Mike Peterson
In a new feature, Apple has highlighted Caria, a women's health platform on the App Store designed to help users understand menopause using AI and debunk some of the myths surrounding it.
Created by co-founders Arfa Rehman and Scott Gorman, Caria — formerly known as Clio — is described as a "a personalized guide to help users understand menopausal changes and manage their symptoms." The app has features like an AI assistant that women can chat with to understand what symptoms mean and to chart their journey.
"In the field of women's health, medical advancement has focused on birth control and fertility treatments, even though women spend several years and an average of $20,000 in trial-and-error treatments, doctor's visits, and products trying to get the right diagnosis and treatment for menopause," Apple said of the app.
Caria, on the other hand, is built from the ground up to use AI intelligence to offer personalized health data, insights, and tailored recommendations about fitness, wellness, and nutrition.
"There is a lack of education about menopause and its treatments in the medical community, as only 20 percent of ob-gyn residency programs in the US have a formal menopause curriculum. As a result, many medical professionals don't have the training to diagnose and treat menopausal symptoms, often leaving women with insufficient options and support," Rehman, the app's CEO, said.
Rehman and Gorman met an Apple Entrepreneur Camp in 2019, where they were able to work with a key engineer on the app. Both co-founders believe the program was "instrumental" in the app's development in terms of features and design.
"As a design-centric healthcare company, developing on the Apple platform and leveraging the capabilities of iOS have made meeting our priority for user privacy and security while delivering a stellar user experience easier," Rehman added.
The women's health app will also soon partner with the University of Illinois at Chicago in a study on the app's efficiency in relieving menopause symptoms. Current surveys suggest that 85% of women report improvements in symptoms after using Caria.
Caria is available on the App Store. The app offers a free tier with basic features, and a premium option with "unlimited expert-created programs" that's available for $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
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3 Comments
The woman in the photo looks she has decades to wait before menopause will be an issue for her.