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Hacking Health in Hamilton Ontario - Let's hear that pitch!

What compelled me to register for a weekend Health Hackathon? Anyway, I could soon be up to my ears in it. A pubmed search on Health Hack...

Monday, March 23, 2020

Anxiety about coronavirus can increase the risk of infection — but exercise can help

Anxiety about coronavirus can increase the risk of infection — but exercise can help



Stress about the coronavirus pandemic can actually increase your risk of infection, but exercise can alleviate the immune system’s stress response. Above, a lone jogger in Ottawa, on March 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Jennifer J. Heisz, McMaster University
Worried about COVID-19? You may be putting yourself at undue risk, because chronic anxiety suppresses the immune system and increases our risk for infection.
The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing incredible distress. I ran into a friend at the grocery store the other day. She was wiping down her cart with antiseptic. Under normal circumstance, this behaviour would seem bizarre, but in the current COVID-19 climate, it has become acceptable.
Although it is important to be prepared during this pandemic, we do not need to panic. Physical activity can help protect the immune system from the effects of stress.

Fear of the unknown

As an associate professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University, I direct a team of researchers in the NeuroFit Lab, where we’ve shown that psychological distress can compromise mental health.
Anxiety about the unknown (such as our risk of COVID-19) can hyperactivate the fear centre in the brain called the amygdala. In terms of evolution, this is one of the oldest parts of the brain and its operations are quite primitive; it acts like a trigger-happy alarm that interfaces with the stress system to keep our body and mind on high alert for as long as we are feeling anxious. Research shows that the mere suggestion of danger, even if it never is experienced, is enough to trigger the amygdala and activate the stress response. This is what keeps people awake at night, lying in bed worrying about COVID-19.
The problem is that chronic activation of the stress systems can damage our cells and upset many of the body’s functions. Our immune system bears the brunt. Although psychological stress is not pathogenic per se, the damage it causes to the body’s cells triggers an immune response that makes us more susceptible to a foreign pathogen. This may increase our risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Worried sick

The immune system acts like border security, patrolling the body for cells that are foreign and harmful to it. It works a lot like the Nexus or Global Entry programs for pre-approved travellers; anyone enrolled in the program has their iris scanned to quickly confirm their identity for fast border crossing. But instead of iris scanning, the immune system scans the outer surface of a cell for its biological passport, or what scientists call a motif.
The body’s cells have a motif (a “self” motif) that’s different from the “non-self” motif of foreign cells and pathogens, like SARS-CoV-2. This non-self motif is known as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP).


Concerns about COVID-19 led crowds to stock up on supplies. Here, people line up at a Costco in Ottawa on March 13, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Another type of motif is the “damaged self” motif, known as a damage-associated molecular pattern, or DAMP. This motif is expressed by a damaged or dying cell that no longer serves the body. Stress damages the body’s cells, transfiguring self motifs into damaged self motifs. This elevates inflammation throughout the body in a similar way as if it were infected. This response, in the absence of an actual infection, is called a sterile immune response.
Chronic over-worrying about COVID-19 can intensify our vulnerability to viruses by creating an imbalance in immune function. This is because the immune system reacts to multiple breaches in immunity in a similar way that airport security reacts to multiple breaches in safety, by escalating the response. Think back to how vigilant airport security became after 9/11, implementing the strictest screening procedures for all passengers and luggage.

Read more: Coronavirus weekly: expert analysis from The Conversation global network

Excessive anxiety about COVID-19 can trigger an immune response that increases inflammation and readies the immune system’s equivalent of special forces, known as inflammasomes. If SARS-CoV-2 acts like other viruses, then upon infection the inflammasomes will be called to action to escalate inflammation even further. But too much inflammation does more harm than good; it deregulates immune function, increasing our risk of a viral infection.
My lab recently demonstrated how quickly our health declines under chronic stress. We tracked sedentary but otherwise healthy students during the weeks leading up to their final exams, and we observed how six weeks of stress gave rise to the symptoms of depression.

