logo
Entrepreneur UK's London 100: apo

Entrepreneur UK's London 100: apo

Entrepreneur20 hours ago

apo is democratising musculoskeletal (MSK) healthcare through its innovative and holistic AI-powered digital platform.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur United Kingdom, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Industry: Artificial Intelligence
apo is democratising musculoskeletal (MSK) healthcare through its innovative and holistic AI-powered digital platform.
In the UK alone, musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions affect over 20 million people each year, costing the NHS billions and resulting in more than 30 million lost working days annually.
apo tackles this head-on with its comprehensive digital approach, organised around four core pillars (Move, Discover, Nourish, and Unwind) each tailored to empower users with personalised physical therapy, curated educational content, nutrition guidance, and mental health support.
Founded in 2024 by Lauren Romanish, apo's mission is clear: transform how millions manage MSK pain, turning the industry's reliance on fragmented, episodic care into a seamless, continuous, and empowering user experience.
Romanish has recently been named "The UK's Most Influential Female Founder in Healthcare to Watch."
Furthermore, apo has received multiple awards and recognitions and is partnering with the National Health Service (NHS) to deliver more effective and efficient care — reducing our healthcare system's burdens and improving patient outcomes.
Building Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), apo places safety, reliability, and clinical validation at the heart of its innovation.
Unlike traditional healthcare apps, apo employs cutting-edge technology to deliver hyper personalised, interactive, and visually rich content.
apo's intuitive design and real-time analytics encourage consistent user engagement, fostering long-term behavioural change.
"apo's innovation lies in its ability to seamlessly blend clinical rigour with engaging, personalised wellness experiences. By putting sophisticated, adaptive AI directly into users' hands, we empower them not just to manage pain, but to fundamentally transform their relationship with health," says Romanish.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Last Signs of Life: What to Expect in Final Hours
Last Signs of Life: What to Expect in Final Hours

Medscape

timean hour ago

  • Medscape

Last Signs of Life: What to Expect in Final Hours

Caregivers of terminally ill patients often turn to health professionals to learn what to expect in the final weeks, days, and hours of life. Regardless of the underlying cause, many signs and symptoms are similar during this period. Addressing families' concerns proactively can ease discomfort and anxiety and help prevent crises that lead to unnecessary ICU admissions. Below are the key topics to discuss with caregivers as death approaches a patient. Sleep Patients spend increasing amounts of time sleeping and may struggle to keep their eyes open because of fatigue and metabolic changes related to the dying process. Families should make the most of the time when the patient is alert, even at night, and avoid waking them. Restlessness Restlessness or agitation may arise during periods of wakefulness, making it difficult for patients to return to sleep. These symptoms, which are sometimes associated with mental confusion, may reflect real distress resulting from metabolic changes and the perception of loss of autonomy. Speaking calmly, acknowledging patients' concerns, and suggesting comfort measures can help. If these steps are ineffective, neuroleptics or sedatives may be prescribed to aid in rest. Disorientation and Hallucinations As death approaches, patients often become progressively disoriented in terms of time and place, even with regard to close relatives and caregivers. Hallucinations may occur, particularly in long-standing older adults. Patients might report seeing deceased loved ones or describe comforting visions or memories, which can distress families. In these moments, caregivers must not correct or rationalize their experiences. Instead, they should encourage patients to share their feelings and explore their emotional states. Social Withdrawal It is common for patients to withdraw socially as their condition worsens. They may lose interest in activities such as reading newspapers, listening to music, watching television, visiting friends, and seeing family. Although difficult to witness, caregivers can offer a gentle and unobtrusive presence by talking softly or simply holding the patient's hand. Nutrition and Hydration Interest in eating and drinking declines gradually and can vary from one day to the next. Patients tend to need less food and liquids in response to metabolic changes during the end-of-life process. At this stage, eating no longer has a nutritional purpose and does not influence energy or prognosis, making meals a gesture of affection. It is recommended to offer only those foods that the patient prefers. Do not force-feed, as it may cause discomfort. Small ice chips or frozen fruit juice pops can soothe the mouth. When swallowing becomes impossible, oral intake should be stopped to avoid aspiration. Incontinence and Urinary Disturbances Loss of urinary and/or bowel control is common at the end of life and may affect a patient's dignity and comfort. Keep the patient clean by changing soiled clothes and sheets regularly and using diapers or protective clothing to ensure proper hygiene and prevent skin irritation or infections. If a patient cannot urinate, a catheter may be required. Advise caregivers that urine output decreases and darkens as death approaches. Reduced Senses Vision and hearing often decline days and hours before death, sometimes with increased sensitivity to light and sound. Keep the room dim and minimize sudden noise to reduce discomfort and disorientation. Do not assume that the patient cannot hear; hearing is typically the last sense to go. Physical Signs An increase in temperature is common during the final days and hours. Causes include inflammation from tumors, infections, or metabolic changes. A temperature above 38 °C does not always indicate discomfort or the need for medication. Caregivers can apply a cool, damp cloth to the forehead to help lower the temperature and at the same time feel helpful. In the hours before death, the skin may redden, become moist, and feel warm if the body temperature rises. Conversely, extremities, such as the hands, arms, feet, and legs, may cool, accompanied by cyanosis and mottling of the skin. Cooling of the body is a natural process that occurs when circulation slows and vital organs begin to stop functioning. Sometimes, the skin on the face takes on a yellowish hue with paleness that is more pronounced around the mouth. Breathing patterns also change as bodily functions slow. Breaths may become shallow and irregular, and the accessory muscles may engage. The interval between breaths can lengthen, and patients may take several quick, shallow breaths, followed by a long pause. These cycles deepen over time and can be distressing for families. As consciousness fades, patients lose the ability to swallow or clear their oral secretions. Air passes through these accumulated secretions, resulting in noisy ventilation in approximately half the terminally ill patients. Families and caregivers may find this sound unsettling, fearing the patient is choking. Changing the patient's position or administering medication for dry secretions can reduce, and sometimes relieve, noise.

