Just so you know: Hoarding gets new diagnosis in psychiatric diagnosis guide

              Good Day World!

Sometimes there’s a fine line between collecting and hoarding. I’ve collected LA Laker memorabilia for many years but I don’t dye my hair purple-and-gold and insist on eating on official Laker plates with matching silverware.

When someone crosses that fine line it’s usually very apparent. They suffer from an altered reality that becomes debilitating in time. Slaves of saving anything. The top shrinks in our society have recently decided that a “hoarding disorder” should not be confused with people who have obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

The two conditions seem to be identical to me, but you know how these psych’s like to keep refining problems until they can announce a new disorder. I think it gives them a certain satisfaction and at the same time it’s proof that they are doing something…anything for their money.  

“Reality TV has brought national attention to hoarding, and now a recent change in the influential psychiatric diagnosis guide may actually bring help for millions of Americans suffering from the isolating condition.

Hoarding – a psychological condition that can result in homes crammed floor to ceiling with papers, junk mail, books, clothing and other “valuables”-- has been associated with obsessive-compulsive behavior, although experts have long held that the two disorders aren’t necessarily connected.

In the revised, fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), "hoarding disorder" becomes a separate diagnosis, characterized by a "persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value."

The revised diagnosis should “result in more people having access to treatment," says Randy Frost, a professor of psychology at who specializes in hoarding issues. "Right now, there are very few clinicians who know how to treat it. Once it shows up in DSM, there will be much more pressure on clinicians to train in how to treat this problem."

Hoarding isn’t just a messy garage or packed closet. According to the APA, it's defined by its harmful effects -- emotional, physical, social, financial and even legal -- both on the hoarder and the hoarder's family members.

Hoarding is “a disorder that involves the living areas of the home being so cluttered they can't be used for their intended purpose,” says Frost, co-author of Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things.

Set to publish in May, the DSM is a guide doctors use to diagnose mental disorders. DSM codes are also used for insurance reimbursements and certain research grants.

Rachel Kramer Bussel, a 37-year-old writer and editor from Brooklyn, says she's long had hoarding tendencies, although she only recently came clean about them in an essay on Salon.com, a difficult step considering the stigma surrounding the disorder.

"I think people's only reference point is reality TV," says Bussel, who hasn't sought treatment but has worked with a personal organizer. "They think all hoarders are literally crazy cat ladies or people who don't function in the rest of society."

Bussel hoards books, clothing and other items at home; she also carries around at least two stuffed with belongings she says give her "comfort". She says she hopes the new classification will help others become more accepting of the often-misunderstood disorder.

The most common reaction to a hoarding confession is, "'Just get rid of everything. Get a dumpster and throw it all out and then you won't be a hoarder,'" Bussel says.

In fact, recent research finds abnormal brain activity in people with hoarding disorder.

There’s no hard evidence that hoarding is increasing, although certain societal factors -- such as the abundance of junk mail, our materialistic mindset, and an aging population (getting older increases the chance that a person will experience or loss that contributes to hoarding) -- may translate into more hoarders, says David Kutz, an Albuquerque clinical psychologist specializing in hoarding and OCD.

At least 4 million people in the U.S. would meet full criteria for hoarding, according to Kutz. Other data suggests between 2.5 to 6 percent of the U.S. adult population, or up to a 15 million people, may have hoarding disorder, says Frost, who conducted the first-ever study of hoarding in the U.S. in 1993. “That’s a whopping number," Frost says.

Many hoarders don't recognize the problem. About “90 percent are sent by family members or a city counsel or the local sheriff,” says Kutz, who has appeared on A&E’s “Hoarders” three times.

While experts and hoarders alike say they believe the new DSM classification will help hoarders get better treatment, Frost stresses there is no "magic pill."

"We don't know yet whether there are medications that might be useful for this," he says. "But that's one of the things that will happen now that it's in the DSM. There will be an interest in researching this."

Until then, hoarders can get help overcoming their urge to acquire and save through cognitive behavior therapy and/or peer support groups, a form of treatment that greatly helped Lee Shuer, a 37-year-old mental health worker from Northampton, Mass.

"My mindset has completely changed," says Shuer, who began facilitating hoarding peer support groups after his hoarding habit went into "remission.” "I'm at the point where I can go to places where I used to acquire things - tag sales and thrift shops - and not buy anything. I can come across things that used to make my heart race but they don't turn me on any more. The thrill for excess is gone." (Source)

For more on hoarding: OCFoundation.org's Hoarding Center and Childrenofhoarders.com

Time for me to walk on down the road…

AS IT STANDS: Mexico’s new boss is no threat to drug cartels

 By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard

 Without a lot of fanfare Mexico got a new president last week. Did you notice? The swearing in ceremony had to be postponed for a day because of protestors outside their Congress. Not exactly an auspicious start.
So why are we talking about Mexico today? Because when the new boss, Enrigue Pena Nieto, was sworn in, the clock was turned back to the bad old days when his party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ruled the country and drove Mexico to the brink of disaster after 70 corruption-filled years of power.
Pena Nieto was quick to say he wants to be President Obama’s new economic buddy and he’s got great plans for the days ahead. Vague plans, to be sure, but he’ll spell them out along the way, I suppose.
  But, get this, Pena Nieto says he’s going to end the recent years of violence by stimulating the economy so people won’t be as likely to resort to crime.

