Health Union announced on Monday that it has launched the Migraine Meter, a free mobile app to help patients manage and monitor their migraines.

According to Health Union officials, the app features the latest migraine news, patient tips and expert opinions from Migraine.com and an interactive journal with extensive data storage. It is available for download on iPhone and Android smartphones.

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The interactive migraine journal within the app allows patients to track their migraine history for review by their physician. Migraine sufferers can record the time, date, severity, impact to their daily life, treatments, triggers and more.  Prior entries can be edited at any time and there is no limit to the amount of data that can be stored for free.

The Migraine Meter data is stored securely and can also be accessed via the website Migraine.com. Data entered on the app is instantaneously visible on the website, and vice versa, and easy to read summary reports can be generated from either the website or the app, according to Health Union.

"Keeping an accurate diary of migraine episodes is an important part of managing migraine disease, tracking a patient's history can help me identify potential patterns and migraine triggers to develop a more comprehensive treatment program," said Susan Hutchinson, MD, of the Hoag Neurosciences Institute in Newport Beach, Calif. "I recommend that all my patients keep an accurate journal."

According to U.S. Census Data, Migraine disease impacts an estimated 37 million Americans.

Every 10 seconds someone in the United States goes to the emergency room with a headache or migraine, and American employers lose more than $13 billion each year as a result of 113 million lost workdays due to Migraine, the Migraine Research Foundation estimates.

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The Migraine Meter is integrated with up to date news, commentary and polls from physician experts and patient advocates from Migraine.com. Migraine.com, launched in 2010 and reaches hundreds of thousands of migraine patients each month. It is the largest and fastest growing online community dedicated solely to migraine sufferers.

The app for iPhones can be downloaded here. The app for Android can be downloaded here. 

Philadelphia-based Health Union, LLC aims to harness the Internet, social media and emerging technologies to help patients make more informed decisions about their healthcare.