The more people understand what big data is and what it can do, the more they understand it’s not just a hype word or a buzzword in the tech industry. It’s a real problem-solver for the world’s most pressing issues, one of which is disease control and prevention.
Together with social media, big data is putting together a powerful disease-fighting scheme here in the United States and across the globe that is saving lives. With services that support Hadoop in the cloud, the ability to store and analyze huge amounts of important health information is available to enterprises of all sizes.
Johns Hopkins University introduced new methods just last year for tracking and filtering social media updates to pinpoint high-concern areas for flu outbreaks. The data, gathered in real-time, proved to be extremely effective, more so than the updates released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The flu, however, is just the beginning in a long list of what many hope will be large-scale disease prevention.
UCLA recently published a study on using Twitter to track high-probability areas for HIV contraction. Using big data to track tweets in real-time that contained high-risk behavior words like “get high” and “sex” they were able to accurately follow and predict areas with high levels of HIV risk. Without big data the task would be impossible.
Big data is also seeking to prevent cardiovascular disease. Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are currently working on an initiative to analyze areas at high risk for cardiovascular disease. After pinpointing these areas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield will facilitate help and prevention. By 2017 they hope this initiative will have prevented one million heart attacks and strokes.
Think of that, one million lives could be saved because of big data capabilities!
Big Data also opens doors for prevention and treatment of disease on a global scale. The ability to store, access and analyze huge amounts of data from countries across the world signals progress in mankind’s fight against preventable diseases. While two of the examples mentioned above illustrate the strength of real-time big data use, gathering big data for future use is equally important.
The ability to gather so much data the world over and then make that data readable and easily digested is vital. It can then be transmitted to different nations to assist in the fight against preventable, but highly prevalent diseases. Putting forward a solid analytical focus by taking the time to analyze the sets of data and then devise plans for the future will effectively reduce numerous disease outbreaks.
It’s obvious though, that not everyone uses social media, and not everyone that uses social media is constantly tweeting and posting about their health. With the publicity that social media and big data are receiving, the hope is that people will tweet and post with the intention of helping to better monitor disease. With cooperation from both sides of the spectrum, the future of disease prevention looks bright.
This type of big data impacts the world in important ways. Most importantly lives are spared, and the quality of life is improved for millions and hopefully billions. Hours of lost productivity from sickness are eliminated, and time and money spent on expensive medical solutions are saved. The opportunities are endless and the benefits are priceless.
