You know hiking is good for your health. But do you know just how good it is?

For adults, regular aerobic exercise such as hiking leads to:

* Improved cardiorespiratory fitness (heart, lungs, blood vessels)

* Improved muscular fitness

* Lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke

* Lower risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes

* Lower risk of high cholesterol and triglycerides

* Lower risk of colon and breast cancer, and possibly lung and endometrial cancer

* Increased bone density or a slower loss of density

* Reduced depression and better quality sleep

* Lower risk of early death (If you are physically active for 7 hours a week, your risk of dying early is 40% lower than someone active for less than 30 minutes a week.

* Weight control; hiking burns up 370 calories an hour (154-lb person)

Kids get many of the same benefits, including:

* Improved cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness

* Better bone health

* Less chance of becoming overweight

* Less chance of developing risk factors for heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes

* Possibly reduced risk of depression and feeling less stress, more ready to learn in school

* Sleeping better at night

What’s more, hiking exercises almost every part of your body: legs, knees, ankles, arms, hips and butt, abdominals, shoulders and neck. “Hiking exercises your body and your mind, and nourishes your imagination,” says Ignacio Malpica, a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer in Boulder, Colorado. “It creates awareness in your eyes and ears and the rest of your senses.”

How much activity do you need to reap these incredible health benefits? Experts say getting active for just 150 minutes a week – doing “moderate-intensity” aerobic exercise such as moderate hiking or brisk walking – leads to most of these benefits (reducing risks of colon and breast cancer requires another hour a week). That’s only 2½ hours a week. And you don’t have to do it all at once. Sneaking in a lunchtime hike up the hill near your office counts toward your total, as long as you’re active for at least ten minutes.

If you take part in more vigorous aerobic activities, such as running, dancing, or hiking uphill or with a heavy pack, you need only half that amount of time, or 75 minutes a week, to get health benefits.

What’s moderate exercise? You can talk, but you can’t sing during the activity. Vigorous? You can’t say more than a few words with pausing for breath. “When you are doing moderate exercise, you can continue for a long time, and you are breathing rhythmically,” explains Malpica. “With vigorous exercise, you can’t do it for more than a few minutes at a time.”

And if you rack up even more time, the benefits keep growing too. For even more substantial health benefits, such as an even lower risk of heart disease, aim for 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, or 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise each week.

Of course, there are other kinds of physical activity. It’s also important to do some muscle-strengthening activities, such as lifting weights or doing push-ups. The experts say do those at least twice a week. You also need to get in some bone-strengthening activity, which occurs when force on your bones promotes bone growth and strength. Here again, hiking fits the bill.

Another plus: you don’t have to be in perfect shape to start. Even if you are overweight, getting physical can lead to health benefits. But don’t run out and climb a steep peak if you’ve long been inactive. The experts say if you’re 35 or older and have been inactive for several years, or you already have a condition such as high blood pressure, check with your doctor first. “Hiking is a great way to start exercising,” says Malpica. “Start with easy hikes and work up to steeper hikes that work your legs more.”

Kids (age 6-17) need 60 minutes of physical activity each day, mostly aerobic. They also need regular muscle-strengthening (playing on playground equipment, climbing trees) and bone-strengthening (running, playing basketball, jumping rope) exercise.

Track Your Workouts

Keeping track of your activity can help you rack up the minutes. Note what you did as well as the length of each workout, and tally it up at the end of the week. Watching your progress can be a great motivator.

Use a calendar to track your workouts. Or try one of the many online options, such as MapMyHike.com, where you can map your own hikes and share your routes with others.

CONNECT THE DOTS

For more on the health benefits of exercise and to download an activity tracker, see the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines. To learn more about hiking (including a state-by-state directory of parks), see the American Hiking Society site, and read about some enticing hiking trips on Call of the Wild. Introduce your children to hiking safety and trail manners with GoodHiker’s resources. Track your hiking miles on MapMyHike. Find out more about the exercise for kids on MedlinePlus.

“The majority of people coming into my office for knee surgery are in their 50s,” says Steven Haas MD, Chief of Knee Surgery and Attending Orthopedic Surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. This is a big shift in demand compared to 20 years ago, when fewer than 10% of knee replacement patients were in their 50s.

Innovative technologies in implant design and surgical techniques are meeting the growing demand for knee replacements among active Baby Boomers, providing both longer-lasting results and a faster recovery.

