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Saturday, February 2, 2013

More Using Electronics to Track Their Health

By MILT FREUDENHEIM
The New York Times
Published: January 27, 2013

Whether they have chronic ailments like diabetes or just want to watch their weight, Americans are increasingly tracking their health using smartphone applications and other devices that collect personal data automatically, according to health industry researchers.

“The explosion of mobile devices means that more Americans have an opportunity to start tracking health data in an organized way,” said Susannah Fox, an associate director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, which was to release the national study on Monday. Many of the people surveyed said the experience had changed their overall approach to health.

More than 500 companies were making or developing self-management tools by last fall, up 35 percent from January 2012, said Matthew Holt, co-chairman of Health 2.0, a market intelligence project that keeps a database of health technology companies. Nearly 13,000 health and fitness apps are now available, he said.

The Pew study said 21 percent of people who track their health use some form of technology.

They are people like Steven Jonas of Portland, Ore., who uses an electronic monitor to check his heart rate when he feels stressed. Then he breathes deeply for a few minutes and watches the monitor on his laptop as his heart slows down.

“It’s incredibly effective in a weird way,” he said.

Mr. Jonas said he also used electronic means to track his mood, weight, mental sharpness, sleep and memory.

The entire story is here.