  Apparently, he’s following the Al Capone model to stimulate an economy - think Chicago during the 1920s.  Just substitute oil instead of bootleg whiskey.
  If you’re not picking up what I’m saying about Pena Nieto, let me put it this way: under this as leader of the infamous PRI, crime and corruption will not only continue, they’ll thrive. To see why I say that, Google the PRI when you have a moment. Bottom line, don’t expect radical change in our southern neighbor’s society or our relations with them.

  The idea that drug cartels will shrivel up because their workforce will suddenly want to take on legitimate jobs (which never could pay as much) - jobs that will magically spring up across the country - is laughable and unrealistic.
  Pena Nieto plans to push legislation to strengthen Mexico’s tax base and allow more private investment in the lumbering state oil giant Pemex. That shouldn’t be too hard to do with the PRI’s reputation for corruption, cronyism, and vote-rigging.

  When Pena Nieto came to Washington to meet with President Obama, he said the ties between our two countries should go beyond the drug war. Now there’s a subtle statement if I ever heard one.
"We should reconsider greater integration of North America to achieve a region that is more competitive and capable of creating more jobs," Pena Nieto said during a White House meeting, as reporters looked on.
Pena Nieto tells Mexicans he’s going to shake up competition in the country, which has most of it’s economy consolidated in the hands of a few, like the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim.
Even without a degree in Mexican history, I can tell you that’s about as likely as building condos on Mars. Which leads me to this question; “How can the Obama Administration ever take Pena Nieto seriously about cracking down on the drug cartels?”

It would be like taking the “Godfather’s” word without question and kissing his ring in respect. If you listen closely to what he’s told the press, his message is a lot milder than the rhetoric that got him where he is. He never claimed he was going after the cartels.
In an editorial published by The Washington Post (Nov.30), Pena Nieto wrote; "It is a mistake to limit our bilateral relationship to drugs and security concerns. Our mutual interests are too vast and complex to be restricted in this short-sighted way.”
Really? Short-sighted way? What I’m hearing is don’t worry about those 60,000 people killed as a result of drug violence in Mexico during the last five years. Don’t worry about those illegal immigrants and border security concerns - both issues that urgently need to be addressed. The only important thing is our two countries can make a lot of money if we just concentrate on that.

No amount of rhetoric from either country can change the facts. Our relationship with Mexico is business as usual. It’s going to be business as usual as far as our relationship with Mexico goes. President Obama managed to tip-toe around the subject of illegal immigration and the War on Drugs during the presidential campaign.
Mexico’s new boss would just as soon skip those two subjects as well and concentrate on making money with America’s newly re-elected boss.
 As It Stands, fans of Boardwalk Empire (HBO saga of gangsters in the 20s) would appreciate this ironic real life comparison.

This is the kind of story I like to hear at this time of the year

View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

A local businessman helps out a small businessman who happens to be disabled.

The holidays are getting brighter for hundreds of South Florida families who on Saturday received a free Christmas tree -- part of Good Samaritan’s act of generosity during the holiday season.he trees were donated by an NBC 6 viewer, Mike Fernandez, a businessman who founded health insurer Simply Healthcare Plans. His volunteers doled out 600 trees at two Miami locations, including at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church and School.

The trees were sitting days before -- almost unnoticed -- on a lot run by Jorge Alvart. NBC6 first shared the story of Alvart, a double amputee who blamed construction near his floral shop on Bird Road for his trouble selling trees.

Fernandez was so moved by Alvart's hardship and determination to be a success in America, that Fernandez bought Alvart’s entire tree inventory.

"I never expected something so beautiful to happen to me,” Alvart said of Fernandez. “He's a tremendous gentleman with a huge heart."

Punny things…some good puns from a reader and friend…

I tried to catch some Fog, I mist.

When chemists die, they barium.

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity, I can't put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns, it was a play on words .

They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type-O.

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

PMS jokes aren't funny, period.

Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.

Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory, I hope there's no pop quiz.

The Energizer bunny was arrested and charged with battery.

I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

How do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it!

Did you hear about the cross eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

What does a clock do when it's hungry? It goes back four seconds.

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me!

Broken pencils are pointless.

What do you call a dinosaur with a extensive vocabulary?  Athesaurus.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool .

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.

All the toilets in New York 's police stations have been stolen.  Police have nothing to go on.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.

Velcro - what a rip off!

Cartoonist found dead in home. Details are sketchy.

Venison for dinner? Oh deer!

Earthquake in Washington obviously government's fault.

I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

VIA Dr. Greg Holland

Study has some good news about aging: people feel better as they get older

    Good Day World!

 When I glanced at the following article my first impression was…are you crazy?!

Listen, my knees ache, I have a metal rod and brackets in my back, false teeth, one ear that is useless, and no feeling in my right foot, and the researchers say I’m feeling better as I get older?

Say what? 