Cardiac Risk Warning for Lamotrigine Challenged
Cardiac Risk Warning for Lamotrigine Challenged

Medscape

timean hour ago

  • Medscape

Cardiac Risk Warning for Lamotrigine Challenged

Real-world data from two new studies showed no increased risk for cardiac issues in older adults with epilepsy taking the antiseizure medication (ASM) lamotrigine (Lamictal) vs levetiracetam. The findings add to growing evidence that may eventually lead the FDA to reconsider its current cardiac safety warning, researchers said. The FDA added the cardiac warning label in 2020 based on in vitro studies and case reports of arrhythmias in some patients with underlying heart disease who were taking the drug. However, as reported by Medscape Medical News at that time, several groups challenged the severity of the warning — particularly given that clinicians had been prescribing lamotrigine for three decades without the widespread evidence of such risks. The first new cohort study used data from US Medicare claims and UK claims for more than 53,00 total patients. Its findings showed no difference in new diagnoses of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) between patients initiating the use of lamotrigine and those initiating the use of levetiracetam. Results from the second cohort study, which used Medicare data of nearly 12,000 new lamotrigine users and nearly 150,000 new levetiracetam users, showed no significant between-group differences in incidence of ventricular arrhythmia and sudden cardiac arrest (VA/SCA). The study was prompted by the FDA's safety warning, which was based on limited evidence, lead author Gloria Y.F. Ho, PhD, told Medscape Medical News . 'Our study was done in people, had a comparator, and also looked at several subgroups. And we did not find an increased risk' for cardiac outcomes, said Ho, visiting scholar at the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. The findings for both studies were published online on June 11 in Neurology . Closing the Evidence Gap Lamictal accounts for 'about 10% of all antiseizure medication use,' the investigators noted in a press release. It remains first-line therapy for certain forms of epilepsy, according to the American Epilepsy Society (AES) and the American Academy of Neurology. The drug inhibits voltage-gated sodium channels, which is a mechanism also implicated in regulating cardiomyocyte excitability. In October 2020, the FDA updated the lamotrigine label to warn about its potential to prolong QT interval, induce new arrhythmias, and slow ventricular conduction in patients with structural or functional heart disease on the basis of an in vitro electrophysiologic study and some case reports. In addition, rodent studies have shown prolonged QT interval time with high-dose lamotrigine vs placebo or a low dose of the drug. 'However, it is uncertain whether these findings are applicable to human physiology,' Ho and colleagues wrote. They added that other studies have often been underpowered to detect rare outcome risks. 'In such instances, real-world data sources can help provide valuable insights to fill this gap,' they noted. Class III Evidence In the first study, led by Samuel W. Terman, MD, from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, participants were included if they had filled their first ASM prescription following a first seizure or epilepsy diagnosis, with no prescriptions for this drug class in the previous year. The full patient population included 40,554 patients from Medicare (3038 lamotrigine users and 37,516 levetiracetam users) and 13,098 patients from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD; 8694 lamotrigine users and 4404 levetiracetam users). In the Medicare group, the median age of those receiving lamotrigine vs levetiracetam was 61 vs 74 years. In the CPRD group, the median age was 34 vs 48 years. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for VT/VF was 0.73 for lamotrigine vs levetiracetam in the Medicare dataset and 0.75 for lamotrigine vs levetiracetam in the CPRD dataset. The cumulative incidences were 1.7% vs 2.3% and 0.2% vs 0.3%, respectively. In addition, lamotrigine showed a 'slightly, but nonsignificantly, lower 2-year absolute difference' in cumulative VT/VF incidence in both datasets, the researchers wrote. Sensitivity analyses assessing such things as atrial or any arrhythmias and existing cardiovascular diagnoses showed similar results. 