A: “I’m still feeling extremely under the weather.”

B: “Have you gotten an RT-PCR done yet?”

A: “Will probably do a self test first. You, know the at-home antigen one.”

B: “From personal experience, also make sure you keep a check on your CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) readings too, since a viral infection can affect your glucose trends. Make sure you speak to your doctor.”

A few short years ago, quite a few bits of this conversation would have probably seemed largely incomprehensible! However, today odds are that you have an idea of what these people are discussing, and this sounds like a chat you would have had with a friend when feeling unwell or dealing with a health condition.

From tech to finance to health and beyond, innovations have made us all more aware in a multitude of ways and transformed how we absorb and share information too. What once seemed inexplicable, has become a part of our parlance, for instance technological and medical jargon has become a routine factor in our lives. In today's world, we often discuss terms and common medical jargon as normal parts of our conversations with friends and families, and it’s not something that’s only restricted to doctors and other healthcare providers. The advent of and increasing accessibility to health tech has transformed our health management habits, our access to information…and most definitely our conversations!

An increased interest in owning our good health, more in-depth and open dialogues with our physicians and a new world of information now accessible to us, have ushered in the collective evolution of our personal medical glossaries. Tech has played a big part in this transformation, thanks to…

The rise of ‘supportive’ healthcare

While it is imperative to always consult your doctor for all matters related to health, the advent of med tech for self-use, as a support to other external medical care, has changed the way we look after ourselves and have gotten high-tech medical services into our homes and regular lives. Things that were once only used in medical environments and laboratories have found their way into our medicine cabinets and our discussions about health and healthcare. This was all the more evident during the pandemic with the accessibility to rapid diagnostics and at-home testing for COVID-19. For instance, words and terms like ‘viral load’, ‘pathogens’, ‘antigens’ etc. soon became common medical jargon in daily life. We are also now more aware of the existence and ease of enhanced health tech products that allow us to look after ourselves better at home, and most importantly, still under the guidance of a doctor – for instance, remote monitoring technology for those with cardiovascular conditions.

Enhanced access to pertinent information

With an increasing access to technology, and therefore information that only medical professionals were once privy to, we are no longer bystanders in matters of our own health and are engaged and curious! We are now better equipped to have proactive and detailed conversations with healthcare providers. While all medical decisions need to be under the guidance of our doctors, access to data and its simplification, have empowered us to have a little more control about matters of health. This extends to not only dealing with regular day-to-day requirements, but also while managing chronic health conditions.

Terms we once only heard during clinical visits, are now a part of personal conversations. Life-changing advancements in tech are changing the way we manage, share information and speak about ourselves and our bodies!