Headlines: Healthcare News from Around the Planet
Self-Prescription Glasses for the Poor of the World – From the Guardian: “What if it were possible to make a pair of glasses which, instead of requiring an optician, could be “tuned” by the wearer to correct his or her own vision? Might it be possible to bring affordable spectacles to millions who would never otherwise have them?” What an amazing concept! The inventor “has devised a pair of glasses which rely on the principle that the fatter a lens the more powerful it becomes. Inside the device’s tough plastic lenses are two clear circular sacs filled with fluid, each of which is connected to a small syringe attached to either arm of the spectacles. The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription.” The British inventor’s quest is to offer glasses to a billion of the world’s poorest people by 2020.
New Exercise and Sports Regimen Brings New Injuries – The Wii, one of this year’s most popular Christmas gifts has the potential (like almost everything) to cause injury if misused or overused. The golf and tennis games in particular can cause painful sprains and fractures to players and observers when the controller is swung to simulate the swing of a racket or golf club.
How Microsoft Plans to Make Money in Healthcare – One is Amalga, a software system that allows hospitals to gather data stored in multiple silos and access it all in one place. A second is Health Vault, which allows patients to store their personal health information online.
Do Patients Trust Doctors Too Much? – An interesting article with very interesting comments that discusses patients grading physicians on public rating sites. The article points to patients giving good ratings based on the quality of the interpersonal dynamic rather than the quality of the medical care, while commenters discuss what patients base their assessments on.
Sex Chip May Make Viagra and Diet Pills Obsolete – Viagra may one day be history as scientists at Oxford University are working on an electronic sex chip that stimulate pleasure centers in the brain. For past few months scientists have been focusing on an area of the brain just behind the eyes known as the orbitofrontal cortex. This is associated with feelings of pleasure derived from eating and sex.
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