Health Watch Blog

Google’s “Smart” Contact Lens Can Help Manage Diabetes

Google's "Smart" Contact Lens Can Help Manage Diabetes

Typically, contact lenses help people see clearly, but leave it to Google to go “outside the box” with its own contacts, which have medical benefits that go way beyond mere vision. In fact, Google’s lenses don’t help you see at all. Rather, they monitor your blood sugar (AKA glucose) levels. If that doesn’t sound useful to you, then you’re probably not one of the 382 million people worldwide who are diabetic.

People with diabetes tend to check their blood sugar levels multiple times a day (up to 10, depending on the type of diabetes) to avoid medical problems like hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or, in severe cases, a diabetic coma and damage to the heart, kidneys, eyes and limbs. In the US, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death and is the leading cause of kidney failure, non-traumatic lower limb amputations and new cases of blindness.

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Weird Medical Condition of the Day: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder; Or, Fear of Food

Weird Medical Condition of the Day: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder; Or, Fear of Food

Chances are you know a picky eater or two. Maybe you’re one yourself. But imagine if your pickiness was an actual medical condition that made the thought of eating almost any food as disgusting as eating dirt or bugs. That’s the world in which people suffering from an eating disorder know as Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) live.

ARFID was identified relatively recently, having been added to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2013. In order to be diagnosed with ARFID, someone’s condition must meet a specific set of criteria:

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What Medical Problems Does Alcohol Cause?

What Are the Medical Effects of Alcoholism?

Think the worst that alcohol can do to you is give you a hangover? Tell that to 35-year-old Beverley Pickorer (pictured), whose decade-long alcohol addiction led to a range of medical problems — chiefly cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) — that have left her bed-ridden and looking literally twice her age. And don’t think that it’s only hard liquor that can do this kind of damage to your body. Pickorer has been primarily a beer drinker since her early 20s, downing as much as four six-packs AND seven pint glasses (about 20 ounces each) a day. If just looking at her can’t convince you of the dangers of alcohol, here’s a rundown of the medical ailments that alcoholism can cause in the long run.

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15 Simple Tricks to Eating Less

15 Simple Tricks to Eating Less

Chances are good that your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, and short of a medical procedure, the most effective way to do that is to eat less and exercise more — but that’s easier said than done. However, there are some simple ways you can trick yourself into eating less food that don’t require the sort of effort or self-discipline associated with the typical diet.

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