This Year's Flu Shot: What You Need to Know

“Here’ s an article to keep in mind as flu season has arrived. ”

— Dr. Dale

This Year's Flu Shot: What You Need to Know

http://time.com/4513013/flu-vaccine-influenza-shot/ 

Flu season is just around the corner, and public health experts are urging Americans to get vaccinated.

The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone six months and older, and is widely available at pharmacies and doctors’ offices. Unfortunately, the nasal flu vaccine, which is popular among kids and was used by 20 million people last season, will not be available. Vaccine efficacy tests revealed earlier this year that the nasal flu vaccine is currently not effective, for reasons that aren’t yet clear. Still, experts are urging Americans to get vaccinated in shot form to avoid getting the flu, which can be severe for young people and the elderly.

“Flu is serious, flu is unpredictable, flu often doesn’t get enough respect,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during a press conference on Thursday. Getting the flu vaccine will cut a person’s risk of getting the flu by at least half, Frieden said, which is “far better than anything else you can do.” He also reiterated that the flu is not the common cold but an illness that can be debilitating for many people.

Every year scientists determine what strains to include in the flu vaccine based on estimates of what strains might be circulating. Some seasons the flu vaccine offers more protection than others. “[The flu vaccine is] not perfect; we wish it were better,” said Frieden, adding that getting the vaccine substantially reduces the risk of hospitalization.

Health authorities are asking Americans to get the vaccine before the end of October. But as Kaiser Health News reports, many pharmacies have been promoting the vaccine since the summer, which some infectious disease researchers argue is largely a marketing ploy. Evidence is mixed regarding how long protection from the flu vaccine will last if it’s given in the summer. “If you’re over 65, don’t get the flu vaccine in September. Or August. It’s a marketing scheme,” Laura Haynes, an immunologist at the University of Connecticut Center on Aging, told Kaiser Health News. It takes a couple weeks before a vaccinated person has full protection.

The CDC is concerned that fewer people will be vaccinated this season since the nasal flu vaccine option is not available. Frieden said that the nasal vaccine’s lack of efficacy is puzzling. “We don’t know why that happened,” he said. “We hope this option will be available as soon as possible in the future.”

If you’re wondering if you should get the flu vaccine, the answer is yes. Though the vaccine could more protective and consistent, it’s one of the most effective measures the U.S. has for preventing widespread illness. Not everyone is heeding the warning, however. The U.S. saw around a 3% drop in the number of people between ages 50 to 64 years old and people age 65 and older who got vaccinated for the 2015-2016 flu season. According to Frieden, if a vaccination rate is higher in a nursing home, the residents are less likely to die during that flu season.

Some people are more vulnerable to the flu than others, which is why vaccination effectiveness is a community effort. Infants and the elderly are at risk for more severe symptoms of the flu. Women who are pregnant are also at a greater risk, since pregnant women are six times more likely to die from the flu if they get it while they are pregnant. There’s also a six-month window when newborns cannot be vaccinated, which underlines the need for pregnant women and the people around them to get vaccinated. At age 45, most people have hit their peak immunity, which is another reason why adults are advised to get a seasonal flu vaccine. 

You can read more about the specific kinds of vaccines and the strains for the 2016-2017 flu season here.

I Tried CoolSculpting, Khloe Kardashian's Fat-Freezing Secret to a Killer Body

“Khloe Kardashian swears by it.”

— Dr. Dale

I Tried CoolSculpting, Khloe Kardashian's Fat-Freezing Secret to a Killer Body 

 http://www.eonline.com/news/798675/i-tried-coolsculpting-khloe-kardashian-s-fat-freezing-secret-to-a-killer-body

A way to freeze your fat and never have it return? It sounds too good to be true...but is it?

Well, I tested it out and, spoiler alert, it's uh-mazing. CoolSculpting is literally the hottest coolest trend in Hollywood right now. Celebrities including Molly Sims, Kris Jenner and Gretchen Rossi have all been outspoken about their support for the process. Khloe Kardashian has even credited part of her revenge body to the magic of CoolSculpting, which can range between a few hundred to a few thousand depending on treatment area.

To be honest, I'm not the type of person who looks for the latest fad diets or quick ways to lose weight. I eat healthy and I workout three to four days a week, so doing this type of procedure is actually very out of character for me. 

But, if KoKo says it works, I'm willing to try it. 

THE CONSULTATION

I began my CoolScupting journey at Comprehensive Dermatology Office in Pasadena, with a consultation with cosmetic consultant Mary Lou and office RN Kimberly.

First of all, Mary Lou insisted this is not a weight-loss procedure. "This is for someone who is already healthy, but has stubborn, problem areas that they can't seem to get rid of in the gym," the expert said. She also explained that their machines freeze the fat cells in the treated areas. Over the next three months, your body naturally loses those dead cells. They don't ever come back. 

Secondly, they made it clear that you need to have pinch-able fat, and, boy, did they pinch around. "If your fat is hard, then you are not the right type of candidate," she added. They need to be able to squeeze into it, so that the machine can suction it. 

