The Body Temperature and Sleep Deprivation:- "The Perfect Sleep Pad"

The Perfect Sleep Pad is a water-based system that syncs with the body temperature that allows the ideal temperature to be maintained during the night. The water inside The Perfect Sleep Pad flows through tube that are embedded inside the pad.  These tubes are connected to an advance micro-processing temperature controller that either heats or cools the water to your individual and ideal sleep temperature. The temperature of the water in the Perfect Sleep Pad ranges from 46°F to 118°F and can be adjusted with your remote control or directly on the controller. The Perfect Sleep Pad offers a solution for anyone suffering from sleep disturbances due to difficulties in regulating their body temperature. This applies to couples with different temperature preferences, as well as athletes and women suffering from menopausal hot flashes and night sweats.

The Perfect Sleep Pad can also benefit cancer patients who suffer from temperature related sleep disturbances caused by their medications and treatments.

The cooling pad helps in reducing insomnia. The temperature can be controlled from an individual’s side of the bed without disturbing the partner’s side of the bed; hence, increasing the number of hours of disrupted sleep.

Thermal environment is the key element of sleep; this is because thermoregulation is significantly associated to the mechanism of regulating sleep. Either too high or low ambient temperature can have an impact on sleep even though the individual is healthy or not suffering from insomnia. Disrupted nocturnal sleep can influence the day-to-day activities of a person, it is also linked to several adverse health effects (AHE) including obesity, the quality of life and increase in mortality rate. Numerous findings illustrate that cultivating a pleasant thermal sleep environment is essential for maintaining sleep; daily activities; the quality of the health.

There are many studies that show that sleep is related to thermoregulation. Individuals have the tendency to develop a sleep-wake rhythm which is usually repeated in a 24-hours cycle. The decrease in nocturnal sleep phase and the increase of the wake-phase which is a 24-hours repeated cycle is due to the sleep-wake rhythm caused by the core body temperature. Sleep is most likely to occur when there is a decrease in the temperature core. The association between the sleep-wake rhythm and the circadian rhythm of the temperature core is significant for maintaining sleep(Okamoto-Mizuno & Mizuno, 2012).

The potential physiological mechanisms related to sleep deprivation and excess energy balance include changes in appetite and increased time to access food, which may influence energy intake (EI), and extended wakeful time at night, physical inactivity due to fatigue, and decreased thermogenesis, which may affect energy expenditure (EE) (Hibi et al., 2017).

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder that impacts a considerable number of the population on a circumstantial, frequent, or chronic basis. Generally, insomnia is categorized as a sleep dissatisfaction which makes it difficult to maintain sleep along with a significant distress and impairment of functioning during the daytime. Constant insomnia is related with adverse health outcome which includes a decrease in the quality of life, physical and psychological morbidity (Jean-Philippe Chaput, 2018)

Insomnia involves difficulty falling asleep, remaining asleep and early morning awakenings. People who are affected by insomnia may have difficulties focusing, remembering, or achieving daily tasks; they may also have an increased risk of accidents. Insomnia may have consequences on the economic stability on the country such as incurred cost on the use of healthcare services, work absences and work-related injuries(Tjepkema, 2002).

The economic burden of a person in Canada due to insomnia is estimated at $5,010 per individual in a year; nearly 90% of this amount is associated with work absenteeism and reduced productivity. According to epidemiological studies, the prevalence of insomnia is between 6 to 48% of the Canadian population depending on the onset and severity of the symptoms of an individual. For instance, reports show that about 25% of adults express dissatisfied sleep, 10% to 15% of the people say that their insomnia is as a result of daytime consequences and 6% to 10% have insomnia disorder (Morin et al., 2011).

REFERENCES:

Hibi, M., Kubota, C., Mizuno, T., Aritake, S., Mitsui, Y., Katashima, M., & Uchida, S. (2017). Effect of shortened sleep on energy expenditure, core body temperature, and appetite: A human randomised crossover trial. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39640

Jean-Philippe Chaput, J. Y. D. P. R. and C. M. M. (2018, December 19). Prevalence of insomnia for Canadians aged 6 to 79. Retrieved May 20, 2020, from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2018012/article/00002-eng.htm

Morin, C. M., Leblanc, M., Bélanger, L., Ivers, H., Mérette, ; Chantal, & Savard, J. (2011). Prevalence of Insomnia and Its Treatment in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(9), 540–548. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371105600905

Okamoto-Mizuno, K., & Mizuno, K. (2012). Effects of thermal environment on sleep and circadian rhythm. Journal of Physiological Anthropology, Vol. 31, pp. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1880-6805-31-14

Tjepkema, M. (2002). Methods Data sources.

