always keeping my eyes open for the latest developments and when I recently changed primary [...]]]> I love where medicine is heading these days – from reactive to proactive. I’m a big fan of personalized medicine – and have a Zeoand a subscription to 23andMe. I’m

Image via Wikipedia

always keeping my eyes open for the latest developments and when I recently changed primary physicians I purposely looked for one that utilized electronic health records.

It appears that some of the first ingestible smart pills are about to be commercially available. You can learn more in Brian Dolan’s article for mobihealthnews. I’m looking forward to someday taking an ingestible smart pill that will wirelessly communicate with my computer to track and analyze my health, such as:

• Did I remember to take my medications today and at what time?
• What did I eat today? How many calories were involved?
• How much exercise did I get? At what times and in what intensity?
• What vitamins, minerals, or other trace elements do I need to consume more of?
• Has there been an increase or decrease in x or y that indicates a concerning health issue I should be aware of?
• How much stress did I suffer throughout the day?
• How much sleep did I get and what was the quality of my sleep?

I think such personalized medicine could help bring our healthcare costs under control. Think about it…

• We’d be reminded to take important medications.
• We’d easily hold ourselves accountable for our caloric intake and exercise.
• We’d increase the nutritional value of our intake as we saw areas in which our diet was specifically weak and were able to track progress in remedying this situation over time.
• We’d be able to determine exactly what supplements would be helpful for us.
• Numerous health issues could be detected long before they became a crisis – avoiding numerous hospitalizations and other emergency procedures which are extremely expensive.
• Diabetics and others with chronic illnesses would be able to constantly monitor their condition.

Related articles

• Being a Part of Personalized Medicine (spittoon.23andme.com)
• New pill with ingestible microchip monitors you from the inside (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com)
• Life’s StReSsOrS And How I Put Personal Medicine To Work (pamhi.wordpress.com)
• Why personalized medicine holds promise for preventing and treating diabetes (medicalxpress.com)
• Personalized medicine firm updates its psychiatric drugs screening test (medcitynews.com)
• UK Pharmacy to Sell Pill with Ingestible Microchip (spectrum.ieee.org)

I speak and post on a somewhat regular basis about my mental health in public forums. On Dec. 15th I wrote a status update on Facebook, “see it now with its foul stench, oozing black skin, rapacious talons. depression, a dark and vicious wraith, pulls down upon my soul…”

I don’t make these [...]]]> Darkness Explained…

A tropical depression, somewhat similar in feeling to our internal emotions at times. Image via Wikipedia

I speak and post on a somewhat regular basis about my mental health in public forums. On Dec. 15th I wrote a status update on Facebook, “see it now with its foul stench, oozing black skin, rapacious talons. depression, a dark and vicious wraith, pulls down upon my soul…”

I don’t make these sort of dark and pained posts a daily habit, but you will see them occasionally as my status updates, read blurbs about them in my emails, and even hear me speak of them from the pulpit on a Sunday morning.

I’d like to take a few moments to explain why I have chosen to share these struggles so publicly…

It Isn’t Easy…

It isn’t because it is easier to share my struggles. In fact, the older I grow and the more responsibilities I assume – at work, at church, in the community – the less I want to be open about my struggles with others. I know there are people who judge me weak for my struggles – and that when I share them they question my ability to work or to lead. It would be easier to just clam up and pretend I wasn’t struggling – to keep my struggles silent.

For the Weak…

Yet I recognize that there are many who are weak and struggling who need permission to acknowledge their own weakness.^[1] There are many with deep inner turmoils who feel hopeless, lost, isolated, and judged…and unless someone stands up and says, “I will not be ruled by anyone’s  judgments of my spirituality and ability” they will remain quiet.^[2]

For the Judgmental…

At the same time, I also know that many of those who bring the harshest judgments and incur the most guilt and disdain upon the weak and suffering are those who are most weak and suffering themselves. Oftentimes they are not even cognizant of their own weakness. Everyone else can see the flaws in their character, the weaknesses in their constitution – but they themselves are blinded, unwilling to see weakness within, choosing to highlight that which is without.^[3]

So, it is necessary to stand against them. Not against them, but against this idea – this floating conception which we all partake in, this ballroom masquerade^[4] We must stop pretending we are superhuman and instead acknowledge and wrestle with our humanity.

In the Moment…

At times I have thought about moving to a past tense form of sharing. It is true I have struggled with x, y, and z in the past and I can share with you my victory over them…but this is only a half-truth. Surely, I have learned much about conquering and resisting and coping with my weaknesses over the years and I have had many victories and many defeats.

