Teen In The Driver's Seat - How To Prevent Common Road Accidents Using Modern Apps

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Because driving is such a common activity, some people forget how dangerous it can be to be behind the wheel. Teens are especially naive. They usually forget to consider the risks that come with driving, and many of them even think that accidents can never happen to them. But the reality is that accidents can happen to anyone, and most especially to teens. Their inexperience makes them more vulnerable when driving. Binge drinking is also more common in teens these days, which further increases the risk. 

There are several ways to protect your teen from accidents and from getting arrested for DUI. One is through proper education and training. Second is by making use of modern tools to prevent problems. Today, for instance, there are now so many apps that can be easily downloaded and used by teenagers. With the vast options out there, you can easily find certain applications that have been created to help thwart DUI problems. Below are a few examples:

Apps for Distracted Driving

When people drive, there are times when they can't help but answer their phones or check their emails, and the like. Doing something else while manning a vehicle is known as distracted driving, and this is one of the most common causes of fatal car crashes. Why? Drivers who take their attention off the road, such as when they text someone while driving, will not be able to react quickly if needed because their hands may not be on the wheel or their eyes are focused somewhere else. Luckily, there are apps that can help reduce distracted driving, such as Sprint Drive First, Textecution and DriveSafe.ly, to name a few.

Apps That Gauge BAC

It is hard to measure the blood alcohol content without a breathalyzer. Luckily, more and more apps are being created to help assess a person's BAC. But when using these apps, it's important to understand that these may not as accurate as a breathalyzer. Some, like Breathaleyes, evaluate the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, which is often observed in inebriated individuals. Others can help you take note of how many drinks you've had. Then, there are also apps with detachable devices that can help you determine if you're fit to drive or not. An example is the Breathometer, which you plug into your smartphone if you want to measure your BAC. The BACtrack works in an almost similar manner, with you pairing the app with the BACtrack mobile breathalyzer.

Apps That Curb Speeding

No one wants a speeding ticket, and, thankfully, there are apps that can help you keep track of how fast you're going. My Tracks is a great app for this. Whatever you're doing that gets you from point A to point B, like walking, jogging, biking or driving, this app can help you determine your speed and location. Another way to use this app is to corroborate the findings of the police just in case you're stopped for speeding. If your gadget tells you that you're following the speed limit but the police tell you that you're not, then you can have the devices checked to see which one is providing correct results. The Slow Down app is another creation that can help train you to follow speed limits. The app slows down the music on your iPhone, for instance, once you exceed the speed limit, and it stops altogether if you go past 10 miles more than the stated threshold.

SEE ALSO: 5 Modern Car Safety Technologies That Make Safer Roads

We have done a lot of research about automobile accident prevention. We also write about auto claims and other legal issues that are of concern to car accident victims. Subscribe on our newsletter for more!

*by andreascy*

Sleep Apnoea and Its Prevalence in Europe and the USA

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

There are three known forms of sleep apnea: central (CSA), obstructive (OSA), and complex or mixed sleep apnea that is a combination of both central and obstructive and these constitute 1%, 84% and 15% of cases respectively. In CSA, breathing is interrupted by a lack of respiratory effort. With OSA, a physical block to airflow, despite respiratory effort, interrupts the breathing and snoring is common. Overall 99% of all cases are OSA based. 

If you suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) - also known as sleep apnea, and by far the most common type, you'll know that this form of sleep-disordered breathing can seriously affect your quality of life and impact your health if left untreated. It is estimated that sleep apnoea affects between 2% to 4% of the adult population in the UK, yet this debilitating condition often goes undiagnosed so we are far from sure.

At 4% there would be approximately 2.5 million sufferers in the UK but very few people are actually being treated currently for the problem.

OSA is a worldwide phenomenon. Studies suggest that in Western European countries from 3-7% of middle-aged men and 2-5% of middle-aged women suffer from OSA, but figures vary widely due to low diagnosis levels.

Living with a sleep apnoea sufferer

Despite the increasing recognition that obstructive sleep apnoea is a relatively common condition, population data used to estimate disease prevalence in the United States and abroad did not exist accurately until about 15 years ago. Since the 1990s much has happened to quantify the levels of obstructive sleep apnea in various populations. A number of studies using large samples representative of the general population are now available and provide prevalence estimates for obstructive sleep apnea in countries such as the United States, Australia, Spain, China, Korea, and India.

According to figures issued by the World Health Organization approximately only 100 million people worldwide have OSA. In the USA, OSA is estimated to affect 1 in 4 men and 1 in 9 women; and affects a total of 23 million working adults. Untreated moderate or severe OSA is associated with a six-fold increased risk of death from all causes, independent of any other illnesses.

Other published figures state much a higher total figure based on detailed analysis of registered sufferers and some of these figures are shown below. If one accepts that the addition of the undiagnosed sufferers would at least double these numbers then the figures are quite alarming.

Country % with OSA    Actual Number

United Kingdom 4,0%    2.5 million

United States 4.1%    18.5 million

Australia 3.1%    0.8 million

India 7.5%    85 million

China 4.2%    57 million

Korea 4.5%    2.3 million

There is evidence that regular snoring and OSA are both independently associated with alterations in glucose metabolism and OSA might be a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of OSA is also found more often in those patients with cardiac or metabolic disorders than it is in the general population.

