health

When an iPod gets stuck... inside you

No one can deny that human being do things they sometimes regret.

These things seem like good ideas at the time. And then, well, you end up in the ER being X-rayed.

It is, therefore, both exhilarating and instructive to look at some of the pictures from a new book called "Stuck Up."

This tome for our ages (but not necessarily all ages) features 100 X-rays that have revealed strange objects perched inside people's bodies.

As the Huffington Post displays it, people do end up going to hospital with iPods inside them. Cassette tapes, too. Although the … Read more

The laser that turns brown eyes blue?

Some people cry over the hue of their eyes.

If only they were blue, rather than muddy brown. And, well, brown eyes don't look so good with your dyed-blonde hair.

An inventor in California believes he has found the solution. Gregg Homer, founder of Stroma Medical, says that, in a mere 20 seconds, he can turn old brown eyes into old blue eyes. Or even young ones.

The way Homer told it to KTLA News, brown eyes are actually blue. Well, beneath the brown pigment that covers the iris, there is apparently a blue-looking orb.

So his procedure … Read more

Jawbone Up aims to get you healthier

Jawbone, a company known mostly for Bluetooth audio accessories like the Jawbone Era and the Jambox, is venturing into the health and fitness industry with a new product called the Jawbone Up.

First revealed at TEDGlobal, it's essentially a tiny wristband that works in conjunction with the Jawbone Up iPhone app to track your movements, sleep patterns, and eating habits to help you make healthier lifestyle choices. Jawbone breaks that into three categories: Measure, Engage, and Act.… Read more

Are you going to eat that? New app helps you eat better (video)

"If you are what you eat, then you are awesome" was the slogan printed on the bag sitting in front of us during lunch last week at a New Mexican burger chain. We felt pretty good about ourselves as we ate our green chile burger.

But what about an app that passes judgment on what you eat?

"The Eatery" is a new app from startup Massive Health that lets users snap a picture of their food and then starts analyzing eating habits over time. In the video above, SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das talks with co-founders Aza … Read more

Deaf YouTube star hears sounds of her future

Sarah Churman is the unlikeliest Internet star. The Texas stay-at-home mom of two little girls has somewhat ordinary interests--she loves to read, watch movies, and attend concerts with her husband of almost 10 years, Sloan.

But on September 26 of this year, Churman was catapulted to YouTube fame due to an intimate, home movie that went viral. She was born deaf. But on that day, she heard her own voice for the very first time. The 91-second video clip brought this viewer goosebumps, tears, and an empathy for this remarkable woman.

When I interviewed Sarah and Sloan Churman at medical offices in San Jose, Calif., she explained to me that the deaf community tends to be divided into two categories: those who want to use technology to restore their hearing and those who try to make the most of life without it. She is very firmly rooted in the first camp and has spent a good deal of her adult life researching the latest hearing devices to come onto the market. In May 2011, Churman heard a radio ad for Envoy Medical's Esteem implant. That set the balls in motion for a summer of hope, frustration, high emotion, and ultimately, success. … Read more

Do cell phones cause brain tumors? Debate rages

A controversial study holds to an earlier claim that mobile phone use does not increase a person's risk of developing a brain tumor.

The study, which was published in the British Medical Journal yesterday, argues that even after using a cell phone for more than a decade, a person's chances of getting a brain tumor are about the same as they would be without cell phone use. The study, which is an update to previous research that found no link between mobile phone use and cancer, examined the instances of brain tumors among long-term cell phone users in … Read more

An exciting new ailment: Text neck

I don't trust chiropractors.

They always seem to find the sorts of pain solutions that require you to spend the rest of your life visiting a chiropractor.

In fact, if you walked into many a chiropractor's office and said you were suffering at the hands of a redneck, they surely wouldn't think twice before laying you down and twisting your neck toward Texas and then back.

I am not surprised, therefore, that the chiropractic profession has come up with a brand-new ailment: text neck.

This is, apparently, caused by stretching your neck unreasonably in order to send … Read more

Technology allows deaf woman to hear own voice

"The laughter felt loud," said Sarah Churman.

It's impossible for anyone who isn't deaf to even imagine how it might feel to hear laughter for the first time. Or, indeed, your own voice.

Yet Churman's husband decided to film the moment. He then posted it to YouTube.

In the notes to the video, Churman explained that hearing aids only help so much. Eight weeks ago, however, she was given an Esteem implant, made by Envoy Medical.

The device itself is placed behind the ear and no part of it is visible. It doesn't have … Read more

Phytel helps doctors track (and nag) their patients

Houston, we have a health problem.

About 30 percent of adults in the U.S. have at least two chronic health conditions. Roughly half of a panel of surveyed patients are not complying with doctor's orders. And more than half of Americans could be obese by 2030.

In the coming years it's going to be more important than ever for doctors' offices to be able to automatically track their patients across a variety of parameters, from age and ethnicity to conditions and diseases, and even to compliance levels. Dallas-based health management firm Phytel is hoping that the platform it's unveiling today … Read more

Reporters' Roundtable: Sit up straight! Exercise more!

On today's show we're covering an emerging tech trend: The Quantified Self movement, or the collection of data streams about what we do, how we feel, how we move, and so on. Why? That's one of the big questions. The best answer is probably: to live better lives. And today we're talking with two entrepreneurs who are working on a subset of the quantified self movement: body monitoring. Both their companies have the goal of making us more aware of ourselves. Using that knowledge, hopefully, we can live more healthy lives.

Our guests are Monisha Perkash, CEO of Lumoback, which I covered this week from the Demo conference, and Jef Holove of Basis, which I wrote up in July.

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