PBS 2.1.5

Telemedicine - translates to “healing at a distance”, new frontier in healthcare

Telehealth - way for individuals to remotely access health-related services using technology, rather than in-person contact

Goal is to make it easier for a patient to connect with a healthcare provider and vice versa

Drones deliver aid, alerts about local disease outbreaks, reminders to take medicines/vaccine, doctors share & demonstrate life-saving techniques

Energy used by body for daily functions comes from biomolecules - macromolecules (large molecules) found in foods that we eat

Carbohydrates - compounds like sugar, starch, and cellulose, found in foods and living tissues, PRIMARY source of energy for cells

Lipids - one of a family of compounds, including fats, phospholipids, steroids, insoluble in water, SECONDARY source of energy for cells

Proteins - made of amino acids (building blocks), protein’s form and function determined by cell’s nucleic acid sequence, last resort for energy

Nucleic Acids - carry instructions for producing proteins - DNA & RNA

Primarily makes energy from carbohydrates, as carbs get metabolized, glucose released into blood stream for use by our bodies to make energy

Pancreas - organ found in the abdomen, plays important role in body’s use of glucose

Normally, once glucose goes to bloodstream, cells in pancreas stimulate to release hormone (molecule that provides instructions to cells) insulin

Insulin tells cells in body to take in glucose - used to fuel body’s activities, after energy needs met, insulin levels drop & excess glucose stored in liver

Cells generate energy through series of chemical reactions - cellular respiration, oxygen we breathe required for this process

One end product is adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - energy compound that powers all our activities

Cellular respiration occurs in mitochondria

Diabetes - disease in which cells in body cannot efficiently uptake glucose

Type 1 Diabetes - body does not produce much, if any, insulin → reduced ability to use glucose from foods consumed, insufficient energy for everyday tasks

Symptoms: fatigue, exhaustion, dizziness

Leads to build up of glucose levels in blood → hyperglycemia - high blood glucose levels, can cause health problems (stroke, hart disease, kidney disease)

Type 2 Diabetes - pancreas makes insulin but cells in body do not respond to it - insulin resistance

Cells unable to take in necessary glucose to create energy and blood glucose levels rise → life-threatening health conditions

Can be controlled by working out

Prediabetes - blood sugar levels are higher than normal, not too high to cause disease, can be reversible:

Eating healthy diet low in carbohydrates (limits glucose in bloodstream), Increasing exercise, weight loss (glucose stored in lipids, lower glucose in body)

Monitoring & regulating glucose levels important to health - normally body does this, with diabetes need to manually monitor and regulate

Way in which body naturally monitors glucose and responds to changing concentration - example of homeostasis

Maintains homeostasis by monitoring changes in internal and external environment and feeding info back to body to make necessary changes

Control of body temperature, heart rate, sugar concentration in blood are regulated by these feedback mechanisms/feedback loops

Positive Feedback - causes reinforcement of original action, input causes reaction to increase

Negative Feedback - causes system to stop doing original action and to either take no action or perform opposite action

Body tries to maintain glucose concentrations to very narrow range - uses hormones like insulin to accomplish this

Excess glucose stored in liver - when blood glucose levels drop in between meals, glucagon stimulates liver to release stored glucose into bloodstream

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) - used to monitor health of a patient outside of a medical setting, often relies on wearable technology to monitor vitals

Biosensors - sensors that monitor patient vitals, embedded in wearable devices

Devices communicate with applications - (apps) on smart devices, record, analyzes, and communicates data to patient

Data can be used to inform patient about how their behaviors affect their health (decide when to seek medical attention)

Can also be directly shared with doctors, remotely making decisions about adjusting treatment

Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) - monitors blood glucose levels 24/7 through small biosensor under the skin

Biosensor connected to transmitter that sends real-time blood glucose readings to app on her smartphone

Insulin Pump regularly administers insulin to her bloodstream