May 12th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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I’ve been following this story with interest and concern. A little birdie told me that Katie Couric has prepared a special report about the potential link between vaccines and autism for the CBS news tonight (May 12th). Sharyl Attkisson will be interviewing Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health, about her perspective. The CBS website has a 5 minute video clip now available on their site.
While I certainly agree with Dr. Healy that science must not be stifled, and that it’s fair game to research any environmental factor that could plausbily be related to autism, I am deeply concerned that the potential harm induced by vaccines (on kids with rare genetic disorders) will be generalized inappropriately and parents will refrain from vaccinating their children. We are already beginning to see Measles make a comeback (a disease with that can be fatal or cause irreversible brain damage) due to lower vaccination rates, and this trend may continue. Unvaccinated kids are not just a threat to themselves (because they’re at much higher risk for developing preventable diseases) but a threat to vaccinated kids as well, since vaccines are not 100% effective.
What do you think about the CBS segment? Watch it with me and we can discuss it here on my blog. Robin Morris, mother of a child with autism and a patient advocate at Revolution Health, will weigh in as well.
*Update: the full script is here*This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
May 12th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Celebrity Interviews
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I had the chance to interview diabetes spokesperson and Hollywood A-lister, Maria Menounos, at a recent diabetes conference. Prior to the interview I was given her Entertainment Industry Foundation biography for my review. Most of the biographies that I see belong to physicians and health policy experts – so it was an interesting change to read an entertainer’s biography.
Of note, Maria is a featured reporter on The Today Show and Access Hollywood – she has directed and produced several films and was listed in People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” She also landed in the top five of the askmen.com poll for “the girl men most want to marry” along with Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron.
But don’t let her beauty fool you – Maria has struggled with poverty, a chronically ill father, and her own weight issues. I enjoyed getting to know her better, and to learn about why she is such a passionate advocate for diabetes awareness. Enjoy our chat!
Dr. Val: Tell me a little bit about your dad’s diabetes and how you’ve been helping him to manage it.
Maria: My dad has type 1 diabetes, and he’s quite unusual in that he is extremely compliant with medical advice and dietary restrictions. He NEVER cheats. Many years ago he was told to avoid carbohydrates and so even when he was having a low blood sugar attack he’d refuse to drink juice to bring up his levels. Unfortunately my dad’s English isn’t so good (his native language is Greek and he has quite a language barrier with doctors) and I think a lot was lost in translation when he was given advice about how to manage his disease.
As a result of growing up in a poor neighborhood and not having access to more advanced medical care (along with the language barrier), my dad’s doctors were not particularly effective at communicating what he should be doing. My mom did her very best to follow their instructions religiously – she became his personal chef and kept him from eating carbohydrates.
My dad was in and out of the hospital all the time for low blood sugar, and because of a lack of coordination of care my family never realized why this was happening or what we could do to prevent it. So we were trying harder and harder to be more strict with his diet, which was in fact making the problem worse. My dad did janitorial work and would nearly pass out on the job due to a low carbohydrate diet. But since the doctors told him not to eat sweets or bread or pasta, he believed that his sickness was due to his not being strict enough, so he’d just eat less and less until he ended up weighing 140 pounds at 6 feet tall. My family was living in constant fear of him passing out again and needing to go to the hospital. We knew every ambulance worker and every fireman in our neighborhood by name because they were always at our house.
Finally when I moved to Hollywood and had some career success I was able to get my dad to a world renowned endocrinologist, Dr. Anne Peters. Within three visits she straightened him out and explained how he did in fact need to eat some carbs. She got his blood sugars evened out and he never had to be hospitalized again.
What scares me the most is what’s happening to people who have diabetes and language barriers. They’re at incredible risk for misinformation, confusion, and poor care. Imagine how many people in this country are just like my dad – trying to follow advice they don’t fully understand? This is a real problem that we often overlook in diabetes education.
Dr. Val: As a Hollywood insider, how aware are your peers about diabetes and is there much talk amongst them about getting involved in campaigns to reduce type 2 diabetes?
Maria: I’m sure they are but I haven’t come across that many. It doesn’t come up that frequently. There haven’t been any breakthroughs in insulin therapy or any other huge scientific advances in diabetes care so the topic isn’t that newsworthy or “sexy.” It’s a real shame that it isn’t talked about more. Everyone seems to be aware that type 2 diabetes is preventable but no one seems to know how to do so. They don’t realize that you need to lose weight and exercise. But I learned about that when I had a weight problem.
Dr. Val: YOU had a weight problem?
Maria: As I said, I came from a diabetic home. We ate vegetables fresh from the garden every day and my mom was extremely careful about what we ate. We didn’t eat anything bad. My mom would buy ice cream and Doritos like, once a year when family was coming over. I didn’t even know what a bagel or a waffle was for most of my time growing up. Then I went to college and there was endless all-you-can-eat food. So over 3 or 4 years of eating pizza and I ended up gaining 40 pounds. One day I decided that I wanted to move to California and get into the business and I realized I needed to lose the weight.