The FDA recently cleared a 30-year knee implant, based on simulated wear tests that showed an 81% reduction in wear, the leading cause of knee replacement failure. The implant uses VERILAST technology – a combination of oxidized zirconium (OXINIUM) for the femoral component and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) on the tibial side. As older knee implants made from chrome cobalt metal usually lasted only about 10-15 years, surgeons were reluctant to put them into people under 60 years old – they tried to match the implant survivor curve to the predicted lifespan of the patient.

Haas says that more recent knee implants are more functional than earlier versions, because the design has come a long way to fit the anatomy of the patient as closely as possible and provide a more natural articulation compared to the first knee implants that only hinged and were the same for both left and right sides.

Surgeons are also now using smaller instruments and minimally invasive surgical techniques to minimize trauma to the patient, leading to faster recovery. Dr. Hass developed the first minimally invasive surgical instruments in 2003. He says, “What we want to do is cut as little as possible to put the parts in, to do as little collateral damage to get access and minimize the trauma. With more anatomically shaped instruments, we are making the instruments fit the opening instead of the opening fit the instrument.”

Minimally invasive surgical techniques involve using smaller incisions to access the knee area after the patient receives a local anesthetic via epidural. The knee replacement operation is performed without needing to cut the quadriceps tendon or flip the kneecap upside down to gain access, as was required with older surgical techniques. Recoveries for patients who receive the minimally invasive surgical technique are significantly faster: most patients are able to resume their activities 6 weeks after surgery rather than 3 months.

Longer lasting implants and a quick recovery are appealing considerations for Baby Boomers, especially since the need for knee replacement is on the rise for that age group. Those in their 50s in general are more active than people in that group were a generation ago and they expect to maintain that active lifestyle for as long as possible. Expectations for the variety of activities have changed as well. Dr. Hass reports that Baby Boomers won’t settle for just walking around the block, “they want to be able to bike, hike, play tennis, ski, dance and play with their kids.”

All of this was good news for Jane Byron, age 51, a nurse who had both knees replaced in 2010 by Haas. An extremely active person who works on her feet and works out at the gym everyday, Jane tore her meniscus in a rollerblading accident. Subsequent arthroscopic surgery did not address her mobility issues. After minimally invasive surgery with new knee implants, she was pedaling a stationary bike for 45 minutes two days after surgery and pressing 75 pounds on the squat rack two months later.

CONNECT THE DOTS

Learn more about the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, where more knee replacements and hip surgeries are performed than any other hospital in the U.S. Read stories about other patients who have had minimally invasive surgery for knee implants. Visit Smith & Nephew to learn about total knee replacement and VERILAST knee implant technology. You may also like our earlier post, Hip Resurfacing – Better Than Hip Replacement?

28 million Americans suffer from debilitating migraines. And biofeedback can help put them in the driver’s seat by teaching them to control or modify their own body responses – responses that normally aren’t controlled voluntarily. Notably, it can aid in reducing muscle tension, a culprit in heightening migraine pain and, of course, in ubiquitous tension headaches. Biofeedback can also reduce stress, which is known to exacerbate migraine symptoms.

How does biofeedback work? Think of the way a thermometer can measure a physiological state externally. Well, biofeedback does the same thing – only more so. Various electronic or electromechanical instruments painlessly measure and process information about physiological functions like temperature, muscle tension, blood pressure, heart rate and brain waves. They then display the results in real-time in lines on a monitor or, perhaps, by emitting tones of varying pitch.

Essentially, biofeedback therapists train people to use their own thoughts to control what is happening in their bodies. First, they must become aware of subtle physiological signals, then learn to focus on them, and – generally while watching their progress on a screen – ultimately to manipulate them.

Reducing muscle tension helps because migraines generally have a muscle contraction component, says George von Bozzay Ph.D., founder and clinical director of the Biofeedback Institute of San Francisco. He trains patients to locate and isolate target muscles, then to contract and release them. “It’s sort of like learning how to wiggle your ears,” he says. In other words, it takes practice. He recommends eight to twelve treatment sessions and perhaps ten minutes of focused relaxation exercises twice daily.

For many, the commitment to changing thought processes or breathing patterns with techniques like guided imagery or abdominal breathing pays off by reducing pain.  A 2008 review of ninety-four separate studies of biofeedback and migraine and tension-type headaches, published in the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, concluded it is effective in reducing migraine and headache frequency and pain levels.

“It’s a very helpful technique,” says Seymour Diamond, M.D., founder of the Diamond Headache Clinic and of the National Headache Foundation. His clinic uses temperature training, progressive relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing, all to provoke the body’s natural relaxation response.

