The "Health Forecast PLUS" Provides Medical Weather Forecasts for Individuals

METOCEAN ENVIRONMENT INC.

Advice such as "Temperature is decreasing very quickly so take care", etc.

Metocean Environment Inc., a general consulting company for environmental development, exploited a health forecasting system, which relates your unique health characteristics to changes in the weather around you. Metocean provides the "Bio Weather Service" in cooperation with Fuji Television Future Net, Inc. The health weather forecast is broadcast by "Mezamashi Tenki," a weather forecast program of Fuji Television. The Bio Weather Service forecasts UV irradiation levels and the danger of heat disorder in the areas in which you live, work, and travel. UV irradiation is divided into four levels, while the danger of heat disorder is divided into five levels. People can take better care of themselves according to these levels.

Some other countries have more-developed health forecasting systems than Japan has. In Germany, for example, there are Web sites and TV programs on health forecasting. These outlets provide information about roughly 30 items, including mental disorders such as indefinite complaint. The information is presented plainly so that the general public can understand it easily.

Metocean is the first company to offer medical weather forecasting to the general public. Metocean is now aiming to provide individual subscribers with "Health Forecast PLUS," which gives forecasts and other information on the basis of an individual's unique health condition, beginning in April 2002.

Medical Weather Forecasts that Deal with Weather Changes

Metocean first noticed the importance of the medical weather forecast at the end of 1999. Ryoji Miyashita, a staff member of the Division of IT Business Promotion, reflects about that time:

"When we joined the research group of the G-XML (for "Geographic extensive mark-up language") system of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and searched for a way to apply G-XML, we came up with an idea to combine environmental analysis and climate forecasting technology, which Metocean has researched and developed for years, to provide a real-time information service for risk prevention. As this idea expanded, we started to develop a medical weather forecasting system that can deal with weather change."

Miyashita met with the Japan Society of Biometeorology during the investigation process. Biometeorology is a field of study, born in Germany, that deals with relationships between creatures and climate or illnesses and climate and, moreover, with researches including food, clothing and shelter. The Japan Society of Biometeorology consists of researchers from various fields. Then, the Bio Clima Research Committee was established by medical researchers of this society who were interested in the medical weather forecasting system that Metocean researched. Miyashita says, "That is, researchers decided to cooperate to develop a medical weather forecasting system to make good use of the fruits of biometeorological researches for the sake of society."

The Medical Weather Forecasting System Is Useful Especially for Asthmatic or Rheumatic People

You can access Health Forecast PLUS, a medical weather forecasting system for individuals, through Internet services including those of cellular phones. Health Forecast PLUS analyzes data from temperature, humidity and air pressure sensors distributed to the individual subscriber, as well as the data on the subscriber's health condition, which the person inputs by himself or herself. Health Forecast PLUS gives you highly accurate, individualized advice based on these data and weather forecasts. This system is useful especially for asthmatic or rheumatic people.

An individual's data include the person's home address, heart rate, body temperature, the sorts of medicines that he or she ordinarily takes, the peak expiratory flow (an indicator of the bronchus condition), whether or not the individual is asthmatic, and the person's clinical history and present health condition. The individual subscriber reports daily on his or her condition, using comments such as "I have a headache" or "My knee aches"; such data are fed back to the forecasting system and accumulated in the database to enhance information accuracy. The conditions of the individual's environment are also important.

"It is known that artificial environments, such as air-conditioned homes, affect people's health condition and that such effects are becoming significant," Miyashita points out. "Understanding the artificial environment is crucial for a medical weather forecast."

By the way, there were hurdles to overcome before the medical weather forecasting system could be started: protecting the confidentiality of individuals' health data and developing multi-functional portable sensors. When asked about this, Miyashita replies, "We must continue to study these difficulties."

In any case, medical weather forecasting is done by analyzing both data on an individual's health and data on changes in the weather. This system alerts the individual to the possibility that weather conditions may cause a health disorder to occur. For example, if the weather tomorrow is not preferable for the person's health, a health forecast like, "Temperature may drop sharply tomorrow, so take care" is provided, and this is supplemented by information on what kinds of factors may enhance the danger.

Future Outlook: Medical Weather Forecast Including Environmental Issues

People today, indeed, pay remarkable attention to their health. As the aging of society approaches, industries related to medical service and health care are humming. On the other hand, information technology is applied increasingly to medical information, as seen in the movements to make electronic medical charts practical and in the emergence of special companies to provide medical information. Medical weather forecasting is connected closely to preventive medicine, enables people to anticipate illnesses and maintain their health, and is useful for creating a comfortable living environment.

Miyashita states, "I want to deal with environmental problems like dioxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, soil pollution, yellow sands and acid rain, and expand these studies to general health-risk management in the future."

The needs for real-time health forecasting are expected to increase.