According to Katie Wilkinson, head of community at Paloma Health, an online specialty clinic focused on Hashimoto and hypothyroidism, the main issues for patients are accessibility of care and quality of care. . “The average waiting time for an appointment with a thyroid doctor is 37 days,” she says. “Appointments are often rushed, averaging seven minutes, and patients often report feeling ignored or disobeyed by their doctors.” Between visits to the doctor, they, like people with other chronic illnesses, face fluctuating symptoms, burnout, and even depression.
How the app helps
Vedrana Högqvist Tabor, a biomedical researcher with a background in digital health, faced these challenges as a patient of Hashimoto. Tired of a one-size-fits-all approach, she wanted a solution that “would improve patients’ day-to-day care, reduce unnecessary doctor visits, and reduce frustration with patients.” current treatment options.” She couldn’t find one, so she created her own, Thyroid BOOST app (available for iPhone and coming soon to Android.) Tabor is the CEO and co-founder of VLM Health, a medical technology startup based in Berlin. She and her team built an app that allows users to track symptoms on an intensity scale, log lab tests and medication compliance, access evidence-based information about all aspects of Hashimoto and hypothyroidism, and give their doctors an overview of the data they enter. ONE joint research conducted with the University of Oxford indicated that about 96% of the users surveyed found the app helpful, reported fewer visits to the doctor, less frustration and anxiety, and less and less intense symptoms.
Like Tabor, Eva Galant, Founder and CEO of Hashiona, was inspired by personal experience to develop an app for the sufferers of Hashimoto. Working in a pressurized corporate culture took a toll on her so badly that she resigned to focus on taking care of herself. When she made lifestyle changes to emphasize her diet and reduce stress, her hypothyroidism symptoms improved. Aware that most people can’t leave work to prioritize their health, she developed a lean solution, the Hashiona app (available for iPhone and Android).
With Hashimoto’s, “health depends on a number of factors, including proper treatment, supplements, diet, physical activity, stress reduction, sleep hygiene and care of other organs” , she said. “Implementing changes in all of these areas without a plan can be overwhelming for anyone taking the first steps on the path to healthcare.” The app aims to lead users into remission with a science-based, step-by-step approach that includes modules on thyroid function, stress management, exercise and diet, and nutrition. Access to remote consultations with specialists. As with BOOST Thyroid, tracking disease factors helps users see trends and patterns and allows them to rely on that data, rather than their memory, when communicating with their doctors.
Another useful tool is Applications Health Thyroid Hormone Paloma (iPhone only,) created in-house by registered nutritionists and health coaches from Paloma’s Health. According to Wilkinson, “Research shows that good thyroid care is extremely difficult and that dietary and lifestyle interventions are often not part of the current standard of care.” The goal is to provide “a comprehensive approach that covers all of their needs related to hypothyroidism.” The app provides a framework for tracking data, making lifestyle changes, and building thyroid health habits through the use of over 75 self-paced learning modules. It also features a 12-week nutritional plan based on an autoimmune diet to help patients reduce inflammation and alleviate thyroid symptoms.
Bigger picture
Apps benefit patients by providing personalized care in place of cookie cutters, Sharda said, but they also benefit researchers. That’s why both Tabor and Galant aim to advance the role of artificial intelligence in their solutions. “This,” says Galant, “will help develop our knowledge of the condition based on the thousands of anonymous data points we collect.” To this end, in the development of BOOST Thyroid, Tabor envisions “more personalization and more useful insights through building better algorithms, using more machine learning to help detect early complications of the disease”.
Tabor, who gave TEDx and Wired Health talks about the role of “big data in bringing women’s health on par with men’s health”, the anonymous data says could improve outcomes, especially in diseases that primarily affect women gender. In Hashimoto’s case, she says, it’s essential to be able to quickly gather “large volumes of clean and diverse data” to turn what she calls the under-researched and under-researched situation. service into a manageable condition.