Sensors or electrodes are generally applied to the head and fingers, then connected to the equipment. The therapist takes a baseline reading, then demonstrates how to evoke a quantifiably different physiological response by changing thinking or breathing. Slowing breathing and synchronizing it to the heart rhythm with progressive relaxation or visualization techniques, for example, can work well.

There are various types of biofeedback equipment. Electromyography (EMG) measures muscle tension. And von Bozzey believes tackling that with biofeedback can derail an approaching migraine, “because it doesn’t get triggered, it doesn’t have the muscle contraction precursor.”

Many experts like von Bozzey believe blood vessel constriction is involved in migraines. Frequently, migraines are preceded by a drop in hand temperature because “there’s less blood flow, there’s less heat flow,” he says. Temperature training with guided imagery or slow abdominal breath helps patients warm their own hands. “We’re trying to get them to redirect the blood flow to their arms or hands and away from the head,” Dr. Diamond adds.

Biofeedback’s end goal is to completely eliminate the need for instruments by having patients internalize the techniques. The external loop – electrode to machine to patient – is replaced, he says, “with an internal loop that the person is aware of inside their body.” But biofeedback is no substitute for medical care. Always discuss symptoms and treatment with a physician.

Heart rate variability machines can work well for training respiration, says von Bozzay. He suggests a few training sessions with a healthcare provider or therapist before going it alone. Some devices are portable, others connect to a Mac or PC. See the Resperate, the StressEraser, and the emWave.

CONNECT THE DOTS

Find a certified practitioner through the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance. More information is available through the American Migraine Foundation, the University of Maryland Medical Center, and the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

Jim Furyk wants to do everything he can to avoid sports injuries–and MRI scans.  In 2004, the former U.S. Open golf champion suffered a wrist injury that sidelined him from the PGA Tour for five months. “I had more than a dozen MRIs to diagnose the problem and that’s when I found out that I have an issue with claustrophobia,” says Furyk.  “I was squashed in a noisy tube inside the machine in an uncomfortable position, with my body parts going numb. I could feel my heart racing and there were times when I had to count to ten to calm myself down.”

To help others avoid sport injuries—and uncomfortable tests–the 2010 PGA Player of the Year has teamed up GE healthymagination, an official marketing partner of the PGA Tour. Furyk, 41, offers these tips on staying healthy and physically active at every age:

* Eat a well-balanced diet. Athletes need the right fuel for optimum performance, so Furyk recommends a healthy diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables. Also be sure to get enough calcium and vitamin D, both of which help keep bones strong.

* Exercise regularly. If your favorite sport involves repetitive motions, as is the case with golf, combine it with workouts that exercise other muscle groups. “The PGA trainers work to get both sides of our body symmetrical,” says Furyk, whose fitness routine includes core stabilizing exercises and workouts designed to improve balance. He also recommends finding fun fitness routines the entire family can enjoy, such as outdoor sports and swimming.

* Pay attention to pain. Don’t try to tough it out if something is hurting. If home treatment, such as rest and ice packs, isn’t enough to quickly relieve the pain of a sports injury, consult a doctor. Continuing to exercise when you’re hurt could worsen the injury. It’s important to get an accurate diagnosis and the right treatment to help your injury heal. Furyk has recovered completely from the 2004 wrist injury, which was treated with surgery.

For people who have suffered wrist, arm, ankle or leg injuries that require precise imaging, an innovative new MR extremity scanner, the Optima MR430s, offers both exceptional comfort and a patient-friendly experience, because only the targeted anatomy (a leg or arm) goes inside the system, says William Morrison, MD, Director of Musculoskeletal Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “This scanning technology delivers extremely high-quality images and helps eliminate the anxiety and discomfort that can be associated with full-body MR scan.”

Instead of being cramped inside a MRI tube, patients recline on a padded, adjustable chair while their arm or leg is positioned inside the scanner. “Because patients can sit in a comfortable position, it’s easier for them to hold still, avoiding accidental movements that can make the image blurry,” adds Dr. Morrison. “It’s a groundbreaking technology that optimizes both patient experience and image quality.” Furyk hasn’t been scanned with the new GE Healthcare MR scanner, but should Furyk ever suffer another wrist injury that requires MR imaging, he says, “Next time, I’d rather sit comfortably and have the scan done with the Optima MR430s.”

