Current times can be especially stressful for people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses given the nature of the COVID-19 which is accompanied by varied levels of respiratory distress. Several pulmonologists including Dr. Jaggi are stressing upon the importance of keeping asthma under control for asthma patients during these trying times. This is especially important in places with high air pollution where data shows that even as much as increase in 1ug/m3 of annual PM2.5 can increase mortality rate by almost 15%.

To this end we are excited to introduce our very first feature to help people with asthma or other respiratory illnesses keep their asthma under control. We have worked closely with renowned pulmonologists to ensure we are creating a product that accurately assesses a patient’s condition based on symptoms and peak flow data and provides suggestions to manage their asthma and continue to live a productive and normal life.

On a recent appointment with a pulmonologist for my daughter, the doctor gave me a piece of paper to track my daughter's symptoms and peak flow scores on a daily basis which I was supposed to take to the doctor on our next appointment. Many asthmatics would be used to getting such a form from their doctors. These forms are hard to manage, patients often misplace them, however the information is very valuable in helping the pulmonologists provide the best care to their patients. The form looks something like this:

After much research and speaking with pulmonologists I realized that this data can help me compute my daughter’s asthma control score which indicates how well her asthma is controlled with her current medication. This empowers me to take relevant action quickly to prevent her asthma from deteriorating into an asthma attack.

Sharing this data with her pulmonologist enables the doctor to diagnose if my daughter’s asthma is well controlled on a regular basis, or is it volatile or progressively getting better or worse which enables them to adjust her treatment accordingly ensuring the best quality of life for my daughter.

Many people who use the Airveda app and monitors suffer from respiratory illnesses or have children with respiratory symptoms. So we decided to work with one of the best pulmonologists in the city, Dr. Vikram Jaggi to build the feature which will allow asthmatics and parents of asthmatics to manage their condition through our app.

Our health tracker allows users to:

1. Track their respiratory symptoms as well as Peak flow scores on a daily basis.
2. Be able to correlate their symptoms with air quality.
3. Get daily as well as last 7 days asthma control score and suggestions on how best to manage their asthma.
4. We alert the patient when their symptoms indicate poor control which may mean a less urgent change in treatment or more immediate urgent care.
5. Patients can share this data in an excel form with their doctors so that doctors can help diagnose the issue and adjust treatment as needed.
6. Users can create multiple profiles for themselves as well as one or more children or family members and manage them all on the same app and account.

To get started you click on + in our app and then click on Track symptoms. We will ask for some basic information about the user which is essential to determine their normal PEF values as well as ensure that we are able to provide the best suggestions for the user. After that you will be able to start entering symptom data and get the user's control score immediately. You can also use the feature by going to “Health Tracker” option in the drawer found on the top left of the home page of the app.

While the health tracker can be used by anyone having mild to severe respiratory or allergy symptoms, it is especially designed for people living with asthma to help them manage their lives and lead healthier lives with well-controlled asthma.

We will continue to work on improving this feature and are looking forward to hearing your feedback. Do try it out and tell us how we can make this more helpful for you as a patient or as a pulmonologist.