Smart caps are wireless technologies designed to help people with taking their medicines. Everybody will forget to take a dose or wonder if they already took one from time to time. A smart cap logs when you've accessed a bottle so there's always a record. Let's look at what the technology is and whether you might want to use it.
Wirelessly Connected
Typical smart caps use either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi protocols to connect wirelessly to other devices. For example, your doctor might have you download an app to your phone. The app will receive a message from the associated smart cap whenever you take a particular medication.
Likewise, the app can connect to a database that logs all of the times you did take the drug. If you want, this information is available to your doctor so they can see your dosing schedule. Also, it can notify you that you're close to running out of pills so you can order refills.
Protection against Overdoses
People often forget whether they've taken a specific drug today. Depending on the medication in question, this could have potentially lethal consequences. Using smart caps, though, you can quickly refresh your memory about whether you took the dose or not. If you need to take multiple doses per day, the app will also tell you how long it has been since your last dose.
Drug Interactions
Another argument for using smart caps is to guard against potential interactions. If you're talking with your doctor about possible treatment options, the app can quickly tell both you and them what you've recently taken. This can help them to identify potential adverse drug interactions, taking out the guesswork when folks try to remember what they're on.
Reminders
Some drugs can be problematic because people need reminders to take them. This is a particularly common problem when a drug may improve your mood or physical condition. As a person feels the improvement, they might become less aware of the need to finish the full course of the medication. Smart caps will remind them to stay the course.
Numerous Drugs
A person with one prescription may soon find themselves with several. Worse, these prescriptions can have different dosing scheduling. That poses challenges in terms of remembering which drugs to take and when. Smart caps solve this problem by ensuring that you'll have notifications for each drug at the appropriate dosing times.
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