CONNECT THE DOTS

To learn more about the Optima MR430s MR scanner, and find out how it’s surprising people, visit www.gehealthcare.com/extremelysurprising. To see a video of my interview with Jim Furyk, with more tips on healthy lifestyle and injury prevention, go to: Mac http://client.dssimon.com/demo/edl32_geblog.mp4 PC: http://client.dssimon.com/demo/edl32_geblog.wmv

This year’s Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2011 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, saw an increased focus on collaboration between doctors and patients, leveraging technology to deliver more personalized care. Healthcare professionals at the show shared a common goal of enhancing the relationship among clinicians and increasing communication with patients, whether they were at HIMSS to begin educating themselves about these challenges or actively evaluating potential solutions. This common goal spanned across geographies as well. The GE Healthcare booth hosted visitors from around the globe, including guests from Australia, Belgium, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, among others. All are motivated to use healthcare technology solutions to improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs and inefficiencies.

At the GE Healthcare booth, we showcased innovative technologies to connect doctors and patients across the community. Our portfolio of eHealth products enables collaboration by aggregating patient health information from across a community’s many different IT systems and then delivering insight to patients and doctors through easy-access web portals. With eHealth Patient Online, patients can do things such as view their medical information, upload glucose readings, and send secure emails to their doctor. And now, with the launch of eHealth Community Desktop, doctors have a new portal platform for accessing clinical information available in a health information exchange (HIE) such as lab results and hospital discharge summaries. eHealth Community Desktop is an open, web-based platform for hosting software apps. By using apps for direct messaging and image viewing, doctors are now able to collaborate with colleagues and patients in more efficient and effective ways than relying on unsecure email, phone calls, mail, and fax. At HIMSS, we also demonstrated a prototype of eHealth Community Desktop on the Apple iPad, and we saw a large amount of interest in the use of mobile apps for on-to-go access to critical clinical data.

One of GE Healthcare’s longstanding HIE customers, Keystone Health Information Exchange (KeyHIE), will go live with eHealth Community Desktop in the second quarter of this year. They will be using the solution to extend the reach of their HIE, strengthen relationships with community physicians in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania and meet the goals of their recently awarded Beacon Award from the Office of the National Coordinator. KeyHIE demonstrated its in-production HIE at HIMSS on Tuesday to a standing-room only crowd. This Live Exchange was new this year as part of the HIMSS Interoperability ShowcaseTM and was really exciting to see — it featured healthcare professionals presenting standards-based interoperability solutions already deployed in their clinical workplace. HIMSS attendees were very interested in these real-life demonstrations because they showed how connecting doctors and patients across the community leads to better patient care.

It was clear from HIMSS 2011 that healthcare, like other industries, is leveraging the latest digital technologies in a big way. It might not be long before we are all are communicating with our doctors right from our phones via mobile apps and sending our latest medical records across town via the web.

CONNECT THE DOTS

To read more about GE healthcare innovations, listen to the podcast on The Health Care Blog as Matthew Holt interviews Earl Jones, VP and GM of eHealth Solutions on Electronic Health Records and HIEs. Also take a look at “GE Show ‘Healthy Hospitals’ Debuts Digital Storytelling,” which highlights new technologies that are helping make medical centers smarter and safer, and our new “Patient Shuffle” phone app, an addictive game that gives users an appreciation of the challenges of running a hospital.

“Safe drinking water is critical in establishing and maintaining healthy populations around the world,” states Jack E. Barker, president of IWT and inventor of the Sunspring™.  “It’s very exciting for all of us to think about the difference we can make for so many people worldwide, and we’re looking forward to partnering with GE.”

“A critical element of healthymagination is partnership with like-minded companies,” said Trajan Bayly, director of healthymagination. “Sunspring is a powerful IWT innovation built in concert with GE innovation.  Healthymagination validation is a testament to the benefits of IWT’s product. We are honored to celebrate this achievement with them.”

IWT integrates state-of-the-art technologies into the Sunspring™ from valued partners such as Pentair, a joint venture partially owned by GE Water & Process Technologies. Through this relationship, the Sunspring™ was identified as a candidate for healthymagination validation in 2009.  The Sunspring™ has since received validation from Oxford Analytica’s Consulting Practice, the third party responsible for validating healthymagination products according to their measurable achievements in the areas of cost, quality and access.

In the last year, IWT and GE worked together to provide relief in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Since the earthquake, the GE Foundation has purchased 12 Sunspring™ units for relief efforts. The units have been producing clean, safe drinking water for thousands of Haitians and relief workers, and many of the units have moved from emergency camps to become permanent fixtures in orphanages, schools, hospitals, and villages.

Introduced in 2007, the Sunspring™ is currently producing safe drinking water in eight countries around the world, and is ideal for immediate, short, mid and long-term water solutions.  Because the Sunspring™ will process up to 5,000 gallons per day for up to ten years, it is one of the most economical water systems available, at a cost as low as $.0013 per gallon.  Beyond GE’s healthymagination validation, the Sunspring™ is the only decentralized solar water plant in the world that is WQA (Water Quality Association) Gold Seal Certified to the US EPA Standard for microbiological water purifiers.

