Patients and Text Messaging: A Boundary Issue

In The American Journal of Psychiatry a doctor from Philadelphia gives an example of doctor-patient communication by text messaging. The clinical implications of this form of nontraditional contact are explored and an approach to patient text messaging is provided.

SMS has Major Role to Play for Swine Flu Vaccination

Because of a Royal Mail strike in the UK, chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson has warned that thousands of people could miss appointments for their swine flu vaccine due to these postal strikes.

In response the Department of Health is now actively encouraging GPs and hospitals to use text messaging to reach patients.

[via eHealthNews]

Cell Phone May Reduce Bone Density in Hips

Of all the ills cell phones are blamed for, we've never heard this one before: Wearing a cell phone on your hip may reduce bone density in an area of the pelvis commonly used for bone grafts. HealthDay News reports.

A new study by Turkish researchers, published in the September issue of the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, suggests that "electromagnetic fields emitted by cell phones may have a harmful effect on bone density".

Image left:Cell Phone Holster above from PlumberPlus.

Winning "Come Clean 4 Congo" Video

Back in May, YouTube asked their readers to make videos demonstrating the connection between the "conflict minerals" used in cell phones and the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Matt's winning video, voted #1 by the YouTube community, used spoken word to take a far-away, complex issue and make it understandable and compelling. [via YouTube Blog]

... The Enough Project saw the connection between the minerals that are mined in the Congo and used in our cell phones, and wanted to use that connection to bring this issue home to people living in the U.S. Thanks too to all the YouTube users who made videos to raise awareness of this issue. If you'd like to learn more about what you can do to help, go to the Enough Project's website.

Related:

-- Stop Texting, to Save Lives in Africa

-- Coltan and Your Mobile: A M0pocket Repentance And Mobile Community Call To Action

-- Recycled phones and "blood Tantalum"

Long-term use of mobile phones 'may be linked to cancer'

A £20million ($33million), decade-long investigation overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO) will publish evidence that heavy users face a higher risk of developing brain tumours later in life, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The conclusion (of the Interphone studies) while not definitive, will undermine assurances from the government that the devices are safe and is expected to put ministers under pressure to issue stronger guidance.

A preliminary breakdown of the results found a “significantly increased risk” of some brain tumours “related to use of mobile phones for a period of 10 years or more” in some studies.

The head of the Interphone investigation said that the report would include a “public health message”.

Read full article.

Stop Texting, to Save Lives in Africa

Activists asked cell phone users to stop texting for one hour yesterday -- not to save energy or focus on the road, but to call attention to one of the deadliest and most under reported conflicts in the world. [via Commondreams.org]

The "Cell Out" campaign is part of Congo Week, a series of actions being held worldwide between Oct. 18 and 24 to call attention to what many believe is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world -- the ongoing war over resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Coltan, a mineral needed for many electronic devices, including cellular telephones, is at the center of the conflict in the DRC, which the United Nations has called the deadliest conflict anywhere since World War II.

Related:

-- Coltan and Your Mobile: A M0pocket Repentance And Mobile Community Call To Action

-- Recycled phones and "blood Tantalum"

Give blood via text messaging with the Red Cross

The Red Cross will offer real-time alerts to critical blood inventories, tips for successful blood donations or even early notification of exciting new promotions. Once you opt-in for this program, you will be able to make appointments via a click to call feature or locate a blood drive simply by entering a zip code.

Donors can subscribe to Red Cross texting simply by sending redcross to 42227 or registering at bloodisneeded.org.

[via GoMoNews]

Related Blood Donor Campaigns by SMS:

-- Cellcom to launch SMS blood donor drive - Israel's official emergency blood bank, asked mobile operator Cellcom to send an urgent SMS to all subscribers, asking them to donate blood.

-- Mobile LBS finds blood donors - KTF and Korean Red Cross provide emergency blood donation service using handsets. Subscribers who have agreed to receive urgent messages calling for blood donation can give their blood voluntarily.

-- Looking for blood donors by SMS - the State's largest blood center, will launch a pilot program -- the first of its kind in the US -- enabling the organization to directly alert specific blood donors and volunteers in "real time" via wireless text messaging.

-- Want to donate blood? Just SMS - A "Be a Blood Donor — Save a life" campaign was launched in Chennai (India) to encourage donors to sign up by texting in their blood type to a designated short code.

-- Kiss a Vampire - In January 2001, a campaign by The UK National Blood Service, invited university students to come "Kiss a Vampire" (none other than Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of TV cult series "Buffy and the Vampires") in an effort to recruit blood donors.

