indeed any Apple device is only applicable if you already have an iPhone.
If you have an Android there are guides as to which compatible smart watches have fall detection:
Android Smart WatchesAndroid Watches with Fall Detection
Trustworthy Android SOS smart watches
With all smart watches you need to have a smartphone for set-up, updates, & connection with data. You also have to charge your smart phone battery by removing it from your wrist, and you must figure this out in your vulnerability strategy. Charging at night is practical, but what if you have a fall going to the bathroom? This technology is at yet imperfect in this practical sense.
There’s all sorts of health related apps for your smart watch, some of which may be pre-installed on your smart phone, but you can add them as desired. It’s a vast area which I could not go into in this general post.
Various health monitoring devices are compatible with iPhone:
The following site discusses Android compatible medical devices and the future of health technology:
So much relating to MS related as well as other health concerns can be monitored with wearables and compatible devices, and as I said in previous post this is all very helpful when relating your symptoms and progress to the medical people, as you have data to support your own personal experience of symptoms
MS Martine: a life with Multiple Sclerosis 