Category Archives: Health & Medicine

All my health data on iPhone app

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I’ve never paid much attention (or used) the Health app on my iPhone. Apple says it “consolidates health data from iPhone, Apple Watch, and third-party apps” to do all kinds of stuff. It has a “Health Records” section that I never did anything with until a couple of days ago when I learned I could sync my records (University of Missouri Health Care) to the Apple Health app.

I have about ten years of records stored in the MU Health system and can get to them via browser or iPhone app. But it took a little digging and I rarely had the need.

Within minutes all of my data was pulled into the phone app and I mean everything. More than 600 records (I’ve been pretty healthy). Immunizations, lab results, medications… the works. And much easier to navigate than the website and app I’d been using. So now I have all of my health records right there on my phone. Additional info.

Hacking the genome

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“He Jiankui, a genome-editing researcher from the Southern University of Science and Technology of China in Shenzhen, says that he implanted into a woman an embryo that had been edited to disable the genetic pathway that allows a cell to be infected with HIV.” (Nature)

Claim hasn’t been verified but this is exactly what Yuval Noah Harari talks about in Homo Deus (and 21Lessons). The rest of the world might freak out over the ethics of this kind of research but when on country has this tech, they won’t be able to stop it. Do you think some billionaire will care about ethics if she can protect her offspring from some dreaded disease. And how long before someone hacks the genome to make a human smarter/stronger/faster/whatever?

 

Why Doctors Hate Their Computers

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This is a long article (like all New Yorker articles) but very interesting. A few nuggets:

More than ninety per cent of American hospitals have been computerized during the past decade, and more than half of Americans have their health information in the Epic system.

A 2016 study found that physicians spent about two hours doing computer work for every hour spent face to face with a patient—whatever the brand of medical software.

A team at the Mayo Clinic discovered that one of the strongest predictors of burnout was how much time an individual spent tied up doing computer documentation.

Thermometer tells company were to advertise

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“This flu season, Clorox paid to license information from Kinsa, a tech start-up that sells internet-connected thermometers that are a far cry from the kind once made with mercury and glass. The thermometers sync up with a smartphone app that allows consumers to track their fevers and symptoms, making it especially attractive to parents of young children. The data showed Clorox which ZIP codes around the country had increases in fevers. The company then directed more ads to those areas, assuming that households there may be in the market for products like its disinfecting wipes.” (New York Times)

Hernia repair surgery

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One morning three years ago I looked down while getting in the shower and noticed a bulge in my lower abdomen, about the size of a golf ball. Uh oh. My doctor informed me it was “just” an inguinal hernia, nothing to be concerned about. As long as it wasn’t giving me any problems I could put off having it surgically repaired.

So I’ve lived with the little guy for the last few years. About a year ago I started wearing a truss because being on my feet all day left me feeling a little achey “down there.” I thought about surgery from time to time but kept putting it off on the theory that if you can avoid surgery — any surgery — you should. But having a hernia seemed like an “old guy” thing to me. I’m not ready to be an old guy.

I finally got tired of looking at — and thinking about — the thing and went to see a surgeon who specializes in laparoscopic repair. Had it down this morning and was “under” for less than an hour. Three small incisions starting at the belly button and working down.

A little nausea from the anesthetic and some some soreness but an amazingly simple procedure. Should have had it done when it first showed up. Watch this space for post-op updates.

UPDATE: (October 2, 2018) Little soreness, moving slowly. Rented a car rather than try to drive the truck (manual brakes and steering).