It seems the dawn of health-tech is now truly upon us...
According to new research, more than 1 in 2 adults in the UK are now using technology and gadgets to manage their health and wellbeing .
Going beyond tracking our daily steps and refreshing our workout playlists, the research published in the UK Digital Health Report by PushDoctor.co.uk found that checking medical symptoms, examining exercise levels, establishing individual BMI scores, monitoring heart rates and checking blood pressure are the top five most common ways we are now using technology to understand and manage our wellbeing. The top 10 also included monitoring calorie intake, measuring sleep quality, testing our vision, tracking stress levels and also mood.
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Across the age groups, at least 1 in 2 had used a gadget to monitor their health, with 18 to 24 year olds leading the way (91%). However, this isn’t a trend reserved solely for the young, with more than 1 in 3 of over 65 year olds having also used technology to track their overall wellbeing too.
The data also showed that women are at the helm of the trend. However, the research showed that it isn’t a case of men being less interested, rather that they are adopting technology as health management tools just later on - they in fact have a comparatively greater appreciation of the awareness and control over their health that technology brings.
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The findings coincide with the release of the new Apple iOS 9 update and the launch of surprisingly more intimate tools such as the function to track sexual health and ovulation cycles. With 71% of British adults shown to feel positive about the opportunities that technology brings to better understand their bodies, their habits and how they can directly affect their health while affording them a greater degree of control, it seems our at times unhealthy attachments to our gadgets, could be about to be given a much healthier makeover.
Follow us @getthegloss and Ayesha @Ayesha_Muttu .
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