Apple announces HealthKit for holistic health tracking

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  • Reply 21 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    Why do they keep writing "holistic"?

    In my understanding the use of holistic means either understanding the whole of something or the 'treatment' of a patient requiring knowledge of their entire situation including phycological, social profile. As I see it this new Health app, it does neither.

    holism |?h?l?iz?m|
    noun chiefly Philosophy
    • the theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist independently of the whole, or cannot be understood without reference to the whole, which is thus regarded as greater than the sum of its parts. Holism is often applied to mental states, language, and ecology. The opposite of atomism.
    • Medicine the treating of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease.

    Sound exactly like what was described. It's designed to be able keep a record of all health related data.
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  • Reply 22 of 45
    Yep. Healthkit and Homekit API will be good for developers. My guess is that Apple is writing apps to use their new API's and will be available at launch. An API cannot be designed in the abstract.; Apple must have already created apps to be sure they work.
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  • Reply 23 of 45
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post



    Why do they keep writing "holistic"?



    In my understanding the use of holistic means either understanding the whole of something or the 'treatment' of a patient requiring knowledge of their entire situation including phycological, social profile. As I see it this new Health app, it does neither.




    holism |?h?l?iz?m|

    noun chiefly Philosophy

    • the theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist independently of the whole, or cannot be understood without reference to the whole, which is thus regarded as greater than the sum of its parts. Holism is often applied to mental states, language, and ecology. The opposite of atomism.

    • Medicine the treating of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease.



    Sound exactly like what was described. It's designed to be able keep a record of all health related data.

    Your definition agrees with my understanding exactly. The Health app knows nothing of phycological (philosophical) condition or attitude of the user nor does it "treat" any part or condition of the user.

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  • Reply 24 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    Your definition agrees with my understanding exactly. The Health app knows nothing of phycological (philosophical) condition or attitude of the user nor does it "treat" any part or condition of the user.

    You're thinking of medicine, but this is an app. Look at the first definition. The theory is that it's all interconnected. Holism literally refers to the whole.
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  • Reply 25 of 45
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    You're thinking of medicine, but this is an app look at the first definition. The theory is that it's all interconnected. Holism literally refers to the whole.


    I guess I don't see blood pressure, blood sugar and heart rate as enough to be considered holistic. I have this spot on my skin which might be melanoma. I have an appointment scheduled with my dermatologist this week. I also have arthritis in my ankle, I doubt Health app would be able to detect, diagnose or treat any part of my conditions, therefore it is not the whole of anything. Holistic refers to a whole and I don't see one. The word 'integrated' health app might be more appropriate in my opinion.

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  • Reply 26 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    I guess I don't see blood pressure, blood sugar and heart rate as enough to be considered holistic. I have this spot on my skin which might be melanoma. I have an appointment scheduled with my dermatologist this week. I also have arthritis in my ankle, I doubt Health app would be able to detect, diagnose or treat any part of my conditions, therefore it is not the whole of anything. Holistic refers to a whole and I don't see one. The word 'integrated' health app might be more appropriate in my opinion.

    What?! Then why do doctors and nurses take this information if they dont contain data that is important to your health?
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  • Reply 27 of 45
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    What?! Then why do doctors and nurses take this information if they dont contain data that is important to your health?


    Sorry, no comment. Obvious.

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  • Reply 28 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    Sorry, no comment. Obvious.

    1) You say obvious but I don't think you're getting it. Holism is about the parts connecting to the whole. The whole is you, and in this context your health. A medical professional taking various, seemingly simple tests can tell them about the bigger picture of what's going on with you. Why is that a hard concept to understand?

    2) There is no reason for any aliment or treatment to be excluded from HealthKit. It's open to all. Why assume it's excluding arthritis?
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  • Reply 29 of 45
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    1) You say obvious but I don't think you're getting it. Holism is about the parts connecting to the whole. The whole is you, and in this context your health. A medical professional taking various, seemingly simple tests can tell them about the bigger picture of what's going on with you. Why is that a hard concept to understand?



    2) There is no reason for any aliment or treatment to be excluded from HealthKit. It's open to all. Why assume it's excluding arthritis?

    Because any data the device could possibly acquire regarding melanoma or arthritis would be completely ignored by any physician as those sorts of conditions require a visit to the doctor. In the year 2100, perhaps the iPhone will be a holistic diagnostic device, but not today.

     

    As you probably remember I am in health sciences.

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  • Reply 30 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    Because any data the device could possibly acquire regarding melanoma or arthritis would be completely ignored by any physician as those sorts of conditions require a visit to the doctor. In the year 2100, perhaps the iPhone will be a holistic diagnostic device, but not today.

    You're still not understanding the use of the term holistic.

    Do you not understand that if certain minor things occur that it could be indicative of a larger issue as everything in your body is interconnected? I assume you do an yet you're only not comprehending the usage here. In no way does holism imply than an app can replace trained physicians. I don't even know how you'd jump to such a conclusion.
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  • Reply 31 of 45
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    You're still not understanding the use of the term holistic.



