Of the thousands of diseases we’ve got to contend with there are only about 24 which are immunization-preventable. Perhaps it seems like more when you’ve got your kids to the doctor for well child care but it’s not.
The CDC and WHO keeps track of these things and that’s all we’ve got. They also keep track of how well we’re fighting them off and guess what—THEY’RE COMING BACK! We seem to be loosing the fight!
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Ever since Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, gave a talk about “Vaccine Hero’s” I’ve seen more and more “vested interests” jumping on his bandwagon with their own hero lists.
Gates had a list of seven person’s, 6 medical related and 1 business, who he is continually grateful for as he and his wife attempt to ameliorate great inequities and suffering around the world in the area of vaccines and disease prevention.
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A ton of great information, right? I enjoyed the talk, even if he seemed a bit didactic and condescending in his delivery. None-the-less, the information that he DID give us is eye-opening and should cause us to pause in our analysis of how we’re going about protecting our kids. Completely being naïve to what we are doing doesn’t do anybody any good and may delay or prevent us from doing what really will protect them.
I completely understand the difference between concussion and skull fracture. And I understand completely why everyone’s first attempts at keeping kids safe was to protect against skull fracture. Obviously everyone makes the assumption, as I do, that decreasing skull fracture is a laudable goal because it intuitively must be related to concussion. But it’s interesting to realize that helmets are only designed and developed against fracture. However, we haven’t needed Camarillo to tell us that our former beliefs weren’t completely accurate. Most of us have come to believe that for several years; but, I’m glad that he and his group are trying to put some real dimension to the study and for that he should take credit.
If I find a disappointment with his talk it would be his appearing to want to take the credit for the discoveries of others in the field; and, his carefully worded dancing around the question regarding what we do now? Did you notice that he posed the question himself, then gave a non-answer… several times. He asked “what do I recommend to parents?” then skated to something like: “I don’t need to answer for me because I’ve got a couple years before my daughter actually rides a bike.”
So really, what DO we DO?! The honest answer is that there is nothing we can do, EXCEPT to do what we can—BUT not delude ourselves that what we are doing actually protects us from concussions. We’ve got helmets that don’t protect against concussion only fracture. We use what we can and look for other things we can do. We all have to decide for our own kids whether or not to let them participate in any activity, situation by situation. At the same time, to actually protect our kids we need to DEMAND MORE of our equipment, rule-makers, sports-organizers, government regulators, coaches, other teams, referees and umpires—pretty much everyone who is trying to turn children’s PLAY into trophy’s, pro-level goals and techniques and, yes, money-making schemes.
Those situations are not easily decided because of the complexity we have turned today’s “children’s play” into. It’s NOT just your coach; but how qualified, tolerant the referees are. Do they simply use common sense beneficial to children or are they just “winging it” or some sports wannabe living vicariously. And the other coach. Is he a complete nut who belittles his kids to basically “win at all costs?” And the schedule, does it suck every bit of spare time for other (let’s face it more life-important or family) activities out of not only your kid but the family as well? And the equipment—and on and on. Every decision stands on its own. Just know that today, there is probably 800 times more regimented activity available than is needed by your child to grow, develop and be happy in his life. You don’t NEED to endorse any sport for them to grow to their best potential.
So, how about it. Do we think we can limit all the sitting and sleeping and TV-watching we do to only 23½ hours a day? The good doc listed a lot of benefits for exercise; and notice that he didn’t give any specific requirements about it other than it’s supposed to be “30 minutes.” That means that you can pick the absolutely “fun-est” thing you can think of (as long as it’s active) and do it for 30 minutes.
We’ve got a huge epidemic of nearly every ailment related to weight and sedentary living going on with our children. Perhaps the most significant legacy you can give your children is a love (at least tolerance) for being active in their lives. NOW is the time to take seriously all the recommendations being given to limit children’s TV (screen) time.
It’s called FUO or “Fever of Unknown Origin” and its definition is about as big a mystery as its name. Back during my medical school days FUO meant something different to the neonatologists in the newborn unit than it did to the pediatricians out on the hospital ward.
