EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE…COULD HELP US LEARN MORE ABOUT ASTHMA

Autumn goes hand in hand with asthma and COPD

Are your throat and nose kind of tickling these days? That’s normal, Fall is upon us! Asthma is probably the second most common chronic disease of the XXIst century after diabetes.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 200 to 300 millions of people in the world have asthma and this number is constantly growing. There are several sort of breathing difficulties, depending on the attacks frequency, on the symptomes, etc. Nowadays, medication isn’t enough anymore. Prevention is better than cure!

Big data is now part of everyone’s life and it also concerns health. Keeping track of the symptoms, triggers and use of asthma medications in an asthma diary isn’t convenient at all… What if your medication became an automatic diary?

That’s what Propeller Health created: small sensors are in stored in the inhalor, they capture data about how, where and when patients use their medicines.

This information is then displayed online and on mobile phone applications so that patients and doctors can monitor asthma easily, in daily life. Knowing when and where these symptoms occur can reveal valuable clues about environmental exposures that trigger asthma. This respiratory health manager is now an FDA-approved device.

Are you in a high smog area? Is your bedroom too dusty? Do you use the rescue medication more in September when you’re burning leaves?

It’s wireless and effortless, the device automatically syncs with your computer and smartphone via bluetooth! There is even a feature that allows the “sandwich generation” to track kids with asthma and the parents with COPD at the same time.

Propeller’s solution works even for people without smartphones. Through a partnership with Qualcomm Life, the inhaler sensor can be paired with a hub that plugs into the wall and transmits data. Patients using the hub receive an email with updates about their health. Propeller will even mail updates to people without Internet access. “Or we do phone calls,” says Propeller CEO and cofounder David Van Sickle. They have an asthma educator on staff for that.