Mike Gibbs, president of OurPath Ltd., said: “The challenge of the 21st century is behavioral change. The diseases that are affecting us the most and crippling global healthcare economies are the ones caused by our own unhealthy lifestyles”
Let’s consider the excess weight for example: weight management is recognized as an healthcare challenge since many years, because overweight and obesity are chronic diseases, closely related to the increase in cardiovascular disease (leading cause of death in 2012), diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders and the possibility of suffering from more than 8 types of cancer (World Health Organization -WHO). As many experts say and popular opinion agrees, the effective treatment is based first on the use of a low-calorie diet, to be associated with a physical activity program.
However, the perception of this condition is an additional challenge to be tackled: a research on the perception of one’s own weight in six European countries has shown a lack of awareness of overweight, obesity and related risks. For example, although in Italy half of the population is overweight or obese, and every year for the complications of this disease 57 thousand people die- one thousand a week, 150 a day, about one every 10 minutes – obesity it is still experienced as an aesthetic problem and not considered, instead, as a real disease.
Then, to achieve lasting results over time, psychotherapeutic tools such as cognitive behavioral therapy, delivered also with technological personalized tools, should also be used. Therefore, the combination with composite lifestyle management programmes in every step of the clinical journey is necessary for successful outcomes.
In order to defeat the main health problems of the 21st century, it is necessary to know how to analyze the problem in all its aspects, not only clinical but also psychological and in relation to the life habits involved. After this detailed analysis, the treatment strategy must also include tools that can influence each of these aspects: for example, pharmacological treatment accompanied by approaches that can modify the symptoms and the condition in a personalized way. What’s new is that the pharmacological treatment can come alongside with digital health to achieve this personalization, or alternatively, the digital health tools could be used as the treatment itself (“Digiceuticals”).
Digiceuticals have been tested for efficacy, approved by regulatory agencies (such as the FDA) and are prescribed by a doctor. Most of them gather data, either by asking patients for information or by using sensors, and provide realtime guidance. Examples of Digiceuticals are already common in the pharmaceutical industry: Diabetes apps, for instance, work with connected monitors and use the information to manage symptoms. Apps that help users to stop smoking combine a breath sensor with coaching on how to quit. Addiction-fighting apps can be based on cognitive behavioral therapy.
An important warning for everyone involved in Digiceuticals development (exposed in a workshop on patient centricity at the Eyeforpharma some year ago) is that “no single solution, however innovative, would be effective unless it was linked directly back to the obstacle preventing that individual from moving forward with their care. For example, building an app that reminds a patient to take their medicine may be great for someone who is forgetful, but it might not have the same effect for someone who refuses to accept their illness. Similarly, a Fitbit style device might motivate one patient to exercise more, but quickly abandoned by someone else who feels too depressed to get up and walk”.
In conclusion, Digiceuticals have many advantages (e.g. both to measure adherence and efficacy, and also collect evidences on outcomes and gather insights) and having them will be necessary for every pharma and nutraceuticals company that want to provide successful healthcare solutions. The run for having effective Digiceuticals already started and, interestingly, there are many outsiders (tech companies) that can compete with the incumbents in the industry and the competition (or collaborations between them) will accelerate innovation in effective therapies.
Elisa Guida, PhD
Brand and Account Manager
