Steffie Broere

5/5 (1)

Dreaded by many, probably only loved by your slightly terrifying physician-assistant: blood tests. What if we told you no needles need to be involved?

Researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a sensor that could base diagnosis on the pH levels in the wearer’s sweat. The researchers explain that human sweat contains physiological information that is similar to that of blood, without breaking into one’s skin. The square centimetre device is claimed to diagnose and monitor conditions such as diabetes, certain types of cancer and kidney disease simply from the sweat that is piling up on your skin. Apart from disease diagnosis, sweat is also a good indicator for activity intensity and dehydration levels. Therefore, the device will not only be for the ill, but it will also provide added value for health and fitness freaks. What if you have a sedentary lifestyle? Little sweat is needed to measure the pH levels and in extreme cases sweating can be provoked by ‘Iontophoresis’. (Dang, Manjakkal, Navaraj, Lorenzelli, Vinciguerra, Dahiya, 2018)

Accompanying the device, the data is transmitted to an app that lets the users track their data to gather deeper insights on the development of aforementioned diseases. However, the development of the device and accompanying infrastructure is still in its infancy. Impact will be made once either one of the existing players in the wearables market starts exploiting its use by integrating it into their product lines, or when new entrants to the market of wearables start creating wearables with integrated pH level measurers. This allows the new entrants to enter a niche market of for example diabetes patients and while they continue to improve their product move onto the mainstream market.

Once these types of sensors become standard in the wearables industry, a significant value will be added to what can be measured nowadays. Right now, wearables are mostly limited to track activity, heartrate and temperatures. With the integration of sweat monitors, a new step will be taken towards integrated health where the users of wearables are actively involved in diagnosing developing diseases and monitoring existing conditions.

W. Dang, L. Manjakkal, W.T. Navaraj, L. Lorenzelli, V. Vinciguerra, R. Dahiya (2018). Stretchable wireless system for sweat pH monitoring, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Volume 107, 2018, Pages 192-202.

5/5 (3)

The past two days London has been captivated by the first Global Mental Health Summit. Why? Because mental health is becoming one of the biggest health challenges of the 21^st century.

A study by Public Health England on cases from 2015 showed the most common cause of death amongst both males and females between the age of 20 and 34 in the UK is suicide. In 2013, depression was the leading cause of years lived with a disability in 26 countries (Ferrari et al., 2013). In 2014, 19.7% of people aged over 16 in the UK showed symptoms of anxiety or depression (Evans et al., 2016). However, these symptoms are often invisible for outsiders and hard to measure. How do you determine when someone needs help and what help is needed? And why are algorithms important in overcoming one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century?

Now for a second think about the people around you. If you take ten people from your environment, based on the given statistics two of these ten people are struggling with mental health illnesses such as an anxiety disorder or depression. Perhaps you are in the know about your friends’ and family’s mental health, but it is hard to fully understand what is going on in their minds. How can you make sure you notice these little changes in behaviour that occur when someone has a mental illness?

This is where social media and algorithms come into play. Last year Facebook announced it will expand a programme designed to prevent suicide based on a pattern matching algorithm. It scans Facebook posts and comments for word combinations signalling potential suicide threats. After a threat has been identified, it will be reviewed by specialists trained in suicide and self-harm. Most concerning reports will be flagged to receive priority. In the next steps appropriate institutions will be alarmed about the persons discussion to create an appropriate care plan. (NBC News, 2018)

It is still possible to flag posts manually and in the help centre of social media platforms there are extensive guidelines on what to do when you encounter a worrying post. The main difference with the use of algorithms is the elimination of unpredictability of humans. With the magnitude of posts we see in a day, are we really able to see the impact of a single post of someone who is struggling? And if we do so, are we engaged enough to take appropriate action to support this person? Algorithms provide us with the security that certain posts will be noticed and addressed by specialists.

These systems will not replace current treatment, but they might play an important role in getting the right treatment for the everyone who is not able to find their own way to many systems currently in place. As of now, we do not know how this will impact the suicides rates. Nonetheless, I like to believe this a step into the right direction for big firms like Facebook and Snapchat to take responsibility in overcoming one of the main challenges of our century. What do you think of the role of hub-firms in mental illness signalling, prevention, and treatment?

In loving memory of Sam, 5 August 1997 – 25 September 2018.

Sources:
Ferrari, A.J., Charlson, F.J., Norman, R.E., Patten, S.B., Freedman, G., Murray, C.J.L., … & Whiteford, H.A., (2013). Burden of Depressive Disorders by Country, Sex, Age, and Year: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease study 2010. PLOS Medicine, 10(11).

NBC News. (2018). Can an algorithm help prevent suicide?. [online] Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/video/a-facebook-algorithm-that-s-designed-to-help-prevent-suicide-1138895939701?v=railb&

Evans, J., Macrory, I., & Randall, C. (2016). Measuring national wellbeing: Life in the UK, 2016. ONS. [online] Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/measuringnationalwellbeing/2016#how-good-is-our-health.

I Just Want To Make You Sweat

21

Please rate this