An elderly Chinese woman participates in a survey on dementia.
China had more people living with Alzheimer’s disease than any other country in the world in 2010. They had twice as many cases of Alzheimer’s and other kinds of dementia as the World Health Organization thought.
Continue reading… “More than 9 million people in China have dementia”
Cosmetic surgery
When people who were instructed to think about their own mortality they were more receptive to the idea of having cosmetic surgery than those who weren’t (3.57 versus 2.96 on a seven-point scale). This suggests that fear of death is a motivator behind patients’ decisions to have tummy tucks, says Kim-Pong Tam of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Continue reading… “Plastic surgery motivated by the fear of death”
The study finds correlation between higher illness absences and lower ventilation rates in California elementary schools.
A new study by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has confirmed that opening windows to let in fresh air might be good for you. Analyzing extensive data on ventilation rates collected from more than 150 classrooms in California over two years, the researchers found that bringing classroom ventilation rates up to the state-mandated standard may reduce student absences due to illness by approximately 3.4 percent.
Continue reading… “Study finds more fresh air in classrooms means fewer absences”
Doctor making a house call.
A house call is done from the comfort of your home combined with the personal attention of your doctor. There are two key words here that really drive the point home–home and your. Your doctor provides care in your house. The house call is also, in many ways, a reflection of things past. Today, healthcare has eliminated the ‘luxury’ of this type of intervention leaving patients and caregivers to languish in the germ-fill waiting rooms of physician offices, hospitals and medical clinics.
Continue reading… “Digital health is redefining the house call”
The old looking after the even older in China.
Sixty-eight year old Zhang Guosheng spends his days caring for an 81-year-old fellow villager — washing his clothes, bringing meals to his bed and keeping him company — a routine he will keep up until he himself needs the type of care he is now providing.
Continue reading… “China’s elderly care for those even older”
A recent colonoscopy for Deirdre Yapalater’s at a surgical center near her home on Long Island went smoothly: she was whisked from pre-op to an operating room where a gastroenterologist, assisted by an anesthesiologist and a nurse, performed the routine cancer screening procedure in less than an hour. The test found nothing worrisome but racked up what is likely her most expensive medical bill of the year: $6,385.
Continue reading… “Colonoscopies explain why the U.S. leads the world in healthcare expenditures”
Women who regularly consumed probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function.
Researchers from UCLA now have the first evidence that bacteria ingested in food can affect brain function in humans. They found that women who regularly consumed beneficial bacteria known as probiotics through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in a resting state and in response to an emotion-recognition task, in an early proof-of-concept study of healthy women.
Continue reading… “Probiotics found in yogurt affects brain function”
The first 48 hours following a procedure is most critical.
Researchers have found that people who have surgery towards the end of the week are more likely to die than those who have procedures earlier on. A British Medical Journal report into non-emergency operations in England, suggests the overall risk of death from such planned procedures remains low. But it also shows “unacceptable” variation in survival rates through the week, a leading body of UK surgeons says.
Continue reading… “End of week surgery ‘has higher death risk’”
What makes us itch?
Scientists now know the secret. In what will be a boon for millions of people with chronic itch conditions, such as eczema and psoriasis, a small molecule released in the spinal cord has now been found to trigger a process that is later experienced in the brain as the sensation of itch.
Continue reading… “Scientists discover the secret to what makes us itch”
3D printed trachea splint
The life of a baby in Michigan was saved by the insertion of a 3-D printed trachea at two months old. The baby was diagnosed with tracheobronchomalacia, a condition in which the airways collapse, not allowing oxygen to enter the lungs.
Continue reading… “Doctor’s save baby’s life with a 3D printed trachea splint”
Rock Health predicted 2013 would be a record year for digital health.
According to some of the biggest names in health investing, it’s a great time for health startups to raise money. Digital health funding grew dramatically in 2012 and it is continuing to grow.
Continue reading… “Now is the time for digital health startups to raise money”
You can still be exposed to smoke in non-smoking rooms.
Rooms become “reservoirs of tobacco smoke toxicants that accumulate in carpets, dust, upholstery, mattresses, curtains and furniture, penetrate wallpaper and paint, and are even stored in drywall when they are continually smoked in. Experts refer to this as “third-hand smoke” and no one is sure how to clean it up. And while it’s easy enough to keep smokers confined to designated rooms, smoke itself is harder to contain.
Continue reading… “Non-smokers who stay in non-smoking hotel rooms test positive for smoke exposure”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.