A study studies mobile phone/cancer studies

Studies on whether mobile phones can cause cancer, especially brain tumors, vary widely in quality and there may be some bias in those showing the least risk, researchers reported, according to stuff.

Dr. Seung-Kwon Myung of South Korea's National Cancer Center and colleagues at Ewha Womans University and Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul and the University of California, Berkeley, examined 23 published studies of more than 37,000 people in what is called a meta-analysis.

They found results often depended on who conducted the study and how well they controlled for bias and other errors.

"We found a large discrepancy in the association between mobile phone use and tumor risk by research group, which is confounded with the methodological quality of the research," they wrote in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

So where does this new information leave us? In the exact same spot, we still don't know for sure what the incidence of cell phones have on causing cancer.

Read full article

Pill Bottle Cap Sends SMS: Take your Meds

New pill bottle caps that connect to AT&T Inc.'s wireless network may soon remind you to take your meds. The State.com reports.

If the bottle isn't opened at the appointed time, the cap and night light start blinking to remind the owner to take the medication. If that doesn't serve as enough of a hint, they start playing jingles as well. If the bottle stays unopened, the night light will send a message to Vitality's system, which can then place an automated phone call or send a text message with a reminder.

A price for the new system hasn't been disclosed. Vitality hopes insurance and drug companies will get on board with the system and cover the cost.

Read full article.

Related: - SIMpill: Medication reminders via SMS - A wireless monitoring and support service for patients on chronic medication sends an SMS to the central server when the pill bottle is opened - allowing to check against a database that the incoming SMS is within the appointed time tolerance set for the patient, or should no message be received, the server can produce a number of responses such as sending a reminder to the patient's handset, a family member, or a healthcare professional.

Cellphone side effects may be all in your head

The headaches and fatigue that some people report after exposure to electronics ranging from cellphones to microwaves may be the result of a so-called "nocebo" effect, a new report suggests, because they have "a pessimistic belief and expectation that it may be harmful to human health". CTV.ca reports.

The report, released earlier this week by the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR), examines how electromagnetic fields may impact human health.

Related and contradictory:

-- Mobiles, computers can cause "electrosensitivity"

-- EHS sufferer views computer through binoculars

-- Scientists serious about 'electricity sickness' claims

-- I have to switch the mains off to get to sleep'

-- Mobiles, computers can cause "electrosensitivity"

-- Mobile mast effects to be studied

-- Mobiles, computers can cause "electrosensitivity"

-- Dutch study claims the next generation of mobile phone services can cause headaches and nausea

-- Electrosmog in the clear with scientists

Cell-Phone Radiation Risks: Why the Jury's Still Out

Another article on cell phone safety, from TIME. A good recap.

... Despite the government's view that cell phones pose no danger, other researchers note that most of us have been using them for less than a decade. If there is indeed a cumulative risk to using a mobile phone, it's possible users won't be aware of it until it's too late — just as it took doctors decades to connect cigarette-smoking with lung cancer. "We all wish we'd heeded the early warnings about cigarettes," says Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at EWG and the author of the recent report on cell phones. "We think cell phones are similar."

New iPhone Case Reduces Cell Phone Radiation by 60%

According to a press release, a protective case for the iPhone has launched which claims to reduce cell phone radiation by 60%

The Pong iPhone case is the first product proven by FCC-certified laboratories to reduce cell phone radiation. The case reduces the specific absorption rate (SAR, a mobile industry standard of measurement) by 60% and reduces intense `hotspot` cell phone radiation (Electric Field Intensity) by 85%. The Pong iPhone case is immediately available for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, through pongresearch.com.

A BlackBerry model will be available later this year, with models for other devices to follow.

Drug Addicts get text overdose advice

The BBC reports on The Swansea Drugs Project in the UK, which is asking drug addicts to sign up for text messages on what to do if they overdose and how to reduce their addiction risks.

Messages such as the following will be sent out:

DUMPING WORKS ( gizmos, spokes, spoons or fliters in public spaces is NOT OK. Keep everybody safe and dispose of them properly.

OVERDOSE:If someone is going to inject it is safer NOT to use on their own. Don't mix drugs.

NEVER SHARE cookers, spikes, spoons or filters. Identify your own works to avoid any mix ups.

Project director Ifor Glyn said their ultimate goal for users was complete abstinence, but the texts were a way of keeping drug users engaged with them.

But Tory AM Alun Cairns said any texts should try to get people off drugs instead.

