The Digital Health Update by Paul Sonnier ⋅ Sep 8, 2016 ⋅ #238

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The Digital Health Update by Paul Sonnier ⋅ Sep 8, 2016 ⋅ #238

Dear Group,

Apple’s big product announcement event was yesterday, and the news for digital health was very good for population-level digital health, mainly due to new features for the Apple Watch, which is now water-resistant enough for swimming and showering, plus has GPS, which is great for runners and walkers alike, who may not want to be burdened or tethered to their smartphone at all times. Also of note is the SOS feature (similar to the Lifecall’s emergency alert, made famous by the classic TV commercial “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up“), quick activity sharing (which adds a dedicated algorithm for wheelchair users), and breathing reminders. The Nike+ version for runners includes a digital prompt/invitation ‘Are We Running Today?’ And of course the heart rate sensor on the back of the smartwatch is carried over from the previous model.

Are workplace wellness programs a ‘total sham‘ that are ostensibly about improving health and reducing medical costs, but in reality being deployed to shift more healthcare costs onto employees? That’s the assessment of L.V. Anderson, Slate associate editor. Due to the “Safeway Amendment” in the Affordable Care Act, companies have shifted up to 30% of the cost of employee-only health care premiums onto employees who fail wellness tests. The argument is that the most common health conditions in working-age adults aren’t wellness-sensitive and can’t be prevented due to behavioral/lifestyle interventions. And conditions like cancer, heart attacks, stroke, and diabetes typically don’t manifest until retirement, even among people who have with bad lifestyle habits. Group discussion located here.

And new analysis of government statistics by researchers at the Children with Cancer UK has found that there are now 1,300 more cancer cases in young people each year compared with 1998. In a chillingly-titled article “Modern life is killing our children: Cancer rate in young people up 40 per cent in 16 years“, it’s reported that this is largely due to environmental factors like air pollution, pesticides, poor diets and radiation. Also at issue are “obesity, pesticides, and solvents inhaled during pregnancy, circadian rhythm disruption through too much bright light at night, radiation from x-rays and CT scans, smoking during and after pregnancy, magnetic fields from power lines, gadgets in homes, and potentially, radiation from mobile phones.” Research suggests that a mother’s diet can damage DNA in cord blood. As Doug Miller, Dean of Medicine at New York Medical College points out in the group discussion on this article, “Macro-epigenetics is at play in a population health sense. Environmental pollutants are known to affect chromatin and histones, creating de novo somatic mutations.”

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