Top 5 of best isotherm bags for the safe transport of medications

Meilleures solutions pour le transport et la conservation d'insuline et des médicaments sensibles !

Cold Alert - Frozen Insulin

With recent temperatures changes that are breaking all historical records, more and more people are faced with polar temperatures and are ending up with frozen medicines such as insulin, which must then be destroyed because they lose all effectiveness when they are frozen.

Insulin should be stored at 2-8°C, and once opened can be kept for about a month at a temperature below 25°C. Very few people realize that cold is much more dangerous for insulin than heat, because when insulin is frozen, destruction is immediate, whereas with heat insulin gradually loses its effectiveness. Insulin must be protected not only against heat but also against the cold.

"I just went up the Kilimanjaro in early November with a group of diabetics to raise awareness for diabetes (and also because it was a really fun thing for me to do). We managed to raise 12071 US$ for a diabetes association and were super happy about that. On the other hand, one of my traveling companions found himself at 6000 meters with his insulin frozen, because the temperatureit was -20°C. Luckily we had some spare unfrozen insulin so the problem was solved easily enough. When insulin is frozen it develops crystals and is no longer usable" explains Uwe DIEGEL.

Hot or cold: The storage of insulin

A public health problem

Bad habits of diabetics regarding the storage and transport of their insulin are one of the main reasons for the bad control of their blood glucose. A recent study in India shows that insulin stored between 32 and 37°C for 28 days loses respectively 14 and 18% of its efficacy, and that patients using this "outdated" insulin do not show a significant decrease in blood sugar levels compared to those receiving insulin stored at 5°C. Insulin that has been exposed to heat no longer has the expected effect in the treatment of diabetes.

Several studies have shown that during its storage and use, insulin is degraded by hydrolysis reactions and its molecular weight is transformed and becomes higher. It is therefore recommended that insulin vials or pens be stored in the refrigerator between 2 and 8°C and protected from light. In a 2009 pilot study in India with 131 type-1 insulin-dependent diabetic patients, 59% of the patients were hyper-glycemic, showing poor diabetes control. Of these patients, 56% maintained their insulin at room temperature.

Uwe Diegel on top of the world, raising money for a diabetic association

For Uwe DIEGEL, this is now one of the biggest problems in managing diabetes; "A person who suffers from a chronic illness such as diabetes is defined by his lifestyle and everything that hinders that way of life is perceived as negative. Very often, I see diabetics going out for dinner and simply putting their insulin in their jacket pockets, because they do not want to go out with their diabetes kit, which is cumbersome and embarrassing. This is the worst thing for insulin, which is suddenly overheated by the heat of the body and rises to around 35°C. At this temperature insulin degrades very quickly and therefore affects glycemic control”.

Solutions for diabetics

MedActiv, a global leader in drug delivery solutions, has addressed the issue of insulin from a user's point of view and developed the iCool and EasyBag bags to protect insulin against heat and cold . To develop these bags, a team of diabetics worked together to rethink and develop traditional methods of insulin transport. MedActiv was created by two well-known brothers in the medical industry, Dr. Olaf and Uwe Diegel, following an incident where Dr. Diegel's insulin was compromised during the summer of the 2003 heatwave in France. For this reason the two brothers pay particular attention to the quality and finish of their products so that they are intuitive to use, practical and beautiful.

"As a diabetic and a personal user of solutions for insulin transport, I was consistently disappointed with a lot of products I bought through traditional sales channels. It was obvious to me that the people who designed these products were not themselves diabetic and did not understand our constraints. We were happy to redesign the transport kits to make them perfect. The iCool and EasyBag solutions are designed by diabetics for diabetics "says Dr. Diegel.

Intuitive designs combined with a perfect understanding of constraints

iCool bags use a new generation of eutectic freezer-packs that do not perspire and have a longer defrosting point than traditional packs. Available in three different versions (Weekender, Prestige and MediCube), iCool bags keep insulin between 2 and 8°C for 12, 24 and 36 hours respectively. They also serve as storage for all diabetes accessories, such as glucometers and strips.

The EasyBags use a specially developed polymer that keeps insulin fresh for 5 days without electricity and that protects it against accidental freezing. To activate the EasyBags, simply immerse them in water for 60 seconds. The crystals in the EasyBag become a gel that stays cool for five days, relying on a process of evaporation. EasyBags will keep insulin at a temperature between 16 and 25°C for 5 days. At this temperature, insulin can be kept for about a month without any adverse effects. The EasyBag have become the global standard for the daily transport of insulin.

The iCool and EasyBag bags are available on http://www.medactiv.com

Alerte au Froid – l’Insuline Congelée

Avec les températures récentes qui pulvérisent tous les records de froid des dernières années, de plus en plus de gens se réveillent dans un froid polaire et de plus en plus de gens se retrouvent avec des médicaments congelés tels que l’insuline, qui doivent ensuite être détruits car ils perdent toute efficacité quand ils sont congelés.

