Death or Vaccinations?
My managing editor, Rachael, travels out of the country a lot with her job. She went to a travel immunization company here in Boca Raton this week to get the shots she’d need to venture to some of the poorest countries on the globe – Ethiopia and Haiti.
Seven vaccinations, a whole lot of paperwork and two very sore arms later she called me with some striking news.
“You’ll never guess how many people don’t get shots that could save their lives!!!”
I suspected she was talking about the virtually non-existent immunization system in many developing countries whose people are, as a result, plagued by such preventable diseases as measles and typhoid. But, it turned out she was talking about the U.S.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 5,000 Americans die every year from a disease that can be prevented by vaccination. There are 17 diseases that can be prevented through vaccinations, and several of these…including three fairly new ones licensed since 2005, are recommended specifically for the adult years. But the CDC’s recent National Immunization Survey shows that very low percentages of adults are actually getting these shots that prevent deadly disease.
What’s strange is that routine immunization of children in the U.S. is the norm. The long list of vaccines most children get in their early years has saved thousands of lives and prevented millions of cases of disease. The same could be the case with adults. But as Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, points out, “New data show there are not yet very many adults taking full advantage of the great advancements in prevention that have been made in the past few years.”
The CDC’s recent National Immunization Survey revealed some startling numbers. Only 2.1 percent of adults 18 to 64 are immunized against tetanus-diphtheria-whooping cough. Only 1.9 percent of people 60 and over got the vaccine to prevent shingles…, a disease of which there are more than 1 million new cases in the U.S each year. And vaccine coverage for the prevention of HPV, a three-series shot that prevents several kinds of cervical cancer among women 18 to 26, is about 10 percent. Even the highly publicized influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates for older people are well below the 90 percent target rates.
Perhaps more jarring than these numbers are the results of another recent national survey done by the National Foundation of Infections Diseases. It showed most adults cannot name more than a couple of diseases in adults that can be prevented by a vaccine, only about 3 to 18 percent could do it. Also disturbing was that half of those surveyed said they are not concerned about whether they or another family member gets a vaccine-preventable disease. Respondents actually expressed the most concern about getting influenza. Doctors say this is because this is the vaccine-preventable disease people hear about the most.
So just what vaccines are adults supposed to get? The list is quite extensive: chickenpox, diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, human papillomavirus (the cervical cancer shot), influenza, measles, meningococcal disease, mumps, whooping cough, pneumococcal disease, rubella, shingles and tetanus.
It sounds like a lot but when you consider the alternative it’s hard to see why people don’t just get their shots. Combined, the infectious diseases I mentioned earlier kill MORE Americans annually than either breast cancer, HIV/AIDS or traffic accidents.
The Willpower Myth
January has traditionally been heralded as the month of new beginnings – a time when hundreds of thousands of people set out to change their lives for the better. “I’ll lose 10 pounds…quit smoking…eat better…go to the gym”…They all start with good intentions but by mid February end up falling horribly short.
If this has ever happened to you, you’ve probably found yourself thinking…as everyone else does...“Gee, if only I had tried a little bit harder. If only I had a little stronger willpower I could have done it.” Well, it turns out that this kind of thinking is dead wrong. When researchers examine the actual mechanism of change – they find something much different.
This is the hypothesis set out by Alan Deutschman, the author of the book "Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life" which hit bookshelves this month. Deutschman set out to get to the bottom of whatever it is that makes people and business realize a drastic change, even in the face of multiple failures. What he found is that people don’t use willpower to “unstuck” themselves from a vice. Instead it’s a relationship with a person or a group who shows them the way – an emotional relationship – one that inspires hope and belief.
Deutschman was convinced that something besides willpower had to be the catalyst for change after hearing some startling statistics from a doctor from Johns Hopkins University while at a conference. Nine out of 10 heart bypass patients fail to make the lifestyle changes necessary to save their lives!! Though the pain was so terrible they could barely walk, his patients couldn’t stop smoking or eating steaks and they didn’t start going to the gym. Instead they endured multiple bypass surgeries — which are painful and cost more than $100,000. For these people, the mantra “Change or Die” was quite literally the case and most chose the latter.
So, if people dying from clogged arteries can’t be motivated to change their life, where does that leave the rest of us? Deutschman asked that same thing when he stumbled across a doctor in San Francisco. Dean Ornish was turning those numbers on their heads. Ornish had his patients, many of them steak-eating CEO’s, sticking to a low-fat vegetarian diet and doing regular yoga and meditation. Even after they completed his one-year program most of his patients stuck with their dramatic lifestyle changes.
