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#VirtualReality; #OculusGodevice; #VRHealth; #Oculus San Jose (Cal), Sep 28 (Canadian-Media): An announcement was made yesterday by the the two Virtual reality (VR) companies RHealth and Oculus at the Oculus Connect event in San Jose, California, that they have partnered on a range of healthcare-focused virtual reality applications, which would be delivered via Oculus' hardware, media reports said.
These two VR companies are planning to offer pain management designed for mothers experiencing pain in labor and for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. “Virtual reality has the power to ease the pain of chemotherapy treatment, create a seamless environment for physical therapy exercises, and train children with ADHD to focus their attention,” VRHealth CEO Eran Orr said in a statement. “It used to be that when people thought of virtual reality entertainment and games were the first application that came to mind, but we see that applying the effects of VR to the healthcare industry has the potential to improve many lives and aid doctors in providing personalized and comfortable experiences for their patients.” Besides, these companies would also offer general anxiety management before and after surgeries. These two offerings would be built for the full-size Oculus Rift headset, as well as the company’s scaled down and portable Oculus Go device. Oculus, is one of the leaders in consumer-grade VR devices with established hardware maker and software publisher provides a useful substantial platform for VRHealth in its healthcare-targeted offerings. VR-based distraction therapies offering published evidence of efficacy across certain patient groups and yesterday’s deal could play a role in their wider adoption. VRHealth has deployed its products to a number of hospitals and sports medicine centers, and previously partnered with AARP on an application that allows seniors to receive therapist-guided physical therapy without needing to leave their home. Beyond VRHealth, a number of tech companies, hospitals, and healthcare systems have joined efforts to investigate the efficacy of VR-based pain management. Other researchers are also looking to the ways clinical VR can move beyond distraction therapy.
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#Washingtonstate, #cannabis, #RickGarza; #LarryWolk Ottawa, May 29 (Canadian-Media): Washington state in 2014 became the world's first system for legally growing, processing and retailing cannabis, media reports said. As Canada prepares to go live with pot sales in a few months, there is a looming fear in the minds of the parents of the harmful impact of cannabis can have on children. But according to official reports it was revealed that even after the legalization of cannabis in Washington state in 2014, the percentage of the youth using cannabis remained the same as it was before cannabis was legalized. Before legalization, 17 percent of Grade 10 students in Washington State said they had smoked pot in the previous month. Four years after legalisation also only 17 percent of Grade 10 students reported that they have smoked pot in the previous month. “We thought we would see a significant increase in teen use,” said Rick Garza, director of the Washington State Liquor Control and Cannabis Board. “But what the kids will tell you is that they didn’t need adults to legalize it to get their hands on cannabis.” This four years of practical, hands-on experience in the western United States reportedly throws light that parents should not worry about the impact of cannabis on children and teens. Many teens experiment with marijuana, as they do with alcohol, but only a minority use them semi-regularly. The of legal age for purchase (21 in Washington State, 18-19 in Canada) doesn’t make much difference. “It was really easy to get a medical card,” Mr. Garza noted. “We estimate that only about 20 per cent of medical users were using for medical reasons.” Larry Wolk, Colorado’s Chief Medical Officer, made a similar observation. “About 97 per cent of medical cannabis users are 20-year-old snowboarders with chronic debilitating pain,” he said with a laugh.  Dr Larry Wolk. Image credit: Twitter handle At the same time, Wolk pointed the many legitimate uses for medical cannabis, but more research is needed to determine effective strains and doses.
Wolk said that the most reassuring news for lawmakers in Canada is that legalization of cannabis has had virtually no impact on public health in Colorado or other states. (Reporting by Asha Bajaj) #TheLancetGlobalHealth; #WorldHealthOrganization; #GlobalActionPlanonPhysicalActivity Geneva, WHO, 5 Sep (Canadian-Media): More than one in four adults globally (28 percent or 1.4 billion people), sometimes as high as one in three adults, are inactive in some counties, according to new data published today in The Lancet Global Health, media reports said. The report also pointed out that women were less active than men, with an over 8 percent difference at the global level (32 percent men vs 23 percent women). Inactivity rises with high income countries (37 percenrt) compared with middle income (26 percemt) and low income countries (16 percent). Four World Health Organization (WHO) experts who are the authors of this reports, updated 2008 estimates on levels of activity. It was found, for the first time, that overall global level of inactivity in adults remains largely unchanged since 2001. These data support physical activity and increase the opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, to be active every day.  Courtesy of WHO The target to reduce physical inactivity by 10 percent by 2025 and 15 percent by 2030 was set by the new Global Action Plan on Physical Activity. Regular physical inactivity increases risk of poor health, including cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer and diabetes, falls, as well as mental health conditions. Publication of levels of participation in children and young people are forthcoming. (Reporting by Asha Bajaj) |
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January 2021
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