Last week at the mHealth summit, the federal government announced plans to launch an online health data website. Todd Park, CTO at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced the open health data campaign on the HealthData.gov site would be released in December, providing a wealth of information for developers of mobile health apps. The site would provide information about childhood obesity, smoking cessation rates and all kinds of other important research data, according to an article by Kenneth Corbin, EnterpriseMobileToday.com.

Federal Government Funds 150 Mobile Health Grant Projects

“HHS sits on an extraordinary array of data, that if made easily accessible to the public could help consumers, patients, providers and community leaders make better decisions to improve health,” Park said. “It’s the goal of our open health data initiative to do exactly that.”

“Our open health data campaign is turning HHS into the NOAA of health data,” Park said. The health information that HHS’ site will provide will be easily accessible and downloadable,” he said, adding that like NOAA’s data sets, the new site will be “without intellectual property constraint,” aiming for the broadest possible application.

The National Health Institute is a giant medical research arm of the federal government. The NHI is now taking a more active role in funding mobile health IT projects. In 2005 there were only 30 grants given for mobile health research. This year the number is up to almost 150 grants and expected to grow rapidly over the next few years.

Mobile health IT services range from simple and free to hugely complicated and expensive. There are free apps for Smartphones like the Text4Baby program for new and pregnant mothers, as well as mood monitoring apps for our service people and veterans. Then there are the extensive patient diagnostic and monitoring programs accessible from cell phones, which are costly but provide a more in depth level of patient care.

Mobile health IT services are really important for the developing countries. For example, a device being used by Massachusetts General Hospital in Uganda collects treatment information for HIV patients and remotely monitors lapses in taking their antiviral medications. For pregnant women living in remote areas, midwives using cell phones and mobile health technology can connect to monitor fetal heartbeats, or use remote ultrasounds. The list goes on and on. As more mobile health apps are developed, the people of the developing countries will benefit greatly, encouraging and promoting much better global health.

The federal government is taking on the role of the good guy in mobile health development. I say thumbs up! Major kudos for the feds. But the U.S. isn’t the only government doing so. Within the U.N. there is a push for more research and development of mobile health IT. The potential is incredible. Perhaps we humans have discovered that we are a global community.

Last week the mHealth Summit took place in Washington, D.C. Participants shared information on mobile technology, health research, and policy. Leaders of governments, the private sector, non-profits organizations and academia met at the mHealth Summit to dialogue and collaborate to advance mobile health projects. Cell phones play an important role in the mobile health technology strategy.

More than 100 Countries Use Mobile Health Technology

Attending the mHealth Summit was a Who’s Who list of important organizations. Conference organizers, include such notable members as the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the mHealth Alliance. The mHealth Alliance is made up of the United Nations Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation. Featured conference speakers included William Gates, head of the Gates Foundation, Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Julio Frenk, M.D., Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Chairman of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, Ted Turner, Chairman and Founder of the United Nations Foundation and Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Is mobile health technology all that far reaching? According to an article by Neil Versel, FierceMobileHealthcare.com, 90% of the world population lives in range of a wireless telephone signal. 70% of the 5 billion cell phone users are in third world countries, and by 2015, the mHealth Alliance expects 50% of all cell phone users will be able to access the web on their cell phones. Already 100 countries are using some type of mobile health technology. “The information technology is not revolutionary. Its use in health is,” Julian Schweitzer, chair of the Finance Working Group for the UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, said. “I’m not saying that mobile technology is a panacea, but there’s such tremendous possibility, primarily because the cell phones are already there and usage is growing so fast,” says Dr. Schweitzer.

1,000 women die daily in childbirth worldwide. Schweitzer is hoping that mHealth will address this issue, and work to reduce child and maternal mortality. While advanced mobile health technology can greatly impact the rate of infant and maternal mortality, even basic cell phones can save lives. Midwives using cell phones and mobile health technology can connect to monitor fetal heartbeats, or use remote ultrasounds.

