Welcome to Fitmodo, your regular weekly round up of the news you need to know to keep your earthly form in top shape — from fitness advice to breakthroughs in medical research.
This week: New wearable tech that can make hospital visits more comfortable, a test to see if a comatose patient will ever wake up plus how brains of people with Schizophrenia attempt self-repair.
Jawbone Stops UP Fitness Tracker Production, Sells Off Stock
It’s been over a year since Jawbone’s last flagship fitness tracker, and now the wearables company has halted production on its UP range, selling the remaining stock to a third-party reseller.
The UP2, UP3, and UP4 have allegedly lagged in sales (despite having frankly glorious app support), and has struggled to make a dent in wearables market against major competitors Fitbit and Apple in the five years since it entered the market.
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This Bizarre Gunshot-Plugging Device Just Saved Its First Life
An innovative sponge-filled dressing device recently saved the life of a coalition forces soldier who was shot in the leg. It’s the first documented clinical use of the product, known as XSTAT.
The device was approved for military use back in 2014, but this incident marks the first time the system has been used in a real-world situation. The hemostatic device, developed by RevMedx Inc., was used by a United States forward surgical team (FST) after it failed to staunch severe bleeding in a patient using standard techniques. The XSTAT Rapid Hemostasis System works by pumping expandable, tablet-sized sponges into a wound, staunching bleeding while a patient is rushed to hospital.
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New Wearable Tech Can Make Hospital Visits More Comfortable
In the age of the internet, you can do almost anything wirelessly. This is especially intriguing in the health care field where professionals can monitor the data of patients without having to be in the room.
A new paper published by a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison can have huge implications for the medical industry because it will only make the above scenario easier. This is thanks to new advances in wearable integrated circuits that claim to be the fastest, thinnest and stretchiest to date.
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Brains Of People With Schizophrenia Attempt Self-Repair: Study
Schizophrenia is a mysterious, misunderstood mental illness without a full cure. However, researchers from the United Kingdom and China may have found a clue that could help to understand it better.
A new study that looked at MRI scans shows that while schizophrenic participants showed a reduction in brain tissue volume, subtle increases in brain matter were seen in certain areas of the brain.
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This Simple Test Can Predict Whether A Comatose Patient Will Ever Wake Up
For friends and family, fewer things are more agonising than not knowing if or when a loved one in a coma will regain consciousness following a severe head injury or drug overdose. Researchers have shown that a common test can measure awareness in comatose patients — and even predict when they might wake up.
A readily available test that measures the amount of glucose (sugar) that’s being consumed by the brain can be used to help doctors tell the difference between patients in a full-on coma and those with partial or hidden signs of awareness. It can also predict whether or not they will recover awareness within a year.
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Also catching our eye:
- It’s not hard to develop a basic diet and exercise plan the you can stick to over the years, but fine-tuning your progress offers a different set of challenges — often in the form of maths. Lifehacker Australia has a series of calculators to do the hard work for you so you can figure out exactly what you need to do to meet your health and fitness goals.
- Following a vegetarian diet? Business insider tried out a new veggie burger that “bleeds”, backed by Bill Gates. Here’s what they thought.
- When you’ve lost all motivation to be healthy use these tips from Popsugar Australia to get you back on track.