Every few years, we see breakthroughs in the medical and health community, as well as in the wireless and telecom industry. We are just in the early stages of a technology revolution that will help stroke survivors. Visit the iTunes App Store or Google Play and take a look. Believe it or not, today there are stroke apps. Yes that's right, there's an app for that -- several of them as a matter of fact.
May is National Stroke Awareness month. I like to follow the technology advancements for stroke prevention and treatment -- and the companies making them -- because I have been a stroke survivor for nine years. We don't realize it on a daily basis, but things advance as quickly in the medical and health industries as in wireless and communications. If I had my stroke today rather than nine years ago, there would be much more help at my fingertips.
My stroke occurred in 2004. As advanced as the medical community had become by then, it was very distant from where it is today. Doctors struggled with too many questions and offered me very few answers. They simply didn't know. Plus, they were not counselors, so they weren't able to help me understand my situation. Things are different now.
The wireless and telecom world has changed too. Back then, Apple hadn't come out with the iPhone, and Google hadn't introduced Android. A cellphone was just a cellphone -- and there were a lot of Baby Bells that hadn't yet merged.
Unfortunately, strokes happen all the time. Since having mine I have learned of many other survivors among people I already knew. How many do you know? Maybe quite a few. I have learned of many neighbors, friends and business associates affected by strokes -- and recovery is a long-term process, taking years.
Every few years, we see breakthroughs in the medical and health community, as well as in the wireless and telecom industry, Suddenly these two worlds are working together to create new apps and solutions for stroke survivors. Things are getting exciting.
For example, in 2004, the year I had my stroke, the smartphone revolution had not yet begun. BlackBerry, Nokia and Palm were the smartphone leaders. There were no iPhones, and there were no phones running Android. There was no app explosion yet. At that time, there were only a few hundred apps to choose from, and none of them addressed stroke prevention or recovery.
Then things quickly started to change. Apple debuted the iPhone in 2007, and Google unleashed Android shortly after that. The number of apps started to grow, but in the early years they were mostly about games. It would be a few years before anything of medical or health value was created.
Today, smartphones rule the world. More than 50 percent of us have one. There are nearly a million apps in the iTunes App Store and in Google Play. We've grown past the initial stage emphasizing games and are seeing apps with serious value propositions. There is a growing variety of healthcare-related apps, and we are still just in the very early years.
I am currently writing my second book. Stroke Recovery Stories is filled with stories from stroke survivors to offer encouragement to others. So if you have recovered from a stroke or know someone who has, and if you would like to help, I hope you will get in touch with me and contribute your story to this new book.