“With mobile technologies for health, called ‘mhealth’ or ‘mobile health,’ we’re extending capabilities to where they don’t exist today,” says David Aylward, who heads mHealth Alliance. “In the near future, wireless diagnostics like stethoscopes, blood pressure, temperature and insulin monitors, and ultrasounds will enable remote diagnosis and treatment far from the closest doctor or clinic,” says Mr. Aylward.

Isn’t technology wonderful? The ability to do medical diagnostics via a cell phone just boggles my mind. Think of what this will mean to remote areas of the world that have little or no access to hospitals.

British health officials are developing a no-shame STD diagnosis tool. The British government has put up more than $6 billion to develop a technology that would allow people to use their cell phones to test for STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).

Test for STDs on Your Cell Phone?

Are the British experiencing a high number of STD cases? According to an article in the Health and Science section of thenews.com, infections in the United Kingdom have been steadily rising over the last decade, reaching a record high in 2009, when 482,696 new cases of STDs were reported. Most of those cases involved people under the age of 25, who were presumably tech-savvy. What better way to reach these people than through their cell phones? “We hope that the application of new technology will help to reduce transmission of infection in this age group,” says Professor Noel Gill, who runs the STD and HIV unit at the government’s Health Protection Agency.

Testing chips could be sold in vending machines as bars, clubs, and drug stores. No, you don’t pee on your phone. But you do need to spit or pee on the small, disposable microchip and insert that chip into the phone. The phone would test the sample for a range of infections, from Chlamydia to Gonorrhea, using “nanotechnology and microfluidics.” If the test is positive, they would then receive information about treatment. “Some people may find going into a doctor’s surgery to be tested an intimidating experience, so it’s crucial that we find new ways to engage with people,” says Dr. Marion Henderson of the Medical Research Council.

Planned Parenthood says one out of two sexually active people have had a sexually transmitted disease. (If it isn’t me, then it must be you.) Of course if you do test positive, you still need to see a doctor. Often the treatment is a simple antibiotic, but other times it is much more serious. The cell phone app isn’t meant to take the place of seeing the doctor. It is meant to give you a heads up without the embarrassment of going to a clinic or doctor. The thought behind the technology is that if the test is available through your cell phone and in the privacy of your own home, more people will get tested.

Does it embarrass you to talk about STDs? According to an article by Katishia Cosley, KIAH-TV, Houston, students at the University of Houston have a mixed reaction to talking about the new cell phone app. Many students were grossed out by the whole topic, which goes to show why the app is needed in the first place. I give this new technology a big thumbs up! What about you?

Mobile technology will improve worldwide health utilizing simple cell phones. According to an article by ThirdAge.com, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates told the mHealth Summit last week that with cheap diagnostic tools, patient reminders, and making immunization programs more efficient, cell phones can truly improve global health. Gates said that with cell phone access, a doctor can link into a clinic to give more doctor access to patients. “Wider adoption of mobile tech across the developing world can improve health care with improved diagnostic tools and more efficient immunization programs,” said Gates at this week’s mHealth Summit.

Text4Baby is Just One of Many Programs for Mobile Health

Text4Baby is a free mobile app to promote healthy mothers and children. Nearly 100,000 new mothers have already signed up for the program. Mothers get a text message per week giving the new mothers help from pregnancy through the baby’s first year. According to an article by Shawn Douglas, BabyChums.com, the program was created by Paul Meyer, chairman of Voxiva. “We deliver messages that are tied to the due date so the information that you receive at week 34 is relevant to what’s happening to you at week 34.”

Mobile health apps gain momentum with now over 5 billion cell phone users globally. Last week health care and telecom experts gathered in Washington, D.C. for the mHealth Summit to promote mobile technology in the medical field. Specifically, they were pushing the use of cell phones to provide mobile health care. Studies in Kenya show that Kenyans with HIV have lower levels of the disease if they receive a weekly text. A recent U.N. report showed that cell phones in developing countries now have a nearly 50% penetration rate in 2008. This is up from nearly zero 10 years ago. Computers are still scarce in these developing countries but with the rise in cell phone coverage, medical care is now more widely available.

Research grants related to mobile phone are up nearly 500% since 2005. The mHealth Alliance announced last week that Hewlett Packard donated a two-year, $1 million aggregate to help improve health care and health systems around the globe using mobile technology.

