App to predict illness

IT seems there is an app for everything nowadays, particularly relating to your health from checking your blood pressure, to predicting the best times to try and conceive. But what if an app on your phone could warn you if you were about to get ill? 

Well this could soon become a reality as scientists in America are working on a smart device that can warn you up to half a day in advance gathering information from wearable health trackers which monitor heart rate and body temperature.

The team at California’s Stanford University is working on the app, and have tested the theory on 43 volunteers who wore a smart watch for up to 11 months. 

Analysing the data they found that as people start to become ill their heart rate and skin temperature went up and their blood oxygen levels dropped. By using this information it can give the user a first warning that something isn’t quite right. 

By getting this heads up people could plan better and prevent aggravating the illness and hopefully have a quicker recovery.

The app could also be used to track the health of the elderly or those with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and act as a warning system for carers or family members.

The scientists are confident the app will be on the market within the next few years.