Texting your way to weight loss

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In one study, funded by the National Institute of Drug Addiction (NIDA), he is collecting survey, real-time location and real-time measures of mood and drug consumption (called "Ecological Momentary Assessment" or "Daily Life Research") via cell phone, over a two-year period in a sample of 300 inner-city Richmond adolescents. We use mobile technology to capture real-time social, psychological and geographic data and to insert relevant interventions within teens' teleselskaber natural contexts," he said. "We are trying to understand teens by synching with their social lives," Mason said.
"It is like we are conducting a social FMRI with teens.

Unlike Web-based diet and exercise diaries, data in a text message can be entered quickly on nearly all mobile phone platforms. This provides more portability, nearly real-time tracking and more accessibility for receiving tailored feedback.

Previous studies show that long-term adherence to traditional monitoring is poor, possibly because they are time- and labor-intensive, require extensive numeracy and literacy skills, and can be perceived as burdensome.

In their study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases the researchers were able to use the mini-microscopes they constructed to yield images of parasitic worm eggs present in urine and stools of infected individuals. They first utilized this novel approach to detect urinary schistosomiasis, a severely under diagnosed infection affecting hundreds of millions, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.

Thirdly, Mason is testing the strategy of text-messaging teens to stop them from smoking. Funded by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, through a three-year grant, he has set up an automated text-messaging system that activates teens' motivation to stop smoking through personalized, interactive and supportive texts.

The findings appear in the November issue of the journal Health Affairs.
"The results of our study are important because they provide a forward looking snapshot of how health IT will profoundly impact the American health care workforce over the next decade or two," said the study's lead author Jonathan Weiner, DrPH, professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School and director of the Center for Population Health Information Technology (CPHIT).

"In total, about 10% of the young people we surveyed met some of the criteria for pathological electronic media use, which included internet use and online gaming. Our study suggests that adolescent sleep is significantly disrupted when electronic media is used pathologically," he says.

Blue-tooth-enabled sensors worn by the subjects send back wireless telemetry, allowing the real-time monitoring of physiological data.
The Centre runs both basic research studies and clinical treatment trials, allowing the facility to shed light on many of the mysteries of sleep, while also playing a key role in helping alleviate the problems of people with sleep disorders.

Based on their analysis of recent trends in digital health care and a review of the scientific literature, the authors conclude that patients' future use of physician services will change dramatically as electronic health records and consumer e-health "apps" proliferate. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The Commonwealth Fund think so.

It is tempting to relax bedtimes as the children are off school and everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit but, in the long run, it will be harder for them to get back to routine when everything goes back to normal."
He added: "To encourage a good night's sleep you need to associate the bedroom as somewhere suitable for sleep. "Parents should try to keep routines as normal as possible. That's why children - and adults - shouldn't use mobile phones, laptops or tablets in bed because they emit blue light that signals the brain to wake up.

It features comfortable bedrooms and en-suite facilities which are fitted with closed-circuit television cameras that relay pictures to the control room next-door where Professor Ellis and his team of research students monitor the participants' sleep. "Research has shown that removing stimuli from the bedroom, particularly if you have a sleep problem, is important to create an environment conducive for sleep."
Professor Ellis leads the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research, based in a self-contained modern apartment which sits in the middle of the research facilities at Northumbria University.

the sensor belt, decompensation can be predicted and measures can be taken in due time. Hence, it is highly beneficial for both patients and the healthcare system to diagnose starting cardiac failure (decompensation) at an early point of time and to initiate treatment. By means of continuous monitoring with e.g.

The results, published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, show that many young people aren't getting adequate sleep - and the problem is much worse in one out of every 10 teens, who are addicted to electronic media.
"Although there are many known benefits of electronic media for young people, including opportunities for learning and socialisation, previous studies have suggested that excessive electronic media use could impact negatively on sleeping patterns and the quality of sleep," says the lead author of the study, Dr Daniel King from the University of Adelaide's School of Psychology.