“…federal agencies require phone manufacturers to post information about how much radiation the body might absorb for each model, called its Specific Absorption Rate or SAR. Measured in watts per kilogram of tissue, it reveals how much radiation parts of the body are exposed to during use of a mobile device.
“The simple cellphone used in Volkow’s study, a Samsung Knack phone popular in New York, has a peak SAR in the head of just under 1 watt per kilogram of tissue. The iPhone 4 has a peak SAR in the head twice as high, while the sun’s average SAR can be 5 watts per kilogram during sunbathing.”
Posted February 23, 2011 by Ali Al-Rajhi under Personal Health
A new study led by an NYU School of Medicine investigator and published in the February 15, 2011, Advance Online Publication, International Journal of Obesity, challenges the idea that calorie labeling has an effect on the purchasing behavior of teenagers or what parents purchase for their children. Teens appear to notice the calorie information at the same rate as adults, however they respond at a lower rate. The conclusions are similar to a previous study about adult eating behavior by Dr. Brian Elbel, assistant professor and colleagues, which showed that although labels did increase awareness of calories, they did not alter food choices.
People who follow a vegan lifestyle — strict vegetarians who try to eat no meat or animal products of any kind — may increase their risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis or “hardening of the arteries,” which are conditions that can lead to heart attacks and stroke. That’s the conclusion of a review of dozens of articles published on the biochemistry of vegetarianism during the past 30 years.
A new systematic review that pooled data from 15 trials concluded that taking zinc supplements in syrup, lozenge or tablet form within a day of symptoms starting can reduce their severity and shorten the length of illness.
A great story from the January 2011 issue of the New Yorker about how health care can be provided at lower costs, while receiving personal attention from your doctor. Thanks Miguel from Simoleon Sense for referring the article!
The story features passionate health care workers who are working with their local communities to provide quality/affordable health care for “complex high-needs patients.” It proves that there are means to lower health care costs by first identifying where the highest-cost medical patients live (The Hot Spots) via GIS-mapping; then tailoring an individual’s care to target the specific health issues (versus throwing them into the E.R).
Your medical chart: it’s hard to access, impossible to read — and full of information that could make you healthier if you just knew how to use it. At TEDMED, Thomas Goetz looks at medical data, making a bold call to redesign it and get more insight from it.
About the speaker
Thomas Goetz is the executive editor of Wired, where, he says, “My job is to help steer the ship and oversee all editorial efforts. Informally, you could say my job is to be a trend spotter or zeitgeist watcher.” After a decade as a writer and journalist, he went back to school to get a Master’s of Public Health from UC Berkeley, informing his coverage of medicine, technology and public policy. In 2010 he published The Decision Tree, a fascinating look at modern medical decisionmaking and technology. Former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler calls the book “a game changer,” and Dr. Dean Ornish says that Goetz “writes more clearly and presciently about the future of healthcare than anyone on the planet.”
“Public health is an incredibly broad field, covering everything from global health to community health to Medicare to pharmaceuticals. Generally, I use it as a tool to frame the contexts of health and medicine: how can we deliver healthcare to our citizens to create the maximum amount of health and happiness?”
Thomas Goetz on thedecisiontree.com/blog
Posted February 11, 2011 by Ali Al-Rajhi under Video Articles
While most of the big news in health technology seems to always focus on advanced surgeries or diagnostic instruments, there have been great advances in other areas as well. Treadmills have long been and remain a staple of the indoor exercise lineup, and have served countless people as an easy and convenient option for an aerobic workout. However, the treadmills of the future are not just the same old machines with a bunch of electronic gadgets attached, but push the limits of how the treadmill can be used and redefine its primary purpose. The treadmills of the future are here now, as can be seen from three new types: the pressurized treadmill, the vertical treadmill and the omnidirectional treadmill (ODT).
Pressurized Treadmill
The pressurized treadmill, also known as the anti-gravity treadmill, is primarily used by NASA in astronaut training, and by patients in physical therapy. This type of treadmill puts the runner or walker in a chamber suspended above the treadmill. The chamber supports some of the weight of the runner, effectively reducing the gravity on the treadmill. This reduction in effective gravity of almost 50 percent reduces the pressure on the runner’s legs, joints and feet. It is especially helpful in rehabilitating the injured.
The pressurized treadmill works by raising air pressure around the lower half of the runner, who is in a tent-like chamber. The Rocky Mountain News reports that a pressurized treadmill can provide a substantial aerobic workout while lowering “the peak force of heel impact by 44 percent.”
Vertical Treadmill
The vertical treadmill is basically a standard treadmill used for vertical or angled movement such as that required for climbing. All of the benefits of climbing and learning the skills necessary for climbing can now be accomplished in rooms with a limited ceiling height. Since the climber never really gets more than a few feet off the ground, there is little need to even wear a safety harness.
One of the most popular vertical treadmills is the ClimbStation. It uses hydraulic lifts to tilt the treadmill from 15 to -39 degrees for difficult climbs. Climbers first select a level of difficulty from 1 to 12, but this does not control the speed, which is determined by how fast the climber is moving. This allows the climber to slow down or even stop to rest or think about the next move.
In the US, NASA is using vertical treadmills in order to keep astronauts in space fit and healthy. The best part about NASA’s vertical treadmill is that astronauts can actually use the vertical treadmill for running. Using this treadmill in space has shown to promote physical well-being in zero gravity situations.
Omnidirectional Treadmill
Posted January 27, 2011 by Ali Al-Rajhi under Guest Bloggers
Ali Al-Rajhi writes with the purpose of informing individuals in the Public Health field about pressing issues in environmental health, public health policy, epidemiology, and behavioral health. Learn more here.