L’insuline doit être conservée à une température entre 2 à 8°C quand elle est non entamée, et quand elle est entamée peut se conserver pendant un mois à une température en dessous de 25°C. Très peu de gens réalisent que le froid est beaucoup plus dangereux pour l’insuline que la chaleur, car avec la congélation, la destruction est immédiate, tandis qu’avec la chaleur l’insuline perd graduellement son efficacité. Elle doit donc être protégée non seulement contre la chaleur mais aussi contre le froid.

« Je viens de monter le Kilimandjaro au début du mois de Novembre avec un groupe de diabétiques pour sensibiliser les gens aux problèmes de l’insuline (et aussi pour me faire plaisir). Nous avons réussi à lever 12071 US$ pour une association de diabétiques et étions super contents. Par contre un de mes compagnons de voyage s’est retrouvé à 6000 mètres d’altitude avec son insuline congelée, car il faisait -20°C. Heureusement que nous en avions en rabe donc le problème à été résolu facilement. Quand l’insuline est congelée elle développe des cristaux et n’est plus utilisable » explique Uwe DIEGEL.

Chaud ou froid : Le stockage de l’insuline

Un problème de santé publique

Les mauvaises habitudes des diabétiques concernant le stockage et le transport de leur insuline sont une des principales raisons pour le mauvais contrôle de leur glycémie. Une récente étude en Inde démontre que l'insuline stockée entre 32 et 37°C pendant 28 jours perd respectivement 14 et 18 % de son efficacité et que les patients utilisant cette insuline "périmée" ne montrent pas de diminution significative du niveau de sucre dans le sang par rapport à ceux recevant de l'insuline stocké à 5°C.

L’insuline qui a été chauffée n’a donc plus l’effet attendu dans le traitement du diabète.
Plusieurs études ont montré que pendant son stockage et son utilisation, l'insuline est dégradée par des réactions d'hydrolyse et que son poids moléculaire est transformé et devient plus élevé. C'est pourquoi il est recommandé que les flacons ou stylos d'insuline soient conservés au réfrigérateur entre 2 à 8 °C et protégés contre la lumière. Dans une étude pilote faite en Inde en 2009 sur 131 patients diabétiques de Type 1 (insuline dépendants), 59% de ces patients étaient hyper glycémiques, montrant un mauvais contrôle du diabète. De ces patients, 56% maintenaient leur insuline à température ambiante.

Uwe Diegel et copains, sur le Kilimandjaro, à 5880 mètres d'altitude, pour une assiciation de diabétiques

Pour Uwe DIEGEL, ceci est aujourd’hui un des plus gros problème dans la gestion du diabète ; « Une personne qui souffre d’une maladie chronique telle que le diabète est définie par son mode de vie et tout ce qui entrave ce mode de vie est perçu comme étant négatif. Très souvent, je vois des diabétiques qui sortent dîner et qui mettent tout simplement leur insuline dans la poche de leur jaquette, par ce qu’elles ne veulent pas sortir avec leur kit de diabète, qui est encombrant et un peu embarrassant pour eux. Ceci est la pire chose pour l’insuline, qui se trouve soudainement surchauffée par la chaleur du corps et qui monte donc aux alentours de 35°C. A cette température l’insuline se dégrade très rapidement et affecte donc son contrôle glycémique ».

Des solutions pour les diabétiques

MedActiv, leader mondial dans les solutions de transport de médicaments, s’est penché sur le problème de l’insuline du point de vue de l’utilisateur et a développé les sacs iCool et EasyBag pour protéger l’insuline contre la chaleur et le froid. Pour développer ces sacs, une équipe de diabétiques a travaillé ensemble pour repenser et développer les méthodes traditionnelles du transport de l’insuline. MedActiv a été créé par deux frères connus dans l’industrie médicale, Dr Olaf et Uwe Diegel, à la suite d’un incident ou l’insuline du Dr Diegel a été compromise pendant l’été de la canicule de 2003. Pour cette raison les deux frères prennent une attention toute particulière à la qualité et à la finition de leurs produits pour qu’ils soient intuitifs à l’utilisation, pratiques et beaux.

« En tant que diabétique et utilisateur personnel de solutions pour le transport de l’insuline, j’étais systématiquement déçu par énormément de produits que j’achetais à travers les réseaux de vente traditionnels. Il était évident pour moi que les gens qui dessinaient les trousses isothermes n’étaient pas eux-mêmes diabétique et qu’ils ne comprenaient pas nos contraintes. Nous nous sommes donc fait plaisir en redessinant les trousses pour qu’elles soient parfaites. Les sacs iCool et EasyBag sont dessinés par des diabétiques pour des diabétiques » dit Dr Diegel.

Des designs intuitifs combinés avec une compréhension parfaite des contraintes

Les sacs iCool utilisent une nouvelle génération de plaques eutectiques qui ne transpirent pas et qui ont un point de décongélation plus long que les plaques traditionnelles. Disponibles en trois versions différentes (Weekender, Prestige et MediCube), les sacs iCool gardent l’insuline entre 2 à 8°C pendant 12, 24 et 36 heures respectivement. Ils servent aussi de rangement pour tous les accessoires diabète, tels que les glucomètres et les bandelettes.

