CONCORD, N.H.—a Concord Hospital urologist hopes the iPhone application he developed will make it easier for men to keep accurate health records, and to discuss potentially embarrassing symptoms with their doctors.

Dr. Ronald Yap’s free “Prostate Pal,” is among thousands of medical apps that can be downloaded to iPhones and other mobile devices. It doesn’t include any diagnostic information, just tools that allow men to record information that can be discussed during medical visits.

“There are millions of men around the world who have these problems, and it makes them feel quite helpless. when you have an app, you can take charge of it. It empowers the patient to log the symptoms and keep track of them,” Yap said Monday. “And when they go to see their doctors, it allows the practitioner to get a quick snapshot over time as to what their urological health is.”

The application has three components: a “voiding diary” where a man can log fluid intake and output, a symptoms questionnaire from the American Urological Association and a place to keep track of PSA test results given to him by his doctor.

The latter is controversial: most major medical groups don’t recommend the widely used blood tests for PSA — a protein that only sometimes signals prostate cancer is brewing — because they worry the screening does more harm than good.

That controversy aside, Yap said his application could be useful for someone who already has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and wants to keep track of his test results over time.

The other two features are a simpler way of compiling information doctors already ask for, Yap said. the questionnaire feature could cut down on the time patients spend filling out similar paperwork during doctor’s appointments, he said. And while men certainly could track how much they drink and how much they urinate using a paper log, the iPhone application makes it easier.

Yap said the application makes sense given both the popularity of mobile devices and the prevalence of prostate cancer. more than 190,000 cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year in American men, and it will kill about 27,000. He also hopes the application will raise awareness of less serious conditions.

“A lot of times men assume, particularly with urinary problems, that that just comes with old age,” he said. “But just because it’s a physiological consequence of aging, doesn’t mean you need to live with it if your quality of life is burdensome.”

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