Experts urge more study of cellphone radiation, especially on kids

More research is needed to determine whether cellphone radiation is harmful to humans, especially children, a panel of scientists and cancer researchers told a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Monday, reports USA Today.

... CTIA has consistently argued that radiation from cellphones has no impact on human health, and the group did so again Monday after the hearing. CTIA's view is shared by the Federal Communications Commission, which sets cellphone radiation standards for the USA.

The problem: The FCC's standards were set 17 years ago, when cellphones and usage patterns were much different, said Devra Lee Davis, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology of the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh.

Interesting, and something I had not read before:

The FCC's standards are based on the effects of cellphone radiation on a "200-pound man with an 11-pound head" who talks for just six minutes a day.

CTIA–The Wireless Association® Statement on “The Health Effects of Cell Phone Use” Hearing

Are cell phones safe? Researchers still uncertain

Leading scientists gathered in Washington, DC this week say that more research is needed to once and for all determine if cell phones cause health problems. News.com reports.

The question over whether cell phones pose a health risk has been debated for years, and researchers say the final answer could still be years away.

Since the wireless industry first began, there have been fears that cell phones could be harmful to your health. And even though some 600 studies have been conducted on the health effects of cell phone use, results have been conflicting.

... A study, funded in part by the wireless industry, started over a decade ago involving 13 countries, called Interphone, was supposed to settle the dispute. But the report's publication has been delayed as researchers disagree over how to interpret the data. Some countries have ended up publishing some results on their own. Much of it indicates there is a link between brain tumors and cell phone use of 10 years or more.

As this research becomes public, some well-respected scientists in the fields of cancer research, epidemiology, electrical and computer engineering, and electromagnetic radiation say they see reason for concern, while others say it is way too soon to make judgments. But one thing they all agree on is that more research is needed.

'Pill-check' SMS the cure?

Activists who use cellphone text messages to expose missing essential drugs from clinics in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Malawi say the same system would work well in South Africa. The Mail&GuardianOnline reports.

Members of the public run a "pill check", visiting public hospitals to check the availability of drugs at their local clinic or hospital pharmacy.

If they are turned away on the grounds that essential items are out of stock, an SMS relays the news to another cellphone, this time linked to a computer run by the African wing of the civic group Health Action International (HAI).

Software automatically punches a red dot into an online map, as long as the activists use a code. (A normal SMS from a member of the public is put in manually, after staff double-check the information.)

As shortages worsen, the dot swells in size. When an internet user clicks on the dot, a pop-up bubble displays details of what is out of stock -- contradicting possible government denials.

Within one week more than 250 out-of-stock medicines -- including anti-malarials, penicillin, antiretrovirals, diarrhoea medication and zinc tablets -- were reported in the four countries. More than 100 public hospitals and clinics in Kenya alone were exposed for operating without essential medicines.

Read full article .

Cellphone radiation levels vary widely, watchdog report says

The government watchdog group today releases a list ranking cellphones in terms of radiation. The free listing of more than 1,000 devices. [via USA Today]

In their own words: With this free, user-friendly online tool, consumers can make informed decisions about which cell phones to buy. The EWG guide uses easy-to-read graphics to illustrate each phone’s radiofrequency emissions, enabling consumers to make quick comparisons of radiation output of various wireless devices. Click here for the report.

Listing is based on phones currently available from major carriers. You can also see all available phones ranked by radiation.

Are Cell Phone Towers Honey Bees' Next Big Threat? New Study Says Yes.

As if honey bees don't have enough to worry about right now, it seems that cell phone towers may be problematic for the insects. According to a new study, a rapid drop in the bee population in Kerala, India is the result of recently installed cell phone towers, and could cause a complete collapse of bee populations within 10 years. Treehuger reports.

According to PhysOrg, an experiment conducted in Kerala showed that as mobile phone companies installed towers to expand their network, the bee population shrank. Dr. Sainuddin Pattazhy conducted the study and concluded that the electromagnetic waves from the towers shorted out the navigational abilities of worker bees so that they couldn't find their way home after going out to collect pollen.

The report states, "If towers and mobile phones further increase, honey bees might be wiped out in 10 years, Pattazhy said."

It seems like a highly dramatic conclusion - and one to be skeptical about since the same issues came up a couple years ago.

Previously:

-- Disappearing bees may not be linked to cell phones - but a virus

-- Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?

Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone

A new report called “Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone” was released Tuesday by EM Radiation Research Trust. It claims that previous studies on the topic were flawed.

This report, sent to government leaders and media, details eleven design flaws of the 13-country, Telecom-funded Interphone study.

