Episode 8: Bonus - 9 New M-health Apps That You Need to Download NOW

In the last episode, I talked with Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn about how the FDA is seeking regulatory authority over the $4billion mobile health app industry.

In Episode 8, I share with you a few of the most interesting and useful health and fitness apps to come out in the past year. Click here to listen to the full podcast episode.

1. Glow - This app allows women to track their fertility cycle and then it recommends the best time to conceive and provides customized advice on how to increase your chances of getting pregnant. Since the app debuted last year, Glow already claims to have helped over 1000 women conceive.

2. Nike Training - This one is a fitness app designed for female users and it offers workouts from “Nike Master Trainers” including athletes like Maria Sharapova. Users can choose from a variety of invidivual workouts to focus on specific areas or a more structured 4 week training program to meet longterm fitness goals.

3. Drugs.com - It offers the ultimate guide to all things drug related. You can personalize it and keep track of what medications you’re taking and when. You can look up warnings and instructions for any particular prescription drug and it even has a feature that helps you to identify unknown pills by imprint, shape and color.

4. FirstAid - This m-health app is from the American Red Cross and it already comes preloaded with safety tips and easy video tutorials on how to perform first aid

so if you’re in an emergency and don’t have an internet connection or cell reception, having all this on your phone could save someones life. It’s even fully integrated with 911 so users can call Emergency Services directly through the app at any point.

5. Human - Human’s goal is to make people more active for at least 30 minutes per day. The app automatically tracks your walks, runs, bike rides and other exercise as long as you have your phone on you. It also notifies you as you reach you daily 30, 60 or 90 minute marks. The creators claim that people move 40% more after six weeks of using Human.

6. Smokefree - The app aims to help users quit smoking by showing them how much money they’ve saved since quitting, how much tar and how many cigarettes they have avoided, and what regenerative steps their body has made since they stopped. Users can even share their success over Twitter or Facebook.

7. Zombies, Run! - This app describes itself as the ultra immersive running game and audio adventure where you pretend that you’re fending off a zombie apocalypse as you work out. You can put on your headphones and you get lost in an audio narrative with sound effects and characters that tell you exactly when to walk, jog, run and stretch as you try to escape virtual zombies. Along the way you collect imaginary rewards or tools that you can then use to build your virtual base in the game online.

8. Ask MD - This app diagnoses your symptoms through a virtual consultation process and then gives you advice as to what might be ailing you, how to treat it, and whether it may require more serious medical attention. It’s very easy to use and an efficient way to accurately and responsibly self-diagnose.

9. HealthTap - When you need answers from a real live licensed medical doctor, Healthtap has over 50,000 real doctors in 137 specialties to answer your health questions. Plus they offer daily health tips and a doctor database. Best of all, it's all free!