Take Charge Campaign Challenge- "Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education and Advocacy:

TakeCHARGE of Your Health Care Campaign Launches Video Challenge

As we know from the headlines, even if you are perfectly healthy today that can change in an instant. Thousands of people and their families are facing unthinkable choices about medical care, those who did not prepare their “advance directives” ahead of time to state their wishes are at the mercy of fate.

So the TakeCHARGE public health awareness campaign is launching a Video Challenge for members of the public to record and share the conversations they are having around this difficult topic.  

 Why does this matter? For one example, in 1990 at the age of 26, Terri Schiavo, in a persistent vegetative state following a heart attack, was put on life support. Her wishes regarding her care were unknown and her family members disagreed about how to treat her. The result: 15 years of state and federal court cases before she was finally allowed to die.

Today our hospitals are full of Covid-19 patients on respirators. They can’t speak. Some are dying. Those who have prepared by naming a health care proxy or surrogate, or making a “living will” know that their wishes about their care will be respected. Those who haven’t prepared? Well, their treatment strategy is up to others.

 

In a Time of Crisis

 

Long-time patient advocate Ilene Corina, president of Pulse Center for Patient Safety, Education & Advocacy says, “In today’s crisis more than ever, we should ask ourselves:

•                     Breathing machines - would I want to be put on one?    

•                     Do I want to be resuscitated if my breathing or heartbeat stops

•                     Do I want feeding through a tube?

•                     Pain medication?

•                     Do I want to be part of medical research?

•                     What about organ or tissue donation?

 

“If you are over 18,” she adds, “you need to be prepared with your own decisions.”

 

The Video Challenge

 

That’s why “TakeCHARGE of Your Health Care”, the new public awareness campaign from Pulse, has issued a “video challenge”. 

 

Says Corina, “To enter, make a video of one minute or less explaining how you persuaded someone you know to complete their advance directives, or how you yourself were named as someone’s health proxy or surrogate. What was that discussion like?” 

 

Click here (https://youtu.be/QZA7Jl6ZtB8) to see one of the first videos.

 

“Post your video on the TakeCHARGE Campaign Discussion Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TakeChargecampaign)” says Corina, “and send your friends to Like it.  Get the most likes and your video will feature on the

TakeCHARGE Campaign website (https://www.takecharge.care/) home page.”

 

Advance Directives are just the first of five steps the TakeCHARGE campaign urges everyone to take. To learn more visit www.takecharge.care and follow the 5 Steps to Safer Healthcare.

A Case Story of COVID-19- Need For A Potential Plasma Blood Donor

Today, the 9th of April 2020, we were asked to post a story of a patient who is currently battling the COVID-19 virus. Health Strategies Reform was given the opportunity to help seek for potential blood donors who would serve as a guardian angel. 

A young Nigerian lady named Uju who currently resides in Maryland in the United States is fighting for her life due to COVID-19. Her friends and family are seeking for potential plasma blood donors who would help in saving her life. They are required to do a plasma infusion as the doctor believe that the lady would benefit from a convalescent plasma (this is a person who has previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 and recovered from the virus) and are in the blood group range of B or AB. 

Please, if you believe you are a potential donor contact Health Strategies Reform using our official email alinangadiuba.healthstrategies.com. Thank you!

HearX Group- Artificial Intelligence Classification

Hear X is a start-up in South Africa, it was established in the year of 2015. Several audiologist and engineers came together to create affordable access to hearing healthcare using digital small solutions. The idea was to provide available products that would assess early onset of digital hearing problems among the population. The flagship technology, hearing loss and ear screening technology, it works with calibrated HD headphones. There is more than one million case that was performed in 39 countries. This is a rapid growing technological device that aims at providing patients with hearing impairment the best available hearing healthcare. Currently, in the clinical state, there are seven solutions in health which is a centralized data management platform.

HearScreen is a smartphone test performed using calibrated HD Headphones: this is used for quick hearing tests to determine if there is a hearing loss and suggest if the patient needs immediate medical care.

HearTest can be used to determine the threshold of hearing loss.

PeekAcuity is a visual acuity test.

hearTest Occ Health is the newest product. It is a certified digital, smartphone, audiometer. It gets used by industries to perform hearing tests, a baseline test can be set and hearing can be compared over time. According to the speaker, “employees seem to love the product, because they can go for a quick 30 minutes hearing test on the premise and thereafter get back to work without having to stop the work for a day.   

HearOAE: this is an otoacoustic emission screening and diagnosing tool used for newborn hear screenings; it is used to test newborns hearing to allow the health practitioner to treat the hearing impairment from an early stage onwards.  