It concludes:

-- There is a risk of brain tumors from cellphone use
-- Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors
-- Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors.

Full report (PDF)

[via Slashgear]

Mobile messaging network counsels Cape Town drug users

A South African instant messaging network which has often been vilified for aiding drug pushers is now being used to provide counselling for drug addicts and people with HIV. New Scientist reports.

MXit is an extremely popular peer-to-peer network in South Africa that runs on cellphones, with 12.5 million users across the country, it's far more than the 4.5 million who have access to broadband.

The network's popularity has meant drug pushers have used it to target schoolchildren. "They get constant bad press - like drug deals being made over it, and people getting kidnapped, stuff like that," says Paul Scott of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town. "We decided to use that technology for good things," says Scott.

The Drug Abuse Support (DAS) service in Cape Town combined Chisimba and MXit to build a portal through which anyone with a cellphone and a MXit subscription can chat to a counsellor just as if they were connecting to Google Talk. The request is handled by one of eight counsellors, who chat using their desktops from a DAS centre in the township of Mitchell's Plain, Cape Town.

... Counselling is also being offered to HIV patients, who need information about, say, when to take their anti-retroviral drugs. Currently, the service is run by volunteers with support from the UWC, and is limited to the Cape Town region.

Read full article.

Image from Ken Banks at Kiwanja.net

Belarus Authorities to introduce school uniforms with "safe from radiation" cell phone pocket

boingboing makes light of authorities in Belarus for considering introducing a new school uniform that would protect schoolchildren from electromagnetic radiation that comes from their mobile phones. According to Foreign Policy, the uniform features a dedicated pocket that can store the phone and make it safe for those who wear it.

Not only have there been other protective clothing concepts against cell phone radiation (see below) since 2002, but there was no place as hard hit by Chernobyl as Belarus, and the exposure to it's radiation caused a widespread rise in cancer, congenital malformations and illnesses. So Belarus authorities can hardly be labeled dingbats for thinking of protecting their children from further harmful radiation, whether it's effective or not.

Other protective clothing concepts:

-- Special clothing protects unborn babies in womb from cellphone radiation - MummyWrap, a sleeveless, loose-fitting garment for pregnant women made from a light-weight copper-based cotton fabric known as Swiss Shield.

-- New men's underwear protects from harmful cell phone rays - Swiss clothing manufacturer Isabodywear is launching a special line of men's underwear that claims to protect "men's sperm from harmful cell phone radiation".

-- A New York based store sells dress shirts and caps designed to protect people from electromagnetic fields -- or radiation -- given off by cell phones and electronic devices.

-- Singapore-based garment manufacturer Crocodile International launched smart pants or "Radiguard' specialty trousers" for cell-phone buffs who exposed exposed to the ultra magnetic emission from the cell-phones.

-- In September 2002, Levi Strauss announced the launch of a new Dockers' model with anti-radiation-lined pockets, prompted by customers' concerns about the possible health risks of mobile phone use.

'SMS not radiation' affects kids' brains

Regular predictive texting, not radiation, affects the brain power of mobile phone using young people, say Australian experts., reports ABC Science.

Epidemiologist Professor Michael Abramson of Monash University and colleagues report their findings online ahead of print publication in the journal Bioelectromagnetics.

"We suspect that using mobile phones a lot, particularly things like predictive texts for SMS is training kids to be fast but inaccurate," says Abramson.

... "We don't think that the mobile phones are frying their brains," says Abramson. He says repeated predictive texting is likely to be training the young people to act fast without thinking, not caring about accuracy.

"If you're used to operating in that environment and entering a couple of letters and getting the word you want, you expect to be like that," says Abramson.

Read full article.

emily | 8:40 AM | permalink

Phone gadget to diagnose disease

Researchers have developed an add-on to a mobile phone that can take detailed images and analyse them to diagnose diseases such as tuberculosis., reports the BBC.

The CellScope works as a so-called fluorescence microscope that can identify the markers of disease.

It is hoped the device will be useful in the developing world, where such medical diagnostics are rare but mobile ownership and coverage are common.

The research is published in the free-access journal PLoS ONE.

Read full article. And related article in New Scientist.

Pediatrician Shocked to See 3-Year-Old on Cell Phone

A blog post written up by The Huffington Post from Sonoma State University college professor and ecotherapist Shepherd Bliss, reports on a pediatrician who was shocked to see a three-year-old using a cell phone.

The three-year-old just walked right past me, talking into a cell phone," the Santa Rosa, CA, pediatrician said. "I was amused at first. Then I felt sad."

