health » Absurd Intellectual

‘Up’ bracelet a great step towards continual biofeedback

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 3 November 2011 Modern Life

Nov 032011

I really like the concept behind the “Up” bracelet, from Jawbone. The bracelet, which will sell for about $100, is a single-use device that does nothing but track your movements. Think of it as a glorified pedometer — but one that’s ultra-sensitive and hooked up with an app.

Mashable has a pre-review:

What is the wristband tracking, exactly? In short: sleep and exercise. … [I]t looks for micro-movements at bedtime and can tell when you’ve fallen asleep …. it will wake you with gentle vibrations in the morning instead of music or noise, so your partner can go on sleeping. …. it can track whether you’re in light or deep sleep, and will wake you within a certain window of time, when your sleep is at its lightest.

It’ll also keep track of regular old exercise, plus all the activity you do during the day that you might not think counts as exercise, whether it’s running for the bus or pacing during a conference call.

Plus, if you take pictures of your food, it will ask you a few hours later how you’re feeling. That way, you’ll learn if your food is making you feel sluggish or bloated.

Is it a perfect way to continuously monitor your health and welfare? No. But I’d rather wear a bracelet than buy a toilet to analyze my pee.

And for $100, it’s really not that expensive.

(via @alysonshane)

How fat is your country, the interactive infographic

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 18 February 2011 Everything Else

Feb 182011

Huzzah! Drawing on data published in the Lancet, the Economist has produced a chart showing the prevalence of obesity in countries around the world. I’ve embedded it above, and you can select either data from 1980 or data from 2008 as well as the percent change over those nearly 30 years.

Not exactly shocking, but saddening.

I know I’m struggling with maintaining a healthy body mass index — something I attribute pretty much 100% to the fact that I’m paid to spend the majority of my waking time sitting nearly stationary in front of a computer. It wouldn’t be so bad, except that we’ve spent those same last 30 years designing leisure activities that also require us to be stationary in front of a screen.

They also link to a less user-friendly but much more in-depth chart done by the original authors of the study, at Imperial College. At that chart, you can also examine different risk factors, like cholesterol and blood pressure.

Another excuse to eat bacon

Posted by Amy Breen on 2 April 2010 Modern Life

Apr 022010

Like I really needed one …

The Daily Mail reports on the findings of U.S. researchers that eating a big fatty breakfast full of all the trimmings is the best way to start the day, and probably the best for your health.

Their study looked at the effects of eating different types of food – and of eating them at different times in the day.

Mice fed a high fat meal after waking remained healthy, but those given a carb-rich breakfast, followed by a fatty dinner, did not fare as well.

They put on weight and had trouble processing sugar, raising their risk of diabetes.

Blood tests also flagged up other problems that raised their risk of heart disease and strokes.

Dr Martin Young, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said: ‘The first meal you have appears to programme your metabolism for the rest of the day.

The study finds that eating a carb-heavy breakfast like cereal programs your body to only burn off carbohydrates for the rest of the day — too bad for me and my love of toast and peanut butter in the morning.

Now don’t start thinking that you can eat bacon and eggs for breakfast and then whatever you want for the rest of the day; the research suggests that for optimal benefit, you should eat a heavy breakfast, a light lunch, and an even lighter dinner.

Which shouldn’t be hard, really. I find that when I eat a big breakfast with bacon and eggs, I’m barely hungry for the rest of the day.

Congratulations, Americans, on your new health-care coverage

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 21 March 2010 Modern Life

Mar 212010

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to pass universal health care legislation, by a count of 219-212.

As a Canadian, I find it reassuring that you guys are finally coming around. Universal health care, Canadian-style, isn’t perfect. Neither is the British version, the French version, or the version tried by every other industrialized country.

But, frankly, it’s pretty good. I suspect that you’ll look back on this in a decade or so with as much bewilderment as you do on anti-miscegenation laws.

Next up, gay marriage? And, if you can do something about decriminalizing marijuana, you realize that you could leap-frog us, right?

Routine maintenance can prevent breakdowns

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 9 March 2010 Modern Life

Mar 092010

Ladies, check your headlights.

Men, check the dipstick.

(Hey, if they’re going with the car metaphor, I’m going with the car metaphor.)

Thai PSAs assert that daily exercise provides relief from suicidal pain

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 10 October 2009 Modern Life

Oct 102009

These public service advertisements, apparently from Thailand, have a great message — you don’t need drugs or makeup when daily exercise can help you feel and look better.

