FlowT

The future

The future

Managing complex and chronic diseases sometimes become difficult for patients and doctors both. Along with that, when patients don't find someone who shares the same disease as them, it becomes even more difficult for them to deal with the situation. Not having someone with whom they can share their exact situation, makes the entire scenario suffocating.
To bring a change in this situation, the concept of sharing health data online came into existence. The system of building support groups, talks, etc made people know that there are many other people who suffer from same illness as they do. This revolutionary concept made it easy for patients to connect to doctors simultaneously connecting them with other patients.
Previously, sharing health care data online has tremendously helped in solving public health related issues. In 2014, during the Ebola out break, the data collected online helped scientists and doctors know how the virus was evolving and spreading in region.
The advancement in information technology has brought a progressive change in health care systems.

Image source: ATD

How seriously do you take Diabetes?

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

How true is this quote by Mahatma Gandhi?
Let us make this quote more understandable for you by throwing light upon some practical examples.
Arun Jaitley- a well known Indian politician, suffered from diabetes for nearly two decades.
Due to excessive weight gain that happened due to his long-standing diabetic condition, he had to undergo bariatric surgery to lose weight. His condition worsened after getting a kidney transplant in May 2018. He also suffered from soft tissue sarcoma, a rare form of cancer which then lead to metastasis all over the body by lymphatic and bloodstreams. Sadly, after suffering for so long, Arun Jaitley passed away on 24th August 2019.

Similar was the case of Smt. Sushma Swaraj- former minister of external affairs of India. She suffered from diabetes. Later she was diagnosed with renal failure. Though she had a successful kidney transplant in December 2016. At the age of 67, she died after a cardiac arrest.
We lost two precious gems of the country to complications of diabetes. We need to understand that diabetes itself is manageable, but its complications can severely impact a person, and some can be lethal if not treated immediately. Therefore, it's necessary to take diabetes seriously from the beginning to prevent complications, as the best of healthcare is not going to help once the cascade of complications sets in. After all, its truly quoted by Nina Leavins, “The best health care plan is a self-care plan.”

You may have heard the statement “Sitting is the New Smoking!”

When we first heard this saying, we thought it was crazy.

Sitting is NOT like smoking.

But recently, team FlowT looked more into it, and it completely changed our outlook on one aspect of health that most people neglect.

Here's the problem: we sit an average of 9 to 10 hours a day. So we sit more than we sleep. We sit more than we stand or do any activity.

We sit in our cars. We sit to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We sit to work. We sit to watch TV. We sit at the movie theatre. We sit at the dentist’s office. We sit everywhere.

What’s the problem with so much sitting?

You’ll be surprised to hear that it’s not really “back pain” or any such thing (although, that can happen too!).

The problem with so much sitting is that our bodies were not meant for it.

For millions of year, we were in constant movement for 10-12 hours a day.

Switch that to sitting for 10 hours, and there’s no amount of exercise you can do that can undo the damage.

Even if, after your day at the office, you went to the gym for two hours, it wouldn’t negate the damage done by sitting.

That’s what led Dr James Levine to coin the phrase “Sitting is the New Smoking!”

When you stand, your body works very differently than when you sit.

Sitting for hours a day causes the following damages.

Because blood flow slows down, you increase your risk of heart disease.

Your insulin is negatively affected by just one day of sitting 10 hours a day.

Sitting increases your risk of cancer, for reasons we’re still speculating about.

Perhaps it’s the antioxidant processes that are engaged when we are in movement.

Sitting compresses your body, slowing down digestion, leading to cramps, heartburn, constipation and bloating.

Brain function slows down when we sit.

Your brain gets less blood and oxygen.

Because of the above, mood worsens.

Posture gets worse, leading to a strained neck and shoulders.
Your entire body degenerates when you sit 10 hours a day.

Standing requires tensing of the abdominal muscles.

Sitting leads to weak abs, leading to mobility issues.

Varicose veins develop.

Your bones get weaker.

One study found that you can increase your lifespan by two years by sitting down three hours or less a day.

Another study found that each hour spent watching
TV after 25 reduces your life expectancy by 22 minutes.

On the other hand, each cigarette reduces your life expectancy by 11 minutes.

Hence… sitting is the new smoking!
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