The Digital Health Newsletter by Paul Sonnier
May 3, 2017
Greetings!
Mark Twain famously quipped,“The report of my death was an exaggeration.” Nothing could be more apropos when it comes to prognostications about the demise, lack of success, or moribund wearable tech market, particularly smartwatches and the Apple Watch.

It seems to come in waves, the negative assessments about the market size and utility of wearables and smartwatches. And with Apple, analysts often criticize the company for no longer pursuing big market opportunities via segment-defining devices. While some may remain unconvinced, it turns out that the Apple Watch is very significant to the company. In the company's earnings call yesterday, CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple Watch sales have nearly doubled since last year and revenue from all of the company's products in the wearables segment — Apple Watch, Beats headphones, and AirPods — is the size of a Fortune 500 company (at least $5.1B per year). While Apple still isn't releasing sales figures, it's an open secret that it dominates the smartwatch market, which comprises approximately half of the entire wearables market.

With the many digital health features and applications existent and possible via smartwatches, the market penetration of Apple is good to see. Granted, to the extent it pushes out competition — especially new entrants — that can be problematic, e.g. for consumers. The smartphone market continues to represent a paradigm for the wearables market, particularly smartwatches.
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IN OTHER NEWS
Are you happy in your relationship? If you're posting a lot about it on social media, you might not be. Based on a survey of 100 couples, Northwestern University found that those who posted more frequently about their partner tend to feel more insecure in their relationship. In an Inc. article by John Rampton, he lists 8 reasons why happy couples rarely share their relationship statuses on social media.
Doximity CEO Jeff Tangney appeared on Fox Business TV show 'Mornings with Maria', hosted by Maria Bartiromo to discuss the various ways that platforms like his benefit physicians and improve patient care. 

Smart medication reminder bottle cap-maker Pillsy was featured in an article by Lance Ulanoff in Mashable: "This smart cap won't let you forget to take your medicine". As Lance states, a 2015 study in JAMA indicated that 60% of Americans take prescription drugs and most of us skip or forget to take our medication at times. Another study, this one from 2011, published in The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), stated that "nearly 75 percent of adults are nonadherent in one or more ways, such as not filling a new prescription or taking less than the dose recommended by the physician."
I came across some amazing innovations pushing human performance in sports in a WIRED piece from mid-2016. In the Rio 2016 Olympics, for example, Taekwondo competitors used connected headgear with sensors that registered hits. Jinbang Yang, director general of the World Taekwondo Federation, points out that "Athletes can focus on accuracy rather than force". The result is that fights can be judged more fairly (sensors detect kicks that judges may miss), the competition will be more exciting and, best of all, safer.

A drone previously used to fight wars has been repurposed by the U.S. Department of Energy to fight climate change. Built by U.S. defense contractor Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation, the drone is helping scientists gather atmospheric data in the skies over Alaska to be used in climate modeling.

The first breast pump was patented in 1854 and, in a parallel with many digital health innovations, they were only allowed to be used in hospitals up until 1991. But at long last, breast pumps have entered the 21st century. WIRED magazine featured several modern versions of this old school turned digital health-school technology, including solutions by Babyation, Medela, Naya, and Willow.
An iPhone app named Buoy is overcoming an oft-cited issue of looking up health symptoms online: becoming scared as hell when one encounters a disease they think they have but is, at that point in time, undiagnosed. Founded by Harvard doctors, Buoy uses AI to simulate interaction with a doctor. The app asks questions and uses answers given to narrow down the possible diagnoses. The app is more accurate than simple Google searchers and, fortunately, will not tell you that you have cancer.    
Researchers from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh have successfully used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to excise HIV DNA from the genomes of living animals, thereby eliminating further infection. This is significant, because the HIV virus can remain dormant in the body for long periods of time and is difficult to eliminate. Significantly, the results proved successful in a "humanized model in which mice were transplanted with human immune cells and infected with the virus". 
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