Resisting the effects of anxiety

What can we do to prevent panic and bolster immune protection?
Physical activity can protect your body from chronic stress-induced inflammation.
In our study, during that same stressful six-week period, we enrolled some of the students in a new exercise program in which they cycled on a stationary bike at moderate intensity for approximately 30 minutes, three times per week. Moderate intensity exercise is about 40 per cent of maximum workload: the point at which someone can still talk, but can’t sing.
Blood samples were collected to track changes in inflammation. Although the exercisers were exposed to the same psychological stressors as the sedentary students, their inflammation remained low and their mood remained high with no increase in symptoms of anxiety or depression.
But the intensity of the exercise mattered. Higher intensity exercise was not as effective at protecting mental health or reducing inflammation. The vigorous nature of the intense exercise may have exacerbated an already stressed-out system, especially in individuals who were not accustomed to exercise.
The key take-away from our research: a brisk walk, jog or bike ride can help keep you calm and healthy during these uncertain times so you can be prepared without the panic.The Conversation
Jennifer J. Heisz, Associate Professor in Kinesiology and Associate Director (Seniors) of the Physical Activity Centre of Excellence, McMaster University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Bill Gates - Global Health - Blog

GatesNotes
The Insider Edition
February 10, 2020
Annual Letter 2020
Why Melinda and I swing for the fences
By Bill Gates
When Warren Buffett donated the majority of his wealth to our foundation, he told Melinda and me to “swing for the fences.”
That’s a phrase many Americans will recognize from baseball. When you swing for the fences, you’re putting every ounce of strength into hitting the ball as far as possible. You know that your bat might miss the ball entirely—but that if you succeed in making contact, the rewards can be huge.
That’s how we think about our philanthropy, too. The goal isn’t just incremental progress. It’s to put the full force of our efforts and resources behind the big bets that, if successful, will save and improve lives.
Our annual letter this year is all about those big bets. We write about the work our foundation has done on health and education over the last twenty years and why we think the risks we’ve taken have set us up for future progress. We also write about two issues that have emerged as priorities for us—the climate crisis and gender equality—and how they will factor into our next 20 years.
Read our 2020 annual letter here.
Bill signature
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© 2020 The Gates Notes LLC | 

Friday, November 15, 2019

eHealth news, feeds, business and intelligence sources

There is a lot of information about ehealth and health informatics. I am not talking specifically about academic research journals - that is a whole other sort of information. Sometimes it is difficult to sort out information about healthcare in general from information that is specific to ehealth, as both are so intertwined. I have been following ehealth news sources for over a decade. My inner ehealth journalist would feed on these sources for material - as would a blogger.

Here are "some" of the main sources of information that I have been receiving:

1. Blogs
2. Healthcare Technology Newsletters
3. Health Informatics Association Newsletters
4. Twitter and Facebook
5. Google News
6. Journal subscriptions
7. Business Intelligence

Blogs
Healthcare Technology Newsletters

Health Informatics Association Newsletters
Twitter and Facebook
Business Intelligence
Google News
  • Set a search criteria on "Health Informatics" in favourites



Thursday, November 14, 2019

CB Insights - Digital Health 150: The Digital Health Startups Redefining The Healthcare Industry

I have been trying to follow all the news from CB Insights: Technology Market Intelligence. They have extremely rich information on digital health. Here is a sample or intro:
https://www.cbinsights.com/research/

The most promising 150 private digital health startups working to transform the healthcare industry with new models of primary care to emerging tech solutions for providers.

CB Insights’ first ever annual cohort of Digital Health 150 startups is a list of 150 of the most promising private companies creating innovative products and services in the $5T+ healthcare industry, according to CB Insights’ Industry Analyst Consensus.
Our research team selected the 150 startups from a pool of 5K+ companies based on several factors, including patent activity, investor profile, news sentiment analysis, proprietary Mosaic scores, market potential, partnerships, competitive landscape, team strength, and tech novelty.
For the purposes of this report, digital health is defined as companies in the healthcare space that use technology/software as a key differentiator from their competition. This includes everything from disease diagnostics to tech-driven health insurance platforms to AI tools for drug discovery, and more.
Startups are categorized by their main focus areas. Categories in the market map below are not mutually exclusive.
Please click to enlarge.

Table of contents

150 startups in different stages of R&D

The Digital Health 150 companies span a wide spectrum of categories that involve all three key stakeholder groups for the healthcare industry — providers, payers, and patients.
These companies range from emerging startups to established unicorns (companies with $1B+ valuations). The selected companies represent a mix of startups at different stages of funding and product commercialization.