Yet, the truth is, I still struggle. Some days are good and some days are bad. Sure, I can act as if everything is okay and you won’t know. Us OCD folks are renowned for that – our ability to perform rituals for hours each day, to suffer extreme internal mental anguish, and yet to go on functioning as if life is normal – with no one knowing any better.

I was not weak in the past – I am weak now. So, I continue to share that I am weak now…and I assume when you hear me preach you know that I speak the truth as best as I am able while recognizing that every truth I am also wrestling to make true in my own life.

[Note: I have written a second page as well which contains a few caveats and delves into some important miscellany. Look below the footnotes below for the link to page 2.]

1. ^[1] I call these weak b/c I am weak. I would suggest we are all weak…and if we don’t recognize it, perhaps we have some self-reflection to do. ↩
2. ^[2] At the same time, I do not want to portray myself as some hero. I know the difference it made in my life that others spoke openly about their struggles – and so I imitate them. On the other hand, I know also that revelation of my own struggles sometimes secure me understanding and wiggle room that would not be given if I simply kept these struggles internalized. Admitting our weakness provides a certain freedom to fail which can become pathological. I struggle to maintain a balance, to share my weakness for the right reasons, and to recognize when I have walked down the wrong path. ↩
3. ^[3] And if you agree with me on this statement, then you must examine your own heart – as I am examining mine – for the truth is as we say these truth we may fall into the same hypocrisy and judgment that we disdain in others. ↩
4. ^[4] Thank you Thousand Foot Krutch. ↩

First off, for those who aren’t [...]]]>

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Back in February I bought a Zeo. Its been around eight months now and I figured I should provide an update on how the Zeo has been going for me. I have both good and bad to report, but overall – I’d say it was a worthwhile investment.

First off, for those who aren’t familiar with the Zeo it is an alarm clock with some extra intelligence. It has a headband one wears which measures the quality and extent of one’s sleep. This information is aggregated and analyzed and allows for one to review and optimize one’s sleep schedule. It also can awake you during a period of light sweep, allowing you to wake up more refreshed.

I bought the Zeo because I have a hard time waking up in the morning and because I regularly experience significant daytime sleepiness. I also knew I was frequently tempted to stay up too late…so I figured the Zeo could help me get my sleep habits under control.

When I first began using the Zeo it seemed like a god-send. I was waking up 1 hour earlier than usual, feeling more refreshed, and forcing myself to go to bed at a better time. I was able to see the quality of my sleep and determine objectively whether I was getting enough sleep – rather than subjectively by how I felt or thought I’d slept.

At first I wasn’t doing very well, but as time went on I got better and began to sleep more appropriately regularly – thanks in large part to the Zeo. Unfortunately, the morning wake-up effects seemed to be declining simultaneously. I was having the same issues getting out of bed and I also was still feeling regularly fatigued during the day.

The headband was a bit of a nuisance to wear after its novelty wore off and it sometimes slipped off, it also tended to smell unpleasant as weeks of sweat accumulated on the sensor, and I did experience some very minor skin irritation and creases from wearing the headband – but nothing that would keep me from wearing it.

Still, the excessive fatigue didn’t go away and it was largely the knowledge that I was getting enough sleep but still feeling exhausted that pushed me to make the appointment with a new primary physician and begin what has now been going on two months of tests to determine what is causing the excessive fatigue. Thus far test results are indicating that I have some form of auto-immune disorder and this is likely liable for the fatigue as well as a host of other complaints.

I’m not sure whether the Zeo’s effectiveness for me decreased with time or whether the illness’ power increased with time. I suspect it was a combination of the two, with the latter being the more significant contributor. Other symptoms besides chronic fatigue have grown progressively worse over the last number of months (joint pain, chest pain, inflammation, etc.), so it seems likely that the fatigue also would worsen.

The Zeo was never made to be a medical device. I knew that when I purchased it. But I hoped that maybe there wasn’t something “deeper” wrong and that some better sleep hygiene and discipline would provide me with the extra energy boost I desired – it didn’t. So, in one sense, the Zeo didn’t provide me what I wanted – but on the other hand it did one better – it forced me to stop putting off seeing a doctor because, “I’m sure I just didn’t get enough sleep last night” and admit that there was something more wrong here and that I needed to take it seriously.

Now, setting aside my particulars, lets talk briefly about what I do and don’t like about the Zeo as a device and whether I think you should buy one.

First, the Zeo uses a memory card to store data which can then be transferred to a computer and uploaded to Zeo’s site via a USB flash drive. This is annoying in a day of ubiquitous wireless in the home. I’m not happy that I have to take the time to frequently upload my data, this should happen automatically.

