Survive and Thrive: How Big Data Is Transforming Health Care, Part I

It’s becoming easier to track health data for our own casual use. But for some people—like Ph.D student Maria Qadri, a Type 1 diabetic—it could have a huge impact on quality of life.
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This is the first entry in a three-part comic series produced by Symbolia. Check back next Monday, February 2, for the next installment.

When you step on a scale, take your temperature, or check your blood pressure, you’re using data from your body to measure your health. Advances in fitness trackers have made health quantification more accessible to casual users. But for researchers, health care providers, and people with chronic conditions, advances in tracking technology, data analysis, and automation offer significant improvements in medical treatment and quality of life.

This three-part series explores health quantification through the eyes of Rutgers University Ph.D student Maria Qadri, who has both professional and personal experience in the matter. Qadri’s research aims to help people with traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s Disease better manage their illness, and, as a Type 1 diabetic, glucose monitoring is a major part of her own life. Below, we take a look at how number crunching and personal data factors into Qadri’s research and life.

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