For example, China-based We Doctor has a valuation of $5.5B and provides primary care services that leverage its tech platforms and provider network.
In contrast, RDMD is an early-stage company specializing in drug discovery efforts for rare diseases. The company plans to aggregate data to help develop treatments for a range of conditions.
A total of 17 companies on the list are unicorns (private companies valued at $1B+). Of these, 12 companies are US-based, 3 are based in China, 1 is based in France, and 1 is based in the UK.
2019 Digital Health 150 Unicorn Startups
Company Category Country
We Doctor Providers: Primary Care China
GRAIL Genomics United States
Oscar Health Insurance & Benefits United States
Tempus Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence United States
GoodRx Pharma Supply Chain United States
23andMe Genomics United States
Babylon Health Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only) United Kingdom
Devoted Health Insurance & Benefits United States
HeartFlow Diagnostics: Imaging United States
Proteus Digital Health Digital Therapeutics United States
Butterfly Network Diagnostics: Imaging United States
Doctolib Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only) France
Hims Pharma Supply Chain United States
Calm Consumer Health & Wellness United States
LinkDoc Technology Drug R&D: Clinical Trials China
One Medical Group Providers: Primary Care United States
Tencent Trusted Doctors Providers: Primary Care China

Most well-funded companies

The most well-funded companies on the Digital Health 150 list span a broad range of categories. The top-funded company is genomics startup GRAIL, followed by insurance tech player Oscar Health and then China-based We Doctor.

Startups outside the United States

Of the 150 selected digital health startups, 116 are headquartered in the US. Those based outside the US include 17 from Asia, 16 from Europe, and 1 from Canada.

After the US, China is the second most-represented country on this list, with 7 of the selected companies, and Israel is third with 4 companies.

Most active investors

Over 850 unique investors have funded this year’s Digital Health 150 cohort, including corporations, CVCs, VC firms, and angel investors.
Below, we highlight the top 10 most active investors among the companies selected.
Investor Number of deals
F-Prime Capital 31
New Enterprise Associates 30
Google Ventures 29
Venrock 28
Founders Fund 27
Khosla Ventures 27
GE Ventures 22
Social Capital 20
.406 Ventures 19
Andreessen Horowitz 18

Track all the Digital Health 150 Startups in this brief and many more on our platform

The 150 private digital health startups working to recreate how healthcare is delivered. Look for The Digital Health 150 in the Collections tab.
Collections is the first collaborative work management solution purpose-built for corporate growth teams responsible for managing build, buy, or partner decisions.

Themes & trends

Across our 150 selected companies, we identified key themes and trends that highlight their efforts to transform the healthcare industry.
Below, we discuss a selection of these trends across different categories.

Artificial intelligence

Many companies on our list are leveraging AI and machine learning to help develop their respective software platforms.
From consumer health companies to imaging & diagnostics startups, AI is at the forefront of their products and services.
One example here is pathology — an area that AI has begun to transform. For instance, startups such as PathAI and PAIGE.AI are using AI to help speed up patient diagnosis.

Source: PAIGE.AI
AI is also being leveraged through drug discovery & development — accelerating the identification of new targets and therapeutic candidates.
An example here is OWKIN, a startup that develops algorithms to help interpret disease-related data and predict treatment outcomes.

Women’s health

As investments to women’s health startups have increased, we’ve seen startups targeting everything from egg freezing services to emerging tech for managing menopause.
In particular, fertility has gained traction as one of the main area of interest for women.
Startups such as Ava Science (fertility tracking device) and Carrot Fertility (fertility supplemental insurance) are providing novel services that aim to boost accessibility and convenience.
Virtual care clinics such as Maven Clinic are also helping women gain better access to providers that cater specifically to women’s health needs and concerns.

Source: Maven Clinic
Maven raised a $27M Series B round in September 2018 with participating investors including Sequoia Capital and Oak HC/FT Partners, among others.

Senior care

The growing size of the aging population is creating an increased demand for tech that aims to improve their health management.
This includes services targeted at both home care solutions and care coordination between providers.
One example here is ClearCare — a home care platform that aims to facilitate everything from administrative tasks to tracking patient hospitalizations.

