Chat app helps diabetes sufferers change their lifestyle

Suggestic is a personalized chat bot that helps users cope with Type 2 diabetes by recommending restaurants, activities, and shopping lists.

With an estimated nine percent of adults suffering from the illness, diabetes has become one of the great health crisis of the 21st century. Most diabetes sufferers have to live with Type 2 diabetes, which causes their blood sugar level to become too high. Although widely considered a lifelong condition, researchers at Suggestic believe it can be treated and even reversed through lifestyle changes, and have developed an app to help people control their condition.

The program examines patterns in each person’s genes, metabolism and daily activities and offers personalized solutions. Patients first download the app and upload their health data. They then receive their personalized lifestyle program through a chat interface, which recommends changes to nutrition and activities, and suggests required supplements and treatments. It will even ask users if they want restaurant and recipe recommendations, track their progress, and help them set goals. The app uses professional lab results, such as DNA and blood data to create a program of precision medicine for each user.

The developers behind the technology believe that without this level of personalization for patients, treatment for diabetes can be ineffective. How else could mobile technology offer personal data for people with long term illness?