Hazards lurk in medical smartphone apps, experts warn

WASHINGTON — Smartphones and tablets are go-to gadgets to count calories, document daily jogs, measure heart rates and record sleep patterns. Some applications now even analyze blood sugar levels, track fertility or monitor moods for signs of depression. Inexpensive and easy to use, mobile medical apps are also booming business: More than 97,000 varieties are available. By 2017, the mobile industry tracker Research2Guidance predicts, the market will grow to $26 billion. By then, the firm estimates, half the world's more than 3.4 billion smartphone users will have downloaded health apps.