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When I was asked whether I’d be interested in speaking to a Youth Leadership Exchange class last week, I was ambivalent.

I knew I’d agree to speak, because I consider it to be an important form of outreach that may get kids interested in current events and perhaps even pick up a newspaper now and then, but I’ve had some negative experiences.

Speaking to this group definitely was NOT one of them: Not one of them asked what kind of car I drive, how much money I make or which famous people I have met. I’ll typically answer these questions, but I always hope for better ones.

They didn’t disappoint.

Each member of the class, a part of Leadership Oklahoma City, applied to be there. When I asked what careers they were interested in, many said medicine. It was perhaps appropriate that I spoke on health care day. Speakers included a hospital executive and a scientist. Some of the class toured The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center.

(I was able to hold a human heart once while in high school. I never got to tour Children’s.)

For the first time in a while, I was nervous last week. Put me on camera, ask me questions, have me go up and get in a complete stranger’s business — these things have become second nature. Kinda have to be in my line of work. Speaking for a half-hour to smarty-pants sophomores and juniors from throughout Oklahoma County was enough to make my palms sweat.

Although I had a bullet-point presentation prepared, I realized it was too heavy on numbers and policy when my father suggested the kids likely would want to hear about some interesting things I’ve done.

By this point it was too late to change anything, and I’m not organized enough to be able to keep a group of high school students’ attention for 30 minutes without notes. Besides, going up for a flight with the Air Force, while exhilarating, has absolutely nothing to do with being a medical writer. Being cloned, well, I forgot to mention that one.

I told the group things would be a lot less painful for them and for me if we talked back and forth. I threw out some numbers — the uninsured, growth in certain classes of prescription drugs, elective procedures, etc. — and we then discussed what they mean and what to do about them.

Not only were the kids open to discussing these (admittedly) wonkish ideas, they had varying, reasoned opinions. I was impressed.

Should health insurance be mandatory, like car insurance? Is this possible? Is this enough? Is this too much? Should a liver go to a 30-year-old or a 70-year-old teetotaler?

By the time we finished this back and forth, I had gone over my allotted time; it seemed like no time at all.

The only question that caught me completely off guard was whether a girl in the class should attend the University of Tulsa, my alma mater.

It’s nice to be an expert in something. I told her yes.

 Jeff Raymond, Medical Writer

Many people know someone who stutters or stammers — an embarrassing trait that can cause a lifetime of social misery and discomfort. They won’t raise their hand in class and they try to avoid painfully embarrassing situations. The Memphis-based Stuttering Foundation believes that if parents notice their child beginning to stutter, they should seek help as quickly as possible.

The foundation also offers these seven tips:

1 ) Speak with your child in an unhurried way, pausing frequently. Wait a few seconds after your child finishes speaking before you begin to speak. Your own slow, relaxed speech will be far more effective than any criticism or advice such as “slow down” or “try it again slowly.” 

2) Reduce the number of questions you ask your child. Children speak more freely if they are expressing their own ideas rather than answering an adult’s questions. Instead of asking questions, simply comment on what your child has said, thereby letting him know you heard him.

3 ) Use your facial expressions and other body language to convey to your child that you are listening to the content of her message ,  and not to how she’s talking.  

4 ) Set aside a few minutes at a regular time each day when you can give your undivided attention to your child. During this time, let the child choose what he would like to do. Let him direct you in activities and decide himself whether to talk or not. When you talk during this special time, use slow, calm, and relaxed speech, with plenty of pauses. This quiet, calm time can be a confidence-builder for younger children, letting them know that a parent enjoys their company.  

5) Help all members of the family learn to take turns talking and listening. Children, especially those who stutter, find it much easier to talk when there are few interruptions and they have the listeners’ attention.  

6 ) Observe the way you interact with your child. Try to increase those times that give your child the message that you are listening to her and she has plenty of time to talk. Try to decrease criticisms, rapid speech patterns, interruptions, and questions.  

7) Above all, convey that you accept your child as he is. The most powerful force will be your support of him, whether he stutters or not.

Jim Killackey, Medical Writer

Reflecting on how long I will have to run today to burn off the vanilla ice cream, blueberries and pecans I ate last night (to say nothing of the latte yesterday and other transgressions), I decided to look at some calorie calculators to figure out the damage from tomorrow’s gluttony. The results were discouraging, to say the least.