HearScope was released through an Indiegogo campaign in the year of 2017. Indiegogo is a crowdfunded campaign.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in hearScope: AI is the newest feature that was released in hearScope on the 9^th March 2020. It has been under development since the year of 2017. hearScope is a smartphone video otoscope that can be used to view the “Tympanic Membrane” and ear canal. It captures images and videos of the Tympanic Membrane and ear canal; audiologists are excited about this product because in developing countries, public clinics and hospitals have a lot of patients and this can assist in triaging patients and ensure that patients receive the correct pre-examination treatment. It also enables patient involvement during an examination, because it enables clinicians to show the patient the images and videos taken of the ear canal and tympanic membrane.

The AI image classification feature assists healthcare practitioners to diagnose ear conditions. The AI model was trained using thousands of images that was all captured by the hearScope hardware. The images were  diagnosed by specialists; the system can diagnose wax obstructions, normal ears, chronic perforations, and abnormalities, which indicates a pathology is present and the patient should consult a specialist. As more images get collected, the AI model can be trained to recognize more pathologies. The AI is working towards being able to diagnose 12 pathologies, such as foreign bodies, cholesteatoma, acute otitis media, otitis media with effusion, myringosclerosis, wet chronic perforations, dry chronic perforations, grommets, wax obstructions, retractions, normal ears and unspecified. It is also planning it add extra pathologies to the system.

General practitioners are between 60-70% confident of diagnosing ear conditions. The AI image classification model has an accuracy of 94% to classify ear conditions, and it can assist health practitioners to confidently diagnose ear conditions. Furthermore, the AI plays a significant role in developing countries due to its low number of specialists, to assist hospitals Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) and general practitioners to screen both children and adults, to be able to triage and refer then accordingly. It helps to determine the type of ear disease to treat, for instance, if a patient complains of pain in the ear, the AI image classification can classify a wax obstruction and the patient can simply go to the clinic and a clinician can remove the wax blockage. The hearScope, with the AI image classification feature can be used by anybody and not only healthcare practitioners. 

A quick notice, with the current situation of Coronavirus (also known as COVID-19), there have been a high increase in inquiries of the AI image classification. Telemedicine has proven to be useful in a case like this; people can purchase a hearScope via the HearX website (www.hearxgroup.com), use the hearScope to self-screen and send the images and videos to their respective general practitioner (family doctor) for a diagnosis.  

The beta-version AI geature has been launched in March, the feature is currently free, but will become paid once the necessary FDA and CE approvals have been received. The AI classification works together with the hearScope hardware; the hardware has a cost incurred on it; the software is free. The hearScope hardware is 200 USD. The price for the AI subscriptions is not yet known.

The device has been under development since the year of 2017 when it was released on IndieGoGo. Various bodies contributed in the development of the product such as the advisory panel (four well known specialist across the world), research partners that assisted with the diagnosis of images, the image collectors, which captures the ear images. The images are validated and there is an exclusion criterion to the images, such as an image of the finger or any image that is not related to the ear. The validated images are further presented to the Panel of Research Diagnosis Partners (PRDP); the PRDP diagnose the situation based on their respective specialties. The hearScope hardware is FDA approved and meets all the hospital standard requirements.

The hardware is expected to be durable for at least 15 years depending on the number of usages on the hardware. The hardware id accompanied with a one-year warranty.

The biggest issue while developing the device, was integrating and improving the quality of the “Collection of Images”. Another problem that arose was finding specialists that can diagnose the images.

The application is also compatible with desktop devices such as Windows, Mac and Linux; however, the device smartphone app is only compliable with android phones. The hardware comes with a storage case for safe keeping. The hardware also has its own packaging such as a stant for the phone, adapter, specula which attaches to the front of the scope, and connectors.

The device is available to use and familiarize with. There are various institutions, such as the Manchester University in the UK or University of Pretoria in South Africa, across the world that have access to the device for academic purposes.

What You Need to Know About Coronavirus (COVID-19):

Coronavirus in Africa-A Worldwide Pandemic

Nigeria has joined the rest of the African countries with restriction on airlines that are arriving from countries with high cases of coronavirus. Nigeria has shut down their airports and land borders to minimize the number of people from entering the country. On Monday, Tunisia suspended all international flights and closed their land borders to prevent the risk of spread of the virus. They also put a restriction on market squares gathering and included a curfew between 6am to 6pm to avoid overcrowded areas. Sudan has sealed off all seaports, land crossings and airports, according to Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman, a spokesman for Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council.

Hundreds of international flights have been canceled and suspended, schools are closes, and there is a restriction limiting travelers from coronavirus-hit countries or there is a ban from visiting some African countries.

