Comments on: New Thoughts on Health and Design

By: Albert Maruggi

Albert Maruggi — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:18:05 +0000

this is terrific Amy, I’m going to feature it at http://www.healthcampminnesota.org -

By: Edwin

Edwin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:40:10 +0000

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I will get more points of this post.

By: 8 links for Design and Global Health |

8 links for Design and Global Health | — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:07:56 +0000

[...] Innovation and Transfer (very large PDF) – Rethinking-DesignThinking-Healthcare (Fall 2007) – New Thoughts on Health and Design, Diabetes Mine (fantastic blog/site) – Hard-won Wisdom from Successful Healthcare Services Research Innovators – [...]

By: Greg House

Greg House — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:17:36 +0000

An equipment of the American Hospital of Children of Boston concluded that the high cholesterol levels accelerate the growth of tumors in the prostate, and also that the medicines to reduce to the cholesterol, calls estatina, can inhibit the growth of the prostate cancer, well said by the last findrxonline bill being debated at this time. The findings of the study could help to understand why the prostate cancer is commonest in the West, where the diets tend to be high in cholesterol. The rates of cancer of the prostate in the countryside of China and Japan, where generally the diets are low in fats, are 90% less than in the West. Nevertheless, when Eastern men emigrate towards the West increase the possibilities of being diagnosed with cancer of the prostate. That has lead the doctors to suspect that factors of the environment, like the diet, could play a significant role in the development of the disease.

By: Jana

Jana — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:47:23 +0000

Interesting to see the perspective of someone visiting Mayo Town (I grew up there). It is very much as you perceive it–or at least the downtown is (I also had no idea there were as many as 138 hotels!!!).

As for the design issue, I don’t think we’re going to see real improvement in the design of diabetes products until we have a *real* consumer culture for them. And that’s not going to happen until the whole health insurance system in this country changes for the better so that we can cut out the middleman (the health insurance companies) and make actual *choices* about the tools we use to keep ourselves healthy.

By: AmyT

AmyT — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:57:10 +0000

Yeah, David – and just about a year ago they finally came out with those bottles that actually fit on the fridge door. Duh! Um, I mean, great idea, of course.

By: David Edelman

David Edelman — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:21:39 +0000

Elizabeth and I are always chirping about product design. Sometimes you wonder if companies actually use their products in real life or just evaluate them on pen and paper. I was recently listening to the comic Jim Gaffigan. He has riff on Ketchup bottles and how long it took them to come up with ones that open on the bottom. “So people’s biggest complain about ketchup for the LAST 100 YEARS is how hard it is to get it out of the bottom of the bottle? And you just thought about solving it?” How true!

By: saramy

saramy — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:27:00 +0000

How exciting! Matthew is ahead of the curve because of his great tragedy and how great for you to meet him and the many other innovators and progressive thinkers in and around the medical community. To me, the mind-body connection is one of the more important elements dealing with T1D – if we become unconnected to any part of ourselves, we often find ourselves in jeopardy. It is something too often overlooked by our doctors and, as a culture, we do need some “life-skills” training. In my life, this is not an airy-fairy kind of thing – it is life itself. The alopathic world of western medicine has done great things (insulin!!!!) but at the same time we seem to have gone too far away from the reality of the whole entire person, especially those with chronic diseases. Fortunately, scientists are just beginning to realize there is more to health than medicine as in a shot for this, a pill for that. This isn’t a plug for my work, but as a practitioner of Structural Integration (also known as rolfing / hellerwork), where the complex entirety of the person is paramount, I find when we fail to charge on all channels (physical, structural, emotional, intellectual, spiritual) our pursuit to find our full potential is compromised. Deficits in any one area create problems everywhere. Especially true with diabetes. This disease in all its complexity is really a gift because it shows us so clearly, and challenges us so profoundly, on the need to focus on all the many aspects of our lives.

Thanks, as usual, for sharing your discoveries. Exciting post!