This is what the Thanksgiving calorie calculator on about.com told me:

-One ounce of potato or tortilla chips

-One teaspoon of chip dip

-One tablespoon ranch dressing

-Six ounces of white and dark turkey

-Half a cup of stuffing

-Half a cup of cranberry sauce

-Half a cup of mashed potatoes

-Half a cup of gravy

-Half a cup of green bean casserole

-Half a cup of candied sweet potatoes

-A dinner roll, A pat of butter

-A slice of pumpkin pie

-Half a cup of whipped cream

=2,095 calories

=20.95 miles walking

Using a running calculator at coolrunning.com, I would have to run three miles a day for the better part of a week to burn off that one meal.

This isn’t necessarily that accurate or reliable, but it is a useful reminder of what I must do (and not do) to keep in shape.

Jeff Raymond, Medical Writer

The risk of a major stroke within a week of a minor stroke (or transient ischemic attack) is substantial, according to a report to appear in the December issue of the British journal The Lancet Neurology.

The lowest risk of having a subsequent stroke was among patients treated as emergency cases in specialist stroke units.

Studies have reported conflicting risk of having a major stroke after a minor stroke, with results ranging from no increased risk to 12.8 percent greater risk.

Researchers from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom combined results from 18 groups of 10126 patients overall, and showed that the risk of a major stroke after a minor stroke is a “substantial” 5.2 percent at 7 days. This means one in 20 patients who have a minor stroke will have a major one within a week. 

“Although the individual results of the studies are inconsistent, this study shows that this can be almost fully explained by differences in study method, setting, and treatment. Further, they found that the lowest risks of stroke were seen in studies of emergency treatment in specialist stroke units (0-9%) and the highest in population-based studies without urgent treatment (11%),” according to a press release on the study.

The authors emphasized that “urgent treatment in specialist units” may reduce the risk of subsequent strokes.

Jeff Raymond, Medical Writer

During my recent vacation to Guanajuato, Mexico, I learned Oklahoma and Mexico have something unexpected in common: Diabetes now is Mexico’s leading cause of death, ravaging the nation just as it ravages Oklahoma.

Although diabetes is not the leading cause of death in the Sooner State (heart disease is), its toll is huge, especially among minority groups. I didn’t expect a more traditional, less affluent culture would have such a problem.

I thought the disease, at least the type 2 variety, was more of an affliction of rich countries where exercise is insufficient; inexpensive, nutritionally empty food is plentiful; desk jobs are the norm and stress is everywhere.

Sure, Mexican food isn’t always the healthiest cuisine, with its many fried delicacies, fattening sauces and lots and lots of carbohydrates, but people walk more, and fast food is less a part of people’s diets than here. And certainly not all Mexican food is unhealthy.

Granted, Hispanics on the U.S.-Mexico border (and in general) are more likely to have diabetes than whites, but I always figured that was more an issue of poor nutritional knowledge and the difficulty of eating well and working out when raising a family on little money than anything else.

So, I found several stories I read in Mexican newspapers while on vacation interesting. This is from a recent edition of the Mexican newspaper Milenio, handily translated using Google:

Mexico City - The Ministry of Health warned that the lack of prevention and education on diabetes are the leading causes of its growth, (so) it is necessary to work on measures to prevent it, especially in public schools.

The director of the Metabolic Syndrome Clinic at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Guadeloupe Fabian, warned that although the federal agency carries out activities important to control diabetes, it is essential that the Ministry of Education, universities and the pharmaceutical industry get involved.

Otherwise, diabetes … could become a pandemic.

Fabian emphasized that physical inactivity and poor diet are two predominant factors for the development of diabetes, which also affects children, and that 50 percent are related to problems of hypertension.

Sound familiar? Here’s more, from the Nov. 4 edition of El Universal:

Mexico City - Today it is natural to see a young man no more than 20 years old rely on injected insulin or suffer attacks of high blood pressure, conditions that two decades ago were exclusive to adults. The sedentary lifestyle, excess intake of junk food and a lack of natural nutrients are the main factors incidents youth to acquire these pathologies.

In view of Aurora Serralde Zuñiga, medical specialist in clinical nutrition at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán (INNSZ), the facilities of modern life based on technological devices promote less physical activity in young people. “On many occasions spend hours, for work or school, sitting in front of a computer or moving car and no longer walk,” he said.

In Mexico there are on average 6.5 million diabetics 20 years old or older.

“The genetic predisposition that the Mexican has the disease, coupled with bad eating habits and physical inactivity, results in juvenile diabetes,” said Jesus Montes Carrizales, a specialist in sports medicine of Tecnologico de Monterrey.

If the family pillar in the development of the young, not teaching good eating habits such as consumption of vegetables, fiber and water, and no physical activity … promotes the consumption of pizza, hamburgers and fries while watching television The young think that it is normal and healthy.

