When it comes to TV and video, Al Roker provides one of my favorite quotations:
“They say the camera adds 10 pounds. OK. So I figure I must be standing in front of 10 cameras.”
Oh, yes, Al. I know how you feel….
However — I’ve decided to come out of my video-avoidance closet to share the following with you all.
First — my excitement at the invitation a week ago to appear on MSNBC to speak to a problem that I actually cited a few years ago – that July is the worst month of the year to be hospitalized. Why? Watch and see!
So that’s the first one. But if I’m going to jump in to the world of video, I might as well do it with both feet. Many of you know that I am brought in to speak at various conferences and meetings across the US and Canada. I enjoy speaking! So in my attempts to do even more of it, I’m told I need to have a professional video made. So, yes, I finally bit that bullet, too, and have uploaded the online version of the opening here.
It’s not like I’ve never done TV before – I have done local TV on a number of occasions. And broadcast isn’t the problem – ferheavensake, I have hosted a radio show for 4+ years! But video, in general, has just always been a step I’ve avoided.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a flu vaccine commentary and poll after listening to Dr. Dean Edell on the radio. He was talking about people who refuse to get vaccinated. He made the comment that vaccines have been proven effective for decades, and he’s tired of trying to defend them. That if people refuse to get vaccinated, and die — well — that’s just a way to clean out the gene pool.
Readers of the post took offense, calling me arrogant and ignorant. Among them are people who are truly afraid, people who are allergic, people who feel as if they have done their due diligence and have dismissed vaccines (empowered patients!) — and conspiracy theorists.
I wrote a follow up post, citing highly credible sources for all to see, showing why I believe flu vaccines are so important. The bottom line is that the flu is dangerous — both the H1N1 swine flu and the seasonal flu are killers. Vaccines are the only defense we have today (who knows – maybe we’ll have something better in the future?) And the statistics tell us that we have a 591% better chance of dying from the flu than we do dying from the flu vaccine. You don’t have to be a Las Vegas gambler to understand those odds.
I am actually VERY pleased that so many people have given researched thought and consideration to the question – even the ones who disagree with me. However — I must say — I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with the flu vaccine conspiracy theorists…. seriously. And if you are one, I say to you — get a life!
Here are the conspiracy theorists’ arguments. They remind me of a saying I heard many years ago — “Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.” Further – they have violated the first rule of questionable healthcare practices, and that is – Follow the Money.
Here are some of their lines of reasoning, and my comments:
1. Flu vaccine is only produced to make pharmaceutical companies richer. To that I say — don’t be silly. For the cost, personnel and too tiny profits to be made by producing vaccine, pharmaceutical manufacturers would much prefer to put their efforts into producing something that actually makes a worthwhile profit for them. Included is the manufacturing are symptoms relievers — far FAR more profitable in the long run. Why would they want to prevent an illness at very little profit at the expense of bigger profits from medicine that could relieve or fix us?
2. Flu vaccines were developed from African Green Monkeys - and the real intent is to eradicate the population of the earth! This one gets the “give me a break” award on so many counts… First… if the government wanted to eradicate the entire population of the earth, they could do it FAR more efficiently by using, oh, say anthrax or dengue fever – or some other killer. Why would they go to all the trouble to develop something that actually took science? Why not a shortcut, and something cheap to do it?
3. And then I have to ask – why would the government (which government anyway?) want to eradicate the world’s population? If the government eradicated the world’s population, then who would be left to govern? and who would be left to pay taxes to that government? and who would be in charge anyway? (because the government is comprised of people who would get sick, too)…. etc etc….
Sorry — but these theories are just plain laughable. You want a conspiracy? I think there’s a conspiracy to make me waste my time looking these things up — because I do my due diligence, unlike some of my readers.
Here’s the deal — I understand that not everyone wants to be injected with flu vaccines, and even that some must avoid vaccines because their bodies cannot tolerate them. However — for the great majority of us (GREAT majority) — flu shots will keep us healthier — and will keep our loved ones and those around us healthier — than not getting flu shots will.
Further — as reasonable people, we need to understand that unless we have a real concern about negative effects of vaccines, we must accept responsibility for passing possibly deadly flu on to others when we don’t get the flu vaccine. H1N1 or seasonal — they are both killers. I’m not willing to be responsible for making someone else sick, nor chancing that they could die. I would not be able to sleep at night.
While the professionals provide us with statistics about Mexico, Texas, California or other places where patients have contracted swine flu, I actually find I have different questions all together:
I don’t live in Mexico. Am I at risk for getting swine flu?
Will my seasonal flu shot protect me?
I’ve never met a pig in person and don’t expect I’ll meet one anytime soon. Should I be worried about getting flu from a pig?
And what about my favorite Sunday breakfast – bacon and eggs?
So I went in search of the answers, believing that if I have those questions, you might too. So I put them together in an article along with their answers: Swine Flu FAQs
This is a question being discussed these days through social networking sites — you know, those Facebook and Twitter and MySpace and Plaxo and LinkedIn and Ning and other sites where you can carry on conversations with “virtual” strangers….
So I’m curious. Have you sought health information through social networking? Do you Twitter? or have a page on one of the other sites?