After speaking with me and a thorough exam, they agreed to go forward with the CoolSculpting on my stubborn spot, my tummy, an area that costs about $1,200 per treatment. They warned me that I would experience soreness after the procedure, but I assured them I have a really high pain tolerance. I felt excited, nervous and just like a Kardashian, all at the same time. A whirlwind of emotions. 

THE PROCESS

On the day of treatment, Kimberly used a combination of sharpies and highlighters to mark up my stomach—I looked like I was about to make an appearance on Botched. She did this in order to make sure everything was evenly set up so she'd know exactly where to place the CoolSculpting machine. Once I laid down, Kimberly neatly placed a wet, cold liner on the right side of my lower stomach. I figured, "Oh, this cold liner must be what they're talking about when they said 'cool' because that's really freaking cold." Silly me.

Next came the actual CoolSculpting machine placement. With a sweet smile, Kimberly looked at me.

"You ready?" she asked.  

"Let's do it!" I replied eagerly. 

As I watched the machine suction up my stomach skin, I said a few other words that I'll refrain from mentioning (but made Kimberly crack up). It felt like I was stung by 10,000 bees and someone was simultaneously rubbing Icy Hot over me. I also felt like I had the wind knocked out of me for about three seconds before it slowly began to ease. My stomach was suctioned into a fat-freezer, and I was just chilling on a bed full of pillows—literally. 

THE TIMING

Each section of the stomach was done one at a time—for an hour each! For my lower tummy, I did one side for an hour, then did the other side for an hour. The grossest and funniest part of the procedure was when they remove the machine from your body when an area is complete. They pull the machine off your skin, but your fat is left crystalized. Imagine seeing your fat in the form of the machine. Basically, my stomach had a mini, cold, mountain of fat on it, and Kimberly had to massage it out to make it look normal again. In total, I was there for about three hours.

POST-TREATMENT

When I was finished, my stomach was actually swollen and would be like that for a few more days, Kimberly reassured me. For the first two days after CoolSculpting, I felt good but was severely bruised. My stomach was completely black and blue, with a hint of red from the sharpie I was still trying to scrub off.

The third day in, I woke up feeling like someone was repeatedly stabbing me with millions of tiny needles directly into the worst sunburn I've ever had. I definitely had reached a second phase of the recovery process: soreness. Remember when I said I had a really high pain tolerance? Well, I wasn't lying. I've broken both my feet, had lasers to my face, and nothing has compared to this unique type of pain. The only good part is that the pain came in waves—it wasn't constant. 

My family heard about it, my friends heard about it, my coworkers definitely heard about it. I probably complained to anyone that crossed paths with me for the next week. Yet despite the pain, I didn't have to stop my life in anyway, which was a huge win. Life went on, including working out. Kimberly told me that, ironically, icing the treated area will help reduce the pain. It helped—but I find that wine-ing whining often makes me feel better, too. 

THE RESULT

After about 10 days post-procedure, all the pain was finally gone and my skin felt so tight. I noticed not only my tummy but the areas around it have become flatter and looked and felt tighter. There isn't as much there to pinch anymore! Despite the soreness after the CoolSculpting, I would 100 percent do this again and actually really want to. I would also recommend this to anyone thinking about doing CoolSculpting that already lives and plans to continue to live a healthy lifestyle. I noticed a difference after only one treatment. For perspective, most people do it a few times for maximum results, which I totally believe would transform someone's body.

I mean, beauty is pain—right? 

Study offers insight into how aspirin lowers risk of colon cancer and cardiovascular disease

“Interesting new study! ”

— Dr. Dale

Study offers insight into how aspirin lowers risk of colon cancer and cardiovascular disease

http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2016/09/13/study-offers-insight-into-how-aspirin-lowers-risk-of-colon-cancer-and-cardiovascular-disease/ 

The use of aspirin for pain relief can be traced back to the end of the 19th century, or perhaps the beginning of the 20th century, an interesting story in its own right. Later, aspirin was found to have the unintended, albeit beneficial, effect of lowering the risk of both colon cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Researchers were able to trace its ability to reduce pain to its ability to block an enzyme called COX-1, which is involved in inflammation and blood clotting. But COX-1 only partially explained its benefits for cardiovascular health, and had no known linkage to cancer, cardiologist Deepak Voora, MD, commented in a recent Duke Medicine news release.

Now, Voora has led a team that identified a network of genes activated by aspirin. Some of these genes have been correlated with the likelihood of heart attacks and with the severity of colon cancer. The news release further describes the work and quotes the study authors:

‘This approach to comprehensively evaluate the actions of a drug using genomic data — as we have done here with aspirin — is a paradigm shift that could change how drugs are developed and positioned for clinical use,’ said co-author Geoffrey Ginsburg, MD, director of the Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine. ‘We intend to use this approach to explore the pleiotropic effects of drugs more broadly to anticipate their side effects and understand their full repertoire of actions clinically.’