Oshi Health Inc., a startup focused on digestive health, announced the release of a mobile app especially designed to help Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients better understand and manage their condition. The app named Oshi, will feature symptom tracking, curated learning, and expert Q&A for patients suffering from IBD.
The inflammatory Bowel Disease is an umbrella term for disorders involving chronic inflammation of the digestive track. Main forms of IBD include Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Our digestive tract consists of the mouth, stomach, esophagus, small intestine, and large intestine. The tract is responsible for breaking down the food we eat, extracting the nutrients from them, and removing any unusable material and waste products. Inflammation anywhere along the digestive tract hampers this normal process. The condition can be very painful, and in some cases, it may be life-threatening. Currently, there’s no known cause or cure for these conditions.
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Approximately 3 million people in the United States are living with IBD. Each person has a unique experience with the disease. While duration, frequency, and symptoms severity of the disease is not clearly understood, many factors, including diet, sleep, and exercise can substantially impact IBD wellness.
“What’s interesting about inflammatory bowel disease is that patients have very unique, individualized experiences,” Oshi CEO Daniel Weinstein told MobiHealthNews. “Some patients experience frequent, difficult flares, some patients achieve remission and it really doesn’t make an impact on their lives. And it’s not clear exactly why that’s the case; there’s still lots unknown about inflammatory bowel disease. There’s a lot of opportunity for digital to disrupt the space, and it’s a space where digital health hasn’t quite yet reached.”
Using the app, patients can better understand their conditions by recording symptoms and measure their quality of life and other factors that may impact the condition such as diet, sleep, or exercise.
Recipes, educational articles, and other materials featured in the app will help users learn more about their condition.
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Weinstein said that the ultimate goal of the app is to help IBD patients improve their condition.
“I think these digital platforms have the potential to impact and disrupt these spaces like a new pharmaceutical product, or a new medication,” Weinstein said. “There’s evidence that [services like ours] can improve outcomes and reduce costs. … I believe that’s the case in IBD in particular because it’s such an individualized, personalized experience.”
About Oshi Health
Founded in 2018, Oshi Health Inc. aims to revolutionize IBD care through digital tools. The company is led by Daniel Weinstein, a digital health veteran, who previously co-founded Cohero Health, a leading digital health company that is helping asthma and COPD patients improve their conditions through its connected mobile platform.