CONNECT THE DOTS

For more information about the Sunspring™, visit http://www.innovativeh2o.com. For more news about water purification, check out our blog posts, “New Technology to Tackle the Drinking Water Crisis in Developing Countries” and “New Water Purification Technologies Help Travelers Stay Healthy.”

Medical errors are the eighth leading cause of death in the US, costing an estimated $29 billion a year. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine’s groundbreaking report, “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System,” shocked and frightened patients by revealing that potentially preventable medical errors killed nearly 100,000 patients a year at US hospitals each year. To help hospitals combat this dangerous problem, a 2005 law facilitated creation of patient safety organizations (PSOs). The role of these entities, which must receive a PSO designation from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is to capture, track and analyze self-reported data about adverse events at participating facilities.

Today, the Secretary of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) listed the GE-MERS National Patient Safety Organization as part of AHRQ’s PSO program. With this federal designation and 16 founding members, the GE PSO plans to expand to include additional hospitals across the US, says Kathy Martin, GE Healthcare Performance Solutions and Managing Director of the GE PSO. “Our powerful medical event reporting platform standardizes data collection, with advisory support and analytics to help member hospitals identify and mitigate potential safety risks.”

In particular, the GE PSO will examine the complex roots of risk. For example, what environmental factors should hospitals monitor to reduce error rates or preventable complications for a certain type of procedure? How have some members been successful at reducing rates of ventilator associated pneumonia? Why have others been less successful? “A strength of the platform is that it pools detailed data from the members to facilitate analysis and comparisons across the member base,” adds Martin. This could potentially offer insights into new risk-reduction strategies that could enhance safety that might not emerge by looking at results from just one hospital.

“Over a decade has passed since the Institute of Medicine made an influential call to decrease the number of costly medical errors that kill nearly 100,000 Americans each year; however, event-reporting limitations have often impeded progress toward this goal,” adds Jan De Witte, President and CEO, GE Healthcare Performance Solutions. “Our Performance Solutions business has the elements necessary – reporting, analytics and advisory – to help hospitals make measurable and lasting improvements in patient safety. Performance Solutions has a long term commitment to helping the healthcare industry reduce cost, improve quality and increase access and we will continue to invest in new technology capabilities and programs that improve overall performance.”

To create the sophisticated infrastructure required to capture and analyze data captured through MERS, GE’s PSO has partnered with SAS Institute Inc., a leader in providing analytic tools.

“Many state governments and insurance companies require hospitals to report patient safety incidents, but the programs aren’t generally structured to offer follow-up trend information or process improvement support,” says Martin. “What sets GE’s PSO apart is its ability to pinpoint the risks of patient harm. We’ve built the PSO to create new knowledge by first providing every member with a common event reporting system that captures data in the richest possible manner. Then, we’ve organized the database so that we can apply SAS tools and the expertise of our members to find those critical insights. We believe this approach will enable us to understand them and help move our clients towards are a patient safe culture.”

Of the 16 hospitals serving as founding members, 10 are affiliated with the Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI) and three comprise the Care New England Health System. “We are pleased that the GE PSO has earned this designation,” said Director of Health, Rhode Island, David R. Gifford, MD, MPH. “As one of the founding members of the GE PSO, Rhode Island hospitals have shown tireless dedication to patient safety and quality improvement. This designation will allow our hospitals to collect information, while continuously reviewing and evaluating policies and standards, and as a result, improve patient care in the state.”

CONNECT THE DOTS

Read more about the GE PSO here and join in on the safety conversation on the Next Level website. For news about other GE patient safety innovations, check out our blog post, “Smart Patient Room Monitors Safety.” Also take a look at “GE Show ‘Healthy Hospitals’ Debuts Digital Storytelling,” which highlights new technologies that are helping make medical centers smarter and safer, and our new “Patient Shuffle” phone app, an addictive game that gives users an appreciation of the challenges of running a hospital.

If slimming down is one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2011, here’s a strategy that could make it easier to shed surplus pounds: track what you eat. In a study by Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research, people who kept a daily food diary had double the weight loss of those who didn’t keep any records. The simple act of tracking food intake helps curb the urge to overindulge, the researchers theorized, since people tend to consume fewer calories when they record what they eat—and reflect on their dietary patterns.

