Monitor your health and fitness with apps?

By Anoop Verma?

The smartphone that you are toting around has the potential of serving as a fitness and healthcare tool. In some advanced hospitals doctors use smartphones to quickly view clinical records or share information with the patients and others. Electronic records, test results, images, and massive reference resources can be summoned on the smartphone screen; information related to fitness can be accessed in quick time. The Android and the iTunes Stores list an array of healthcare and fitness apps, most of which can be downloaded for free.

Glucose Buddy

According to some medical reports, Indians are prone to diabetes. If you are using an Apple device, you can go in for Glucose Buddy, which is an efficient data storage app for diabetics. Users can manually enter glucose numbers, carbohydrate consumption, insulin dosages, and activities. After that they can view the relevant data on their free glucosebuddy.com online account. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and also with a host of Android devices, Glucose Buddy is ranked as the number one app for diabetes patients. More details on the app are available at: http://www.glucosebuddy.com. Price: Free.

Instant Heart Rate Pro

Your smartphone can also be used to keep track of the well-being of your heart without any extra hardware. More than 5 million ordinary users make use of this highly popular app for monitoring heart rate. All you need to do is place the tip of your finger on the phone’s camera and in a couple of seconds your heart rate will be shown on the app’s interface. You will also get a real time chart, which depicts every heartbeat. The app works by using the phone’s built-in camera to track colour changes on the fingertip. These colour changes are directly linked to your pulse. Price: Rs. 52.28 (@ Android Marketplace).

Medscape

Over one million healthcare professionals use Medscape to access clinical information. The app offers medical news and critical alerts in 34 speciality areas. It is possible for users to choose the specialities that they would like to follow. There are thousands of drug references, clinical references and clinical images and procedural videos. You can save articles and read online. A creation of WebMD, Medscape is also available in versions that can be used in Android, BlackBerry and iOS platforms. Price: Free.

Epocrates

This app is considered to be one of the most reliable sources of  information on drug, disease and diagnostics. It is the number one mobile drug reference guide amongst US physicians. The app comes with a free drug reference application called Epocrates Rx, which features thousands of drug monographs, drug-drug interaction checker, pill identifier, and health plan formularies. Many other premium applications are built into the app for providing additional medical information. Price: Free.

Skyscape Medical Resources

Used by more than one million healthcare professionals, the Skyscape Medical Resources is valuable tool for accessing all kinds of medical resources. Incorporated with features like RxDrugs, Archimedes and MedAlert, this app offers medical resources including drug information, medical calculators and clinical information on over 850 topics comes. Skyscape can also be used to purchase over 600 premium resources in 35 medical specialities, all of which can be conveniently accessed from the interface of the app. Price: Free.

Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro

Featuring real time GPS tracking of time, distance, speed, altitude, heart rate and calories, the Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro is geared to be your personal trainer and social fitness partner. It is ideal for enhancing the scope of your activities like running, cycling, walking etc. It can give audio feedback for every mile or kilometre you have covered in your workout session. You can set previous workout as your target, and the audio coach will help you perform better. You can also use the app for competing with the best targets that your friend might have achieved. Basic version of the app is available for free, but the feature rich pro version has a price. Price: Rs. 204.07 (@ Android Marketplace).

WebMD

The WebMD website (http://www.webmd.com), is quite popular in India. We use it to keep track of all kinds of health and fitness issues. The website has launched an innovative app. The basic making tools in the WebMD app include things like Symptom Checker, Drugs & Treatments, First Aid Information and Local Health Listings. Even if you are not connected wirelessly, the WebMD will give you first aid information. You can personalise the app by saving personal health information regarding drugs, medical conditions, and articles that are relevant to you. Price: Free.?