Ask HN: Is Vivoo the Next Theranos? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is Vivoo the Next Theranos?

9 pointscbeach8 comments

Vivoo https://vivoo.io/ is a urine test that works with smartphones (photo taken of colour-changing patches) and claims to give health insights across multiple indicators.

It’s an interesting idea and I’ve placed an order. But I have nagging suspicions about this sort of thing after the Theranos scandal. Any medical professionals here that could comment?

View on HN

Honestly asking if someone is the next theranos before you have even spoken to anyone that has accused them of wrongdoing is really poor behaviour. I don’t think this belongs on HN.

There is some criticism and skeptics of Vivoo out there:

https://truthinadvertising.org/articles/vivoo/

Looks like a scam to sell you supplement tbh, even though it's been proven over and over that if you have a nutrition even remotely close to normal you don't need any

20 bucks a month for pee strips.... is the US health system in such a bad shape that people can't get regular blood checks at their gp ?

Not a MD (just a PhD in SE). Really depends on what reagents they can put into the patches. Diabetes and several kidney disorders should be detectable. But I doubt they'll ever get as much information as blood pathology.

No, because no one has heard of it until this ad.

This post is incredibly ignorant. Urine strips are well studied technology. It’s not a blood test that someone promised would cure cancer and save the healthcare system but would never disclose how. Vivoo is for biohackers for tracking nutrients and wellness stuff like ketosis. Again, This post is incredibly ignorant.

Blood tests are well studied technology but Theranos was a scam.

It’s never “ignorant” to think critically.

Theranos were selling absolute impossible things. Vivoo seems to only try to help with the diet based on urine... does not seam so impossible.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com