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Are Smartphones Starting a Boom In DIY Medicine?

An anonymous reader writes "How are you using smartphones and other portable devices to take charge of your medical care? The NY Times has an article about attachments to the iPhone for tracking blood sugar and blood pressure. There are also glorified web cams that take pictures of your ear drum, teeth or eyes to save you a trip to the doctor's. Some people are tracking the changes in their moles with an iPhone App. Is this the beginning of Med 2.0?" Odd as it sounds, I was able to be more quickly and reliably diagnosed with Lyme disease last fall because I'd taken some pictures on my phone of the lesion I'd wrongly thought was the result of a spider bite. Any camera would have worked, but I had my camera-equipped phone with me, rather than any other kind.

4 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. I typed in my symptoms and it says by shoppa · · Score: 4, Funny

    I typed in my symptoms and my iPhone says that I have:

    Internet Connectivity Problems

    Oh no, do I have to go to the emergency room??!!!!?

  2. Assisted Suicide App by The_Crisis · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's already here. You can find it under the name "Angry Birds."

    --
    "It is a fine line between lazy and efficient."
    1. Re:Assisted Suicide App by element-o.p. · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, that just makes you want to commit suicide. It doesn't actually help you accomplish the task ;)

      --
      MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
  3. Re:Self-Treatment =/= Doctor by Pope · · Score: 4, Funny

    Suicide by trebuchet!

    --
    It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.