The focus is on mobile health! More and more apps are available to promote health, monitor patient care and give patients access to doctors and clinics. Testing and patient diagnostics are becoming more available as well. See my blog, Can you hear my cough now? As we proceed into the 21st century, the technology for mobile health care will grow exponentially. At first I thought this would put an unfavorable distance between the patient and the health care providers, but as more apps are available worldwide, I can see the huge potential benefiting global health. What about you? Are you for or against all the mobile health apps?

International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) studies don’t address long term exposure. These studies are not based on long-term exposure to radiation from cell phone and base stations, particularly from broadband wireless systems such as WiMAX and 3.5G mobile systems. Based on ICNIRP studies from the 1990’s, the WHO has declared mobile phones and base stations safe for public health. Hello? Isn’t that a bit outdated?

Cautions about Long Term Cell Phone Radiation

Since the ICNIRP guidelines came out, several studies have cautioned about the effects of long term cell phone radiation. Two notable studies, the Salzburg Resolution of 2000 and the Catania Resolution (2003), recommend much lower limits of exposure. My question is why are our safety standards being set on studies from the last century? Surely the DOT (Department of Telecom) could base their limitations on more recent studies.

Electromagnetic radiation from cell phones and base stations mounted on telecom towers is a major concern. We don’t know the long term effect, so my recommendation is to err on the side of caution. Many times cell phone towers are located on school properties so the school districts can reap the monetary benefits of leasing the land to the cell phone service providers. Shouldn’t we be concerned with what this exposure may be doing to our children?

We can limit our exposure to cell phone radiation by using hands free devices. How can we limit the radiation from the towers themselves? Are we turning our planet into a giant microwave oven, with us as the main course? What’s your take? Got any suggestions as to how we can be cautionary and still have good cell phone coverage?

Tawkon’s app that measures cell phone radiation is still being banned by Apple. Just last week the app for the BlackBerry was released, but Apple is still rejecting the cell phone app. As more and more manufacturers embrace this new technology, you have to wonder why Apple isn’t. What is Apple afraid of?

Tell Apple to Stop Banning Tawkon’s App

Tawkon’s new patent-pending technology takes 3 factors into consideration for their measurements of cell phone radiation. (Quoted from Tawkon’s blog “tawkon: How We Help Avoid Mobile Radiation” )

• Hardware: The way a mobile device is engineered, the model of the phone, factors such as the location of the device’s antenna, the materials out of which it was constructed, materials that physically shield the device from the cellular network (covers, sticker, etc) as well as the shape and size of the phone are all components that affect your levels of exposure to radiation.
• Environment: The location of the mobile phone is a crucial point. The terrain (whether the user is shielded from the cellular network e.g. in a basement, elevator or behind a concrete wall), mobility (due to frequent handover between cell towers) as well as weather conditions are all characteristics that are factored into this equation.
• Usage: While the above two factors are not in the hands of the user (besides of course selecting a device and changing location when possible), the way we use our phones very much depends on us. Many people are unaware that even the smallest adjustment in the way we operate our mobile devices can drastically reduce our exposure to mobile phone radiation. Holding the phone vertically and not horizontally, distancing the device from ones body & head via peripherals such as headsets (wired or Bluetooth) or by using the phone’s speaker, we can actively take part in lowering our exposure to radiation.

Isn’t that simple to understand? Perhaps not, but do we need to know how electricity works in order to enjoy its benefits? The important things is that you can measure the radiation and make informed decisions based on that information.

Tawkon is actively seeking Apple’s approval for the iPhone app. They have an online petition you can sign (Tell Apple). The more people who sign the petition, the faster iPhone users can talk more with lower radiation. More information to consumers is always a good thing.

I urge you to go sign the petition.

The top four cell phones listed by EWG (Environmental Working Group) as being highest in cell phone radiation emissions are also among most popular phones sold. Motorola’s Droid, Blackberry Bold 9700, LG Chocolate Touch and HTC Nexus One by Google are at the top of the list to avoid. The good news is that some Smartphones, Motorola Brute i680, Samsung Mythic, and Pantech Impact, are on the list as the lowest in cell phone radiation emissions.