To prevent diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and heart problems at an early age, both specialists invite young people to be physically active constant change the fries and soda for fruit and water, and leave the car for a walk.

And this from the newspaper’s Nov. 3 edition:

Mexico City - Mexico occupies ninth place worldwide in the number of patients with type II diabetes, totaling 6.6 million people with the disease, warned internal medicine specialist Paul Frenk.

If that trend continues in the coming years this figure could more than double, said the expert from the Latin American Society of Internal Medicine (Solami) and the American Diabetes Association.

Frenk warned that more and more young people, including children, are suffering the disease, which has become the common enemy to overcome throughout the world, and “in 2020 Mexico is expected to reach nearly 15 million diabetics.”

Frenk noted that the most regrettable matters is that increasing numbers of children and young people who develop the disease, which only some 15 years ago was designated for the elderly.

“We have the habits of our neighbors to the north, now the games are children via computer and fun is television and movies, and no longer exercise. Is a major problem and that we have to begin to change in the home and school,” he mentioned.

Diabetes is a serious public health problem, which will have an impact on catastrophic costs for both public health services, and for those who suffer and have no insurance or are covered by a social security program.

This due to diseases that develop as a result of diabetes, such as chronic renal failure, blindness and heart disease.

In Mexico diabetic retinopathy is the number one cause of blindness and is the first reason for myocardial infarction (heart attack), and that diabetes causes severe damage to the kidneys.

Any thoughts on diabetes in Mexico or Oklahoma? E-mail me at jraymond@oklahoman.com.

Jeff Raymond, Medical Writer

As flu season approaches, doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and others are beginning to offer flu shot clinics.

Sam’s Club pharmacies across the country — 486 of them — will be administering flu shots this month.

For $20, shoppers may receive shots Oct. 18 and 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Oct. 20 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Membership is not  required to receive a shot.

InTulsa, Omni Medical Group, part of St. John Health System, will host clinics throughout northeastern Oklahoma today through Nov. 13.

Omni is providing the shots for $30 each. Omni patients with CommunityCare Senior or Medicare are eligible to have the cost of the shot covered.

Click on the list of locations and dates here.

We’ll run additional locations as we find out about them. Please e-mail them to jraymond@oklahoman.com.

According the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 90 million Americans contract the flu each year at a cost of nearly 70 million lost work days.

Jeff Raymond, Medical Writer

Without my special NutraMist Immune Boost, I could potentially be feeling like this today:

Instead, thanks to my 6-10 sprays of Immune Boost per day (well under the 24 per day limit), I am feeling my normal, perky self.

The best thing about my Immune Boost Nutra Mist spray is that I can walk into any crowd confidently and believe that I won’t catch any of the nasty diseases that lurk in any large group of people. Or at least that’s what the spray tells me.

I’m not sick yet, so I suppose the spray is working!

-Lindsay Goodier, NewsOK.com Editor

Oh Jeff, You were so easily transfixed by cute packaging and promises of healthy return.

Yes, I’m talking about the vitamin spray.

Let’s be clear here: NutraMist sprays may work, but they are totally gimmicky.

And mine (Crave Control) tasted like Chloraseptic. I actually ate a Snickers bar just to get the yucky taste out of my mouth.

I think I’d try the same vitamin mix in pill form. And after doing the math (each spray lasts about one week, costs $8), I’d probably save money.

But you, young hopeful Guinea Pig, you keep it up. Unless your vitamin spray tastes as bad as mine. Then good luck keeping it down.

Susan Simpson, Staff Writer

The NutraMist Crave Control mist doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe it takes a few days to build up in your system?

I’m a little concerned about the dose of Vitamin B-12. It’s 8,000 times the recommended daily dose! My mom tells me that mosquitoes don’t bite her because she takes B-12 daily. So maybe this mist does control cravings – of hungry mosquitoes!

I’ll keep it up though. The box says I also need to exercise, control food portions and drink lots of water. Isn’t that the kind of regimen I’m trying to avoid here?

Susan Simpson, Staff Writer

As Jeff just disclosed, four of us are testing NutraMist dietary supplement sprays this week to test whether or not they have an effect on us. Since I’m not feeling sick right now, but as always, I suppose I could feel sick at any moment, I am testing the “Immune Boost.”

I sprayed the recommended six sprays in my mouth at about 10 this morning, and five hours later, I still don’t feel sick. I guess the Nutra Mist is doing its job! And while my other colleagues complained that their sprays didn’t taste good, mine had a fairly pleasant, citrus taste. Here’s to not feeling sick!

-Lindsay Goodier, NewsOK.com Editor