Nigeria has banned the entry of travelers from 13 different countries including the US and UK- this was announced on Wednesday due to the rise of cases in the country. "The Federal Government of Nigeria has also suspended the issuance of visa on arrival to travelers from these countries. All travelers returning from these countries prior to the restriction will be in supervised self-isolation, monitored by the NCDC and Port Health Services". The ban will be effective on the 20^th of March 2020 and will be revoked until further notice.

Health officials have reported an addition of five cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria; therefore, resulting to a total of eight confirmed cases, which one of the patients have been recovered from the virus, “an Italian man on a business trip in the country”, stated by the authorities.

Egypt has made an announcement on suspending international flights starting on Thursday to prevent the spread of the virus in the country. Also, Egypt has the highest number of Coronavirus case in Africa. Meanwhile, other countries such as Djibouti is yet to report any cases of Coronavirus; however, they have restricted the entry of all international flights in the country, according to a statement made by the US embassy in Djibouti. All international government officials are in support of the travel bans across the world (Stephanie Busari and Bukola Adebayo, 2020)

.

REFERENCES:

Stephanie Busari,  and B. A. (2020). Nigeria coronavirus: entry ban for travelers from 13 countries as it announces five new cases - CNN. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/18/africa/nigeria-coronavirus-travel-restrictions-intl/index.html

United Kingdom Response To COVID-19:

World Health Organization has declared Europe the epicenter of the pandemic of novel coronavirus. It has also been stated by the WHO that there has been about 5000 death across the world as a result of the virus. In the United Kingdom, 11 people have died due to coronavirus, including one death in Scotland. There has been a rapid spread of coronavirus in the UK resulting to 798 confirmed cases across the country- an increase of 208 in comparison with Thursday. However, health officials believe that the actual number of people that could be infected with the virus is between 5,000 and 10,000. Sir Patrick mentioned that he hopes the British government’s approach to address the virus would create a “herd immunity in UK”(“Coronavirus: UK measures defended after criticism - BBC News,” 2020) .

The prime minister of United Kingdom announced that the British government officials will delay their response to address the outbreak of COVID-19, and warned that Britons that they are facing the “worse public health crisis for a generation” and they should be prepared “to lose their loved ones and family”. The United Kingdom would not be taking the same measures as the result of the other to tackle this rapid outbreak. The government later stated that “it doesn’t believe that shutting down large scale gatherings and closing schools-like Italy, France, Germany and Spain have done would be effective in preventing the spread of the disease”(“UK coronavirus response: What does Britain know that Europe doesn’t? - CNN,” 2020).

REFERENCES:

Coronavirus: UK measures defended after criticism - BBC News. (2020). Retrieved March 16, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51865915

UK coronavirus response: What does Britain know that Europe doesn’t? - CNN. (2020). Retrieved March 16, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/uk/uk-coronavirus-response-boris-johnson-intl-gbr/index.html

100 New Cases in Canada- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Confirms Wife Positive with Coronavirus

Of recent, Canada has reported 100 cases of Novel Coronavirus disease, COVID-19. Ontario has a total of 42 cases, British Columbia has 46, Quebec has 8 and Alberta has 19 cases of Coronavirus. A former passenger of the Grand Princess cruise ship had been tested positive for the disease. New Brunswick has confirmed its first case (YOUNG, 2020). Even though the outbreak of Coronavirus is expected in Canada, the public health system has prepared a response mechanism to the virus. The PHAC, together with the provincial, territorial and community partners are constantly reevaluating the health risk to the public based on the availability of evidence and research studies (“Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update - Canada.ca,” n.d.). The risk to Canadian travelers abroad varies on their destination, their age and health status. However, the Canadian government suggest that people to prevent all travel or non-essential travel(Laframboise, 2020).

It seems that the world is working from a distance (from home) as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues the threaten the health of the public. The Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau is currently working and running his country in self isolation after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau had tested positive for Coronavirus. Due to the rapid and constant outbreak of COVID-19, dozens of government officials across the world from administrators to heads of state, to take precautionary measures after finding out that they may have been in contact with infected people or may haven tested positive for the coronavirus. Yet, there are no confirmation that suggests that Justin Trudeau might have the virus; nonetheless, he joins the list of officials who removed themselves from their workplace, including top US policy makers, the British Health Minister, Iran’s deputy health minister, France’s culture minister, Australia’s home affairs minister and the president of the European Parliament. On Friday, the 13^th of March 13, 2020 Justin Trudeau confirmed via twitter that his wife had been infected with the virus. The Prime Minister would be joining digital meeting and videoconferences with other world leaders about the coronavirus cases (Angela, 2020).