The new My Diet Diary-Calorie Counter iPhone app, released by GE and MedHelp, the world’s largest health social network, lets users closely monitor their calorie balance by tracking food, exercise and more to help them achieve their weight loss goals. The app is available as a free download on Android as well as iTunes for the iPhone and iPod touch, and includes four easy-to-use trackers:

*A food tracker to log what you eat. It automatically calculates the total number of calories consumed, providing helpful feedback. Monitoring how many calories you’re taking in is the first step to lowering the total. My Diet Diary also calculates personalized nutritional requirements (calories, vitamins, minerals) based on your age, gender, current and goal weights, and goal date.

*An exercise tracker that records workouts to compute the number of calories burned. The CDC advises adults to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (such as brisk walking) a week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise (such as jogging or running) and to do muscle-strengthening exercises, such as lifting weights, working out with resistance bands, or yoga, two or more days a week.

*A weight tracker that shows how your actual weight is trending against your goal weight. The app allows you to check if you’re on track to lose pounds, gain them or stay the same, allowing you to modifying your eating and exercise habits accordingly.

*A water tracker to keep tabs on total water consumption, an essential component of weight loss. A 2010 clinical trial reported that middle-aged and older dieters who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner lost five more pounds than those who didn’t increase their water intake during the 12-week study. That’s because the calorie-free quaff appears to make people feel fuller, so they eat less.

The app also features a social networking component, allowing users to share their progress with friends on Facebook and MedHelp for encouragement and support. “Two-thirds of Americans need to lose weight, yet most fail at that goal — and it’s not for lack of willpower or trying,” said John de Souza, CEO of MedHelp. “We believe that they don’t have the proper tools and information to help them succeed. My Diet Diary gives the control back to users by allowing them to see how they are tracking at any moment against their weight goals. It empowers them to make choices in that moment to succeed.”

A calendar view quickly shows if you have met your calorie target each day, and charts detail hourly, daily, weekly and monthly calorie requirements and weight changes. The app also calculates the user’s basal metabolism rate, to show how many calories are burned at rest and through daily activities to provide insight into calorie expenditure.

“This app supports the healthymagination theme of better health for more people by giving users the tools they need to reach their diet and exercise goals,” said Linda Boff, global director of marketing communications at GE. “My Diet Diary is all about personalization – from weight loss or gain targets to nutritional requirements to messages of support from friends.”

CONNECT THE DOTS

My Diet Diary is the fourth of a series of free mobile apps that GE and MedHelp have created to help consumers lead healthier lives. The first was the popular iPhone pregnancy app, I’m Expecting, followed by Sleep On It, a sleep tracker and alarm app, and Moody Me, a mood tracker app, which was released earlier this month. For more dieting and exercise information, visit Weight-control Information Network and the Centers for Disease Control. Also check out our blog post, “4 Healthy Ways to Lose Weight—And Keep It Off.”

If you’re trying to quit smoking, here’s more motivation to snuff out the habit: Along with lowering your risk for heart disease, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), it also dramatically reduces the threat of bladder cancer. Most people don’t know that tobacco use is linked to about 50 percent of bladder cancer cases. The culprit is metabolites of the tobacco that get flushed out of the body through the bladder.

Bladder cancer only tends to hit the headlines when a celebrity goes public with their diagnoses, like Patti Hansen (Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards’ wife) who was diagnosed 2 years ago, or basketball great Maurice Lucas “the Enforcer” died from bladder cancer recently at age 58. The National Cancer Institute estimates that it will strike 70,530 Americans this year, and kill 14,680. What makes this especially tragic is at least half of these cases could potentially have been prevented by one simple precaution: avoiding smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke.

I am a 63-year-old woman who lives without a bladder. I lost it in an operating room at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center after I was diagnosed with bladder cancer 10 years ago. I had the usual first symptom, blood in the toilet. Like most women, I brought it to the attention of my gynecologist, who thought the blood was coming from my uterus. After a uterine biopsy, followed by antibiotics for a possible kidney infection, I was finally referred to an urologist who scoped me in the office, saw the tumors and referred me to a surgeon.

Of all the diseases I’d ever worried about, bladder cancer wasn’t even on the list. I thought it was something a 80-year-old man might get. And I didn’t have any of the usual risk factors: I worked out in gym five days a week and ate a healthy diet. And as a psychologist, I hadn’t been exposed to hazardous chemicals. I’d never smoked, but I had been exposed to second-hand smoke for years at home and work. The cancer had already spread to my lymph nodes. That meant I had stage 4 cancer, the most advanced stage. Knowing that my chances of surviving the next 5 years were less than 60 percent, I put all of my energy into getting well.