Deutschman found that the key to these changes wasn’t willpower – it was relating. The first of something he calls the “Three R's to Transformation.” When these CEOs had to attend support groups and classes twice a week, they were surrounded by other steak-eating, work-a-holic CEOs who had changed their diet and their life. When they saw their peers could do it, they too were able to make changes and stick with them.
The second R in Deutschman’s road to successful change is repeating. Once you’ve formed a relationship with a mentor or a group you need to acquire the skills necessary to change and keep practicing, repeating them until they feel natural.
The final component to Deutschman’s three-step plan for change is reframing. Basically, changing the way you think. For example, if you’re a work-a-holic, you won’t be able to relax more until you accept that not working 70 hours a week doesn’t make you lazy or unproductive and that it actually will help you work better.
So why does all this work? Well, as Deutschman put it, “So often we think that change is impossible, that people don’t change, that we can’t change. But you can’t argue with a living breathing person in front of you who has done it, and modeling yourself on them is the best way to do the same.”
Yoga for the Face
For years yoga has been touted as a way to tone your body, calm your mind and improve your health. Now a handful of yogis from posh health clubs in places such as New York and Atlanta, claim it could take years off your face. Though doctors and some yoga instructors aren’t buying it, this new trend has swept up a lot of devotees.
At the front of this trend is Annelise Hagen … the Brooklyn-based yoga instructor behind “The Yoga Face." Her recently published book that explains her anti-aging regimen that promises to eliminate wrinkles and tone the muscles above the neck through – as described by the New York Post – a series of eye-popping, tongue-wagging, jaw-dropping moves.
Hagen, who’s taught yoga for more than 10 years and facial rejuvenation yoga for the last three, claims that if you start doing a few minutes of facial yoga a day, in six months you’ll have tighter, more refined skin. In a year’s time, you’ll look like you had a good face-lift. Want to sculpt and narrow your nose? Alternate breathing out of each nostril. Have crow's-feet? Open your eyes wide to smooth the lines. As pale as a glass of milk? A few downward dog poses can add color to the complexion while oxygenating the skin.
So how does this to-good-to-be-true aging solution and plastic surgery alternative work? Partly drawn from vocal training techniques used by actors, it combines facial exercises, body poses and breathing methods to detoxify the skin and lift the face naturally – without knives and needles. The aim is to tap into the 57 muscles in the face, neck and scalp and tone them.
Face yoga falls into a branch of yoga called Revita-Yoga…which basically combines yoga and facial exercises to combat wrinkles, frown lines and sagging. But like most exercises, it takes times to see the results of a face yoga workout. According to Hagen, about six classes and some homework will bring on serious results.
If this all sounds a little too good to be true – it may be because it isn’t. That’s according to doctors who specialize in skin or facial physiology. While they agree that it relaxes practitioners, they find it unlikely that it could rejuvenate the face. Some yoga gurus are skeptical, too. Rodney Yee, a well-known yoga instructor from East Hampton, New York, said ''We've not discovered the fountain of youth…Yoga will add radiance to your face and relax you, which will make you look younger, but to just focus on the face is too specific and sounds more like a marketing ploy.''
Despite the skepticism, hundreds of people are trying out the Three-Stooges-esq facial positions in hope of erasing frown lines and tightening their cheeks. Curious? Here are a few of the positions to try yourself.
For more information on Hagen’s book and face yoga check out her Web site…www.yogaface.net.
Technical Difficulties! What a Day!
So...what a day! Whew! I spent all night trying to upload KBTV's next piece and no matter what I tried it didn't work. Technology is such a blessing...and a curse! Especially when it doesn't work. Sometimes I've learned that you have to just let go, so I'm writing this to tell everyone I'm letting go...at least for today. My KBTVonline staff tell me everything should be up and running by Saturday! So please be patient!
Bill Gates Gives Farewell Keynote Speech!
Bill Gates delivered his last keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday night as a full-time employee of what used to be the world's most influential technology company to date. I decided to attend, last minute.
Industry movers and shakers and journalists lined up for nearly two hours in advance to hear his message and listen with rapt attention. Gates wore a purple shirt and a lavender sweater. He delivered an impression that for me anyway is a very well worn path – a self-deprecating, likeable geek persona.
For me, it felt a little old – as I’ve been in this business for 15 years – but for others? Who knows? You see Gates steps down from day-to-day work at Microsoft later this year to concentrate on philanthropic work full-time.
Gates’ CES farewell address was 70 minutes – but he left nearly half of it to a subordinate to break the major news, a clear sign that the day when he and Microsoft were the same thing … well, it’s come to an end.
Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, announced some strategic new partnerships. For the hugely successful Xbox 360 gaming console, Bach announced TV programs from ABC Television and Disney Channel, along with movies from MGM's Legends collection of classic films, will join Xbox Live programs available for download directly from the console.
Gates himself broke the news that Microsoft's MSN Internet site will partner with NBC Univision in covering the Beijing Olympics next August, offering up to 20 simultaneous live video streams of events that can be watched on demand, over 3,000 hours of content in all. It will be the most prevalent use of broadband TV ever covering a major event. Hello. That’s news. Why didn’t they lead with that?
Just a quick note here on the whole Zune thing? A friend of mine who is a distribution guy tells me that there are TONS of Zunes on the market. Stay tuned!
Watch Out Perfectionists for New Year's Resolutions!
So...have you prepared your list of New Year’s Resolutions? Would you actually like me to share with you the success rate for these resolutions of hope, sobriety, wealth and skinniness? It’s low – really low – according to the likes of Dr. Phil and Oprah. Less than 10%.
Hey we all want to take off those last 10 pounds, quit smoking, join a gym, and be better friends and lovers. Many of us put way too much pressure on ourselves – myself included. And this is good. We should hold ourselves to a high standard – right? Well, how high is TOO high?
Several recent studies stand as a warning against taking the platitudes of achievement too seriously. The new research focuses on a familiar type – yes, perfectionists – who tip over or blow a fuse when things don’t turn out just so.
According to The New York Times, the findings not only confirm that these perfectionist types are often at risk for mental distress — as Freud, Alder and others have predicted — but also suggest that perfectionism is a valuable lens through which to understand a variety of seemingly unrelated mental difficulties, from depression to compulsive behavior to addiction.
According to the experts cited in The Times, perfectionists can be divided into three types. I believe I fall into the first category; self-oriented strivers who struggle to live up to their high standards and appear to be at risk of self-critical depression. That would be me! Next are the perfectionists who are outwardly focused zealots expecting perfection from others. Often they ruin relationships – we all know those types. Finally there are those desperate to live up to an ideal they’re convinced others expect of them. These perfectionists have a notable risk factor for suicidal thinking and eating disorders.
Unlike people who are given psychiatric labels such as manic-depressive, bi-polar, borderline personality disorder, etc., perfectionists neither battle the stigma of a label nor consider themselves to be dysfunctional. Alice Provost, an employee assistance counselor at the University of California, Davis recently ran group therapy sessions for staff members struggling with perfectionist impulses. To her surprise she said that the people in the sessions were actually proud of it. Proud of their perfectionism!
Provost also emphasizes that American culture puts such a high gloss on being perfect – exhibited by how we love to intermittently revere and demonize celebrities such as Brittney Spears. We gleefully watch the Brittney of Diet Pepsi fame soar to the most popular songstress ever to having a social worker accompany her on supervised visits with her children and go in and out of rehab. This whip-saw voyeurism made more popular by snarky blogs such as Gawker and the rack of old-fashioned tabloids like the National Enquirer. It all turns the heat up on a culture – our culture, American culture – creating a world of perfectionism run amok.
Consider a recent study by psychologists at the Curtin University of Technology. The researchers asked 252 participants to fill out questionnaires rating their level of agreement with 16 statements like “I think of myself as either in control or out of control” and “I either get on very well with people or not at all.”
The more strongly participants in the study thought in this either-or fashion, the more likely they were to display the kind of extreme perfectionism that can lead to mental health distress. The conclusion being that falling short somehow suggests a kind of mediocrity that increasing permeates how they view nearly EVERYTHING in their lives.
This is why Provost warns that perfectionists often display symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder, for instance, does your iPhone, blackberry and razor phone ALWAYS have to be fully charged? Mine do. Another risk for perfectionists? They simply cannot bear a messy desk. For me, it’s my whiteboard.
According to Provost it's nearly impossible to leave a job half-done, to do the next day. Some put in ludicrously long hours redoing tasks, chasing an ideal only they could see.
So … getting back to those New Year’s Resolutions, perhaps we should ask of ourselves the more internal or psychological or spiritual changes in ourselves in 2008. A list that begins with something as simple as spontaneity and living in the moment. Reaching out to someone less fortunate at least once a day. Making a conscious effort to not tell white lies. Taking personal responsibility and apologizing when we’re wrong. Being more authentic in our relationships or just simply living a more honest life. Yes, an authentic, transparent, AUTHENTIC life.
