Social epidemic of "diabesity" and community-driven solutions - Mark Hyman at TEDMED 2012

Unhealthy lifestyles have brought on a social epidemic of "diabesity," says author Mark Hyman, and community-driven solutions may be the only way out.

What are those floaty things in your eye? Muscae volitantes

Sometimes, against a uniform, bright background such as a clear sky or a blank computer screen, you might see things floating across your field of vision. What are these moving objects, and how are you seeing them? Michael Mauser explains the visual phenomenon that is floaters.



Eye floaters are called muscae volitantes, Latin for “hovering flies". Floaters are visible because of the shadows they cast on the retina.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-are-those-floaty-things-in-your-eye-michael-mauser

Related reading:

Your Eyes: Understanding Flashes and Floaters - Cleveland Clinic http://buff.ly/1zNgIr8

The language of lying - TED-Ed video

From TED-Ed: We hear anywhere from 10 to 200 lies a day. And although we’ve spent much of our history coming up with ways to detect these lies by tracking physiological changes in their tellers, these methods have proved unreliable. Is there a more direct approach? Noah Zandan uses some famous examples of lying to illustrate how we might use communications science to analyze the lies themselves.



Lesson by Noah Zandan, animation by The Moving Company Animation Studio.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-language-of-lying-noah-zandan

What we know (and don't know) about Ebola - TED-Ed video

The highly virulent Ebola virus has seen a few major outbreaks since it first appeared in 1976 -- with the worst epidemic occurring in 2014. How does the virus spread, and what exactly does it do to the body? Alex Gendler details what Ebola is and why it's so hard to study.

Lesson by Alex Gendler, animation by Andrew Foerster. View full lesson:
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-we-know-and-don-t-know-about-ebola-alex-gendler

How do lungs and liver work? TED-Ed videos

How do the lungs work? TED-Ed video



When you breathe, you transport oxygen to the body’s cells to keep them working, while also clearing your system of the carbon dioxide that this work generates. How do we accomplish this crucial and complex task without even thinking about it? Emma Bryce takes us into the lungs to investigate how they help keep us alive.

Lesson by Emma Bryce, animation by Andrew Zimbelman for The Foreign Correspondents' Club.

Read the full lesson here: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-do-the-lungs-do-emma-bryce

What does the liver do?



There’s a factory inside you that weighs about 1.4 kilograms and runs for 24 hours a day. It’s your liver: the heaviest organ in your body, which simultaneously acts as a storehouse, a manufacturing hub, and a processing plant. Emma Bryce gives a crash course on the liver and how it helps keep us alive.

Lesson by Emma Bryce, animation by Andrew Zimbelman for The Foreign Correspondents' Club.

Is math discovered or invented? TED-Ed video

Would mathematics exist if people didn't? Did we create mathematical concepts to help us understand the world around us, or is math the native language of the universe itself? Jeff Dekofsky traces some famous arguments in this ancient and hotly debated question.

How playing an instrument benefits your brain - TED-Ed video

When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.



View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins

How the heart actually pumps blood - TED-Ed animation

For most of history, scientists weren't quite sure why our hearts were beating or even what purpose they served. Eventually, we realized that these thumping organs serve the vital task of pumping clean blood throughout the body. But how? Edmond Hui investigates how it all works by taking a closer look at the heart's highly efficient ventricle system.

Lesson by Edmond Hui, animation by Anton Bogaty.



View full lesson here: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-the-heart-actually-pumps-blood-edmond-hui

Not all scientific studies are created equal - TED-Ed video

"Every day, we are bombarded by attention grabbing headlines that promise miracle cures to all of our ailments -- often backed up by a "scientific study." But what are these studies, and how do we know if they are reliable? David H. Schwartz dissects two types of studies that scientists use, illuminating why you should always approach the claims with a critical eye."

What is Alzheimer's disease? TED-Ed video

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting over 40 million people worldwide. And though it was discovered over a century ago, scientists are still grappling for a cure. Ivan Seah Yu Jun describes how Alzheimer's affects the brain, shedding light on the different stages of this complicated, destructive disease.

Lesson by Ivan Seah Yu Jun, animation by STK Films.

Sugar is hiding in plain sight - TED-Ed video by UCSF endocrinologist

When you eat something loaded with sugar, your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation of your reward system is not unlike how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine -- an overload of sugar spikes dopamine levels and leaves you craving more

While sugar is easy to spot in candy, soft drinks and ice cream, it also hides out in foods you might not expect -- including peanut butter, pasta sauce and even bologna! Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco, decodes confusing labels and sugar's many aliases to help determine just how much of that sweet carbohydrate makes its way into our diets.



Lesson by Robert Lustig, animation by The Tremendousness Collective.

More info: Sugar: Hiding in plain sight - Robert Lustig | TED-Ed http://buff.ly/1iY0PTc

Poison vs. venom: What's the difference?

