According to the CDC’s website, one in four Americans suffers from two or more chronic illnesses, and as of 2012 about half of all adults had at least one chronic condition. These statistics are startling, and they represent a very real physical and financial strain that many people live with everyday. Luckily, thanks to advancements in wearable tech and the proliferation of medical apps, the management of some chronic conditions and disabilities is becoming easier.

In our own web search we found many separate articles focusing on apps for one condition. We decided to put together this article as a handy reference to summarize what apps and wearables are available for different conditions and give you links to “best of” lists.

Best Health Apps For Diabetes

Diabetes is a serious condition, but it can be managed by taking certain steps. These steps involve controlling glucose levels with diet and taking medications to assist with blood sugar. Those with diabetes collect a lot of information on themselves as part of their day to day management of their condition. Many apps are now available to help diabetics keep track of their blood testing results and other vital information such as blood pressure, and their diet and exercise routine. These apps can help patients to observe patterns, such as what foods may adversely affect their blood sugar, and can even send testing results to their doctor.

Healthline.com rates the Best Diabetes Apps for 2016 based on feedback from those with diabetes. Their full list is available here, and includes apps that help adults manage diabetes in kids, an app that assists with diabetes and weight loss simultaneously, and an app that scans barcodes to provide nutritional information about packaged foods. They also review several tracking apps that monitor and chart all diabetes-related events, generate reports, and send them to your doctor.

Best Health Apps For Heart Disease 

Heart disease is the leading cause of death. It kills one adult in the U.S. every 40 seconds. Factors that increase the risk for heart disease include high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol. On the upside, heart disease can be prevented or treated with a healthy diet, blood pressure management and adequate exercise.

Healthline.com has also put together a great list of apps that help with the prevention and management of heart disease. Apps for heart disease range from a bare-bones app that monitors blood pressure to more full service apps that monitor and generate reports about blood pressure, heart rate, weight loss and blood sugar that you can  use to monitor yourself and share the results with your doctor. One cardio app monitors heart rate and includes a seven-minute workout you can perform anywhere to increase exercise and burn calories.

Best Apps For Hearing Loss 

HearingLink.org provides reviews of cutting edge hearing apps that can help those with hearing loss to detect sounds and communicate with others. Some of the ones that made their list are The TapTap App, that makes your smart phone vibrate and flash whenever it detects sounds nearby, the UHear app that lets you test your own hearing, and Dragon Dictation, which translates spoken words into written text.

Best Apps For Visual  Impairment

At AppAdvice.com, there are a variety of handy apps listed that can assist those who are blind or visually impaired. The VM Alert is a video motion detector that alerts you to movement in your vicinity. Voice Brief converts any kind of text into speech and reads it to you, and the Light Detector App alerts you when you are approaching a source of light (handy if you are looking for an exit).

Although wearable technology and health apps cannot yet provide everyone with a state of perfect health, they do make living with health challenges easier. Technology advances by the day, so it’s only a matter of time before the limits and restrictions imposed by many health conditions are overcome with the help of cutting-edge apps and wearable technologies.

For more information on apps and wearables see this article.

 

About the Author: Lauren has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, and enjoys writing about business, marketing and tech trends. When she is not writing you can find her enjoying the outdoors, or curled up with a good book. You can find more of her articles at http://www.cozmotek.com/blog/.