Top 5 Apps to Improve Your Health

WebMD mobile

Free, app2.me/2791

WebMDWebMD mobile provides accurate medical information on a variety of topics and has excellent and very helpful sections on first aid, symptoms, and CPR. It also includes an accurate and easy-to-use pill identification tool and useful sections describing various conditions, drugs, and treatments. Finally, the app has a local healthcare listing that tells you where the closest physician, hospital, or pharmacy is located. The app is easy to use on either the iPad or iPhone. As with all of the apps in this review, WebMD mobile cannot replace a physician. However, it can be very useful in explaining different diseases to the patient. PocketFirstAidThe pill ID is very good. It is easy to use and helpful. When testing out the local physician list, it was able to locate the nearest hospital and pharmacy.

Pocket First Aid & CPR from the American Heart Association

$3.99, app2.me/2649

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This app provides the latest up-to-date emergency information from the American Heart Association, including first aid and CPR procedures for adults, children, and infants. The illustrations covering CPR, choking, bites, bruises, and burns are excellent. The videos are also done well and cover basics in choking, CPR, and other first aid procedures. It helps you manage a checklist for your first aid kit so you have what you need in an emergency. Finally, it lets you save medical and insurance information and access contact info for your doctor in an emergency.

Navy Seal Physical Fitness

iPhone and iPad version: $1.99, app2.me/2792

NavySealFitness1This easy-to-use app is a comprehensive guide to physical fitness, covering principles of physical training, basic workouts, swimming fitness, plyometrics, training recommendations, weight lifting techniques, and other info. It provides excellent diagrams to clarify the information and motivate you to better fitness.

iTriage

Free, app2.me/232

TriageiTriage helps you identify symptoms and determine their causes. It includes a database of over 300 symptoms, 1,000 diseases, and 350 medical procedures. The app gives a brief description of each disease and describes the labs, x-rays, and other diagnostic tests your doctor might order for it. It also includes a section that describes common symptoms and treatments.

The application helps you decide if symptoms merit a visit to the emergency room or your family doctor and will even tell you where the closest healthcare facility is. This is an important decision since even a simple emergency room visit can cost you hundreds of dollars. However, the app does not replace common sense. If you think you have a medical emergency, go the emergency room. If the situation is serious, call 911!

GymGoalGymGoal

$3.99, app2.me/2794; GymGoal ABC: $0.99, app2.me/2795

This user-friendly app does an amazing job of helping you create a workout schedule and track your progress. It's comes preloaded with 52 workout routines and a database of over 280 exercises with animations, images, and step-by-step instructions showing you how to do them correctly. However, you can add your own routines and exercises. To help monitor your efforts, the app lets you time workouts and track different body measurements. It also has useful calculators including BMR, BMI, and body fat percentage. GymGoal stores the data it collects onboard, but you can also upload it to the developer's website. My wife enjoys the built in music player that lets her access all tunes stored on her iPhone.

Subtitle: 
Apps that help you stay fit and informed about your health
Issue: 
NovDec2010_BuyersGuide
Department/Section: 
Apps
TOC Weight: 
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