Technology can provide numerous ways to save people’s lives. A useful application of technology is the PulsePoint app which connects users trained in CPR with other people who urgently require their help. This was the situation in Seattle, in Stephen DeMont’s case.

Last week, Stephen collapsed right in front of the University of Washington Medical Center, at the bus station. He taking a bike ride when suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed because of a heart attack. Fortunately, enough nearby citizens trained in CPR were alerted through the PulsePoint app just in time to save Stephen.

The app was invented by Richard Price, a former fire department chief for 33 years. In one ordinary day when he happened to have lunch, he saw that an EMT arrived nearby to save someone having a cardiac arrest. Price was bothered by the fact that he could have administered CPR and used the automated external defibrillator (AED) he had in his car, if only he was aware of the situation.

This event prompted Richard to have the idea of the PulsePoint app. With some work, he eventually made his idea into a reality and has been saving lives ever since. Around 900,000 people have downloaded the app and at least 34,000 were alerted to people requiring CPR. Over 13,000 alerts involved cardiac events.

The app was developed in 2011 but only recently cities like Seattle have started wide adoption programs seeing how beneficial it is. The app works through the emergency services system. When someone makes a call requesting help, the 911 operators alert the PulsePoint app users within a certain radius that CPR assistance is required. The location of the closest portable EDA is also provided.

The PulsePoint app is extremely useful as it allows the timely intervention in cases where time is essential to the survival of the suffering person. For example, cardiac arrest is a medical condition which if it is not addressed within a few minutes it will cause damage to your organs and brain. After 10 minutes the chances of surviving drop to zero. The app fulfills an important role in cases where emergency responders just don’t have the resources or time to reach the affected person in time.

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Everybody knows that increasing your immunity helps to prevent the flu or a cold that could sometimes creep up on us. Boosting up our immune systems is so much more than just drinking orange juices, and it involves many habits that are very healthy and could also improve our mental state.

The development of healthy habits and paying closer attention to different aspects of our lives could help us fight the common cold while being in shape. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), five to 20 percent of the world’s population will get the flu while the common cold touches millions.

Rue Jean, a holistic wellness trainer, mentioned that a stress management routine is essential because stress is one of the fastest ways to break your immunity. Everything that could keep one’s mind off stress and get the person to calm down could work, from taking long walks to meditating and enjoying bubble baths.

A study from the Journal of Nutrition said that garlic is the number one weapon that helps your immune system. It lessens the severity of symptoms and reduces the duration of the cold.

Christopher Caulfield, a family nurse practitioner, mentioned that no pills at the vitamin store compare to the immune-rasing influence of good old exercise. Regular exercise induces a good circulation which allows substances of the immune system and the cells to travel through the organism freely and efficiently fulfill their role.

While people say that laughter is the best medicine, research from Alternative Remedies in Health and Medicine agrees that laughing helps reduce stress and increases the heart rate which influences the quantity of oxygen sent to the tissue.

Dr. Jeremy Overholt estimated that while our bodies are 80 percent or more made of water, when it enters into a slight dehydration stage, it causes a stress reply that will suppress our immune response.

Spending too much time at home alone will surely not help fight the common cold according to a study from Carnegie Mellon University. Researchers noted that the more friends an individual has, the less likely they are to develop a cold. When people have more friends, they tend to have a higher self-esteem which is associated with healthier behaviors.

Although just one of the above behaviors won’t help to boost your immunity, by combining as much as possible, you can keep your immune system at a higher level which can bring many benefits.

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At the 9/11 remembrance ceremony in New York City, Hillary Clinton was seen stumbling into a car after appeared to be struggling to stand upright and her public statement blamed her pneumonia diagnosis, but it seems that dehydration caused her experience.

Bill Clinton, her husband, mentioned that on more than one occasion but not very often, this kind of situation happened to her when she got dangerously dehydrated.

A close contact with the Democratic nominee says that her reluctance to regularly drink water has converted into a cause of tension between Hillary and her staff. The same source mentioned that a rehydration mission is advised in this case because she won’t listen when everybody tells her she needs to drink water.

More than 75 percent of American individuals are dehydrated according to recent studies, and they continue to mistake their symptoms with the ones of other diseases.

If Hillary Clinton is among the people suffering from chronic dehydration as she recently stated, a condition which was highlighted by pneumonia she was diagnosed with several days earlier, the next time a staff member approaches her with a glass of water, she is advised to drink it.

When a person is suffering from dehydration, the amount of water that goes in the body is less than the one the body loses and this process influences the functionality of the individual by reversing the balance of sugar and salt. The levels of water must be kept stable because they affect the body’s temperature, urination and bowel movement, and they enable waste elimination by sweating.

If the levels of water are not stable, they can control the increase in kidney stone risk or can lead to constipation or muscle damage. Treatment is highly advised for this kind of dehydration, and it involves the sufferer being connected to a drip that will renew fluids. However, 50 percent of the patients treated for kidney stones are known to encounter recurrence in less than ten years.

Chronic dehydration has some early signs that could easily be detected like dry mouth, tiredness, feeling lightheaded and thirsty. If suffering from extreme thirst, lack of tears when crying, little or no urination, rapid breathing and heartbeat and dizziness when standing for several seconds, doctor’s opinion is needed urgently because these are all signs of chronic dehydration.

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The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that only the flu shots should be used on individuals in the United States because the FluMist vaccine does not have equivalent benefits.

The painless version of the vaccine that represented a third of the pediatric influenza treatment in current years will not be offered for this fall.

The American Academy of Pediatrics agreed to CDC’s recommendation and advised parents to choose for their children aged six months and older the regular flu shot.

A family physician with Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation, Dr. David Begert, agreed that the nasal spray was not as efficient as flu shots but also mentioned that scientists do not know exactly why the FluMist does not defend against several flu strains.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the nasal spray was only three percent efficient during the influenza season which usually starts in October and stops in May. The flu vaccine was known to be 63 percent effective in kids aged between two and 17 years old.

Flu usually kills more than  24,000 Americans every year including approximately 100 children. It is the reason why CDC advises parents to vaccinate their six months and older children with the regular flu vaccine which is known to decrease the risk of influenza by 50 to 60 percent.

Kaiser Permanente declared canceling an order of approximately 120,000 doses of FluMist in the Southern and Northern California operations. The canceled orders represent around eight percent of the total 1.5 million doses of influenza vaccine that the corporation provides its members across the nation.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention thinks that notwithstanding the FluMist issues, there will be enough doses of vaccine to be supplied to U.S customers, usually around 157 million and 168 million shot doses.

Assistant health administrator in Sonoma County, Karen Holbrook, warned that children under the age of two and senior over 65 years old ar the categories with the highest risk. Other divisions included in the maximum risk group are individuals with chronic heart, lung, liver, kidney, and nervous system conditions. Moreover, people suffering from diabetes, cancer, obesity and pregnant women are also at a greater risk.

A family physician who operates in the Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation building on Stony Circle mentioned that the vaccine benefits individuals who are most likely to suffer from disease from the flu virus.

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