Second, the headband is a bit of a nuisance. It isn’t overwhelmingly so, but I have to wonder if there aren’t better and smaller ways to track how well I’m sleeping. I know some other products are available – wristbands and so on. I know most are not of the same accuracy as the Zeo – but development in this area is really important, as the headband is awkward. Ideally I’d like something that was thin like a bandaid.

Overall, I’d say if you really want it – get one now…but if you can, wait for the next-generation. I would hope/expect that both of these issues will be eliminated (or at least significantly mitigated) with the release of a newer technology.

I’d also note that I’m not sure about Zeo’s long-term future with its current business strategy. Zeo is currently focused on sleep – they need to expand. The devices of the future will not be focused on one aspect of health but will cover a multitude – and numerous other vendors are making strides in this arena – oftentimes for a lower price tag than Zeo offers.

Related articles

• Zeo Personal Sleep Coach (kk.org)
• Reflecting on my recent sleep experiments (feedblog.org)
• Roundup: iPhone accessories to help you get a better night’s sleep (gigaom.com)
• Your Partner’s Sleep Habits Can Influence Yours For The Better (businessinsider.com)
• The 3 Rules Of Deep Sleep (businessinsider.com)
• The Future of Fitness and Health (thenextweb.com)

I don’t want to take a position on nationalized healthcare b/c I’m sure to offend [...]]]> I love when technology solves everyday problems – and there is a bright future looming for the medical industry due to innovations in the technology field. Andy Oram has a good post highlighting some of the impending technologies here.

I don’t want to take a position on nationalized healthcare b/c I’m sure to offend someone and I don’t feel qualified to comment authoritatively on the subject, but I do humbly suggest that one of the best ways we can bring healthcare costs under control is by technological innovation.

Andy writes in his post,

“Telemedicine is one of the primary goals of health care reform. Taking care out of clinics and hospitals and letting people care for themselves in their natural environments gives us whole new opportunities for maintaining high-level functioning.”

I agree. We are always seeing huge leaps in this direction with currently available technologies. For example:

• I use the Zeo to help me measure my sleep quality and quantify whether my sleepiness on a given day is due to a lack of sleep or some other issue. This revealed in my case that even after I adjusted for enough sleep I was still experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), which led to doctor appointments, blood tests, and a positive ANA result, and now an impending visit to the rheumatologist to explore whether I’m suffering from an autoimmune disorder.
• I use Noom to track my exercise and analyze my activity over time. This revealed that I have a REALLY hard time losing weight. I rode nearly 400 miles in less than 30 days on a recumbent bike and didn’t lose a single pound.^[1]
• I use the web on a regular basis to research health from numerous perspectives to assist myself in maintaining the best health and being an informed patient when I visit the doctor. For example, I’ve recently been reading about research concerning glutamate in the treatment of depression and ocd.

These are just a few small ways in which technology currently available can help us better maintain our health. But I’m looking forward to what is to come….and a lot is in the wings. Consider, just for instance, the growing use of electronic prescriptions which significantly reduce prescribing errors which can have disastrous or even fatal health effects!

Related articles

• AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc. Expands Its Telemedicine Design Group Offerings to Now Include Revamped Training and Program Consultation Offerings (prweb.com)
• Telemedicine Defined (medicineandtechnology.com)
• Modernizing Rural Health Care (thielst.typepad.com)

1. ^[1] No, my diet is not great, and I’m working on that…but I’d still think since my weight was stable and I haven’t been eating significantly more in the last month, that I should have lost weight! This deserves further investigation… ↩

I recently decided I wanted to ride my stationary recumbent bike to get in shape, but as always hate [...]]]> UPDATE: Back to the drawing board. After using it for a few days I placed my laptop on the desk and it promptly flipped! So…I’ll see if anyone wants the desk and start over again.

I recently decided I wanted to ride my stationary recumbent bike to get in shape, but as always hate exercising. Its not the physical activity that bothers me but rather the inability to accomplish other tasks at the same time. So, I built myself a “prototype” desk out of boxes, pillows (yes, pillows), and an old bunk bed ladder. It worked marvelously. I was riding my bike most days for two hours a day and accomplishing a lot to boot.

Now it was time to build something more permanent. I went to Lowes and shopped around but didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, so I began surfing Amazon for a pre-built product. Finally I stumbled upon Office Furniture in a Flash’s Angle and Height Adjustable Mobile Laptop Computer, which was being sold through CSN Stores. The price was right ($32 + S&H) for what was originally a “$199″ piece of furniture. I bit – $40 and a few days later the desk arrived…

Unfortunately, I’m not as impressed with it after assembly as I was when I saw it on Amazon’s site. Here are the main issues I encountered:

Two of the knobs broke during assembly. These knobs are used to regular the height and width of the table. In attempting to tighten them the heads came off two of them. Underneath was a normal screw, unfortunately the slots for a screw driver had been filled in – so I had to pry them out slowly and painstakingly.

