Category: Health
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Paro, Personal Robots, Emotional Intelligence and the Need to be Needed
Paro is a personal robot that looks like a baby harp seal and responds to changes in light, sound, temperature and touch. Research and development in artificial intelligence has traditionally focused on linguistic, logical or mathematical intelligence, although robotics has also involved the quest for imbuing machines with spatial and kinesthetic intelligence. Paro, however, seems…
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Wanted: a new word for “patient” … but which one?
Years ago, I was surprised to read about a doctor – Bernie Siegel – advocating that people undergoing medical treatment be bad patients. In his 1986 book, Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients, the surgeon urged his fellow doctors to view themselves as privileged listeners –…
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Platform Thinking, De-Bureaucratization and the Redistribution of Agency
Tim O'Reilly wrote the definitive guide to the concept and term Web 2.0 back in 2005. The central theme from the outset was to view the web as a platform, and that view has evolved over time to encompass a collection of platforms with varying degrees of interoperability … and varying degrees of openness to…
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Certified Cancer-free: Celebrating Amy’s 5th Anniversary
Amy had her final post-treatment check-up at Cascade Cancer Center yesterday, and I am happy to report that she has been discharged as a patient there, 5 days shy of 5 years since she was initially diagnosed with cancer. Although she continues to experience some side effects from the treatment, according to her doctors, Dr.…
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Clinical Wisdom: Knowledge, Experience, Compassion, Creativity and Honesty
NPR's Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon), host of Weekend Edition Saturday, is one of my favorite mainstream media players … and with over 1.3 million Twitter followers, I know I am not alone. Simon Says, his weekly essays, are among the most insightful and provocative segments I hear on the radio. In this week's essay, The Kindness…
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Coffee, Community and Health
An article reviewing the health benefits and risks of coffee by Melinda Beck in yesterday's Wall Street Journal includes a number of studies that have yielded conflicting results on the effects of coffee. Coffee consumption of varying levels has been correlated with significant differences in the likelihood of being diagnosed with diseases such as diabetes,…
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At least we have our health … or do we?
A friend was recently recounting some challenges he's been facing, concluding with the observation that "at least I have my health." His challenges include a recent layoff, and I found myself wondering how secure this consolation would prove to be for him … or for the nearly 50 million other Americans who do not have…
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16 month update on my elbow Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment
In November, I visited Dr. Allan Mishra's office for a belated followup on the platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment for elbow tendonitis he'd administered in July 2007. As was the case before my six month followup visit, I was feeling a bit disheartened at the condition of my right elbow. And fortunately, as was the…
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Three Years of Cancer-free Living
Amy had her 3-year checkup this week with Dr. Lonergan at the Cascade Cancer Center. We were delighted to learn that her CT scan showed no sign of the anal cancer she was diagnosed with and treated for in 2005! The overall outcome of the examination was as good as could possibly be expected, and…