References:

Angela, D. (2020). Justin Trudeau latest to self-isolate as coronavirus has officials running the world from home - CNN. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/world/coronavirus-trudeau-politicians-infections-intl/index.html

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update - Canada.ca. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html

Laframboise, K. (2020). Quebec calls for isolation of all travellers returning from abroad to limit spread of coronavirus | Globalnews.ca. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://globalnews.ca/news/6665502/quebec-coronavirus-march-12/

COVID-19, A Decline In The Number Of Cases of COVID-19

New reports indicate that COVID-19 also known as Coronavirus has mounted to 3,123 deaths across the world. Also, there has been a confirmation that there are new cases of Coronavirus resulting to 91,783. NHC have received new reports statin that there are 119 cases in China on Tuesday within 31 provinces and Xinjiang, including 115 cases in Hubei province. 

Furthermore, only four cases were reported on Tuesday outside Hubei, down from 890 on February 3rd, 2020. The NHC stated that there is a decrease in the number of coronavirus cases from the rest of the country. There are about 37 deaths in Hubei among the global death and one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region according to NHC. In the meantime, there 143 suspected cases which were reported; in addition, 520 people are still suspected of having the virus across the world. However, on Tuesday, the number of severe cases had reduced by 390 to 6,416, while 2,652 people were medically discharged after recovery.

In whole, 80,270 cases have been confirmed on the mainland, of which 2,981 had died, 27,433 patients are still being treated and 49,856 patients were discharged after recovery (“Global coronavirus cases cross 90,000-mark, spread reduces in China as others see surge - World News,” 2020).

REFERENCES:

Global coronavirus cases cross 90,000-mark, spread reduces in China as others see surge - World News. (2020). Retrieved March 4, 2020, from https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/global-coronavirus-cases-cross-90-000-mark-1652239-2020-03-04

New Cases of Corona Virus-Ontario Reports

There are three new cases of Novel Coronavirus in Ontario, on Monday, the 2^nd of March 2020, bringing a total of 18 cases in the province. The chief medical officer of Health in Ontario, Dr. David Williams was expected to provide more information about the ne cases at a press conference in late afternoon. It was reported that over the weekend, people who recently visited Iran or Egypt, or family members who visited any of those countries had entered Canada, infected with the virus. It has been confirmed that there are 1,501 cases of the virus in Iran with an estimate of 66 deaths in the country. However, a considerable number of people believe that there are more cases of the virus in the country. Egypt has only publicly reported two cases of the virus. Nonetheless, in China, over 80,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus and there are about 2,800 deaths as a result of the virus. Ontario has new three cases: Canada having a total of 27, with eight cases in British Columbia and one in Quebec. The Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu encourages Canadians to stockpile food and medication in their respective homes in case they should fall sick or a loved on has developed the illness. Elliot suggested that it won’t be necessary to go through such measures; people should go on with their daily lives and be cautious. Anyone with the respective symptoms of COVID-19 should contact their public health unit (JONES, 2020).

REFERENCES:

JONES, A. (2020). 3 new cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, province total now at 18 | Globalnews.ca. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://globalnews.ca/news/6618753/covid-19-ontario-coronavirus/

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome:

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is when a baby less than a year-old dies unexpectedly without any form of explanation or cause. SIDS is also known as Crib Death or Court Death. Most SIDS are associated with irregularity in the portion of the infant’s brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep (Floyd R. Livingston Jr., MD and Mary L. Gavin, 2020).

Approximately 2,300 babies in the United States die as a result of SIDS per year. Some babies may be at more risk than others. For instance, babies who are between 1-4 months old are at more risk of SIDS; it is usually common in boys than girls, and most deaths occur during fall, winter and early spring (Boston Children’s Hospital, 2020).

Several researchers and clinicians have determined some factors that puts at extra risk. Furthermore, there measures which have been identified by research on protecting children from SIDS. The following are measure followed (Floyd R. Livingston Jr., MD and Mary L. Gavin, 2020):

Early prenatal care

Share bedroom with baby without sharing bed

Use fitted sheet on baby’s mattress and no other bedding.  

Use pacifier to put baby to sleep.

Breastfeed can reduce the risk of SIDS

No history or smoking history during pregnancy.

REFERENCES:

Boston Children’s Hospital. (2020). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Symptoms & Causes | Boston Children’s Hospital. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from http://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions/s/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/symptoms-and-causes

Floyd R. Livingston Jr., MD and Mary L. Gavin, M. (2020). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (for Parents) - Nemours KidsHealth. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sids.html