Les sacs EasyBag utilisent un polymère spécialement développé par MedActiv qui garde l’insuline fraîche pour 5 jours sans électricité et la protège aussi contre le gel accidentel. Pour activer les sacs EasyBag, il suffit de les immerger dans de l'eau pendant 60 secondes. Les cristaux dans le EasyBag se transforment en gel qui reste frais pour cinq jours en s'appuyant sur un processus d'évaporation. Les sacs EasyBag garderont l’insuline à une température entre 16 et 25°C pendant 5 jours. A cette température, l’insuline se conserve pendant un mois sans effets contraires. Les sacs EasyBag sont devenus le standard global pour le transport quotidien de l’insuline.

Les sacs iCool et EasyBag sont disponibles sur le site http://www.medactiv.com

Paul Valery once said the “The future is not what is used to be…”. Our perception of the future is indeed altered everyday, continuously eroded by the fast pace of technological developments. The rapid expansion of new technologies is making it more and more difficult for us to predict the future.

Will tomorrow’s healthcare systems be truly connected, allying preventative and predictive medicine? Will this connection be truly useful for us, mere mortals who suffer from the foibles of personal and private behavior?

I’m personally not quite sure if this connectivity will be useful…

The Theory of All Things Connected

The Theory of All Things Connected is as follows: “Every year, on the 31st of December, we all take the same stupid decisions. What we call “New Year’s Resolutions” (this year I’ll stop smoking, I’ll drink less, do more exercise, be nicer to my sister, stop sleeping with hookers, etc…). However, we all know, in our heart of hearts, that these decisions are completely useless. We all know that come February, we’ll all be smoking again, eating again, insulting our sister, and we will have met Tatiana on Tinder…”

The Theory of All Things Connected says that Connected Health will bring a radical behavioral change; that it is one of the principles of Quantified Self that as soon as a person understands the signals of his body, he wants to know more and becomes interested in his health. The Theory of All Things Connected says that when you step on a connected scale and that you see that when you loose 200g you see you glucose levels go down, your blood pressure go down, your activity go up, etc it is much more interesting for the user of the scale and he thinks “Way cool” and gets more invested in his health, thus becoming an actor of his health rather than a mere spectator. That is the Theory of All Things Connected… Apparently it is based on a thing called “Health Micro Management” and will work quite well. Little decisions taken every day are much more effective than big stupid decisions taken on the 31st of December. So according to the Theory of All Things Connected, Connected Health is not a solution for all of us, but rather a solution for each and every one of us. It will allow us to offer truly personalized healthcare solutions, adapted for every single person. Connected Health will be Exclusively for Everyone.

Mmmmmh… seems a bit simplistic to me. Having worked in the connected health industry since it’s beginning, I am finding that users of connected health device are not yet better managed than those with unconnected devices. Just giving them information is not enough. If you actually think about it, information is not a driver for behavioral change. I’m pretty sure that most people who smoke don’t think that smoking is good for you. They know that smoking is bad, but yet continue to smoke. The question is, how can we maximize the impact of the correct information at the right time, so that changes of behavior become imbedded in the unconscious decision making process. I believe that this will be the role of the next generation of connected devices that will move from the “wearable” phase to the “forgettable” phase. The new generations of devices will integrate themselves into your daily lifestyle without you even realizing that they are there.

Everything you can imagine is real

We will not recognize the healthcare systems of tomorrow. Pablo Picasso used to say,“Everything you can imagine is real”. The problem is now that technology is moving so fast that we cannot even imagine the future.

When I was a kid we used to imagine a future where amiable and helpful robots would cater to our every whim, where civilization would be grandly automated according to the lofty ideals of Ayn Rand (Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values…) and where mankind would have a promising philosophical future.

This vision of the future is now compromised… It is compromised because of one simple factor, which is the evolution of human population. In year zero of our era, 2000 years ago, there was a population of about 200 million people on the planet. It took until year 1790 to reach a population of 1 billion people. Then it started climbing incrementally, and when I was born in 1965, there was a population on planet earth of 3.5 billion people. So in my lifetime of 50 years, we have more than doubled the population on earth to 7,4 billion people.

The first Supercomputer, the Cray, dates from 1974. It could handle three million floating-point operations per second (flops). An iPhone 6 is 1000 times more powerful than a Cray of 1974. So the calculation is evident. Today, there are 7.4 Billion people who have access to a device with computational power that is 1000 times more powerful than a supercomputer of 1974.

So technology is moving fast. I mean REALLY fast… So fast that it has become difficult to imagine the future, because innovation is coming from all sides.

One of my all time favorite books is 100 Years of Solitude, by Columbian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The first paragraph is momentous: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.”

We are today in a world where technology is moving so fast that it is necessary to point at things all the time. Everything is new and we can no longer predict the future. It is terrifying. New fundamental technologies are arriving everyday. By fundamental I mean that these technologies will seem obvious in a couple of years, very much like internet seems an obvious part of our life. Nanotechnology, printing in 3D of body parts, Big Data, DNA, in a couple of years we will not recognize the technology of the future, indeed we will wonder how we ever lived without it.

Some of these technologies seem quite dangerous, because we are still applying our mores and expectations about the future to them. But this is normal, just a learning curve. We will need to learn to approach these technologies with finesse, with respect, with intelligence.