Source: ClearCare

Social determinants of health

Population health has been generating a lot of buzz in healthcare. In particular, there’s a growing emphasis on leveraging social determinants of health (SDoH) to generate better health outcomes.
An example here is Unite Us, a New York-based startup working to build care networks that integrate SDoH into how healthcare is delivered.

Source: Unite Us
Its approach is to provide care coordination software that can handle external referrals and track patient outcomes, helping to connect healthcare with social services.

Value-based care

As more healthcare stakeholders look to collaboration to spur innovation in the industry, value-based care has come to the forefront.
In particular, payers and providers have established new care coordination networks to help reduce overall healthcare costs — with the goal of delivering care that provides better value to patients.
An example here is Vim, which provides patients with access to both payers and providers to make it easier to find appropriate care options.

Source: Vim
Vim raised a $24M Series B round in September, with participating investors including Optum Ventures, Premera Blue Cross, and Sequoia Capital, among others.

Concierge medicine

Concierge medicine startups, such as One Medical or Parsley Health, use a membership model to help offer patients an elevated healthcare services experience.
The approach aims to offer faster health visits with providers and more predictable associated costs.

Source: Galileo Health
Recently, Galileo Health — started by the founder of One Medical — launched an app-based concierge medicine platform geared towards providing a comprehensive level of care, including for chronic disease management.
It raised funding from Oak HC/FT Partners in May.

Telehealth

Telehealth services have expanded in recent years to become more differentiated.
Primary care platforms such as Ada Health and 98point6 are helping patients access more tailored care from their smartphones.
For instance, 98point6 offers a subscription on-demand telemedicine platform — touting 24/7 access to board-certified physicians — that’s delivered via a mobile app.

Source: 98point6
The startup raised a $50M Series C in October 2018 from Goldman Sachs and Frazier Healthcare Partners.
Another example is Talkspace, which offers psychotherapy services delivered virtually. It has raised $109M in total disclosed funding from investors including Compound, Norwest Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and SoftBank, among others.
Other companies in this category use remote monitoring technology to supplement virtual care services.