    Do you not understand that if certain minor things occur that it could be indicative of a larger issue as everything in your body is interconnected? I assume you do an yet you're only not comprehending the usage here. In no way does holism imply than an app can replace trained physicians. I don't even know how you'd jump to such a conclusion.

    It is just symatics. The Health app is not holistic because it is basically clueless since it relies on unqualified user input. I just disagree with the term used in a medical context because it is incorrect usage.

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  • Reply 32 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    It is just symatics. The Health app is not holistic because it is basically clueless since it relies on unqualified user input. I just disagree with the term used in a medical context because it is incorrect usage.

    That's not what holistic means. You're taking a single, specific use of a generic term and then saying it's not proper. That's not a reasonable way to look at language. But you're right that it is semantics insofar that you're "concerned with the meaning" but you're ignoring all other meaning because you're not familiar with using them in another context despite that context predating the one you know.
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  • Reply 33 of 45
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    That's not what holistic means. You're taking a single, specific use of a generic term and then saying it's not proper. That's not a reasonable way to look at language.


    If it is a medical app it needs to comply with medical definitions that have contextual meanings. It is not a problem with Apple because they did not use the term holistic, it is just the click whore websites that I have complaint with.

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  • Reply 34 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    If it is a medical app it needs to comply with medical definitions that have contextual meanings. It is not a problem with Apple because they did not use the term holistic, it is just the click whore websites that I have complaint with.

    You're weirdly and foolishly conflating the use of holistic for this app and the term holistic medicine. This is app is not medicine. This app is not implying that it's medicine. The use of holistic is proper and as already proven when I gave you the definition which you oddly stated was how you interpreted the definition but now it's clear you only looked at the very last line, ignoring the others, despite the examples of holistic language and holistic ecology.
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  • Reply 35 of 45
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Health app is not holistic because it is not the whole of anything. It is a  yet to be released tiny fraction of the health sciences industry. Interconnected or not it is just one of many health technologies, but so far has very limited capabilities and certainly is not holistic by any definition of the word.

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  • Reply 36 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    ...certainly is not holistic by any definition of the word.

    "The theory that parts of a whole […] cannot be understood without reference to the whole."

    It makes no sense that you can't see that but I don't think you're lying to me so I have to accept that you've chosen not accept any other definition except the specific use of holistic medicine, which, when referring to the whole, isn't very holistic when compared to the philosophy as one's physical and mental health is also interconnected to everything else, but that's not a discussion we can get into if you can't see how the parts in an app make up its whole.
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  • Reply 37 of 45
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    With so many new things released today I think this may get lost.

    Actually, I view it as a huge stake in the ground. They've just given health equipment and app devs exactly what they need to integrate with iOS in a beautifully simple new way.
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  • Reply 38 of 45
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Actually, I view it as a huge stake in the ground. They've just given health equipment and app devs exactly what they need to integrate with iOS in a beautifully simple new way.

    I hope so. It would be great to go into a doctor's office and have months of data from various 3rd-party devices or a single device with multiple sensors get uploaded for instant analysis or even know to go to the doctor because my iPhone noticed changes in my health patterns that could be a sign of something worse, like how the check engine light isn't very useful but indicates that something may not be functioning under normal conditions.

    The funny thing about something gradual and part of our everyday lives is may not notice any issues until it's too late. This is where computers can be a huge benefit. From noting we're talking smaller strides when we walk and sleeping less, to knowing our resting heat rate is faster and out blood oxygen levels are lower minor changes across multiple vectors would be a red flag for a computerized system. Medical professional can only determine these things when they are in our presence.
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  • Reply 39 of 45
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,335member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by palomine View Post



    I noticed they just skimmed through Healthkit and the Home Automation parts. I'm wondering... If Nike has ceased making fitness bands...then what? Just for starters.



    Really liked that this was truly a DEVELOPERS conference. I thought that the new enhancements and new code kits added to the programming kit were amazing.

     

     

    I think there is more to the Health app than what they showed. Nike does know something more than us, so I expect Apple to have hardware that will fully utilise the API soon.

     

    I agree with the rest of your post. I was really blown away by the Keynote and loved everything they demoed. Forget about the merging of iOS and OSX. What they showed us was that you don't need to merge it if you can create a perfect synergy between the 2 systems.

     

    Best WWDC Keynote I have seen since when I started watching them.

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  • Reply 40 of 45
    fithianfithian Posts: 82member

    Most manufacturers of medical devices and testing equipment are still tethered to the 1960's. Tell your doctor you would like some info sent to you and they will ask for your fax number. Same if you try to send something to them. There are a few doctors and hospitals that make your data available electronically, such as Johns Hopkins, and my family doctor.

     

    I have a device that measures my glucose levels for my diabetes. It is manufacturer by One-Touch. It has a bluetooth connection to my iPhone so I can upload and download info. For data older than 30 days, I need to connect the device by usb to a Windoze computer. Go figure. It took two years after the initial announcement for this device to be offered for sale. This is glacial progress. Will it be another two years before I can access the info through Healthkit?

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