health

It's not the amount that counts--it's the first few milliliters.

That's the word from Helen Lee, an associate professor at the University of Cambridge, who invented the FirstBurst, that device you see in her hands. It captures the first part of a male patient's urine sample and seals it off into a tube. Those initial milliliters are the ones doctors need for testing. Lee hopes to see the device get shipped into emerging markets to help health professionals. (She has also invented a device for rapidly testing for chlamydia.)

The FirstBurst testing has been fairly rigorous. … Read more

If you're involved at all in organizing the home care of a person who's recuperating from an injury or serious illness, is elderly and ailing, or for some other reason requires frequent visits from nurses or therapists, keep an eye on Enurgi, a health-care marketplace that just launched.

You can find caregivers on the site, book them for home care, rate their job performance, and manage their payment via Paypal. The service helps you keep a calendar so you can easily tell who's coming over and when, and quickly fill in gaps you may have in your … Read more

My wife, Amy, has done a fairly good job of convincing our daughter to wear sunscreen, at least when the sun is shining and the temperatures are soaring.

Amy also does a fairly good job of convincing her to wear sunscreen on cloudy summer days, arguing that just because you can't see the sun directly doesn't mean the rays cannot reach you. … Read more

The results of a fifteen-month study accessing the time to patch software associated with electronic health record (EHR) systems were published today by the eHealth Vulnerability Reporting Program. The program is a collaboration of health care industry organizations, technology companies and security professionals that is attempting to establish best practices within the emerging field of electronic health records in the adoption and reliance of eHealth systems, including electronic medical records (EMR), picture archiving and communication system (PACS), and medical devices. The 39-page report found much room for improvement.

It's one thing to have your credit card information compromised--that can … Read more

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Adam Bosworth, who headed up Google's health-related projects, is leaving the company. The news was first reported on Search Engine Land.

A Google spokesman said Bosworth was on vacation and had "decided to pursue other opportunities after that." He joined Google in 2004 after leaving BEA Systems.

Google and its main rivals have been preparing to expand their health and medical information-related services as more and more people seek out such information online.

It's fairly easy to tell if a meal is bad for you using basic nutritional knowledge. The idea I think is best explained through a reference to a Simpsons episode wherein Homer goes on the "clear" diet, eating only (greasy) foods that turn things like napkins--and, incidentally, entire walls--translucent. In the real world we have nutritionalists, and an interesting Web service called MyFoodPhone that is best explained as a weight-loss and nutritional-education program slash social network.

The premise is simple: Just take photos to log each meal you've eaten and send them to the service via … Read more

For years, we've been hearing about the need for a tech-savvier American health care system that could make paper health records, prescriptions, X-rays and even in-person checkups into relics. But all of that could be derailed unless U.S. policymakers reject calls for so-called Net neutrality regulations, a new report warns.

That's the position of the U.S. Internet Industry Association (USIIA), a 13-year-old trade association that represents "companies engaged in Internet commerce, content and connectivity." Verizon is the biggest name represented on its board of directors, which also includes representatives from ServInt, a maker of &… Read more

When you think of workplace injuries, you usually think of factories or construction sites. But a new study out of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia shows that emissions (in the form of toner particles) from some laser printers may be high enough to cause respiratory and heart problems. In fact, the university's Air Quality and Health Program compares the emissions from some models to second-hand cigarette smoke. Printers from HP, Ricoh, Canon, and Toshiba were tested; not all showed high levels of emissions, and results weren't consistent by manufacturer.

So the next time you make that … Read more

Vince Kuraitis has dissected a multitude of postings and literature produced by Google's vice president, Adam Bosworth, and here's his theory on the search giant's health initiative.

Kuraitis, principal and founder of healthcare consultants Better Health Technologies, predicted Monday at the fourth annual Healthcare Unbound conference that Google may develop the next generation of the personal health record.

After combing through Bosworth's material, Kuraitis said he wouldn't be surprised to see a Google Health that is patient-centric, where consumers own their personal health data and access it via a Web site, which acts like a … Read more