health posts

Head Massager Looks Crazy, but Feels Oh-So Good

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Nov 17th 2009 at 8:29AM

There may be no better feeling in the world than a good scalp massage, but unfortunately, nobody wants to sit around and massage our noggins all day. But we've found the perfect solution. It's called Headtime by South Korean company Kinatech, and this over-sized silver helmet will melt away all your worries and stress. According to Engadget, the device uses 29 silicone balls and 34 ceramic balls to gently massage your scalp. While you're being treated, a built-in speaker pipes nature sounds (singing birds, bubbling creeks) into your ears. There's even a temperature control that makes sure your head stays warm and relaxed.

There's only one downside to this product: It looks like a weird cross between a 'Jetson's' helmet and a beauty salon hair dryer. In other words, you'll want to use the Headtime in the privacy of your own home. Despite the potential for humiliation, having your own personal massaging device is worth every second. It's a good thing Christmas isn't too far away. [From: Engadget]

Tags: bizarre, body, head, health, massage, relax, relaxation, therapy, top

Google, Web

Find a Flu Shot Near You With Google Maps

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Nov 13th 2009 at 11:05AM

Having conquered general Web searches, e-mail, video, and advertising, Google is now trying to become a one-stop repository for all your flu information needs. You can already look up information about general flu trends, and track outbreaks of the swine flu, so it only makes sense that the next step would pertain to prevention. Google has partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pharmacy chains, and various state and local agencies to map out where you can get vaccinations for both the seasonal flu and H1N1.

The Flu Shot Finder isn't comprehensive, as Google is still collecting data from many localities. But even in its current state, the tool is a great help for finding where you can get yourself inoculated. After searching by address or ZIP code, you can click on any result to find the location's hours of operation and to see whether or not it currently has the vaccine in stock.

Tags: flu, Flu shot, flu shot finder, FluShot, FluShotFinder, google maps, GoogleMaps, H1N1, health, swine flu, SwineFlu, top, vaccine

Computers, Visionaries

Ultrasound Could Protect Pacemakers From Hackers

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Nov 11th 2009 at 4:01PM

You never want your wireless device open to attacks, but if that device is implanted inside your body, security becomes even more important. With pacemakers and other medical devices being controlled and monitored from afar, scientists say it's time to step up protection. Those concerns in mind, a group of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control have developed a new safety net.

According to Technology Review, the system uses ultrasound waves to measure the distance between a medical device and the wireless reader trying to communicate with it. This could prevent potential hackers from wirelessly gaining access to private information stored on the device, draining its battery, or causing it to malfunction. With the ultrasound system, access to the device would be restricted to the physical proximity of the communicator. In the plan proposed by senior researcher Claude Castelluccia and his team, you'd need to go through a series of authentication steps and be within 10 meters of the device in order to gain access.

Tags: hack, health, medical, pacemaker, research, science, security, top, ultrasound, wireless

Cell Phones

Avoid The Doctor: Cough Into Your Phone For a Diagnosis

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Nov 11th 2009 at 9:20AM

What does that cough say about you? Well, a lot. After all, each one is unique (wet or dry, productive or non-productive). Instead of waiting hours at a doctor's office to find out what this common symptom means, a group of researchers want to use the cell phone to get a quicker diagnosis.

According to Discovery News, a new mobile technology could allow people to forgo a visit to the doctor's office by simply coughing into a cell phone. The new technology, which is being developed by STAR Analytical Services, would allow doctors to listen, measure, and analyze a patient's cough. Just by doing that, a doctor might be able to diagnose any disease from the common cold to the flu. But these scientists want to do more than just scratch the surface of the cough. They're compiling sound data on thousands of different types of coughs and analyzing the distinct sounds which occur at the end of each.

Tags: app, breakingnews, cellphone, cough, diagnosis, disease, doctor, health, hgg, research, science, top

Visionaries

Toddler Gets Telescopic, Prosthetic Arm Bone

by Amar Toor (RSS feed) — Nov 9th 2009 at 10:24AM

In a strange meeting of James Cameron and feel-good medical magic, a young boy who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer a year ago is now cancer free, thanks to an experimental prosthetic replacement.

Mark Blinder was three years old when doctors determined he had Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in his arm's humerus bone. The Los Angeles Times reports that doctors initially tried chemotherapy, which alleviated the pain without reducing the size of the tumor. The only other option, it seemed, was amputation. Stanford University doctor Lawrence Rinsky, though, convinced the Blinders to try a less conventional option: a telescoping, artificial bone replacement from Biomet, Inc. Unlike most artificial bones, which tend to be only "partial" replacements, this particular procedure required the total removal of the cancer-ridden bone.