I wrote down everything I ate in a week, and I realized that my problem was carbs. So I cut them back substantially and the weight just melted off. I lost about 20 pounds in several months, and then I added exercise to get the last 20 off. I’ve never looked back.
Dr. Val: How can we be more effective in getting Americans involved in their own health?
Maria: First of all, I think that we need to focus on educating children about healthy lifestyle choices. We have to get the message to them early. Kids enjoy knowing more than their parents and teaching them something new. So it’s really empowering for kids to learn about nutrition and then bring that knowledge home to their families and teach them a thing or two.
Obviously getting Americans to be more involved in their health is a very difficult challenge. Many people are struggling to get by and don’t have time to put their health first – they have to focus on work, paying their gas bill and putting food on the table. It will take a national, coordinated effort to really make a difference.
**Join Dr. Val’s Weight Loss Group**This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
May 11th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in True Stories
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My regular readers know that I’m a very conscientious person, and that although I try my best to prepare in advance for all manner of SNAFUs, I still fall victim to the occasional malfunction or “blonde moment.”
My most recent episode occurred en route to interviewing Governor Huckabee. I was really looking forward to our interview and was quite determined not to have anything go wrong. I packed my briefcase the night before the meeting, and made sure that my digital voice recorder was working, had batteries, etc. and that I had a pad of paper and a pen in case of emergency.
I carefully gathered all my things together and hopped in a cab (a black jeep with a yellow taxi sign on top) to the interview destination – a hotel lobby near the Newseum. I was re-reading my interview questions when I reached into my briefcase to get out my wallet to pay the driver. My heart sank. I had forgotten my wallet! My car-less husband (the first person I hit up for cash) was at a doctor’s appointment across town. I had no friends meeting me at the hotel lobby (and I certainly wasn’t going to ask Gov. Huckabee if he could lend me $20). I explained the situation to the driver and sheepishly asked if he had a card or if I could arrange to meet him later on in the day once I had my wallet.
The driver saw how sincerely sorry I was – and told me that he had no cards, and that I should just consider the ride complimentary. I promised him that I wasn’t in the habit of stiffing taxi drivers, and that I really did want to pay him back. He would have none of it. “It’s not a problem, ma’am. Don’t worry about it.” So off I went to meet Gov Huckabee – and I only dropped my Blackberry once in front of him.
Flash forward 4 days… I’m returning home from The Big Sleep Show (it was in Chicago) and waiting in the taxi line at the Reagan National Airport. This time I have hubby with me (he’s always good for a $20) so I figure the cab ride home will be smooth (though I’ve had some bad experiences with DC cabs in the past). As I get to the front of the line, I look over at the cab that we’re about to get into. It’s a black jeep with a yellow taxi sign on top.
I ask the driver if he remembers a woman who didn’t pay him for an early morning cab ride a few days prior. “Oh, yeah.” He said. “You mean the doctor lady?”
“That was ME!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t know how I was going to repay you for your kindness. And now I can do it in person! This is quite a coincidence.”
The driver smiled and was quiet the whole ride home.
I paid him for both rides plus a nice tip. “Keep paying it forward, brother.” I said, “you never know when it will come back to you.”
What are the odds?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
May 10th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Uncategorized
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My blogger colleague, Trisha, at Ideas for Women told me about an exciting, virtual walk across America that is being sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services. The event starts tomorrow (Mother’s Day, May 11th) and you can sign up for various routes. I chose the cross-country route that begins in San Francisco and ends in my city: Washington, DC. I guess I felt inspired by my recent chat with Mike Huckabee about how he lost weight and got fit.
The idea is to use a pedometer (or your best guess work) to track your daily steps, with a goal of about 10,000 per day. You can tally your steps each day so that they contribute to the grand total contributed by your team mates and others in the Woman Challenge.
You can also track your participation in my “Lose 20 Pounds” group here at Revolution Health.
Care to join me? My team is called “Dr. Val” and my home city is Washington, DC. You can also leave your username (that you chose when you signed up at the Woman Challenge site) and home town in the comments section below and I’ll invite you personally.
Don’t live in the US? All the more reason to have a virtual vacation here and walk across the country with me!
All those of you who are moms (or any of you who’ve ever had a mom – ha, ha) please join me in getting out into the fresh, virtual air in honor of Mother’s Day. Imagine how good we’ll feel 8 weeks from now…
Happy Mother’s Day!
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
May 9th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Uncategorized
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Revolution Health is always looking for creative ways to bring important health information to the public. This week, in honor of Mother’s Day, we’ve created a virtual women’s health expo – and we’ll donate to the featured non-profit organizations for every click you make.
So why not do some good for the following non-profits by visiting their booths at the virtual expo? This is the easiest way for you to support your favorite non-profit – you can even visit them in your pajamas. 
Y-Me National Breast Cancer Association
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
National Women’s Health Resource Center
The Wellness Community
Women’s Sports Foundation
Go Red For Women
Healthy Weight For Life
Society for Women’s Health Research
*Go to the Women’s Health Expo*
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
