With the rise of this series of symptoms as its backdrop, Continua Health Alliance held its second Personal Health Symposium in Japan last month. Held at the prestigious United Nations University in Tokyo, the two-day event drew expert analysis from the academic, medical and Japanese government sectors, and showcased Continua interoperable technology that will help people better manage their health and wellness.

The Mayo Clinic, a non-profit medical practice, defines Metabolic Syndrome as a cluster of conditions that occur simultaneously, which increases the risk for other health problems like heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The exact cause, as with other conditions, is unknown. But some doctors believe a natural resistance to normal insulin reaction coupled with obesity (particularly abdominal obesity) and an inactive lifestyle are the main drivers behind the problem.

Keynote speakers included Kuno Shinya, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences of University of Tsukuba; Muneharu Nakagai, Mayor of Toyooka; and Masaaki James Kondo, Vice Chairman of Health Policy Institute, Japan. These speeches, along with various panels focusing on preventative health and remote patient monitoring, addressed the growing concern of Metabolic Syndrome.

Continua Health Alliance's mission is to promote interoperability between personal telehealth products, including those that help people track vital information needed to address Metabolic Syndrome symptoms. Many of these devices, such as blood pressure monitors, weight scales and body composition analyzers, were demonstrated at the Symposium from more than a dozen Japanese Continua member companies utilizing the recently finalized Continua Version One Design Guidelines.

By using these types of equipment and services, people can manage their health at home. This will lead to the development of services, such as health management consultations, based on this measured data, which can help people in Japan and across the globe detect signs symptoms at an earlier stage.

"Rather than cure the disease," Continua Executive Director Chuck Parker said during his welcoming address, "the focus has been shifted to put the priority on preventing the disease. Our mission to help people manage their health more effectively."

And the products needed to meet that goal were on display during the Symposium. Hiroshi Hayashi, an Intel employee and Continua Symposium participant, said the goal of the demonstrations was to show "heterogeneous connectivity" between device sensors and the data managers they connect with.

"We showed some combinations of sensors and managers because we aligned them to typical scenarios," said Hayashi. "Be we confirmed other combinations than what we showed at the Symposium."

Continua Health Alliance President David Whitlinger offered praise for the growing alliance's Japanese members for taking the lead in addressing Metabolic Syndrome.

"When Continua was launched in 2006, it had 22 member companies, but now, membership has increased to more than 180 companies," said Whitlinger. "This level of interest in the industry has arisen because personal healthcare-utilizing technology is expected to have an impact on prevention of chronic conditions, management of physical fitness, and support for independent living by elderly people.

"Japanese member companies are in the vanguard of developing Continua Certified product development, and we expect these companies to help drive Continua’s efforts worldwide," said Whitlinger.

Continua will continue its work in personal telehealth interoperabiliy while bringing attention to Metabolic Syndrome and other debiliating conditions. With the its Certifiaction Program slated to be fully automated later this year, Continua expects to grow its ecosystem of Certified products and help grow the industry.

In those efforts, the alliance is holding a second international symposium in Barcelona this week, focusing on integrated care. For more information on this event, please visit Continua's Web site: http://www.continuaalliance.org/news_events/Barcelona_Symposium/.