Lesson by Rose Eveleth, animation by TED-Ed. "Would you rather be bitten by a venomous rattlesnake or touch a poisonous dart frog? While both of these animals are capable of doing some serious damage to the human body, they deliver their dangerous toxins in different ways. Rose Eveleth sheds light on the distinction between poison and venom (and why you shouldn't treat either one like you've seen in the movies)."

Why do we cry? The three types of tears (TED-Ed video)

Whether we cry during a sad movie, while chopping onions, or completely involuntarily, our eyes are constantly producing tears. Alex Gendler tracks a particularly watery day in the life of Iris (the iris) as she cycles through basal, reflex and emotional tears.



Read more here: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-we-cry-the-three-types-of-tears-alex-gendler

Synesthesia is the neurological trait that combines two or more senses: What color is Tuesday?

How does one experience synesthesia -- the neurological trait that combines two or more senses? Synesthetes (4% of the population) may taste the number 9 or attach a color to each day of the week. Richard E. Cytowic explains the fascinating world of entangled senses and why we may all have just a touch of synesthesia. Lesson by Richard E. Cytowic, animation by TED-Ed:



Comments from Twitter on "What color is Tuesday?":

Rann Patterson @RannPatterson: yellow

PilotHealthAdvocates @ClaudiaNichols Ruby?

Jenny Sprague @xFoodAllrgyhelp: tangerine... :)

Related:

TED Talks: "Daniel Tammet has linguistic, numerical and visual synesthesia -- meaning that his perception of words, numbers and colors are woven together into a new way of perceiving and understanding the world. The author of "Born on a Blue Day," Tammet shares his art and his passion for languages in this glimpse into his beautiful mind."

How Do Nerves Work? TED-Ed video

At any moment, there is "an electrical storm" coursing through your body. Discover how chemical reactions create an electric current that drives our responses to everything in this 5-minute video:



Read more and customize this lesson at TED-Ed website: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-nerves-work

How Do Pain Relievers Work? TED-Education video

From TED Education series, Jun 26, 2012: Some people take aspirin or ibuprofen to treat everyday aches and pains, but how exactly do the different classes of pain relievers work? Learn about the basic physiology of how humans experience pain, and the mechanics of the medicines we've invented to block or circumvent that discomfort.



Lesson by George Zaidan, animated by Augenblick Studios.

Virtual dissection table, stretcher-sized multi-touch screen, a powerful tool for training medical students

Onstage at TED2012, Jack Choi demonstrates a powerful tool for training medical students: a stretcher-sized multi-touch screen of the human body that lets you explore, dissect and understand the body's parts and systems.

Jack is the CEO of Anatomage, a company specializing in 3D medical technology. See the TED video embedded below:



Comments from Twitter:

Mike Cadogan @sandnsurf: NEED! ...Virtual dissection table, stretcher-sized multi-touch screen bit.ly/IIeko3

"Doctors make mistakes. Can we talk about that?" ED physician Brian Goldman's TED talk

Dr. Goldman asks if you know your surgeon's "batting average" of operations with good outcomes. He mentions the three words you never want to hear: "Do you remember?" It's a good TED talk:



Every doctor makes mistakes (just like everyone does). But, says Dr. Goldman, medicine's culture of denial (and shame) keeps doctors from ever talking about those mistakes, or using them to learn and improve. Telling stories from his own long practice, he calls on doctors to start talking about being wrong.

Here are some simple steps to avoid medical errors from a patient's perspective (source: CNN):

1. Say: "My name is Mary Smith, my date of birth is October 21, 1965, and I'm here for an appendectomy."
2. Say: "Please check my ID bracelet."
3. Say: "Please look in my chart and tell me what procedure I'm having."
4. Say: "I want to mark up my surgical site with the surgeon present."
5. Be impolite (this particular piece of advice is obviously controversial).

References:

CNN video: Steps to avoid medical errors

Beware of online "filters" that hide the information you need

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles", TEDtalksDirector, May 2, 2011: As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.

Similarly, you don't want Twitter to replace your RSS reader - always get to the original source. When you see a medical news item on Reuters or WebMD, don't stop there - always go to the original journal article. More often that not you will find that the results reported in the original article are a quite a bit more nuanced and less certain than the layman language, SEO-optimized headline that you first encountered. Always go to the source. If you write a blog, always link to the source.


The circle of online information (full version) (click to enlarge).

Related:

For doctors: How to be a Twitter star in two easy steps

Selected videos from TEDxMaastricht "The Future of Health"

TEDxMaastricht is the European stage for bright ideas, bold thinkers and innovators in medicine and healthcare. The playlist embedded below includes 16 videos:



References:
TEDxMaastricht selected videos with comments. Laika's MedLibLog.