But I believe that intelligence is not enough…

I believe in Illumination.

Schopenhauer said that intelligence will allow you to hit a target no one else can touch.

I think that Illumination will allow you to touch a target no one else can see…

Indeed, it is for us to plan the future of mankind, because it is not yet written.

Uwe DIEGEL

www.medactiv.com

New diabetes travel guide from Australia

I just love it when people do wonderful stuff. Have a look at what MedActiv Australia has done with the A to Z of traveling with diabetes:

http://www.medactiv.com/downloads/Medactiv_Newsletter.pdf

A new solution for the safe transport of organs?

• The MedActiv Cooling Curve – 36 hours between 2 and 8°C
  A few years ago, MedActiv started developing solutions for the transport of fragile medications so that people suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis or multiple sclerosis could travel with their medication. Two brothers in France started the business after their medication was frozen in a hotel by accident. There are millions of people worldwide who are prisoners of their medication. MedActiv has become their partner with solutions that help them to travel while knowing that their medication is kept at exactly the right temperature.
  
  iCool MediCube – A new freedom for patients traveling with medication
  

   

   

  MedActiv has just released the iCool MediCube, which is a breakthrough in technology, keeping fragile medication between 2 and 8°C for over 36 hours. The iCool MediCube allows users to cross the world, knowing that their medication is kept at exactly the right temperature.
  Designing the iCool MediCube was a personal challenge for Dr Olaf and Uwe Diegel, the two brothers behind the MedActiv Company. So they worked together with a team of medical engineers and one of the world’s largest chemical companies to develop a new superabsorbent polymer that stays frozen for twice as long as regular gel packs. “With the MedActiv new formulation gel, we have managed to create a “phase change” material, which means that when it is frozen at a temperature of -18°C, it will change phase after about 7 hours of freezing to attain a new level of solidification and will then stay frozen much longer. This has opened new doors for us in terms of keeping our medication cool” explains Dr Olaf Diegel.
  
  

   

   

  The iCool MediCube was really designed for the traveler who needs to transport large amounts of fragile medication across the world. Measuring 20 x 20 x 20 cm, the MediCube has a whopping useable cavity of 2268 cm3, allowing patients to transport up to 20 pre-filled medication pens at a safe temperature for 36 hours.
  
  Despite it’s size (20 x 20 x 20 cm) and weight (2kg), the MediCube is not taken into account as part of your hand luggage, as the weight of the transport bag in which you carry your medicines is not included in the authorized limit for the hand luggage.
  
  Giving the gift of life…
  

  Every day 22 people die in the USA because they could not get an organ on time

  “This new MedActiv cooling gel has opened an entire new realm of possibilities for us to do research. We have already started research as to how we could apply this technology to the transport of human organs and blood samples. Just imagine a world where organ-transport patients could get organs from all over the world instead of relying on local supply. It might be a bit gory as a subject of discussion, but in the USA alone there are over 120 000 people waiting for organ transplants. Every day 22 people die in the USA because they could not get an organ on time. I don’t know yet what all the legal and logistics ramifications of this industry, but there has to be a way that we can apply this technology to make our world a better place.” says Uwe Diegel, one of the two brothers who founded MedActiv.
  
  About MedActiv:
  MedActiv is a global leader in the development of transport and storage solutions for sensitive medication. MedActiv products are designed to give users the freedom to travel knowing that their medication is kept at exactly the right temperature. As the chosen partner of major pharmaceutical companies worldwide, MedActiv is constantly pushing back the boundaries of this industry.
  
  For Uwe DIEGEL, creator of MedActiv, the company represents a personal investment. "In 2003, my brother almost died following an incident where his medication was accidentally frozen in a hotel. So I started this company because of reasons that are more of a personal nature than just business. MedActiv is for me the ultimate expression of innovation at the service of healthcare. If the MedActiv products are so popular, it is because they are designed by patients for patients and because we speak directly with users of the medications to really understand their needs. "
  
  For more information, please contact
  HealthWorks France
  6 rue de Castellane
  75008, Paris, France
  Tel: 01 42 66 15 59
  Mail: contact@medactiv.com
  www.medactiv.com
  

  
  

Good design will save the world, right after Rock & Roll

In the old days, at the start of the electronics revolution in healthcare, we would design products in our studios in Europe, making timeless designs that would last for years and years. We would consult customers, patients, doctors, and make products with human-centered designs. Products were judicious, well thought and made to answer a specific need. We would then fight with factories in Taiwan and China to have the products made exactly as we wanted them.

The balance of design-power has changed, and it is not necessarily a good thing. I have been working with Chinese manufacturing concerns for the last 25 years and over two decades have noticed some radical changes in design practices in China. At the beginning of the century, towards 2003, there was a mass-globalization of home-medical devices (such as thermometers, blood pressure monitors and nebulizers), when they started entering the mass-market.

In many ways this introduced a trend that shortened the lifespan of products and that changed medical devices into loss leaders. Medical devices were used to attract customers: “Come to (insert name of supermarket chain here) and buy a blood pressure monitor for US$9,99 (and at the same time do the rest of your shopping…).