'This study provides class III evidence that lamotrigine did not significantly increase the 2-year cumulative incidence of VT/VF in adult patients with epilepsy,' the investigators wrote. They added that the findings 'do not support concerns regarding lamotrigine increasing arrhythmias.' No Risk in Patients With Heart Disease Using 2007-2019 data of Medicare-insured patients with epilepsy and aged at least 65 years, Ho and her team assessed 11,786 new users of lamotrigine (mean age, 74 years; 64% women) and 147,130 new users of levetiracetam (mean age, 77 years; 60% women). Results showed similar incidence of VA/SCA between the two treatment groups (7 vs 8.2 per 1000 person-years; P =.15) and a nonsignificantly higher adjusted HR of 0.84 for the lamotrigine vs levetiracetam groups ( P =.13). The HRs for VA and SCA individually were similar at 0.86 and 0.83, respectively. Secondary analyses showed no increased risk for VA/SCA in lamotrigine vs levetiracetam users with a baseline history of cardiac conditions, such as heart disease or heart failure. However, lamotrigine users with a baseline history of arrhythmias had a significantly reduced risk for VA/SCA (HR, 0.51) and for the use of any antiarrhythmic drugs (HR, 0.67). The investigators noted that although 'it has been postulated that lamotrigine increases the risk for VA/SCA because of its pharmacodynamic properties,' this assertion was based on studies that did not include older at-risk adults, including those with a history of heart disease. The new findings 'do not support' the current FDA warning label, they added. 'Lamotrigine is a very common and effective drug. Because of the FDA warning, it may limit its use in people who could benefit from it. Because they have a history of heart disease, they may not be able to get the prescription and this could affect the clinical management of epilepsy,' Ho said. Still, she recommended that clinicians evaluate patients on a case by case basis. 'At the end of the day, people in this age group may have other comorbidities and may be taking other medications. So I cannot just say, 'This is safe. Go ahead and use it,'' she said. Ho also noted that the findings may not be generalizable to younger patients because they used Medicare data of individuals older than 65 years or generalizable to those without epilepsy because the drug is also prescribed as a mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder. Two Studies, Same Conclusion In an accompanying editorial, Leah J. Blank, MD/MPH, assistant professor of neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, noted that both groups of investigators used real-world data and advanced analysis techniques to answer safety questions surrounding the drug. Although Blank pointed out both studies were observational and retrospective in nature, she wrote that the researchers accounted for all of that in their measures. 'Together, these data suggest that lamotrigine likely is safe in clinical practice and can continue to be used as an effective and well tolerated antiseizure medication,' Blank wrote. She also told Medscape Medical News that she prescribes the medication in her own practice. 'The studies were important because lamotrigine is an excellent antiseizure medication and it appears to be very well tolerated. Patients tend to like it and do well on it,' said Blank. 'It's reassuring that two different groups, using slightly different methods, came to the same conclusion that there is not an increased risk for cardiac events in people taking lamotrigine,' she said. Blank said it is worth noting that the human data do not support the FDA warning label. Asked whether it would be taking the new findings into consideration regarding its safety warning, a spokesperson for the FDA told Medscape Medical News that, in general, it does not comment on specific studies. Rather, the organization 'evaluates them as part of the body of evidence to further our understanding about a particular issue and assist in our mission to protect public health.' In addition, a representative for the AES told Medscape Medical News that the organization is not currently working on a statement based on these studies at this time.

