Rickyrayray

Q: Record cholesterol data in the health app

It seems that the Health app would be ideal for storing and tracking my blood test results for cholesterol, HDL, etc. However there doesn't appear to be any way to do that. Can cholesterol data be store in the Health app?

iPhone 5, iOS 9.0.1

Posted on Dec 23, 2015 10:54 AM

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Q: Record cholesterol data in the health app

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  • by ZikzakCorp,

    ZikzakCorp ZikzakCorp Dec 23, 2015 12:59 PM in response to Rickyrayray
    Level 4 (1,033 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 23, 2015 12:59 PM in response to Rickyrayray

    Go to your Health App, tap on Health Data, and type "cholesterol" into the search box. That will give you the option to enter your cholesterol data.

    Use Health on your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support

  • by Rickyrayray,

    Rickyrayray Rickyrayray Dec 23, 2015 4:52 PM in response to ZikzakCorp
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2015 4:52 PM in response to ZikzakCorp

    The data bucket that you're referring to is for dietary cholesterol, that is the cholesterol content of the food you eat. It does not refer to cholesterol measurements from blood tests.

     

    Obviously it would not be difficult for Apple to include buckets for any number of blood test results, including cholesterol. I suspect that the reason it isn't there is because Apple chose not to include in the Health app because of potential liability issues. Say somebody got a horrendously high cholesterol reading and then stored in in Health. A year later that person dies of a heart attack. The person's estate could sue Apple for negligence. The estate could argue that Apple had this information that pointed to a high risk of a heart attack but didn't do anything about it. One needs to tread carefully when dealing with matters that touch on medical liability.

     

    Thanks anyways for your reply. I have since seen several other posts with the same question, which is what makes me think that Apple has good reasons for not providing those fields.

  • by ChrisJ4203,

    ChrisJ4203 ChrisJ4203 Dec 23, 2015 5:00 PM in response to Rickyrayray
    Level 9 (57,237 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 23, 2015 5:00 PM in response to Rickyrayray

    Rickyrayray wrote:

     

    I suspect that the reason it isn't there is because Apple chose not to include in the Health app because of potential liability issues. Say somebody got a horrendously high cholesterol reading and then stored in in Health. A year later that person dies of a heart attack. The person's estate could sue Apple for negligence. The estate could argue that Apple had this information that pointed to a high risk of a heart attack but didn't do anything about it.

    I find that to be an interesting theory, however you do know that information entered into the device does not go to Apple. It is on the device only. It isn't even backed up unless you encrypt your backup.

  • by Rickyrayray,

    Rickyrayray Rickyrayray Dec 23, 2015 5:09 PM in response to ChrisJ4203
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2015 5:09 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

    You're absolutely right, although I might not be willing to count on the courts to appreciate that technical subtlety. It is just speculation on my part, but there has to be some reason other than that Apple just forgot to include that data.

  • by ChrisJ4203,Solvedanswer

    ChrisJ4203 ChrisJ4203 Dec 23, 2015 6:33 PM in response to Rickyrayray
    Level 9 (57,237 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 23, 2015 6:33 PM in response to Rickyrayray

    Well, you can make a suggestion to Apple that you would like to see something like lab results entries in the health app, by going to the feedback page. Go to http://www.apple.com/feedback and click on the appropriate subject area. I know in the beginning of the Health app, there were questions raised regarding Blood Glucose levels, so that could be similar. You might also want to check the App Store to see if there is an app that shares with the Health App that you can add this type of information.