This radically changed the lifespan of product designs, because every year the supermarket chains wanted newer, better, faster, cheaper models, with more and more interesting features. So for 10 years in China, most medical engineers, instead of focusing on technology developments, concentrated on making more and more different designs. So there is now a plethora of designs available for medical devices, but is it sufficient?

China is not yet really producing good designs, in the sense that they are still obsessed with the idea of making stuff look good rather than focusing on the careful balance between form and function. Indeed, design for design’s sake is meaningless, as it does not serve any purpose.

Designed in Heaven, Made in China…

So what is good design? 

Everything is designed, one-way or another. Some objects are designed well, while others are not; some are designed pretentiously, others unassumingly; some are designed to optimize materials and techniques, while others are wasteful; some are approachable and understandable, others trade on their unattainability. Design takes them all in, from chandeliers to pencils, from airplanes to computer screens, from the interior of a theater to the receipt at a department store's checkout. While some objects naturally attract our attention for their extraordinary character and desirability - an eccentric and expensive pair of sneakers, for instance, or a gleaming sports car - many others are so apparently ordinary as to go unnoticed. Every day we use dozens of them, from elastic bands to Band-Aids, erasers, and mascara wands. If they work well, chances are we won't pay them much attention. However, in spite of their modest price and demure presence, some of these things are true masterpieces of the art of design and deserve our unconditional admiration.

Most everyday objects, like paper clips or bubble wrap, speak of the timeless role of craftsmanship, the timeliness of innovation, and the continuous guidance that material culture can provide. They are anonymous designs in that we often do not know the name of the person who drew them up. Some of them are of exceptional quality, affordable, and universal. They are so good, we could not imagine living without them. And still, we take them for granted. The moment we decide to become acquainted with them, a whole new universe opens up. Each object comes with a story that begins with its conception and does not end until it is destroyed or recycled, a life cycle whose narrative can be as captivating as a biography.

The story of some objects, chopsticks and dice for example, is lost in time and we can still today lose ourselves in the contemplation of their perfect balance between form and function, their sensitive and sensible use of materials, the way they express the ancient culture that generated them. When an object is well designed, to the trained eye it seems to glow from the inside, proud of how well it performs the function it was intended for and of how effortless it makes everything seem. We are all design experts, even if some of us do not know it. Look around in your home... Once you learn to recognize patterns of beauty in pragmatic and economic ideas, you will realize that your homes are filled with masterpieces.

Can a simple pencil be considered as a work of art? 

Everybody has heard of the infamous Space Pen.

Space has its urban legends of course, and the Million Dollar Space Pen is one of the more enduring ones. It is neither as outlandish nor as unbelievable as the story about faking the Moon landings, and even though it seems more credible than a massive government conspiracy, it is probable that fewer people have heard it.

The story goes like this: in the 1960s, NASA astronauts discovered that their pens did not work in zero gravity. So like good engineers, they went to work and designed a wonder pen. It worked upside down. It worked in vacuum. It worked in zero gravity. It even worked underwater! And it only cost a million dollars!

At the same time, the Russians were ramping up their efforts to conquer space before the Americans, and they also realized that their normal pens did not work in space…

So the crafty Russians used a pencil...

Whether this story is true or not, it does highlight the marvelous and timeless design of a simple object: the pencil.

In 1565, a sticky black substance thought to be lead was found underneath an uprooted tree in the Cumberland hills of the United Kingdom. People began to use it to write erasable marks by inserting it into a rough wooden holder. In the late eighteenth century, the Swedish Chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele identified the material as a crystalized form of carbon and named it graphite after the Greek word "graphein", which means, "to write".

In 1760, a German cabinetmaker, Kaspar Faber, founded his eponymous company near Nuremberg, opening his first pencil shop in 1761. His first pencils were composed of narrow sticks of graphite mixed with sulfur and glued between two pieces of wood.

Over the years the various technologies for writing have evolved tremendously, but no innovation has yet managed to dethrone the centuries old design of a piece of graphite held by a piece of wood.
Why is that? Well it's quite simple... Good design is generally a combination of different qualities, with two main qualities that stand out: what it does, and what it looks like. A good object has to deliver, if not full-fledged function, then at least an emotion, some information, a hint of a meaning.

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Steve Jobs

Some objects manage to deliver all of the above. But sometimes, the mere function of an object can make that object so indispensable that it becomes integrated into our daily routines and is thus assimilated as a design object.

That is the pencil...

China has a long way to go.

Uwe Diegel
www.medactiv.com
uwediegel@mac.com

Voyagez le monde, librement...

Au fil des années, j'ai amassé des tonnes et des tonnes d'informations sur les voyages avec différentes maladies, les contraintes, la façon de les résoudre, comment planifier vos déplacements.

Jusqu'à présent, j’ai abordé trois grandes maladies qui sont la polyarthrite, le diabète et la sclérose en plaques.

Téléchargez mes A à Z du voyage avec ces maladies ci-dessous.

Le A à Z du voyage avec la polyarthrite est également utile pour ceux qui voyagent avec des hormones de croissance, car la manipulation des médicaments est à peu près pareille.