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Admittedly, the accepted schedule for preventive immunizations is a challenge to keep up with. Well, it is for us “doc” types so it must be for you as well.
For your reference, I’m going to embed in this page the latest immunization recommendations. They are in an easy-to-read chart form, covering immunizations of both: Infants and Children—birth through 6; and Preteens and Teens—7 through 18.
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Nagin Cox is a first-generation Martian. As a spacecraft engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she works on the team that manages the United States’ rovers on Mars. But working a 9-to-5 on another planet — whose day is 40 minutes longer than Earth’s — has particular, often comical challenges.
She tells us that she has dreamed of working at NASA since she was 14 years old and this is her “dream job.” She also divulged that “sleep experts” have studied her and her colleagues because working on Mars time “is a blast, but not sustainable” because it is so hard on the body of an “earthling.”
Believe it or not the brand spankin’ new immunization schedule just released has actually LOWERED the number of immunizations recommended for teens!
I know, it’s hard for me to comprehend too; but, we’ll take it while it lasts.
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What do you get when you combine the strongest materials from the plant world with the most elastic ones from the insect kingdom? Super-performing materials that might transform … everything – including body parts. Nanobiotechnologist Oded Shoseyov showed us examples of amazing materials found throughout nature, in everything from cat fleas to sequoia trees, and shows the creative ways his team is harnessing them in everything from sports shoes to medical implants.
Shoseyov is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an expert in nanobiotechnology; he has authored or co-authored more than 160 scientific publications and is the inventor or co-inventor of 45 patents. He received the Kaye Innovation Award from the Hebrew University in 2010, and an honorable mention from the Israeli Prime Minister for his contributions in entrepreneurship and innovation in 2012. He has founded ten companies, several of which are focused on engineering new materials for use in human tissue, jet fuel and food packaging.
The quiet yet dynamic, unassuming but persuasive, fully-accomplished TED fellow has accomplished more in her life despite blindness than most sighted people do in their lifetime.
Generating braille texts from books, a braille reader, an audio reader, a braille text editor – all her accomplishments. She and her associates develop oftware and products which help the blind become more educated and independent.
With ease, she describes ‘next generation’ products for the smart phone making its speaker and gps give her detailed directions around a building and its video read bar codes and wrappers to describe articles. The camera even notices the approach of a person, analyzes him to be a friend and tells her that ‘he looks happy.’
Finally, she announces that all this technology has been made OPEN SOURCE so that the world could join in its continued development. The average person doesn’t usually have a clue how significant that decision is! Imagine a world with an alternate Steve Jobs who announced that the iPhone was just made Open Source so everyone in the world could eventually be able to use one freely!
I have to tell you I’m still pretty ticked-off finding out about this huge conflict of interest: Big Soda acting like Big Tobacco and the health-care industry falling for it! I’m not sure where I’ve been to not hear about this until now; but, thankfully, the American Academy of Pediatrics and a few others have already come clean and done the right thing!
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Did you get all those “tricks” to give them a HAND over portion distortion?
– Food labels can’t be relied on
– Serve children on smaller plates, they’ll look larger.
– Dish out families food in kitchen on plates and bring them to the table, learn correct portion control.
– Don’t let children serve themselves out of “family-sized” bowls, they’ll always take too much.
– “Lend them a HAND,” teach them “rules of thumb” for portion control using their hand as an example. As it GROWS, so does the portion size.
– The FIST represents the portion size of rice, cereal, fruits or vegetables for a single meal.
– The size of the PALM represents the amount of protein, about 4 or 5 ounces, that should make up a DAILY serving size for a child or teen.
– The TOP OF THE THUMB’s FIRST JOINT represents the amount of mayonnaise, butter or salad dressing for a single meal.
– Eating at restaurant, wait to see what portion size comes for your child before ordering yourself so you can share theirs if it’s too large, or cut it in half and serve it as a second meal later on.
– Parents, you need to set a good example: if you don’t ask for seconds, your child won’t either.
Super, advice and tips.