Patients complain that the CPAP machines are noisy and the masks are uncomfortable.
There may soon be several new treatments for sleep apnea patients to choose from. None involve the annoying face mask from a CPAP machine.
Continue reading… “Sleep apnea alternatives without the CPAP mask”
The Defikopter
Definetz, a German non-profit group, wants to make defibrillators readily available across its country so that any time someone has a heart attack, the life saving devices are within arms reach. Definetz is looking to drones to help it bring its vision to fruition. The group has announced the Defikopter, a concept device it designed with drone-maker Height Tech to fly defibrillators to emergency responders or the public by way of a GPS-enabled smartphone app.
Continue reading… “Drones to deliver defibrillators to heart attack victims”
Younger generations have been exposed longer to risk factors for obesity.
A new report reveals that the number of deaths caused by obesity in the United States has been vastly underestimated by researchers. Obesity accounts for 18 percent of deaths among black and white Americans between the ages of 40 and 85, according to the study published online Aug. 15 in the American Journal of Public Health. Previous estimates had placed obesity-related deaths at only 5 percent of all U.S. deaths.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdmcJFZSIP0[/youtube]
Cannabis is known to most of us as either a drug, a plant, or simply a flower. But now it’s being regarded as a vegetable, particularly because of the double whammy of health benefits not only from consuming the plant but also juicing it.
Continue reading… “Is juicing cannabis better for you than smoking it?”
PZ Myers, David Brin, Eliezer Yudkowski and Eneasz Brodski were debating about immortality. Eliezer brought up the point about different levels of immortality and had 10,000 years as a lower bound of immortality. Many of the complaints from PZ Myer and David Brin were concerns about societal effects that might accompany the change to people living a lot longer.
Continue reading… “How long before we reach 180 year lifespan?”
Study raises more questions about the health benefits of vitamins.
A new Biology Letters paper raises more questions about the benefits of vitamins as a health supplement. High doses of dietary antioxidants such as vitamins are claimed to slow the process of cellular aging by lessening the damage to proteins, lipids and DNA caused by free radicals. Some research has found that the longevity of mice could be extended by administering particular vitamin supplements, despite the supplements’ limited effectiveness in reducing free radical damage. However, the opposite was found to be true in voles in a new study.
Dementia rates are dropping among people older than 65.
There is hope for people who are worried about dementia.The Lancet has published recent discoveries that reveal dementia rates among people older than 65 are dropping. Alzheimer researchers are excited about the possibility that every successive generation will not face the same risk of dementia as commonly believed from previous studies.
Continue reading… “Dementia rates are dropping sharply: Study”
In developed nations people are living longer. There are increases in life expectancy at birth ranging from 2.7 years in Greece to 5.1 years in Ireland, between 1990 and 2010.This longevity rise has been attributed to improving health factors, better lifestyles and medical advances. This is giving us reasons to celebrate, but what are the challenges of living longer?
Minimalist running
President-elect John F. Kennedy lamented the state of the nation’s fitness in an article under his byline for Sports Illustrated in December 1960, “The Soft American.” As president he exhorted citizens to plunge into activities like 50-mile hikes.
Smart ingestibles
People on the cutting edge are swallowing ingestible smart pills containing minuscule sensors and transmitters to monitor a range of health data and wirelessly share this information with a doctor, according to the New York Times.
Continue reading… “Smart ingestible pills that monitor your health and replace passwords”
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”