Téléchargez tous mes guides et conseils gratuits ici http://medactiv.com/fr/content/134-documentation-2

La A à Z du Voyage avec la Sclérose en Plaques

La A à Z du Voyage avec la Polyarthrite ou Spondylarthrite Ankylosante

La A à Z du Voyage avec le Diabète

Merci de partager

Uwe

Travel the world with the MedActiv Guidelines

Over the years I have amassed tons and tons of information about traveling with different diseases, the constraints, how to solve them, how to plan your trips.

So far I have addressed three major diseases which are arthritis, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.

You can download my A to Z of traveling with these diseases on the below links.

The A to Z of traveling with arthritis is also really useful for those traveling with growth hormones, as the handling of the medications are just about the same.

Download all the MedActiv free guides and advice here http://medactiv.com/fr/content/134-documentation-2

The A to Z of traveling with arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis

The A to Z of traveling with Diabetes

The A to Z of traveling with Multiple Sclerosis

Please download and share.

Uwe DIEGEL
www.medactiv.com

Welcome to the Fu King Chinese Restaurant

Corporate Branding in China

I have been working with Chinese companies for the last 25 years and lately I have been sensing a certain “malaise” in the Asian manufacturing community. I believe that we are heading for a major problem in the area of medical diagnostics manufacture in China.

Historically, Chinese manufacturers have not “sold” products, but have rather “answered to demands”. This means that they basically had no “selling” costs. Now, with the globalization of buying from large groups and with the increased internal competition and costs in China, the fragile balance that exists between the buying price and the quality control is starting to be disturbed. An entire buying and manufacturing industry is walking on the edge of a knife. We, as Western Brands, have put so much pressure on transfer prices from China that there is simply no margin left.

This reinforces the need for Chinese manufacturers to sell “concepts” rather than just “products”. And the only way to achieve this is to develop a strong corporate identity that reflects the real values of the company. The problem is that most companies in China are confusing corporate identity with visual identity.

Corporate Branding in China?

There is no such thing at the moment in China (or if it is there, it is never a long term strategy). Chinese manufacturers confuse a clear vision with a short path and are unable to think long-term in terms of Corporate Identity, not understanding that there are two different components of Corporate Identity, which are visual and behavioral.

Corporate Identity is the reality of a company. It is an investment in the company’s future. It is one of the company’s most valuable assets. It is the unique, individual personality of the company that differentiates it from other companies.

A strong Corporate Identity is a way of communicating the values of the company and services to the rest of the world. Simply put, the value of any company is the result of the impression formed at every point of contact with prospects and clients.

It is a means of distinguishing a company’s products or services from competition and of creating and maintaining an image that encourages confidence in the quality and performance of the people that work at the company.

It is a long-term process, lasting several years… in China at the moment, most companies that embark on a Corporate ID exercise view it as a necessary evil, and not as a long-term commitment to the betterment of the company.

Welcome to the Fu King Chinese Restaurant…

It is becoming more and more important for companies in China to significantly alter their strategies to better compete and survive. This change will have to include the development of strong Corporate Identities and Culture, so that the customer buys the brand rather than the product.

The problem is that even if some Chinese companies are realizing this, they don’t yet understand the concept of Corporate ID. Many companies think that all they need to do is to have a new logo and a couple of nice presentations and all will be OK.

Corporate ID has two different parts: the “visible” part (logos, presentations, visual stuff) and the “behavioral” part (how you do business, how you treat your customers, how you treat your staff, how your customers think of you, how you do sales, etc). Many Chinese companies do not yet perceive the need for the second “invisible” Corporate ID.

And until they do, they will continue to sell pieces of plastic, rather than tremendously valuable devices that will change the rapport that people have with their health.

Uwe Diegel
www.medactiv.com

uwediegel@mac.com

"How are you? You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."

I've had to solve an interesting conundrum recently. I was approached by a major Chinese manufacturer of medical devices because they had a big surge of blood pressure returns during the winter seasons in North America. So my Chinese friends asked me to solve the problem in their inimitable manner: "How to do?

These kind of problems generally happen when products are not thought out properly during the design process. According to the simple principles of HCD (Human Centered Design), all aspects of a product (from the manufacture, the look, the components, the users, where it will be used, how it will be used, the kinds of users in that area, etc) should be considered before pen is put to paper.
You then get a product that works perfectly and delights the users every time, instead of getting a product that doesn't work in winter.

Duh... Sounds obvious doesn’t it?

Yes, that's right, it was simple electrical science that was needed to solve the Mystery Of The Batteries That Wouldn't Work In Winter And Caused Massive Returns.

" Elementary my dear Watson" said Sherlock Holmes " the interplay of ideas and the oblique uses of knowledge are often of extraordinary interest".

A few pages later, Sherlock also asks some pointed questions about Afghanistan, but you get the point…

Some of you might know that I am a graduate from the Catholic Seminary of Chicoutimi, in Quebec, Canada. A few hours North of Montreal, on the edge of the Saguenay River, Chicoutimi is cold in winter. I mean really cold. As in -30°C cold. As in getting your tongue stuck to mailboxes cold. I don't know if you've ever had to start a car in temperatures of -30 °C. Quite often it takes a while to turn over and catch because of the cold. That is because at sub-zero temperatures the electrolytes in the batteries have to work much harder and this uses up the power in the battery very quickly. Once the car has started, the power in the battery is re-generated by the engine and after a few minutes your battery is fully charged again.