To save my life, I had to lose my bladder. I now have a new urine reservoir in my abdomen constructed out of a piece of my colon. I void by inserting a catheter through a stoma on my belly. With all the recycled body parts, I felt like a Home Depot plumbing project, but I am fine and fully back in my life and work. I just can’t leave home without a wallet-sized catheterization kit. My plumbing alteration is one of the treatment options. There has been considerable progress in the surgical options if the bladder has to be removed. The oldest is the ileal conduit, where the ureters from the kidneys are brought to the surface of the abdomen, a stoma is created, and the patient wears an external bag into which urine drains. I have the Indiana pouch. The newest option is the replacement of the bladder with a reservoir also constructed of bowel tissue, but the neobladder is attached to the existing urethra, so the patient can void without any equipment. Another possibility still in the research phase is regenerating bladder tissue, using stem cells harvested from the patient’s own bone marrow or in some cases, from the original bladder.

Like me, women typically are diagnosed as much as a year later than men with the same symptom of blood in the urine. Other symptoms include frequent or painful urination. This delay means that women are typically diagnosed at a later stage of the illness. As a result, even though four times more men than women get bladder cancer, women have a 30 percent to 50 percent higher risk of dying from it. Part of the problem is that women and their doctors are so used to women’s bleeding that it does not raise alarms the same way it does for men.

Quitting smoking—or never starting–is the best prevention. A recent study found that smoking-related bladder cancer is on the rise, with smokers in New Hampshire today having nearly four times the risk of bladder cancer than those living in the mid-1990s, possibly due to changes in cigarette design. The researchers also found that among people who smoked the same number of cigarettes in their lifetime, those who smoked fewer per day over a longer period were at higher risk. But here’s the encouraging news: Four years after quitting, the risk of bladder cancer drops by up to 40 percent. Snuffing out the habit is good for your heart, lungs—and bladder.

CONNECT THE DOTS

To learn more, visit the websites of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, American Cancer Society, or Bladder Cancer WebCafe, which offers valuable information for all stages of diagnosis and treatment, with a helpful listserv. Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network provides education and support. For help with quitting smoking, check out Smokefree.gov.

From telemedicine to help address a doctor shortage in Bangladesh to smoking cessation in China and a new weapon against HIV that’s shown early promise in Africa, 2010 has been an exciting year of medical breakthroughs and new ideas. One theme that runs through many of these stories is how simple, yet powerful innovation can be.  Low-cost solutions to daunting medical problems often involve leveraging existing tools and technologies in an ingenious new way to transform health in developing countries. Here’s a look at our top ten health stories from around the globe. What do you consider the biggest health breakthroughs of the year?

*A Simple Solution to Help Combat Cholera in Haiti. With more than 1.5 million people left homeless by the January 12 earthquake, the recent cholera outbreak is a grave threat. The disease can cause such severe vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration that it can kill within hours. Yet a simple treatment—hailed as one of the greatest medical advances of the past 150 years—can save lives at an average cost of just $6 per patient. Known as oral rehydration therapy (ORT), it’s made of three ingredients available almost everywhere: sugar, salt and water. Clinical trials in Bangladesh in the 1960s showed that ORT works just as well as IV fluids, at a fraction of the cost. Since then, it has saved more 40 million lives around the world, and is now being used as one of the treatments in Haiti.

*Cigarette Smoking: A Global Health Challenge. Smoking kills 5 million people a year, more than twice as many as HIV/AIDS does. The carnage is greatest in lower and middle-income countries like China, home to one-third of the world’s smokers. To help snuff out this deadly habit, 168 nations, including China, have signed on to the world’s first tobacco control treaty, which requires partner nations to use scientifically proven strategies, such as restrictions on cigarette ads, high cigarette taxes, prominent warning labels on cigarette packs with both written and graphic warnings. In the U.S., the FDA released for comment  36 proposed warning labels, including one with a toe tag on a corpse. The World Health Organization tobacco control treaty also requires measures for protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in public places, thus helping to protect kids and nonsmoking adults from the many hazards of secondhand smoke.

*What’s Triggering the Global Autoimmune Disease Epidemic? Being too clean could be making us sick. That’s the reasoning behind the “hygiene hypothesis,” the theory that lack of exposure to dirt, germs and intestinal parasites are weakening our immune systems, making us more susceptible to autoimmune diseases. Rates are soaring in developing countries around the world, with 5 to 7 percent of the population affected. Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has jumped from one in 10,000 people to one in 200. Researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston are testing an unusual “medication” for Crohn’s disease (a type of IBD): an investigational treatment with live whipworms, an intestinal parasite. Their study found that 50 percent of those treated with the worm therapy had a major improvement, versus 15 percent of the control group.

