For some years, physicians, engineers and sci-fi geeks have been trying to create a medical device similar (at least in inspiration) to the tricorder of Star Trek fame, which could measure, monitor and diagnose myriad human conditions without much more than a wave over the body.

No one has yet reproduced that ideal, but a Scottish company has received FDA approval to market a device that straps around a person's upper arm and monitors respiration, pulse, oxygen saturation, temperature and mobility. It's also capable of wirelessly transmitting that data to doctors, using machine learning to determine if there's an emerging health issue.

The makers envision chronically ill patients wearing the device at home after discharge from a hospital.

Body of Knowledge

All sneezes originate as a signal from the nervous system, though the varying paths that the signal can take to the brain account for different individual sneeze scenarios. Many stimuli can prompt a sneeze, from inherited photosensitivity that causes some folks to sneeze in response to bright sunlight to plucking eyebrows, which stimulates facial nerves linked to the nasal passages. People generally don't sneeze when they snooze because their nerves are taking time off, too.

Get Me That, Stat!

A vaccine being tested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appears to be 97.5% effective in protecting people against the deadly virus Ebola. More than 90,000 people were vaccinated, according to newly published data, and only 71 developed the disease. Most of those who became infected displayed symptoms fewer than 10 days after being vaccinated, suggesting the vaccine had not had time yet to fully protect them.

Mark Your Calendar

June is awareness month for Alzheimer's disease, scleroderma (a chronic condition involving connective tissues), aphasia (loss of speech), congenital cytomegalovirus (a newborn viral infection), myasthenia gravis (an autoimmune neuromuscular disease), cataracts and fireworks eye safety (presumably in preparation for next month).

Counts

74.5: Percentage of states that require students to take physical education from elementary through high school.

28: Number of states that allow exemptions and waivers to PE requirement.

22: Number of states that require schools to allot a specific amount of time for PE.

6: Number of states that require PE in every grade, K through 12.

3: Number of states that require schools provide the nationally recommended minimum number of minutes of PE in elementary or high school.

Source: National Association for Sport and Physical Education; American Heart Association

Stories for the Waiting Room

A 2015 study published by researchers at Harvard and Columbia universities found that sarcasm can promote creative thinking.

No, really.

Doc Talk

Synchronous diaphragmatic flutter: A hiccup.

Phobia of the Week

Koinoniphobia: Fear of rooms filled with people.

Best Medicine

I don't always go to the gym, but when I do, I make sure Facebook knows about it.

Observation

"The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more." — Polio vaccine inventor Jonas Salk (1914-1995)

Perishable Publications

Many, if not most, published research papers have titles that defy comprehension. They use specialized jargon, complex words and opaque phrases such as "nonlinear dynamics." Sometimes they don't, and yet they're still hard to figure out. Here's an actual title of actual published research study: "Nifty ways to leave your lover: The tactics people use to entice and disguise the process of human mate poaching," published in 2003 in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by researchers at Bradley University in Illinois.

The researchers were curious about the ways people already in relationships try to find new ones while continuing current ones, a behavior known as "mate poaching enticement."

Self-Exam

Q: How many bones in the human body are not connected to other bones?

A: One. The hyoid bone is a small horseshoe-shaped structure in the neck beneath the lower mandible. It is anchored by muscles and ligaments and helps in moving the tongue and swallowing.

Medical Myths

Caffeine in coffee has a diuretic effect: It elevates heart rate, energy level and increases blood flow to the kidneys, potentially causing a greater expenditure of water. However, it does not trigger dehydration (coffee consists almost entirely of water). Studies have found that for ordinary coffee and tea drinkers, consumption of modest amounts does not cause them to urinate any more often than consumption of other fluids.

Curtain Calls

Philip Quinn, 24, was killed in 2004 when a lava lamp he had placed atop a hot stove exploded, fatally hurling a shard of glass into his heart. Police found no evidence of drug or alcohol use, and no reason was determined for why Quinn was heating the lamp on the stove.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Tumisu at Pixabay