However, a blood pressure monitor does not generate any power and only consumes it. The little rolling pump inside a blood pressure monitor needs at least 4 Volts and about 400 mA to run. In cold temperature, the 4 x 1.5V non-rechargeable batteries in the monitor are used up much more quickly than they should (because of the cold) and so after about 60 or 70 readings the batteries in the blood pressure monitor are used up and the device stops working, causing much angst for the user and many Mea Culpas from the manufacturer, who doesn't understand because "he tested the devices in his lab in China, (where the temperature was 35°C) and where he got about 300 readings out of one set of batteries". The problem is of course compounded by the fact that the Chinese factories generally test the devices using good quality alkaline batteries, but then supply them with the cheapest batteries they can find on the market, made by companies with attractive names like The Shanghai Scrap Plastic Corporation.

After analyzing the problem, it was quite easy to find a solution that involved redesigning the battery casing to be better insulated, and redesigning the circuitry so that the components would use less milliamps to operate. The same monitors now give about 450 readings on a set of batteries.

In this case the solution was easy to find and to fix, but because the products had not been carefully planned before production, there were 2 product recalls and huge bad publicity for the manufacturer.

In the words of Frank Lloyd Wright, "You can fix it on paper with an eraser, or you can fix it on the construction site with a sledge hammer".

Sounds obvious doesn't it...

Uwe Diegel
HealthWorks Global
uwediegel@mac.com
www.medactiv.com

Le A à Z du voyage avec la polyarthrite ou la spondylarthrite ankylosante

Je viens de publier en ligne le A à Z du voyage avec la polyarthrite ou la spondylarthrite ankylosante. Disponible en téléchargement gratuit ici https://indd.adobe.com/view/205cb487-d9d2-4519-a964-a67bbfcee78d ou dans la section téléchargements du site www.medactiv.com.

Merci de partager, c'est gratuit et utile.

Guide to traveling with arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis

Just published online is the A to Z of traveling with arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Free download available in the downloads section of www.medactiv.com or on https://indd.adobe.com/view/2ad7d783-76b4-45da-ba7d-719a95aed36c.

Download and share, it's free and useful.

Finding your Kilimanjaro…

On the 5th of November 2016 I will attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of Africa, with an altitude of 5895 meters above sea level. I hope to plant a flag on the roof of Africa for one of my diabetes projects on World Diabetes Day, on the 14th November.

Climbing the Kilimanjaro will be for me a personal challenge, another turning point in my life. At the age of 50 I need to re-evaluate an industry that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. Yes, I am referring to the medical device industry… I have for 25 years been working in an industry that looks at my finger when I show it the moon.

Moving from Egosystem to Ecosystem

For a while I have been concerned that my industry has been more concerned about artificial media presence than with medicine. Indeed we are suffering from a complete “gadgetization” of our industry, ever since crowd-funding (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) has allowed the layman, the non-professional, to launch a product simply because he believed in it, rather than based on sound, scientific research.

And the same “gadgetization” also applies to social media. Anyone can be an expert in medicine or in “connected health” nowadays. Ever since connected health has become the new Nirvana for business, an entire new generation or “digital experts” has invaded the media industry and has positioned itself as the be-all and end-all of communication in the field. But they in fact know very little… They are not medical experts… They are not even technology experts… they are not doctors… So the public is continuously fed with a deluge of nonsensical and uncoordinated media about a subject on which they should be given real, useful data.

The Osborne example

My late father was an early user of the Osborne computer. The Osborne, created in 1981, was one of the first truly portable computers. It was a little suitcase, with a little foldout lid that doubled up as a keyboard, and weighed a ton. I remember carrying them around the house as a teenager. My father was very proud of using the Osborne and of the Osborne’s incredible computational power. So proud in fact that he set out to prove, using the Osborne, that it was physically impossible for the human body to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds. To do so, he entered all the physiological data of the human body into the computer, launched the algorithms, and he did it… He demonstrated, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it was physically impossible for the human body to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds. It was there, in black on white, on the computer… This was 1981…

In May 1983, Carl Lewis ran, for the first time, 100 meters in less than 10 seconds at low altitude. And today, if you can’t run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, you might as well stay home; it has become the standard of the industry.

Countless such examples exist in various industries, from music, to sports, to technology.

When the future arrives, we must be careful to not let current dogma overweight our imagination and intelligence.

We need to see the truth… We need to hear the heartbeat of our industry. For quite a while I have heard the faint sounds of this heartbeat, but I have ignored it. But I feel that if I do not listen to it now, much of the work that I have done will be for naught. It is difficult to hear what is in a man’s heart.

Covered in mist, capped with eternal snows, full of legends and mystery, Mount Kilimanjaro is an awesome and magnificent climb. During dry seasons, locals blame the mountain's demons for taking away the rain, but when the rain becomes too much, they turn their faces to the mountain, bowing, asking God to forgive them.

