Drivers Engaged in Other Tasks About 10 Percent of the Time

January 7, 2014 | by

Drivers eat, reach for the phone, text, or otherwise take their eyes off the road about 10 percent of the time they are behind the wheel, according to a study using video technology and in-vehicle sensors.

Boy texting and driving

Android App for Those Concerned about Cell Phone Radiation

May 24, 2012 | by

While the link between cell phone use and brain tumors has not been scientifically established — in fact, a recent U.K. Health Protection Agency group review of the scientific literature concluded that there’s no convincing evidence that cell phones cause cancer — concerns about overexposure of brain cells to radiofrequency waves (RF) from cell phone antennae continue to circulate. While there may not be a well-established link between cell phone use and cancer or tumors, there’s nevertheless evidence that cell phone use alters brain cell metabolism (the rate at which brain cells burn sugar for energy) [1]. The significance of this finding is currently unknown, which makes some cell users nervous.

A company called Tawkon (pronounced “talk on”) has developed an app for the Android phone that can predict — not detect, since phones don’t have the ability to detect radiation — when a phone is most likely to be emitting high levels of RF on the basis of internal measurements, such as how strong the cell signal is.

No Convincing Evidence that Cell Phones Cause Cancer

May 23, 2012 | by

A new report by the U.K. Health Protection Agency’s independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR) has concluded that there is no convincing evidence that mobile phone technologies cause adverse effects on human health. The report updates AGNIR’s previous review in 2003 that considers the scientific evidence on exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields, which are produced by mobile phone technologies and other wireless devices, such as Wi-Fi, as well as television and radio transmitters.

Cell phone radiation

Highlight HEALTH Goes Mobile

October 14, 2008 | by

As more and more people use cell phones, the Mobile Web — accessing the World Wide Web using a mobile device such as a cell phone, PDA or other portable device — is increasingly being used to access online information. According to AdMob, the world’s largest mobile advertising marketplace, in August 2008 mobile worldwide traffic grew 12.8% to 5.1 billion web page requests [1].

New smartphones like the iPhone are accelerating this use in the mobile web. Indeed, in August 2008 the iPhone saw the largest share increase of any smartphone [1]. With healthcare consumers and professionals increasingly relying on handheld devices to access the web, I’m pleased to announce that a mobile version of Highlight HEALTH is now available.

Standard mobile phones, Blackberries and 3G devices such as the iPhone and iTouch are fully supported. Optimized for the mobile web, http://www.highlighthealth.com enables readers to access all the articles on Highlight HEALTH while on the go.

At the bottom of every article, you can show and post comments. Additionally, there are links to “Email” the full HTML article link, “Bookmark on delicious” or “Share on Twitter”.

UPDATE:

Highlight HEALTH now automatically detects mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, Android & Blackberry and more, and serves an optimized theme instead of the regular desktop theme. Visitors can always switch back to the desktop theme if they choose.

According to a study last year, 75% of people who access the mobile web conduct searches [2]. As consumers use the Internet more than any other media source to research health information [3], I anticipate an increasing number of health-related searches to be done using the mobile web. I hope the mobile version of Highlight HEALTH will enhance its appeal to readers who have busy schedules and frequently don’t have time to read on a computer.

Mobile web users, please give the mobile version of Highlight HEALTH a try and let me know what you think.

References

  1. AdMob Mobile Metrics Report. AdMob. 2008 August
  2. Consumers Stick with Big Search Engines, Demand Mobile Optimized Content. iCrossing press release. 2007 Apr 25.
  3. Research Reveals That Internet Has Become Primary Means by Which Consumers Access Health Information. WebMD press release. 2003 Feb 10.

Health Highlights – August 5th, 2008

August 5, 2008 | by

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

Health Highlights