As health apps enter medical mainstream is there a way to bring some order?

The heart rate monitor built into the new Apple Watch has sparked sharp debate over its risks and benefits, even though the feature was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration.

But out of the spotlight, the FDA has been doing away with regulatory action altogether on many diagnostic health apps targeting consumers, seeking to accelerate digital health adoption by defining many of these as “low risk” medical devices.

As the number of mobile health apps surged to a record 325,000 in 2017, app performance is going largely unpoliced, leading to what’s been dubbed a “Wild West” situation. Unfortunately for health consumers, the public can’t rely on the research community to play the role of sheriff.

When colleagues and I recently examined the medical literature on direct-to-consumer diagnostic apps in a study published in Diagnosis, we repeatedly found studies marred by bias, technological naïveté or a failure to provide crucial information for consumers. There was also a glaring lack of studies with actual consumers to see how they use these apps and what the impact on individual health, whether for better or worse, might be.

How Apple Watch saved my life: Elderly recounts saga in letter to Tim Cook

TECHNOLOGY NEWS - While digital technology often receives brickbats from the health-conscious, a 76-year-old man in Hong Kong now wants anyone with a heart problem to wear an Apple Watch after it helped him get a new lease of life by sending an alert about his elevated heart rate.

Gaston D'Aquino, a semi-retired diamond trader, was sitting in a church in April when he spotted an alarm on his timepiece telling him that his heart rate was too high, tech website Phone Arena reported on Sunday.

Although D'Aquino was feeling fine, he skipped Easter lunch with his family to go to the hospital.

That decision proved to be life-saving as a battery of tests performed on him later revealed that two of his three main coronary arteries were completely blocked, and the other was 90 per cent blocked, according to the report originally published by the South China Morning Post on Friday.

The doctors at the hospital lauded the Apple Watch for its accurate readings.

On the advice of the doctors, D'Aquino later had an angioplasty, in which tiny balloons are temporarily inserted into clogged arteries and inflated to open them.

Apple Watch 3 LTE goes on sale: Airtel offer, Jio's new service and more

The much-awaited Apple Watch Series 3 Cellular edition is now available in India through Reliance Jio and Airtel owned platforms. The watch, which comes in several variants, can now be purchased from Jio stores and Reliance Digital outlets. Airtel users can order the watch through the telecom's online store.

The 38 mm variant of the watch is available for Rs 39,080, while the 42 mm model is being sold at Rs 41,120.

On the hardware front, the GPS only model of the watch comes with 8GB internal memory, while the GPS+Cellular model comes with 16 GB internal memory. Watch Series 3 comes with a dual-core S3 processor and a W2 wireless chip.

Airtel is giving a cashback of Rs 5,000 to its customers who buy the watch through ICICI Credit EMI transactions from May 11 to June 10. The cashback will be credited within 90 days of the transaction.

Jio has launched a new service called JioEverywhereConnect, especially for the watch. The service will allow users to use the same Jio number on both their iPhone and Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular).

Apple, Nike to unveil limited edition Apple Watch 2

Apple and Nike are working to expand their smartwatch series partnership for the Apple Watch 2 with a new limited edition NikeLab offering.

"NikeLab will feature a simple face to focus on fitness and will go on sale April 27, but will only be available through Nike's website and at an Apple pop-up shop in Tokyo," US-based new service thestreet.com reported on Friday.

Last year, Apple released Apple Watch Nike+ that features built-in GPS to track users' pace, distance and route — even if they don't have iPhone with them.

Apple Watch Nike+ is water resistant (50 metres). Training data including pace, distance and heart rate are available at a glance and through shared run summaries.
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