The unseen expenses of outdated data and how to address them
The unseen expenses of outdated data and how to address them

Fast Company

timean hour ago

  • Fast Company

The unseen expenses of outdated data and how to address them

Enterprise retail operations often rely on syndicated, anonymized data to inform decisions about demand and customer sentiment. This reliance often masks significant hidden costs, including missed opportunities, inaccurate forecasts, and diminished customer engagement. Likewise, health care organizations are routinely held back by obsolete data in situations where efficacy and patient safety require high levels of accuracy. The pitfalls associated with outdated data strategies include reduced agility, misinformed decision-making, and the inability to compete with data-driven competitors. However, the transformative potential of first-party data and real-time intelligence is helping innovative retailers and health care organizations achieve greater precision, agility, and personalization. By uncovering hidden expenses tied to imprecise data, retailers and health care organizations can begin to build a business case for updating their intelligence-gathering processes. Timeliness in health care is non-negotiable. When medical data lags behind reality, the consequences can be dire. Consider a hospital receiving plasma or chemotherapy drugs that have been compromised due to improper condition control. If this issue is identified only after patient administration, the repercussions extend beyond financial loss —lives are at stake. Even if the problem is caught before treatment, delays in identifying compromised shipments mean postponed care, reduced trust in the provider, and operational inefficiencies as replacements are procured at additional cost. Traditional methods for monitoring health care shipments often involve stickers that change color based on exposure. While these indicators help, they rely on error-prone manual inspection and provide data that is already outdated by the time the issue is detected, leaving them with no ability to alter anything or save the expensive life-saving inventories. Health care shipments require real-time monitoring and notification of excursions the moment they occur to empower providers to take immediate corrective action. By leveraging live intelligence, health care organizations can prevent waste, maintain compliance, and most importantly, ensure patient safety (full disclosure: SmartSense offers this solution). Retailers also suffer from the repercussions of delayed and inaccurate data. Consider the shipment of high-value appliances. If a dishwasher sustains damage during transit, but this information only reaches the retailer after the product is delivered to the customer, the business must absorb the cost of replacement or offer compensation—both of which erode margins. Worse, dissatisfied customers may take their business elsewhere, leading to lost revenue and reputational damage. Access to real-time data combined with alert triggers and prescribed actions can help mitigate these costs (full disclosure: SmartSense offers this solution). If impact damage is detected at the moment of occurrence, businesses can proactively reschedule deliveries, file insurance claims, and manage customer expectations before frustration arises. The ability to respond instantly transforms customer service from reactive to proactive, helping reduce losses and improve brand loyalty. Beyond direct financial losses, outdated data impairs operational workflows. In logistics, tracking systems may indicate an expected delivery time based on outdated schedules, leaving warehouse teams unprepared when a shipment arrives early or late. The result is often inefficiency, wasted labor hours, and increased costs associated with storage and handling. By integrating real-time data feeds into logistics systems, including time and motion data, companies can synchronize operations with actual conditions, helping to optimize labor deployment and reduce unnecessary delays. This principle applies across industries—whether in inventory management, supply chain coordination, or workforce scheduling, businesses benefit when decisions are based on live intelligence rather than outdated projections. ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES Organizations looking to mitigate the costs of outdated data should focus on the following strategies: 1. Use real-time data collection tools. Review the proper hardware and software requirements for capturing live intelligence on critical operations. 2. Integrate data streams into workflows. Ensure real-time descriptive insights are accessible and actionable by embedding them into SOPs and decision-making systems. 3. Adopt predictive and prescriptive analytics. Beyond just collecting data, leverage advanced analytics to anticipate issues and recommend corrective actions before they escalate to optimize outcomes. 4. Improve cross-departmental data sharing. Establish seamless data flow between supply chain, customer service, and operations teams. 5. Continuously refine data accuracy. Implement checks and balances to validate incoming data, ensuring reliability and minimizing the risk of acting on faulty intelligence. THE HIDDEN COSTS OF OUTDATED DATA Outdated data is more than just an inconvenience—it is a silent drain on financial resources, operational efficiency, and customer trust. In sectors where precision, accuracy, and timing are critical, reliance on lagging information can lead to substantial losses and, in extreme cases, life-threatening consequences. By recognizing and addressing these hidden costs and prioritizing the availability of critical information, organizations can not only mitigate risk but also unlock new levels of efficiency, customer loyalty, and growth.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store