Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

FDA has exempted from regulation, low-risk general wellness devices used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle to help reduce risk or help living well with heart disease, high blood pressure and Type-2 diabetes. A sedentary lifestyle is unhealthy viz., an average adult spends 50 to 70% of waking hours sitting at a computer screen in a car or watching television; 80% of Americans do not exercise. To mitigate excessive sitting, several low-risk wellness devices have become available that include sitting-standing, treadmill and cycling desks and step counting with accelerometers. All require active participation not readily accepted or complied with on a long-term basis by the general population. We fabricated a passive device, theâ�?�?Gentle JoggerTMâ�? in which a seated subject places feet upon two motorized pedals that are reciprocally moved at jogging speed to flex and extend the ankle with soles tapping against a rigid surface. Applications of 15 to 30 minutes between or after meals are recommended. Seated, â�?�?joggingâ�? permits single tasking while operating a computer, reading, conversing or watching television. It operates through an off-on switch, is portable weighing 5 kg or 11 lb., and fits within a roller bag. It has an LED display of step counts that can be logged for consumer feedback with options for monitoring of pulse rate, blood pressure and glucose on an iPhone or iPad before, during and after a treatment. On cessation of treatment, the subject often perceives a temporary, pleasant, tingling, sensation in the legs that may migrate to the body.

Biography

Marvin A Sackner has completed his MD from University of Zurich, he was born in 1932, educated at Jefferson Medical College from 1953-1957, trained in Medicine and Cardiology at Philadelphia General Hospital until 1961 and was a Research Fellow in Physiology at University of Pennsylvania from 1961-1964. He has been in Miami ever since as Chief of Pulmonary Diseases and Medicine, Mt. Sinai Medical Center as well as Professor of Medicine, University of Miami. He was President of the American Thoracic Society and Chairman, American Subspecialty Board of Pulmonary Disease. He has authored 225 scientific publications and 3 books and holds 34 American patents.

Email: artchive@msn.com