Free App Helps You Better Manage Your Epilepsy Interactive tool tracks condition between doctor visits A free, educational and interactive iPad tool called MyEpilepsy now allows you and your physician to manage your epilepsy more effectively. The app brings information and technology to bear on your condition and puts it all at your fingertips. A focus on three major needs Most importantly, the app covers three major needs of epilepsy patients, according to Imad Najm, MD, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Epilepsy Center: 1.It offers information and answers questions about your condition 2.It reminds you to take your medication(s) 3.It helps chart your seizures over time The interactive application allows you to learn about your condition and plug in information pertaining to your questions from home. It helps get you quick answers to critical questions that can arise. These include: •Do I actually have epilepsy? (Just because a person has seizures does not mean they have epilepsy.) •If the medications I am using are no longer controlling my seizures, what is my next step? •If I have taken numerous different medications and they have not worked, are there other options for treatment? You do not need to include any personal identifiers, so you can ensure the information remains confidential. The information you provide is used by the app to give you some idea of what stage you are in. It then offers advice about what options you may have without providing any specific treatment recommendations. Helping any patient, anywhere Treatment and providers can vary for patients depending upon the stage of the disease. “This app will also tell any patient who would be the most appropriate healthcare professional or provider to help them at each of these stages of their disease,” Dr. Najm says. “Whether the patient is in Cleveland or China, the app will provide a good introduction that is as personalized as it can be without identifying the patient,” he adds. Medication tracking and reminders The app can help people who experience memory loss. This is a common problem among epilepsy patients — especially immediately after a seizure. Forgetting to take medications can, in turn, cause more problems and lead to more seizures. “The app is designed to give patients periodic reminders, whether auditory or visual or both, about when and what medication to take,” Dr. Najm says. Tracking your seizures Additionally, the app enables you to track your seizures. There is a simple button you can push, or you can fill in the information. You can also indicate the symptoms you experienced during each seizure. At the end of the year, the app automatically plots the type and number of seizures and shows the trends of these seizures. More bells and whistles There are two other uses for the app. Just as most online medical sites do, the app contains the latest information on myths, facts, and diagnosis and treatment options for epilepsy. Finally, the app offers a social media interface to provide you easy access to forums and support groups for patients of all ages with all types and stages of epilepsy.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 01:55:29 +0000
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