Data self

There are more than 165,000According to a 2015 report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. health apps available across the world. They claim to improve our lives in countless ways, from regulating diet and measuring exercise, to scanning for diseases and improving mental health.

But some think that the growing influence of medical technology could have dangerous consequences.

According to a new reportSenior civil servant Sue Gray's report into allegations of parties at Downing Street during coronavirus lockdown restrictions was published last week. , a "dystopianRelating to an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice. " future could emerge in which hospitals and doctors' surgeries are overwhelmed with people "erroneously told to attend by their artificial intelligence (AI) enabled Fitbit or smartphone."

Doctors have already reported patients booking appointments after health apps have said their heart rate was abnormal, when in fact they were perfectly healthy - putting additional strain on already stretched healthcare providers.

"Some say AI is going to provide instant relief to many of the pressures healthcare systems across the world are facing," says Professor Carrie MacEwen. "Others claim AI is little more than snake oil."

For example, while one studyThe study conducted two tests on 50 students. At the beginning of the experiment, half were given a cup of tea, and half a glass of water. The groups were then given creative challenges, like coming up with a "cool" name for a noodle restaurant. suggests that people who use fitness apps are more likely to exercise in their spare time, another found that those using the trackers lost lessAccording to the 2016 study "Effect of Wearable Technology Combined With a Lifestyle Intervention on Long-term Weight Loss." One possible explanation is that those with trackers may become demotivated when they feel like they cannot achieve their goal. weight than those who did not.

One thing is beyond doubt: health tech is booming. In America alone, wearable medical device sales are projected to increase to over $55 billion by 2022 - up from $10.5 billion in 2017. However, concerns remain that some of this technology is unproven, gives unreliable results and can aggravate certain conditions.

There is evidenceSomething which proves that something else is true.  linking calorie-counting apps to increased "eating disorder attitudes and behaviours", while another studyThe study conducted two tests on 50 students. At the beginning of the experiment, half were given a cup of tea, and half a glass of water. The groups were then given creative challenges, like coming up with a "cool" name for a noodle restaurant. found just 15% of NHS-approved apps for treating depression were effective. Others argue that the 10,000 stepsThe idea that we should all take 10,000 steps per day to stay healthy. See the Stuart Heritage column in Become An Expert for more. doctrine pushed by step-counting apps could be harmful for some people.

"You shouldn't need a tracker to know if you're tired," says psychotherapist Amy Morin. "I think some people can lose touch with the human connection they have to their bodies."

But are medical apps actually bad for us?

As with any new technology, there are upsides and downsides. With the NHS under tremendous strain, there is a real potential for technology to revolutionise healthcare for the better. At the same time, how do we know which of these new technologies to trust? And can a machine ever really replace human care?

Then there is our wider relationship with data. Do we need to be tracking the smallest fluctuations in our health? Could this actually be making us more anxious, and less able to get on with our daily lives? Fundamentally, in translating so much of ourselves into numbers on a screen, are we forgetting what life really feels like?