Table of the Digital Health 150 companies

2019 Digital Health 150 Companies
Company Category
Ava Science Consumer Health & Wellness
Calm Consumer Health & Wellness
CarePredict Consumer Health & Wellness
Ciitizen Consumer Health & Wellness
Dreem Consumer Health & Wellness
Headspace Consumer Health & Wellness
higi Consumer Health & Wellness
Oura Health Consumer Health & Wellness
TytoCare Consumer Health & Wellness
Aidoc Medical Diagnostics: Imaging
Arterys Diagnostics: Imaging
Butterfly Network Diagnostics: Imaging
eXo Imaging Diagnostics: Imaging
HeartFlow Diagnostics: Imaging
icometrix Diagnostics: Imaging
IDx Diagnostics: Imaging
Lifetrack Medical Systems Diagnostics: Imaging
Lunit Diagnostics: Imaging
Niramai Diagnostics: Imaging
Viz.ai Diagnostics: Imaging
VoxelCloud Diagnostics: Imaging
Zebra Medical Vision Diagnostics: Imaging
Athelas Diagnostics: Other Diagnostics
Cue Health Diagnostics: Other Diagnostics
Healthy.io Diagnostics: Other Diagnostics
Letsgetchecked Diagnostics: Other Diagnostics
Deep Lens Diagnostics: Pathology
PAIGE.AI Diagnostics: Pathology
PathAI Diagnostics: Pathology
Proscia Diagnostics: Pathology
Akili Interactive Labs Digital Therapeutics
Biofourmis Digital Therapeutics
Cara Care Digital Therapeutics
Click Therapeutics Digital Therapeutics
CureApp Digital Therapeutics
Glooko Digital Therapeutics
Kaia Health Digital Therapeutics
Lark Health Digital Therapeutics
Neurotrack Technologies Digital Therapeutics
Noom Digital Therapeutics
Omada Health Digital Therapeutics
Pear Therapeutics Digital Therapeutics
Pivot Digital Therapeutics
Proteus Digital Health Digital Therapeutics
SWORD Health Digital Therapeutics
Vida Health Digital Therapeutics
Virta Health Digital Therapeutics
Vivante Health Digital Therapeutics
AiCure Drug R&D: Clinical Trials
Emulate Drug R&D: Clinical Trials
LinkDoc Technology Drug R&D: Clinical Trials
Teckro Drug R&D: Clinical Trials
Atomwise Drug R&D: Drug Discovery & Development
Benchling Drug R&D: Drug Discovery & Development
Insitro Drug R&D: Drug Discovery & Development
OWKIN Drug R&D: Drug Discovery & Development
RDMD Drug R&D: Drug Discovery & Development
Recursion Pharmaceuticals Drug R&D: Drug Discovery & Development
Vineti Drug R&D: Drug Discovery & Development
Aetion Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
Evidation Health Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
GNS Healthcare Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
Medbanks Network Technology Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
Syapse Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
Tempus Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
TriNetX Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
Verana Health Drug R&D: Real-World Evidence
23andMe Genomics
Color Genomics Genomics
Freenome Genomics
Genome Medical Genomics
GRAIL Genomics
Luna DNA Genomics
Nebula Genomics Genomics
Sophia Genetics Genomics
Viome Genomics
Accolade Insurance & Benefits
Alan Insurance & Benefits
Beam Dental Insurance & Benefits
Bend Financial Insurance & Benefits
Bright Health Insurance & Benefits
Carrot Fertility Insurance & Benefits
Cedar Insurance & Benefits
Collective Health Insurance & Benefits
Devoted Health Insurance & Benefits
Grand Rounds Insurance & Benefits
LEAGUE Insurance & Benefits
Modern Health Insurance & Benefits
Nomad Health Insurance & Benefits
Oscar Health Insurance & Benefits
Stride Health Insurance & Benefits
GoodRx Pharma Supply Chain
Hims Pharma Supply Chain
Nurx Pharma Supply Chain
Pill Club Pharma Supply Chain
Ro Pharma Supply Chain
TruePill Pharma Supply Chain
ClearCare Providers: Administrative Tools
ClearDATA Providers: Administrative Tools
HealthVerity Providers: Administrative Tools
Human API Providers: Administrative Tools
Jvion Providers: Administrative Tools
Kyruus Providers: Administrative Tools
Notable Providers: Administrative Tools
Olive Providers: Administrative Tools
Protenus Providers: Administrative Tools
Redox Providers: Administrative Tools
Solv Health Providers: Administrative Tools
SYNYI.AI Providers: Administrative Tools
Weimai Providers: Administrative Tools
DocPlanner Providers: Clinical Tools
Gauss Surgical Providers: Clinical Tools
KenSci Providers: Clinical Tools
MDClone Providers: Clinical Tools
MORE Health Providers: Clinical Tools
Oncology Analytics Providers: Clinical Tools
PatientPing Providers: Clinical Tools
Quartet Health Providers: Clinical Tools
Solera Providers: Clinical Tools
Suki Providers: Clinical Tools
Unite Us Providers: Clinical Tools
Welkin Health Providers: Clinical Tools
Vim Providers: Clinical Tools
Cityblock Health Providers: Primary Care
Iora Health Providers: Primary Care
One Medical Providers: Primary Care
Parsley Health Providers: Primary Care
Tencent Trusted Doctors Providers: Primary Care
We Doctor Providers: Primary Care
Galileo Health Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Halodoc Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
98point6 Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Ada Health Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
American Well Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Babylon Health Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Buoy Health Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Doctolib Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Doctor On Demand Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
K Health Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Kry Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Lyra Health Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
MDLIVE Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Zava Providers: Primary Care (Virtual-Only)
Cricket Health Providers: Specialty Care
DispatchHealth Providers: Specialty Care
Kindbody Providers: Specialty Care
Xiaolu Yiguan Providers: Specialty Care
AbleTo Providers: Specialty Care (Virtual-Only)
Maven Clinic Providers: Specialty Care (Virtual-Only)
Talkspace Providers: Specialty Care (Virtual-Only)


Licensing and Reuse of Content:
 Contact our official partner, Wrights Media, about available usages, license fees, and award seal artwork at cbinsights@wrightsmedia.com. Please note that Wright’s Media is the only authorized company that we’ve partnered with for CB Insights materials.