That's Fit

Did you know that each breath exhaled by a person contains more than a thousand different molecules? I know I didn't; that is, until reading about a new disease-spotting technique that's being tested by scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Using a laser light to sample a person's breath, researchers may someday be able to detect molecules that are indicators of such diseases as cancer, diabetes, and asthma. Optical frequency comb spectroscopy -- which is the actual name of what more simple-minded people such as myself have called shining a laser through breath -- may offer a low-cost, speedy, noninvasive method of health screening in the very near future.

To read more about this remarkable advancement in medical technology (and wordsmanship), click HERE.

Optical frequency comb spectroscopy: That's the mouth-full which describes a revolutionary new method of detecting diseases by using only a person's breath! Researchers are touting it as a painless (and definitely non-invasive) technique that can easily detect various diseases using a laser to analyze the air you exhale.

Believe it or not, we breath out somewhere around a thousand chemicals. These exhalations contain very tiny amounts of chemicals which can flag diseases such as lung cancer. The whole process can pinpoint the analysis so well that even asthma can be detected!

Results come back very quickly too. All the patient has to do is breath into a tube which has a laser shining into it. Molecules are analyzed lightning fast; no blood sample, no pain. This device still has some development to go before it can be used widespread, but imagine being able to detect such ailments with a technique as easy as breathing.

I caught a minute of ABC's The View on Tuesday and learned that co-host Whoopi Goldberg is trying to quit smoking. Good for her.

"I want to be done by December 15," Whoopi told her audience. A wise plan, considering smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body, is linked to 10 different cancers, and accounts for 30 percent of all cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. Yet one in four Americans still light up.

Smoking is by far the leading risk factor for lung cancer. And it is far more dangerous for women than men. Now wrap your head around this fact: The nicotine found in cigarettes is as addictive as heroin. If that's not reason enough to stop smoking, I don't know what is.

The HairMax LaserComb is a means of at-home hair loss treatment, and it's designed to help restore hair growth by delivering a very specific wavelength of light to the scalp that will stimulate the hair follicles. That's all well and good but what makes me laugh is the fact that it's marketed to people who "don't want to pay for hair restoration surgery but who also don't have high expectations."

Ha! Who is that going to be? The HairMax LaserComb costs $545 -- who is going to spend that kind of money and not have high expectations?

On the bright side, though, it is nice to see some work being done as far as home treatment options for hair thinning and hair loss. The technology has to start somewhere!

Inventors and scientists are going crazy anymore inventing new technology for skin care, beauty, and anti-aging. And although devices like lasers are generally used first by doctors and dermatologists in a professional office setting, eventually the technology trickles its way down to us consumers in a "do it yourself in the comfort of your own home" version.

But are these at home versions just as safe and effective as the professional ones? The answers to those questions are usually, and of course not. They aren't going to be as effective because they're almost always a toned down and weaker version of what would be used in an office setting -- think OTC versus prescription medication. But the good news is that they are generally safe for that same reason, and if you only have a mild condition that you're trying to treat then a mildly effective product might be just what you need.

Most offices and workplaces have been smoke free for years now, but it seems there's been another culprit lurking unsuspectingly and contaminating the air just as much as the smokers used to: the laser printer. According to the physics professor at the Queensland University of Technology laser printers often put out clouds of ultra-fine particles into the air that are comparable to smoke and motor vehicle emissions. The particles are so small they're invisible to the naked eye and are capable of getting deep into the lungs and causing problems.

The government currently regulates the emissions of motor vehicles and restricts smoking in some areas, so why not printers? And how many other common appliances or equipment items are sneaking toxins into our air?

Depending on who you ask, light/laser devices are some of the fastest growing products in the beauty and anti-aging industries. And riding on that wave is Nulase International, LLC, who has just released its Laser Enhanced Skin Care System for home use.

Previously only available through skin care professionals, now the Nulase system is the first of its kind cleared for home use. Its patent pending technology combines low-level laser light with unique cosmecueticals and light-activated marine enzymes to reduce the signs of aging in the skin, including wrinkles, age spots, and roughness/dryness.

It's advertised as "safe, simple, and easy to use," but I don't think I'm brave enough to try lasering myself at home -- if something goes wrong I can hardly sue myself!