Alcohol, Smoking, Drugs: Can Digital Solutions Give A Helping Hand To The Addicted?

Alcohol content measuring wristbands, smart lighters, nicotine tracking wearables, stop smoking apps, virtual reality therapies, automated messaging platforms are the newest elements in the arsenal of digital health technologies supporting everyone in the fight against addiction to cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. Addiction and dependency ruins lives Once you become addicted, it sticks with you for a long time, if not for life. It doesn’t matter whether it’s about cigarettes, alcohol, medication, drugs, gambling, sex, etc., any of these substances or phenomena could cause you strong dependency and might impact your everyday life negatively. Just as in the case of chronic diseases, you will wake up and go to bed with it every single day. You may overcome the lowest points, but even if you manage to battle the substance – and yourself, for that matter –, the skeletal ruins of addiction will wait in a shadowy corner to retake shape due to a breakdown induced by psychological or environmental factors. As a worst case scenario, addiction eats up your life, your family’s lives – and in huge numbers even entire communities. The global statistics are disquieting. A study found that in 2015, the estimated prevalence of heavy episodic alcohol use was 18.4 percent in the adult population; 15.2 percent in the case of daily tobacco smoking; and 3.8, 0.77, 0.37 and 0.35 percent for past-year cannabis, amphetamine, opioid, and cocaine use, respectively. European regions had the hig...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Medical Professionals Patients Researchers alcohol cigarette digital health drugs health technology Innovation medication opioid opioid crisis smartphone smartphone apps smoking virtual Source Type: blogs