It is perhaps time for us to ask forgiveness for what we are doing to the medical industry.
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why... This is why, in the words of Qui Gon of Star Wars, "I shall do what I must, Obi-Wan... "

See you on the Kilimanjaro

Uwe DIEGEL
Official manufacturer of happinesswww.medactiv.com
uwediegel@mac.com 

Découvrez votre Kilimandjaro ...

Le 5 Novembre 2016, je vais essayer de monter le Kilimandjaro, plus haut sommet d'Afrique, avec une altitude de 5895 mètres. Je voudrais planter un drapeau sur le toit de l'Afrique pour un de mes projets sur le diabète le 14 Novembre, la journée mondiale du diabète.

L'ascension du Kilimandjaro sera pour moi un défi personnel, un point tournant de ma vie. À l'âge de 50 je suis entrain de ré-évaluer une industrie qui connaît le prix de tout, mais ne connaît la valeur de rien. Oui, je parle bien de l'industrie des dispositifs médicaux ... Je travaille depuis 25 ans dans une industrie qui a tendance à regarder mon doigt quand je lui montre la lune.

Basculer d’un Egosystème à un Ecosystème

Je pense aujourd’hui que mon industrie est plus préoccupée par le marketing de la médecine que par la médecine elle même. En effet, nous souffrons d'une "gadgétisation" complète de notre industrie, depuis que le Crowdfunding (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) a permis aux profanes, aux non-professionnels, aux "barbares" de lancer des produit simplement parce qu'ils pensent que c’est une bonne idée, sans base de recherche scientifique ou médicale.

Cette même "gadgétisation" s’applique également aux médias sociaux. N’importe qui est aujourd’hui un expert en "santé digitale" ou en "santé connectée". Depuis que la santé connectée est devenu le nouveau Nirvana du business, toute une nouvelle génération "d’experts numériques" a envahi l'industrie des médias et se positionne comme l'alpha et l'oméga de la communication dans ce domaine. Mais en fait ils connaissent très peu sur le sujet ... Ce ne sont pas des experts médicaux ... Ce ne sont pas des experts en technologie ... ils ne sont pas médecins ... Le public est alimenté en continu avec un déluge de médias absurdes et non coordonnés sur un sujet qui est un réalité un sujet primordial, un sujet d’intérêt public, le sujet de la santé.

L'exemple Osborne

Mon père était un des premiers utilisateurs d’un ordinateur qui s’appelait l’Osborne. Le Osborne, créé en 1981, était un des premiers ordinateurs vraiment portables. Il se présentait comme une petite valise, avec un couvercle rabattable qui doublait comme clavier, et pesait une tonne. Je me souviens de les avoir trimballé autour de la maison quand j’étais adolescent. Mon père était très fier d'utiliser le Osborne et de la puissance de calcul incroyable de cet ordinateur. Si fier, en fait, qu'il a cherché à démontrer, en utilisant le Osborne, qu'il était physiquement impossible pour le corps humain de courir 100 mètres en moins de 10 secondes. Pour ce faire, il est entré toutes les données physiologiques du corps humain dans l'ordinateur, lancé les calculs, et il l'a fait ... Il a démontré sans l'ombre d'un doute qu'il était physiquement impossible pour le corps humain de courir 100 mètres sous 10 secondes. C’était là, en noir sur blanc, sur l'ordinateur ... C'était en 1981 ...

En mai 1983, Carl Lewis a couru pour la première fois 100 mètres en moins de 10 secondes à basse altitude. Et aujourd'hui, si vous ne pouvez pas courir 100 mètres en moins de 10 secondes, restez chez vous; c’est devenu la norme de ce sport.

D'innombrables exemples de ce type existent dans diverses industries, de la musique, aux sports, à la technologie.

Quand le futur arrive, il nous faut faire attention de ne pas laisser les dogmes actuels surpasser votre imagination ou intelligence.

Nous avons besoin de voir la vérité ... Nous devons essayer d'entendre les battements du cœur de notre industrie. Depuis un certain temps, j’entends les battements lointains de ce cœur, mais je les ai ignoré. Mais je pense que si je ne commence pas à l’écouter maintenant, le travail que je fais sera inutile. Il est difficile d'entendre ce qui est dans le cœur d'un homme.

Couvert de brume, coiffé de neiges éternelles, le sujet de légendes et de mystères, le mont Kilimandjaro est une montagne impressionnante et magnifique. Pendant les saisons sèches, les habitants accusent les démons de la montagne d’avoir fait disparaître la pluie, mais quand la pluie revient en déluge, ils tournent leurs visages vers la montagne et demandent à Dieu de les pardonner.

C’est peut être à notre tour de demander pardon, pour ce que nous faisons à l'industrie médicale.

Les deux jours les plus importants de votre vie sont le jour où vous êtes né, et le jour où vous découvrez pourquoi vous êtes né ... C’est pourquoi, avec les mots inimitables de Qui Gon de Star Wars, "je ferai ce que je dois faire, Obi-Wan".

Rendez-vous sur le Kilimandjaro

Uwe DIEGEL
Fabricant Officiel de Bonheur
www.medactiv.com
uwediegel@mac.com