Chronic disease plagues personal lives and public policy. Sheer numbers only begin to give a glimpse of the associated suffering, cost and scope of the problem. In the United States there are more than 110 million Americans with a chronic disease, e.g., diabetes, hypertension. Europeans are not far behind. According to the World Health Organization, the chronic disease burden in Europe is now the leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, just to name a few, pose a growing challenge to populations throughout Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America. One estimate suggests that today there may be as many as 40 million diabetics in India alone.

As the world’s population ages and the number of older adults multiplies we can anticipate growth in the rate as well as the number of people with chronic disease – including conditions we are all too familiar with, e.g., arthritis and hypertension. We will also see growth in diseases that are only now receiving broader public attention, e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, depression, even some types of cancers that are being redefined as a chronic condition. Will chronic disease become so prevalent that it becomes the new normal?

It just might and here are some early indications. Disease, or rather the number of people managing one condition or more, is now a large enough market to influence the design and fashion industries to develop new medically-inspired products. Here are just a few examples that may be indicators that we will see more technologies, products and services showing up outside the usual distribution channels of hospital supply centers, doctor’s offices, or the cloistered aisles of specialty stores and pharmacies.

Bang & Olufsen the Denmark-based, high-end design and home entertainment company perhaps best known for stellar sound systems invested in Medicom. Bang & Olufsen Medicom designs and manufactures intelligent compliance devices for those managing conditions such as asthma and diabetes. But this is not your father’s glucometer.  As described by Medicom, they seek to use intelligent technology (smart devices connected to the Internet/cloud) and elegant design to motivate and even “inspire” both physician and patient while reminding and encouraging compliance. Even Medicom’s injection systems appear to be more like a stylish pen that you happily take from your pocket in public rather than a tool to treat your condition in private.

Poppie Jones maker of handbags, wallets and other accessories often sought by young fashionistas are seeing some of their fun products adopted in ways to stylize the most basic reminder system for medication. Turning the now ubiquitous clinical blue MTWTHFSS box into something that you can keep in a purse or leave out in front of the ‘girls’.