In a startling and fantastic breakthrough, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved an efficient digital ingestion tracking system for psychological medication that will record your medication as it gets ingested in your body. With the help of a sensor that will be embedded inside the pill that you swallow, you can get helpful information to track your medication as it travels inside your system on your Smartphone. Once you swallow the digital sensor pill, it will report back to you telling you that it has landed in your stomach and is about to do its duty much like how the Mars rovers do their job and send back messages from an unknown terrain.
This is a stroke of genius where the tracking system along with medication named Abilify My Cite (aripiprazole with sensor) has been formulated for the treatment of psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, manic schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and even depression.
1The new medication system is meant psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia
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A psychotic disorder, schizophrenia causes symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations experienced by bipolar patients during alternate instances of mania and depression. Constant sadness is also a symptom of the condition including mood shifts and the inability to conduct day to day tasks efficiently. Schizophrenia can also influence patients to think they are hearing voices in their minds. Bipolar disorder causes manic depression and can cause extremes of mood, activity, depression, irritability, OCD, and restlessness.
Abilify MyCite seeks to improve how patients interact with medication and comply with the dosages and regimen although the FDA had observed that this hasn’t been proved as yet. The medication and digital sensor pill carries warnings that one of the side effects for teens and young adults taking antidepressants could be suicidal thoughts and behavior. So caution should be practiced when taking the medication only on the advice of a professional.
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2How the medication tracking ingestion system works
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Abilify MyCite works in a remarkable way because imagine a small little transmitter type of device (a sensor in this case) traveling in your body telling you how much of the medication has been ingested as well as different information as it gets slowly ingested into your body. The sensor will be transmitting signals to a patch worn by the user. The patch will then transmit the same information to your smartphone. Sounds incredible, don’t it?? Caregivers and doctors can also view the same information with permission from patients through a web-based portal set up for the purpose. Even your family members can view the same information through similar means of communication.
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Abilify MyCite has been created by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The maker of the drug aripiprazole and Proteus Digital Health, who has made the sensor. So now when you refer to a talking tablet, that is not going to be the prerogative of SIRI. Said Mitchell Mathis MD Divisional Director of drug evaluation and research in the FDA, “Being able to track ingestion of medications prescribed for mental illness may be useful for some patients, “The FDA supports the development and use of new technology in prescription drugs and is committed to working with companies to understand how technology might benefit patients and prescribers.”
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3There are side effects and it is not meant for children
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The medication information says that it is yet to be shown whether the ingestion tracking system improves patient compliance with the treatment and that it shouldn’t be used for tracking medication in real time or emergencies. In such cases, detection may be slightly delayed. It also carries a warning to doctors that dementia patients or those with psychosis related to dementia taking antipsychotic drugs could be at increased risk of death. The medication is not suitable for such conditions. It is also not meant for young children as the safety factors have not yet been established for pediatric patients.
With so much negative baggage including suicidal thoughts, one wonders what exactly the benefit of such a system? Well, Abilify MyCite will be able to remind schizophrenic patients that they have forgotten to take their medication. Consider a scenario where a depressed person unable to think straight has taken a pill but forgotten he has done so, how many instances has this been a cause for overdose?? The ingestion tracking system will then remind patients or provide patients with information as to whether they have taken the pill or not.
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4Technology is revolutionizing healthcare say the experts
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Director of the Early Treatment Program (for psychosis) at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, Dr. Michael Birnbaum said that “continual adoption of new and innovative technological tools is ubiquitous.” He also stated how technology is about to create a revolution of sorts in healthcare and this particular breakthrough is the advent of digital medication.
Usual side effects of the ingestion tacking system found in adults were common symptoms of nausea, vomiting, constipation, dizziness, headache, Akathesia, (uncontrollable limb movement). There is also a possibility of skin irritation where the patch is worn. Before using the system, the patient’s doctor should ideally explain clearly about the product drug patch and app and facilitate the same to ensure that a patient is fully capable of using it.
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5Forgetting to take one’s medication is costing healthcare billions of dollars
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Abilify MyCite was first approved by the FDA in 2002 for treating schizophrenia but now the technology and medication combo will pave the way for new possibilities that can target various treatments. Almost 50% of patients today forget to take their medicine according to the prescribed dosage and some don’t even take them because they can’t understand the directions. Many just lose track of whether they have or haven’t had and for such psychiatric patients, the medication itself is a challenging task.
This may seem a common problem but it is costing the US healthcare system billions of dollars (up to $ 289) to be precise. It also results in 125,000 deaths and accounts for 10% of hospitalizations every year. When patients forget their medication, say for example tuberculosis, it means a risk of passing on the disease to others.
This is why health and medical researchers have been trying for years to formulate a system as a reminder such as pillboxes to keep track of pills and apps or even counseling. The medication tracking ingestion system or digital sensor pill is by far the most advanced and efficient means of tracking medication or medication adherence because a pill giving you information while in your stomach is much better than a bottle telling you what to do.
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