*India Workplace Study Offers Solutions to “Lifestyle Diseases.” Everyone has heard of diseases of poverty, such as malaria and TB. But did you know there are also illnesses of prosperity? So-called  “lifestyle diseases” like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, already an epidemic in developed nations, are now attacking in fast-developing countries like India as the population moves from farm labor to desk jobs. But a workplace program costing just $7.30 a year per employee has shown remarkable promise for promoting healthy behavior. Workers were given videos, posters, booklets and counseling sessions to help them exercise more, eat more fruits and vegetables, cut down on salt, and quit smoking, As a result, risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes dropped dramatically.

*How the Mediterranean Diet Helps the Heart. Research suggests that the well-known Mediterranean diet may help trim risk for heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. But until recently, scientists didn’t know why it works so well. Earlier this year, scientists in Spain discovered that natural chemicals called polyphenols, found in virgin olive oil actually change the expression of genes that otherwise promote heart disease. The study reported that polyphenols dialed down expression of genes that promote inflammation, a cardiovascular risk factor, and also reduced oxidation of lipids the contribute to heart disease, such as cholesterol and trigylerides—findings that open a whole new window into the profound impact of healthy eating habits.

*Diabetes Discovery in Northern Sweden. Globally, 285 million adults are living with diabetes, described as one of the most challenging health problems of the 21^st century. To probe the mysteries of this complex disease, scientists in a small town in Sweden are studying blood samples stored in a medical “biobank.” They’ve already identified nine genetic defects that trigger high blood sugar and are investigating why obesity influences risk. Other research suggests that people at high risk for the disease can delay—or even prevent—it by losing weight through a low-fat, reduced calorie diet and regular exercise–simple lifestyle changes that can trim the threat significantly.

*Anti-HIV Gel A Promising Prevention Method for Women. In what may be a major breakthrough, a study in South African has shown for the first time that a vaginal microbicide gel can help reduce HIV infection in women. Those who applied it most consistently during the nearly three-year trial had a 54 percent drop in risk, compared to women who used a placebo. Although the still experimental gel, which contains tenofovir—an anti-viral drug commonly used to treated HIV—appeared safe and effective in the study, further research is essential to confirm the findings. Even partial protection would be a huge victory in South Africa, where one out of three women is infected with HIV by age 20. The gel is not currently approved for sale anywhere in the world, but if preliminary results are supported by further research and the product is mass-produced in the future, is likely to cost less than 25 cents per application.

*Indonesia’s New Health Regime. One of the best—and least expensive—ways for developing countries to cope with daunting medical challenges is by learning from each other. One  “frugal innovation” that could help boost the health of Indonesia’s people is emulating Bangladesh’s telemedicine program, in which mobile health entrepreneurs—usually local women—go from house to house in villages where doctors are scarce, using portable technology, such as handheld ultrasound devices, and questionnaires to check on the health of neighbors.  Doctors in a central location analyze the data and provide treatment advice—an approach that could also expand access to care in Indonesia, suggests Old problems, fresh solutions: Indonesia’s new health regime, an Economist Intelligence report sponsored by GE.

*Tuberculosis: New Weapons Against an Old Disease. TB is an ancient disease found in Egyptian mummies. Today, it affects two billion people—one-third of the world’s population.  Multidrug resistant TB is now an epidemic in India and China. GE scientists in those countries—and the U.S.—are exploring if existing technologies could be adapted to create point-of-care tests for faster diagnosis. “A rapid test could help control TB, since it continues to spread until patients are diagnosed, isolated and treated with the right drugs,” says Lee Reichman, MD, MPH, executive director, New Jersey Medical School Global Tuberculosis Institute, who isn’t involved with the GE effort. “I applaud GE for working to improve care of a disease that isn’t sexy or in the news because it mainly affects poor people in developing nations. With TB killing two million people a year, advances are desperately needed.”

*Why Do the Japanese Live the Longest? The average Japanese woman will live to celebrate her 86^th birthday, the longest life expectancy in the world. And so many Okinawans survive to age 100—or beyond—that there is an ongoing study of their extraordinarily longevity. Three simple, healthy habits that may help explain it are an active lifestyle, even in old age; a heart-healthy diet rich in fruits, whole grain, vegetables and oily fish; and the cultural tradition of “hara hachi bu,” only eating until they feel 80 percent full.

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To learn more about global health, visit the websites of the World Health Organization and the Global Health Council. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Global Health Affairs offers information on refugee health, global health threats and other resources.