October 15th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
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Alzheimer's A. Gala '08
I am so incredibly excited about this great news: the Alzheimer’s Association won first place in the American Express Members Project contest. Cardmembers voted for their favorite cause, and the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease project won the majority. The research grant is valued at $1.5 million.
I first became aware of this worthy cause when I attended the Alzheimer’s Association gala with Chris Matthews (thats us in the photo to the left) and had the chance to interview Patty Smith, a young victim (diagnosed at age 51) of this disease. She gave a moving speech about living with Alzheimer’s.
Here is an excerpt of my blog post about Patty:
What struck me most about Patty was her courage and determination. Although her symptoms were troublesome to her (she had some difficulty concentrating, remembering details of her past, and couldn’t offer robust answers to questions) she was prepared to be vulnerable in a very public way. I was moved by Patty’s bravery, and her willingness to sacrifice personal comfort for public education. Of all the important donors and benefactors at the event, Patty was (in my opinion) the one who sacrificed the most- because she was the one who was willing to expose her frailty to us all.
I know that the award will be put to good use and I certainly hope that we will soon discover a cure for this devastating neurological disease.
***
What’s the Chris Matthews connection? His mom died of Alzheimer’s disease and he moderated the event.
October 14th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements
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Photo Credit: CBS News
I have a friend who works with Katie Couric and he sent me this announcement today. You may be interested in tuning in tonight to hear more specifics about McCain and Obama’s views on HIV/AIDS in America. As for me, I’ll be attending a lecture about our two party system at the National Archives. Thank goodness for TiVo.
Tonight on the “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,” Medical Contributor Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on where each presidential candidate stands on AIDS in America. There is a new infection every 9.5 minutes and an AIDS related death every 33 minutes with 1.2 million Americans who carry the virus. Yet HIV / AIDS is America’s “forgotten epidemic,” as the nation spends almost $10 billion annually to fight AIDS abroad, but less than 10 percent of that here at home. Dr. Gupta will explore how Senators McCain and Obama intend to stop the epidemic and how they plan to care for those living with this deadly disease. For all the candidates answers, tune in tonight at 6:30 p.m. EST.
This is part of an ongoing weekly series of in-depth reports called “Where They Stand” CBS News will continue to examine how each candidate proposes to solve America’s most pressing problems, from the economy to foreign policy to immigration to health care to education to energy to the environment to the country’s infrastructure to homeland security, among others.
October 14th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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Photo Credit: wowowow.com
I attended a fantastic conference hosted by BlogHer yesterday. It’s a strange experience, entering a convention hall filled with 98% women. My ears were ringing with an unfamiliar “crowd noise” pitch – instead of the usual rumbling that one expects on entering a ballroom full of people, I noticed the same volume of noise, but a few octaves higher. I suppose it was the sound of estrogen.
The co-founders of BlogHer, Lisa Stone, Elisa Camahort Page, and Jory Des Jardins are a media tour de force. Within a span of 3 years they have built the largest and arguably the most influential group of women bloggers on the Internet. BlogHer drives an astounding 4 billion page views per year and has 16 million unique visitors per year.
The closing panel discussion was riveting. Lesley Stahl described the decline of television journalism, explaining that the line between pundits and journalists had been blurred beyond recognition.
Anyone on television is considered part of ‘mainstream media.’ There is no distinction made between opinion and fact. That’s why the media has lost trust in the eyes of Americans. Pundits don’t necessarily care about accuracy, and so traditional journalists (who spend a good deal of their time fact checking) are lumped in with them. I get tarred too.
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October 13th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Expert Interviews
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My friend Dr. Joe Scherger and I enjoyed a sunny Sunday brunch at a garden eatery in DC. Unfortunately for the neighboring restaurant-goers, we engaged in a very loud and animated conversation about vasectomies. Joe is a family physician and men’s health expert who has recently become aware of “post vasectomy pain syndrome” through an online group that he leads. I noticed two men nearby crossing their legs reflexively and pretending not to be eavesdropping.
Apparently, as many as 10-15% of men may experience a prolonged period of testicular pain after undergoing a vasectomy. As common a complication as this is, Joe believes that very few men are sufficiently warned about it during the informed consent process. The pain may be caused by swelling (once the vas deferens is cut there is no exit point for newly generated sperm) or inflammation. In some cases, the body forms “anti-sperm” antibodies and attacks the sperm generating tissues in the testes. In other cases, small nerves in the area are damaged and heal poorly (causing neuromas).
So if you or your loved one is considering a vasectomy, it’s important to learn all the facts first. You may want to stop by Joe’s online group to ask a question as well.
October 12th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Opinion
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I wrote a “reader take” for KevinMD a few weeks ago – basically arguing that disparities in mental health coverage are driving patients to seek help from unqualified (or inappropriate) providers, thus increasing healthcare costs without improving outcomes. Little did I know (at the time of writing my article) that mental health advocates would be successful in introducing a new law to address exactly this issue. The New York Times reported that some were hailing this legislation as:
A milestone in the quest for civil rights, an effort to end insurance discrimination and to reduce the stigma of mental illness.
And guess how this legislation was passed? It was the “pork” in the Wall Street bailout bill.
Now that’s some of the best pork I’ve heard of in recent memory.
To read my explanation of why improved mental health benefits are desperately needed, please check out my reader take at KevinMD. It’s called: How Not To Revolutionize Healthcare.
P.S. The delay in publication of my reader take was not Kevin’s fault. It was due to circumstances beyond our control. 🙂
