BabyBump Android Application

This week my husband and I found out something special: we are expecting our second child!!! After all the initial excitement, worries started to arise about baby health, development, etc. Therefore, I wanted to download some phone application to help me out in my future journey. I found and downloaded BabyBump application to my Android. This is an example of how women can engage in their own health management. This application allows pregnant women to track their pregnancy day by day, by months, or trimesters. By entering the first day of the last menstrual cycle, it will calculate the estimated due date, and guide future moms through the developmental changes occurring in their tummies. Moreover, it allows moms-to-be to keep a diary about daily feelings, energy, appetite, mood, craving, morning sickness, etc.  We all know how sensitive women become during this hormonal change. I also found very interesting the fact that pregnant woman can keep record of their weight (lb/kg), waist length (in/cm), doctors appointments, etc.  For me this is very useful to be managing the weight gain and prevent some weight related complications such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Another remarkable feature is that pregnant woman can add photos, so can keep a visual track of tummy growth. Lastly, there is a community blog which permits to future moms stay tuned and share worries, happiness, and questions about issues related to pregnancy condition. This is another example of Health Informatics Era and how beneficial it might be for positive patient’s health outcomes if used appropriately.

Incoming Informatic Era

Nowadays, watching the accelerated rate of technological inventions, I cannot stop thinking about us, health care professionals. All these new technologies can be used in patient benefit. If used appropriately, it might revolutionize the global health care industry. It will empower patients to manage specific disease states and confront doctors with acquired knowledge; therefore, health related outcomes can be improved dramatically. In our busy world, there is no time for long consultations or appointments. It would be very helpful if the patient is already knowledgeable and wants to be involved in their own health care. As an example of new concepts, I found that the idea behind the Electronic Health Record and similar applications are very interesting. It will help to keep track of patients profile and doctors visited (avoid therapy duplications, drugs interactions, etc). Integrating the power of the electronic resources to the health care field will help by bringing check points to the system to prevent errors, will engage patient in their health management, and will provide us, pharmacists, the opportunity to teach and guide our patients to achieve a better wellbeing. The future of health care profession is going in that direction and I think is important to be part of this incoming Era.

Ultrasound Anti-Plague Device

This device does not require charges, neither maintenance, does not use toxic chemistries nor it emits unpleasant scents. It works 24/7 and just must be connected to the wall. Its operation principle is based on the emission of ultrasonic waves of sound that affect the nervous system of the common plagues at home, interrupts the habits of communication and feeding until driving them away. The small mice and many insects communicate in ultrasonic frequencies; hence, the ultrasonic sounds of this device would have to be extremely annoying to them. To prevent adaptation of the plague to the ultrasound, this device does not use a constant frequency; it continuously varies the frequency of the ultrasound in a sequential form. These ultrasound waves cannot be heard by humans, although some domestic animals can be disturbed. This apparatus does not affect the operation of other electronic devices either. This apparatus is effective for mosquitoes, fleas, flies, crickets, ants, termites, etc, which make it very important in disease prevention, epidemics, etc. We live in South Florida where it’s constantly raining; therefore this might be a good option for disease prevention and health promotion.