The larger wood panel (for the table) isn’t entirely stable. The knob doesn’t seem to be enough and placing one’s weight on the table causes the table to rotate down – a very bad thing with a laptop sitting on it. I think they probably needed to have two or three holes for knobs on this larger arm…

The soldering job doesn’t look like a $200 dollar job. There are gobs of solder around various joints and gaps where there isn’t any solder at all.

• The wrist wrests are not large enough…and because you can’t really put weight on the table, fairly useless.

After assembling, I found the two pieces of wood seemed to be crooked. I attempted adjusting the screws to make sure everything was straight, but they still were crooked. Ohh well, I moved them further apart and it isn’t noticeable.

In addition to these design and manufacturing flaws I ran into additional issues due to my unique use case – which I don’t place upon the manufacturer, rather they are inherent to my usage. Particularly, it took me a long way to figure out how to get the table to stand over the recumbent at a reasonable distance without constantly banging my feet into one of the support posts.

Additionally, I find that the unit shakes a lot when I am riding. This is probably because the support posts are close to the recumbent and the floor is bouncing which in turn causes the table to bounce. It isn’t unworkable,  but certainly a tad annoying. This isn’t a problem if the legs (as in my prototype table) are further away from the recumbent – as it seems the bouncing decreases and its impact is reduced over distance.

Overall, I’m unhappy with the quality of manufacturing – but the price was decent. I think I’ll probably end up building or finding something different in the long run. I thought about returning it but it was $9 in shipping and I would have to pay for the returning shipping as well. By the time everything was said and done I’d only be getting $20 back and CSN Stores policies say they don’t accept returns of assembled products.

For those who would like to build a similar desk for themselves, here are a few photos of the end working product and a few tips I found to be useful….

Note that I removed the wheels off the stabilization bar, this lowered the height of the bars – otherwise they kept banging with the pedals.

It took quite a while to figure out how to get the table constructed in such a way as to allow the bar to be far enough from my feet while also ensuring the desk was over the bike rather than to the left/right of it and so that the desk was not too near/far. This is what I ended up going with.

If I was buying a new desk and didn’t already have a recumbent bike, I’d certainly consider FitDesk. The price total is around the same as I paid for my recumbent and desk combined. I haven’t had a chance to use one, so I can’t comment for certainty…

Related articles

• Ask Casa: A Desk For My Bedroom (casasugar.com)
• LifeSpan Fitness R3 Recumbent Exercise Bike [Deals] (blippitt.com)
• Ditching the desk for a wireless room (upyourego.com)
• 5 Most Unusual Office Desks (smallbizbee.com)
• FitDesk Wows Atlanta with World’s First Pedal Desk (prweb.com)

Each course by NetCE is [...]]]>

Image via Wikipedia

NetCE is an online continuing education provider for various professionals who are required to earn a specific number of continuing education credits per year to remain accredited with the state. They offer courses for medical professionals (e.g. nurses, physicians, dentists), counselors, psychologists, and social workers.

Each course by NetCE is available online for free. NetCE makes their money by providing credit for the courses. If an individual takes a course and proceeds through the testing they then pay a fee for the course (still nominal – e.g. $20-$50 usually) and receive credit for the course. NetCE seems like a great way to complete required CEU‘s, but it is also a high quality source of information for anyone.

I’m particularly interested in counseling/psychology and I found a number of excellent courses on their site and have been reading through them. They are professional and extensively documented. No need to register or pay to read them! Here are a few of the courses I thought looked interesting:

• Assessment and Management of Pain in the End of Life.
• Influenza: A Comprehensive Review.
• Vicarious Trauma and Resilience.
• Geriatric Failure to Thrive: A Multidimensional Problem.
• Families of Chronically Ill Patients.
• The Role of Community in Health and Mental Health.
• Self Care for Behavioral Health Professionals.
• Autism Spectrum Disorders.
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
• Online Counseling and Therapy: Critical Issues.
• An Overview of Feminist Counseling.
• Alzheimer’s Disease.
• Sexual Addiction.
• Postpartum Depression.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Related articles

• Fat Minds – Find Online Higher Education Courses (freetech4teachers.com)
• VanEd Presents: Updated courses for Texas MCE credit ~ Including Ethics and Legal Update for 2011! (vaned.typepad.com)
• Renewal Information for Virginia Social Workers (pdresources.wordpress.com)
• ChildCare Education Institute Offers Online Professional Development at No Cost on May 6, in Recognition of “Provider Appreciation Day” (prnewswire.com)
• Earn CE Credit from Your iPad! (pdresources.wordpress.com)