Tags: bones, cancer, doctor, health, medical, medicine, prosthetic, surgery, top

Holiday Gift Guide

Gift Guide: Fitbit

by Matthew Zuras (RSS feed) — Nov 4th 2009 at 6:14PM

Fitbit (Sports Fan, Under $100)

For the more reluctant Sports Fan just getting into fitness, or even for the calorie-counting obsessive, look no further than this unobtrusive little gadget. The Fitbit ($99) is a small clip-shaped device outfitted with a three-dimensional motion-sensor that functions as a personal wellness indicator. With the device's ability to track calories burned, steps taken, and distance traveled, a Fitbit owner can take a graphical look at how long they spend moving versus being sedentary, and how their energy intake relates to their energy expenditure. Fitbit also attaches to the owner's wrist at night, and tracks restlessness and general sleep quality. (It also boasts a long battery life, and an elegant, minimal design.) All of this information is then uploaded with the Fitbit software, so the user has instant an overall picture of their daily health. While it's not designed to track calories burned while biking, the Fitbit is perfect for motivating and reinforcing healthy, active behaviors.

Tags: fitness, health, hgg, hgg-100, hgg-sportsfan, sports

Web

Woman to Stream Her Child's Birth Live on the Web

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Nov 3rd 2009 at 5:26PM

For some women, giving birth is an intimate experience. But for a 23-year-old Minneapolis mom-to-be, it's a chance to teach and share with the world -- live on the Internet. According to Boston.com, a woman named Lynsee was approached by Moms Like Me, a site that lets women blog about their pregnancies, and asked about filming the birth of her first child and streaming it on the Web. After conferring with her husband, Lynsee, who is a family and consumer science teacher, decided the project would not only be a chance to share her experience with moms all over the world, but also that the footage would make a fine keepsake for her kid. (In case you're wondering, the camera crew has been instructed to keep things clean and tasteful).

If you're interested in watching this "magical" experience, Lynsee's due date is November 19th. The streaming video is available to anybody who visits the Moms Like Me site, but only registered members will be able to post comments and chat during the birth. As the day nears, Lynsee says she isn't having any regrets. "It's the one big moment and the special part and it's what I'm looking forward to sharing with everyone the most," she told Boston.com.

Tags: birth, health, hospital, internet, kids, live, parents, pregnancy, streaming, top, video, web

Cell Phones

Cell Phones Now Blamed for Damaging Bones

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Oct 30th 2009 at 5:20PM

Yesterday it was cancer, and today it's bone degeneration. A recent study is blaming cell phones for reducing bone density in an area of the hip often used for bone grafts.

Turkish researchers believe that wearing a cell phone on a belt clip (which other researchers recommend as a way to prevent low sperm counts) may result in lower bone density, due to the phone's electromagnetic radiation. The research team used x-rays to measure the density of the upper pelvic ridges of 150 men. All of those men carried cell phones on their belts for, on average, 15 hours a day, and had been doing so for an average of six years. The measurements revealed slightly reduced bone density on the side where the men wore their cell phones.

Tags: bone density, BoneDensity, cellphone, cellphonehealth, electromagnetic radiation, ElectromagneticRadiation, health, study

Web, Social Networking

'This Is Why You're Fat' Twitter Contest Involves... Eating

by Peter Mychalcewycz (RSS feed) — Oct 29th 2009 at 2:57PM

With obesity levels rising, the U.S. population's affection for junk food is obvious. In case you needed further proof of our flabby nation's torrid love affair with gut-bombs, we would like to present the Eat N Tweet Challenge.

Created by This is Why You're Fat, the Web site dedicated to all things artery-clogging, the Eat N Tweet Challenge pits contestants in a race against time, each other, and New York City traffic. The ultimate goal for each participant is to be the first to a take photo of him- or herself with each of the six New York street vendors (and their coma-inducing wares) that are involved in the competition.

Tags: contest, food, funny, health, obesity, socialnetworking, this is why youre fat, ThisIsWhyYoureFat, top, twitter

'Shocking' Study: More Exercise Equipment, Fewer TVs Make Home Healthier

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Oct 29th 2009 at 8:30AM

We can't believe it took a scientific study to discover this, but apparently, you're more likely to lose weight if you own more pieces of exercise equipment than televisions. Ever heard of common sense, people? According to a transcript of Scientific American's 60-Second Science podcast, a study that appeared in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found people who lost 10-percent of their body weight and kept if off for at least five years owned fewer TVs and more exercise equipment than their heftier counterparts.

Look, if you need a study to open your eyes to this connection, you have bigger problems than being overweight. We love to kick back in front of the TV as much as the next guy, but we also know that doing so too often can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. A little restraint (and, unfortunately, a little exercise, too) goes a long way when it comes to living healthy. If restraint isn't your strong point, there is technology out there that will help instead of hinder weight loss. Oh yeah, putting down the remote control every once in a while isn't a bad idea, either. [From: Scientific American]

Tags: exercise, fitness, health, study, television, top, weight loss, WeightLoss

Web

Could Swine Flu Overwhelm the Internet?

by Amar Toor (RSS feed) — Oct 28th 2009 at 12:43PM

As we turn the corner on 2009 and head down the home stretch, we're also running right into the wall of flu season, which means more (legit) sick days. Instead of just moaning in bed, though, many workers are now spending their sick days telecommuting from home, going online to touch base and keep up with the office. In the face of the recent H1N1 [Ed., Thanks, CAE.] pandemic, the number of telecommuters is, of course, expected to skyrocket. So many, in fact, may be connecting at home, that the Internet might just, um, break.