... The "kids on cell phones" issue isn't unique to the U.S. On June 23, 2009, the UK's The Times reported that "half of British children aged 5 to 9 own a mobile phone."

So what's the problem?

Well, for starters there are are serious concerns that growing kids' health may be harmed by electromagnetic frequency emissions from cell phones.

And even if science proves these fears to be groundless (which it certainly hasn't done yet), Bliss is also worried about "the long-term consequences of young children already taking their gaze away from living people and constantly-changing nature to look down into and be captured by static machines."

He wonders "Who benefits and what is lost? What is appropriate technology use? What induces obsessive/compulsive/addictive behavior?

Read full article. Image from Current.

Japan explores using cell phones to stop pandemics

Softbank Corp., a major Japanese Internet and cellular provider, will conduct a virtual experiment that uses phones to limit pandemics. GMA News reports.

The exact details have yet to be fixed, but Softbank hopes to pick an elementary school with about 1,000 students and give them phones equipped with GPS. The locations of the children will be recorded every minute of the day and stored on a central server.

A few students will be chosen to be considered "infected," and their movements over the previous few days will be compared with those of everyone else. The stored GPS data can then be used to determine which children have crossed paths with the infected students and are at risk of having contracted the disease.

The families of exposed students will be notified by messages to their mobile phones, instructing them to get checked out by doctors. In a real outbreak, that could limit the rate of new infections.

"The number of people infected by such a disease quickly doubles, triples and quadruples as it spreads. If this rate is decreased by even a small amount, it has a big effect in keeping the overall outbreak in check," said Masato Takahashi, who works on infrastructure strategy at Softbank.

Read full article.

Text Message Reminders help Teen Transplant Patients

A study looked at improving compliance rates in pediatric liver transplant recipients by using text messaging.

The study looked at 41 young people (average age 15 years) who were liver transplant recipients. The MediM AS system from CareSpeak Communications, which funded the study, was used to decide which time of day patients/or caregivers preferred to receive a medication reminder via text message. Once the message was received, the patients had 15 minutes to send a reply text confirming the medication had been taken. Another message would be automatically sent to the parents if they did not. Researchers tracked by computer how many times patients replied, did not reply or had to have parental intervention.

In the year prior to the study, 12 of 41 patients experienced rejection that required hospitalization and treatment because the patient’s body rejected the transplant due to improper medication dosage. But one year into this study, just two patients suffered rejection of the liver.

Cell phones may be hazardous to your elbows

Cell phones have been accused causing many ailments: but here's another one: "cell phone elbow". ABC reports.

With so many of us using our cell phones so often, more and more people are developing what is known as "cell phone elbow."

Dr. Peter Evans, the director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Center at Cleveland Clinic, coined the phrase after so many people came into his office with the same complaint.

"The people complain mostly about the fingers going to sleep but then again they often will have the problem with the elbow, and it's more pain," Evans says.

The term "cell phone elbow" really refers to "cubital tunnel syndrome" or compression of the ulna nerve at the elbow.

It's not just how long you're on the phone that causes it, but also the way you hold the phone to your ear.

Good news. There's a cure: In most cases, "cell phone elbow" can be treated by switching hands or switching to a "hands-free" device.

Viral Epidemics Poised to Go Mobile

A National Science Foundation press release reports “scientists predict mobile phone viruses will pose a serious threat.”

The scientists are network experts who have studied how “a Bluetooth virus can infect all phones found within Bluetooth range of the infected phone, its spread being determined by the owner’s mobility patterns.”

[via SmartMobs]

Swine Infection from Cell Phones?

A company in Los Angeles that sells "Cleen Cell Wipes" has sent out a "health alert" saying their product is a preventive measure against swine flu.

They probably have a point as cell phones are riddled with bacteria.

"95% of cell phones in a random test alarm doctors and infectious disease specialists. Modern flu and viral prevention tip: keep cell phones clean and practice good "mobile hygiene".

[via PR Web]

Related links to cell phones and bacteria.

Cell Phone Usage Damages Memory

A research team from Ben Gurion University in Beer-Sheba, Israel, found that talking on a cellular phone harms the mental abilities of the user. This research may serve as a warning against one of the gadgets most of us use daily. The Future of Things reports.

The influence of cellular phones on brain functions and general health has been widely researched in recent years. Most of the experiments try to understand whether electromagnetic radiation is cancerous or not. Researchers from Ben Gurion University and Soreq Research Center for Nuclear Energy have decided to take a closer look at the effect mobile phones have on people's cognitive functions.

Read full article.