Friends!
Let me start with wishes for a safe, happy, and healthy Halloween! 🎃🎃 How great to be able to safely go out and about (as blessed by the CDC!), and equally good that last week’s “bomb cyclone” was last weekend and not this weekend. Whew. You can read more about Halloween Safety in Dr. Jackie Phillip’s piece below.
I note that part of why Halloween 2021 is so different from Halloween 2020 are the COVID vaccines, and the remarkable science (and public health work) behind them. Yes, we continue to learn more day by day, and vaccine, and booster, recommendations have continued to evolve, but overall we should be reminded of their remarkable success.
And speaking of vaccines, if there was ever a year not to get a cough, sore throat and fever, it would be this year! Please get your FLU SHOT in an effort to stay healthy, and keep your life (and ours) less complicated. 😇. TVD patients, our flu shots are in the house, so please give us a call to schedule yours!
In health,
Eric Weiss, MD, October, 29, 2021
NOTE: Our TVD Newsletter is a labor of love. If you enjoy reading this, please share widely! Was this forwarded to you by a friend? Please subscribe here.
BRAIN POWER!
I often get asked by my patients, young, middle aged and older, how they can maintain or even, improve their cognitive function. There is indeed some amount of normal age related memory loss that occurs in all people. This is due to the hippocampal region of the brain losing at least 20 % of its neural connections by age 80. But there are many things you can do to help your brain stay sharp during those years… Read more
MY KIDS ARE SO EXCITED FOR HALLOWEEN, HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE TO SAFELY ENJOY THE HOLIDAY THIS YEAR?
We’ve reached that part of the year where time seems to move even faster than normal. Once we get to Halloween, it’s just 25 days until Thanksgiving and then 54 days until Christmas. Thankfully this year it seems like the holidays will be a bit more normal than last year at least as long as everyone continues to be careful. Many kids did not get to have a normal Halloween last year, so they are likely very excited to celebrate this year, but we want to make sure they do so safely. Healthychildren.org is a great resource for many children’s health related issues and this time of year they always publish a thoughtful guide for Halloween health and safety tips... Read more
Stanford reunion! I won’t say what number my reunion started with, but let me say it was a round number and didn’t start with a one or a two. But really great to catch up with old friends and dormmates, as well as to explore some of the new(er) nooks and crannies of Stanford campus. A couple of favorites? Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden. In 1994, Jim Mason, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University, arranged for two groups of men from the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea to carve the New Guinea Sculpture Garden at Stanford University. And quite nearby, the Windhover Contemplative Center, a terrific, meditative space which was built to house acclaimed artist Nathan Oliveira’s series of paintings and to give Stanford students, faculty and staff a refuge to experience tranquility and self-renewal.
But the “shout out” I wanted to give is to the Stanford Travel / Study program. As many of you know, I’ve been blessed to work with them over the years (decades!) including a fair bit of travel as their “trip physician” (LOTS of stories!). Under the leadership of Bret Thompson, Travel / Study has had a hard go of it during these pandemic years, but not anywhere near as challenging as all those travel guides, hosts, and local experts on the ground in our destination countries. They are really struggling. So as the world begins to open up, if you’ve ever considered a (fantastic!) trip with Stanford, now is the time. Let me know, I’m happy to make an introduction.
*****
Yours, in health and resilience,
Eric and the TVD MD team…