The first two are funny — but the third would never fly in North America.

Handy commonsense list on how to stay healthy as you age

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 5 June 2009 Modern Life

Jun 052009

Want to stave off the ailments of aging — including cancer, diabetes, dementia and more?

The Guardian has a nice list! Most of it borders on the obvious (a recurring theme is “maintain a healthy weight”) but it’s great to have everything enumerated along with the whys and some of the hows.

They also point out that coffee and exercise can reduce your risk of skin cancer.

Mom was wrong: Video games can improve vision

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 30 March 2009 Modern Life

Mar 302009

Oh good, maybe all those hours playing Doom were actually good for me.

Remember when your mom told you that you shouldn’t sit so close to the TV, or you’d ruin your eyes? Did you ever think to tell her that correlation does not imply causation? Did you ever point out that maybe you sat close to the TV because your vision was already bad?

No? Well, now you can throw this study in her face. According to researchers at Rochester University in New York and Goldschleger Eye Research Institute and Tel Aviv University, playing the right video games can actually make your eyesight better. At least by one narrow measure.

According to an article on the website LiveScience:

Video games with lots of action, such as the shoot-’em-up variety, can improve your vision…. Players became up to 58 percent better at perceiving fine contrast differences in the tests.

“If you are driving at dusk with light fog it could make the difference between seeing the car in front of you or not seeing it,” study leader Daphne Bavelier [said].

That’s important because most people didn’t think perception of contrast even could be improved.

(via Slashdot)

Are you old enough to spot the scam?

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 26 March 2009 Modern Life

Mar 262009

Okay, now that you know who you’ve outlived, based on your chronological age, why not take a (lengthy) test and find out just how old you really are!

The fine folks at RealAge.com will analyse your answers to a multitude of questions — from how often and how intensely you exercise, to whether your parents are still alive (or when they died) and just how much potassium is in your vitamin supplements.

And then, correlating all of that with some kind of magic database actuarial voodoo, they’ll tell you your (patented) RealAge.

(I’m chronologically 32.4, but my RealAge is only 21.6, so that makes Amy the cradle-robber, thank-you very much.)

And actually, I was pretty honest, so there. RealAge also tells me that I could be even youger (perhaps enough to turn Amy into an illegal cradle-robber?) if I changed just a few of my habits. I don’t floss enough, for example. And I don’t get enough potassium, even with the vitamin supplements.

I encourage you to go take the quiz yourself — but set aside some time. It’s not quick. Oh, and watch out for the fact that they take all your detailed health answers, compile them, and then sell them to drug companies!

Yes, that’s how RealAge makes (tons of) money. From the New York Times:

While RealAge promotes better living through nonmedical solutions, the site makes its money by selling better living through drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies pay RealAge to compile test results of RealAge members and send them marketing messages by e-mail. The drug companies can even use RealAge answers to find people who show symptoms of a disease — and begin sending them messages about it even before the people have received a diagnosis from their doctors.

While few people would fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health and hand it over to a drug company looking for suggestions for new medications, that is essentially what RealAge is doing.

The article suggests that you can avoid the marketing madness by carefully avoiding anything that tells you to “sign up” for a RealAge membership, and by not agreeing to be sent any “material of interest.” That’s what I did — but going through the test, there were at least half a dozen times where I had to carefully skip past the screen that suggested I sign up.

It’s interesting, but if the data-mining seems too pernicious, avoid! And, I dunno, go drink a Diet Pepsi, or something.

Stop smoking, the ‘grasping at straws’ edition

Posted by Grant Hamilton on 10 February 2009 Modern Life

Feb 102009

Smoking's not bad, that doctor's a quack.

Apparently in the new edition of Tobacco Control magazine (I shit you not) they include a study that purports to show how smokers, though they won’t quite quit to save their own health or the health of others, may decide to butt out when they’re made aware that second-hand smoke can be harmful to their pets.

Is there just a certain percentage of the population who: a) will just say ‘yes’ to whatever they’re asked? or b) just likes to mess with statisticians?

From the LA Times, wherein I found this story:

Even dogs and cats exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of lung cancer, allergies, eye and skin diseases and respiratory problems …. More than one-quarter of the smokers said that knowing that smoking was bad for their pets would motivate them to give it up.