At least that's what a federal government report warned earlier this month. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for making sure that national and international communication systems (including the Internet) are protected from terrorist attacks or similar widespread calamity. Though Homeland Security has taken steps to protect the Internet from getting overwhelmed, critical and necessary actions remain to be taken, according to the Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Tags: government, health, internet, pandemic, swine flu, SwineFlu, telecommuting, top

Cell Phones

Cell Phones Cause Cancer, Says World Health Organization

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Oct 27th 2009 at 5:30PM

The World Health Organization (WHO) is stirring up a storm by claiming it will release a study later this year that links cell phone use to an increased risk of brain and salivary gland tumors. The decade-long study claims to have found a definite link, though it stops short of inferring direct causation. The press release, however, does state that using a mobile phone for a decade or more results in "a significantly increased risk" of these types of cancer.

The study isn't actually a medical experiment, but rather a survey and meta-study in the sense that it draws data from surveys previously undertaken by other research teams. Of course, the WHO study has already come under fire from critics, despite its unreleased status -- and for good reason.

Of course, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the WHO is reviving the debate over cell phones and cancer. The WHO has been criticized before for hyperbole, most notably over its study of second-hand smoke (PDF). But, even discounting those past general criticisms, there are legitimate questions about this particular study's methodology. First, MRIs have improved and become more common over the last ten years, leading to an increased detection of tumors, potentially skewing results of any such study. Secondly, there is no way to differentiate the effects of cell phone use from exposure to other sources of electro-magnetic radiation (such as microwaves and televisions). These facts were pointed out to News.Com.Au by brain tumor specialist, Professor Andrew Kaye.

So the debate rages on. We wouldn't suggest literally strapping your iPhone to your head 24 hours a day, but don't stop your weekly, hour-long phone call to your mother for fear it might end in chemotherapy. [From: Daily Express, News.Com.Au, and Telegraph]

Tags: cancer, cell phones and cancer, cellphone, CellPhonesAndCancer, health, science, who, World Health Organization, WorldHealthOrganization

Computers

Creepy Japanese Robot Simulates Swine Flu

by Amar Toor (RSS feed) — Oct 24th 2009 at 3:45PM

Most people do anything they can to prevent viruses from infecting their high-tech toys. One group of Japanese scientists, though, have created a robot that actually embraces an especially virulent (and topical) strain: Swine Flu.

The robot , unveiled at the recent Security and Safety Trade Expo (RISCON) in Tokyo as part of a series of flu-prevention devices, is designed to exhibit symptoms of sweating, moaning, and convulsing that are typical of patients infected with the H1N1 virus. If not properly treated, the symptoms deteriorate, and, dramatically, the cyborg stops breathing. The humanoid, according to scientists, aims to assist doctors and medical professionals in their treatment of and education about a virus that, as of October 11, had already led to 4,735 deaths worldwide, as well as around 400,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization.

Tags: creepy, h1n1, health, japan, research, robot, swine flu, SwineFlu, top

Web

FDA Warns of Faux Swine Flu Products on the Web

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Oct 23rd 2009 at 3:00PM

Back a few months ago, swine flu scams and misinformation plagued Twitter accounts. While the hysteria surrounding the disease has calmed somewhat, there are still foul folks out there trying to make a quick buck by capitalizing on fear. According to Newsvine, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has discovered and warned creators of more than 140 products that falsely claim to combat H1N1, or swine flu, as it's more commonly called.

These items include sprays that supposedly sterilize surfaces and even the air, dietary supplements that say they boost the immune system, and most disturbing, fake Tamiflu -- one of two drugs recommended for treating swine flu, and also requires a prescription. FDA sites say that new fraudulent Web sites crop up every day, while vaccine shipments continue to be delayed and Tamiflu is prescribed only to the sickest patients.

Tags: disease, drugs, fda, fraud, h1n1, health, medicine, scam, swine flu, SwineFlu, top, trends, web

Computers

GE Debuts Vscan, the 'Stethoscope of the 21st Century'

by Peter Mychalcewycz (RSS feed) — Oct 21st 2009 at 7:21PM

One of the medical profession's most iconic instruments is getting a serious upgrade. The "stethoscope of the 21st century" was unveiled yesterday at the Web 2.0 summit by General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt. The Vscan, which looks like the lovechild of a Motorola RAZR and an iPod, places the power of ultrasound into the palm of a doctor's hand, and is set to increase the ease and effectiveness of the routine check-up.

Tags: health, medical, stethoscope, top, ultrasound, vscan

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'Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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CNET provides the latest tech news, unbiased reviews, videos, podcasts, software, and downloads, making tech products easy to find, understand and use.

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