The prevalence of sleep apnoea is higher in different population subgroups, including overweight or obese people, those of some ethnic groups such as African-American, and in older individuals. The fact that prevalence estimates of obstructive sleep apnea from North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia are not too substantially different suggests that this disease is very common not only in developed but also in developing countries. Moreover, given the widespread under-recognition of this disorder by the medical and lay communities, the public and personal health care costs globally are likely to be absolutely enormous.

Source: World Health Organisation

It is estimated in the USA that although there is a known figure of 18.5 million residents* with sleep apnoea, there are over twice that many with some form of major sleep disorder – 40 million in total. If these figures are to be believed, the difference is mostly attributed to undiagnosed OSA, and the problem is even more enormous than we believe and constantly worsening.

Sources for US Statistics: 27.02.2012 - National Sleep Foundation and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is important for us to recognise that obstructive sleep apnoea often goes undiagnosed. Doctors usually can't detect the condition during routine surgery visits and no blood test can help diagnose the condition. Most people who have sleep apnoea don't know they have it because it only occurs during sleep so a family member or bed partner might be the first to notice the distinctive signs of sleep apnoea.

Untreated sleep apnoea can:

•  Increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, diabetes and cancer

•  Increase the risk of, or worsen heart failure

•  Make arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, much more likely

•  Increase the chance of having work-related or driving accidents

Sleep apnea is a chronic condition that requires long-term management. Lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, surgery, and breathing devices can successfully treat sleep apnoea in many people, and it is critical to get professional help and support if you suspect that you are suffering from the condition described.

SEE ALSO: Seven Great Natural Pain Relievers

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*by andreascy*

How A Breathalyzer Works

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Breathalyzers were scientifically developed in order to help law enforcement personnel to establish if an individual was driving while impaired due to alcohol. 

The technical non-invasive devices can ascertain, if a driver is drunk so the driven can be removed from the road. Breathalyzers test the concentration of blood alcohol in the driver’s blood.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)

Years ago the blood alcohol concentration level use to be 0.10. Now most states have a blood alcohol level of 0.08. This limit is also being lowered in some states to 0.05. The American Medical Association has stated that drivers with a level of 0.05 are impaired and should not be driving. A breathalyzer test showing that a driver has a level of 0.15, would prove that per 100 ml of blood, the driver shows 0.15 grams of alcohol present.

Fruit juice or milk is digested but the body does not digest alcohol. It is possible to determine the lever of alcohol by using a person’s breath because it is absorbed by the body. Alcohol goes immediately through the bloodstream and circulates until it is evaporated in the lungs. The molecules of alcohol do not mix with other liquids in the body. Alcohol is volatile in the blood because it is absorbed into the membranes of the mouth, stomach, intestines and throat. Blood passes through the lungs, which allows the alcohol to pass over the lungs air sacs and releases alcohol through the person’s breath. The breath that is being expelled holds the same amount of alcohol that is in the bloodstream. The breathalyzer can then accurately measure the evaporated alcohol through the breath. This is how the blood alcohol concentration is measured accurately for intoxication.

How the Evaporated Alcohol is Measured

Just like a diabetic kit with strips, levels of alcohol will produce chemical reaction on a piece of paper that will make the paper change color. When using a breathalyzer, the breath will travel through a solution. The solution will change color and the police officers will compare that color to the chart for intoxication levels.

The breathalyzer itself has a couple of different devices. There is a straw, which the offender will blow into so the person’s breath comes up from the lungs. The two cylinders with vials contain water, silver nitrate, sulfuric acid and potassium dichromate. A deep breath needs to pull air deep from the lungs.

Once the alcohol is removed from the air, it is absorbed by the liquid solution. The degree of change in color depends on the amount of evaporated alcohol that is in the breath taken from the offender. Only one vial has a chemical reaction. The other vial stays the same. An electrical current is produced which will make a needle on a gage to move. The officer operating the breathalyzer will watch the needle and wait for it to stop moving and then turn a knob to replace the needle to the point where it started. The more the knob has to be turned the higher amount of alcohol is in the solution. This will give the officer the reading level of intoxication.

RELATED: Science Nation - This Breathalyzer Reveals Signs of Disease

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*by andreascy*

Science Nation - This Breathalyzer Reveals Signs of Disease

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Hello THE OFFICIAL ANDREASCY lovers. I hope you are doing well! This invention could give new meaning to the term "bad breath!" 

It's the Single Breath Disease Diagnostics Breathalyzer, and when you blow into it, you get tested for a biomarker - a sign of disease. 

For as amazing as that sounds, the process is actually very simple thanks to ceramics nanotechnology. All it takes is a single exhale. 

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Professor Perena Gouma and her team at Stony Brook University in New York developed a sensor chip that you might say is the "brain" of the breathalyzer. 

It's coated with tiny nanowires that look like microscopic spaghetti and are able to detect minute amounts of chemical compounds in the breath. 

You can't buy this in the stores just yet -- individual tests such as an acetone - detecting breathalyzer for monitoring diabetes and an ammonia-detecting breathalyzer to determine when to end a home-based hemodialysis treatment are still being evaluated clinically. 

However, researchers envision developing the technology such that a number of these tests can be performed with a single device. 

Within a couple of years you might be able to self-detect a whole range of diseases and disorders, including lung cancer, by just exhaling into a handheld breathalyzer. Have a look:

We love this kind of experiments. So promising! Discover more research topics on our Newspaper.

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*by andreascy*