Cell Phone Radiation Guide rates your phone

Will you switch phones? If you are in the market for a new phone, check the list put out by EWG. You can find the list at Safer Cell Phones. The site also has tips for minimizing your exposure to cell phone radiation.

With all the concern about cell phone radiation, it’s a shame that Apple has apparently banned a new app that monitors cell phone radiation emissions. See my blog (Apple bans app that measures cell phone radiation). Checking the EWG list before you buy a new phone seems like a smart move.

Is cell phone radiation a big hype? Different studies show different results. Personally, I don’t think it’s hype. Am I truly concerned? Not enough to stop using my phone, but I do limit direct contact by using the speaker phone or a hands free device. What about you? Concerned? Cautious?

iPhone and BlackBerry have health apps to help you with those New Year’s resolutions. Want to lose weight? There’s an app for that. Actually there are several apps that help you count calories, journal exercises, and there is even a scanning app to calculate the nutritional value of foods.

Your Cell Phone May Help You Get Healthy

So far, iFitness works only on iPhones and BlackBerry phones, but watch for the wave to hit the Droids. I predict Weight Watchers, Jillian Michaels, Curves and other top names will soon join in having cell phone apps. After all, Weight Watchers has had a little purse sized calculator/journaling device for years. It’s time to bring it into the cell phone age.

Finally! Cell phones are not just the cancer causing demons. Do I see this idea catching on? Yes! In a BIG WAY!

photo credit: Cell Phone Causes Sterility

Carrying your cell phone in your pocket is like carrying around a mini-microwave. GQ Magazine posted a story that research shows carrying your cell phone in your pocket may make you sterile. Does this mean we have the answer to overpopulation?

Your Cell Phone May Make You Sterile

I had heard that cell phones may cause brain cancer, but not sterility. Is there a chance that carrying the cell phone in the pocket will cause ovarian cancer or testicular cancer? Just what do we know about the effect of microwave radiation? The US military is developing microwave weapons. Should we be concerned?

Europe has been historically more cautious about cell phone radiation warnings. While European countries seem to be more cautious, the US has more stringent standards for cell phones. The U.S. and Canada allow a maximum SAR level of 1.6 watts per kilogram, while Europe caps it at 2 watts per kilogram. Does this make you feel safer living in the US?

US studies of cell phone radiation linked to sterility won’t be out for another couple of years. Perhaps you should think about carrying your cell phone somewhere besides your pocket. Use a Bluetooth device when calling. Take precautions in case this really can cause sterility.

You’ve been warned! At least they are still talking about sterility and not virility…

photo credit:

An overwhelming 28% of all traffic accidents are caused by people talking or texting on their cell phones. Almost a half million accidents are attributed to cell phone conversations, while another 200,000 are blamed on texting while driving.

1.4 Million Car Accidents Per Year Directly Related to Talking on Cell Phones

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is serious about changing these statistics. FocusDriven, an organization sponsored by DOT, will be patterning their campaign against cell phone distraction after the successful “Mothers Against Drunk Drivers” (MADD). FocusDriven’s president, Jennifer Smith, has a personal stake in stopping this driving pattern. Her mother was killed by a man who ran a red light while talking on his cell phone.

The tougher laws planned may not be so easily enforced. There are laws prohibiting texting in 19 states and the District of Columbia, but in 4 of those states the law requires the officer to have another reason to be stopping the motorist. In addition, texting is usually done with the phone below the view of the officer. Hands free devices are supposed to help, but many people are still pretty distracted trying to drive and talk at the same time. Some have suggested some sort of signal block in our cars to prevent using the cell phone at all while driving. Somehow I doubt that will be a very popular stance.

What is the solution? Obama is leading the crusade against cell phone distraction. (See my blog post Obama’s war on cell phone usage while driving…) Oprah is asking for pledges to stop texting while driving on her website. Perhaps with more awareness, the problem will diminish. I think however that the American public is too self centered to believe they personally are accountable to stop texting or calling while driving.

I am not confident any amount of legislation will prevent talking while driving. And I keep repeating the question, “Do we want more laws and attempts at controlling our lives?”