So I calmed down and actually read the following article to if it made any sense:

Photo: Gordon Shields, shown in 2011 at age 93, was among more than 1,000 participants in a study that found despite the problems of aging, the older we get, the better we feel. Nelvin C. Cepeda / U-T San Diego via ZUMAPRESS.com

“Growing old is not for sissies, as the bumper sticker says, and as anyone who has entered midlife can attest. But a new study finds that despite the physical and mental toll of time, people actually feel better as they age -- not worse.

In fact, when California researchers asked more than 1,000 people aged 50 to 99 in San Diego county to rank how well they were aging on scale of 1 to 10, the mean score was 8.2 -- and even higher for those in their 90s.

“I think I ranked myself pretty high. I think it was up around 10. Why not?” said Gordon "Gordy" Shields, 94, one of the participants in the Successful AGing Evaluation Study, or SAGE, conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Diego, and Stanford University.

To Shields, who became a world-class cycling champion after age 50, aging is just another part of the life process. “You can enjoy aging as long as you accept it,” said Shields, a former high school and community and counselor.

That’s despite the undeniable declines in physical and mental abilities that come with age. Study participants were divided into groups by decade from those in their 50s to those in their 90s. People in the older age groups scored progressively worse on measures of health and cognitive function, even as they scored higher on their own ratings of successful aging.

Those results were not what the researchers were expecting, said Dr. Dilip V. Jeste, a UCSD professor of psychiatry and president of the American Psychiatric Association, who described the findings as “eye-popping.”

“We were astounded by how physical disability and self-rated successful aging went in diametrically opposite directions with aging,” Jeste told NBC News.

The results also suggested that the more resilient people are -- or able to cope with acute stressors -- the better they aged. Conversely, people who reported higher levels of depression were less likely to say they were aging well.

“Increasing resilience and reducing depression might have effects on successful aging as strong as that of reducing physical disability,” the study authors wrote.

The researchers recruited 1,006 study participants in San Diego county using a large telephone database to ensure they were randomly selected. They screened out anyone who was in a nursing home, or who needed daily nursing care, and those who had dementia, a terminal illness or required hospice care.

The idea was to older people who weren’t necessarily healthier than average, but who weren’t predisposed to disability and illness, either. They conducted telephone interviews and then administered detailed written surveys to assess the effects of aging.

What the researchers found was that in their 50s, participants who were asked how well they were aging posted a mean score of 7.7 on the 10-point scale, and 49 points on a 100-point scale of physical function.

Those in their 90s, however, rated themselves at 8.6 for aging successfully, even though their mean score was only 37.3 for physical ability. The results were similar for cognitive function measured during the telephone interview.

“I think this should really change people’s outlook about aging,” Jeste said. “Usually when we think about aging, we think it’s bad.”

The participants were mostly white and mostly better educated than average, the study reported. Cynics might ask whether healthy, well-educated people living in sunny San Diego might be more likely to report aging well than seniors in less desirable circumstances.

The new results are consistent with previous research that shows that people are depressed in middle age, but then become happier as they get older, Jeste said. That may be because older folks likely have grappled with the most contentious questions of life -- work, family, finances -- and come to some resolution.

“As people get older, they are less bothered by negative stimuli,” Jeste said. “You take things in stride. Regret becomes less common.”

That makes sense to Laura Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, who was not involved in the SAGE study. Older people with shrinking horizons know their time is limited and they seem to appreciate what’s left.

“They tend to focus on the here and now,” she said. “That’s good for mental health.”

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Newly adopted puppy saves man’s life!

A Tennessee man credited his newly adopted puppy with saving his life after an SUV smashed into his jewelry store this week.

Police said a 66-year-old man had a coughing fit and hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal Thursday morning, sending his speeding into the front of The Jewelers on West Main Street in Lebanon, Tenn. No one was seriously hurt, but the owner, Shawn Smith estimated that the crash caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage.

A witness, Tara Duncan of Lebanon, told The Wilson Post that the SUV flew right by her as she was entering her car to leave a store next door to The Jewelers.

"The vehicle never stopped," she said.

Smith told NBC station WSMV of Nashville that just beforehand, he'd been standing near where the SUV made its dramatic entrance.

"I adopted a puppy this morning," Smith said, but it began barking, so he decided to take it home. "It was literally just two minutes before.

"My puppy saved my life," he said. (Source)

Photo – Via The Wilson Post

Will 2012 go down as the warmest year on record? We’ll find out soon

           Good Day World!

Sometimes semantics are important. And sometimes they’re down right silly.

U.S. weather gurus are telling us this year will go down as the warmest…not the hottest mind you…the warmest year on record since we kept records on such stuff. Somehow this assessment leaves me cold!

I mean what the heck? Where’s the line between the hottest and the warmest? Average Joe’s like myself have a tendency to keep it simple. It was the hottest year on record. It was the coldest year on record. Just how satisfying is it to say, “It was the warmest year on record?” Not very. No eyebrows will rise with interest with that kind of lukewarm wrap-up for 2012.

If I knew the first thing about meteorology, I’d go on record with something straight forward like, “2012 was a so-so climate year – some say it was warm a lot – but hardly anything worth recounting so let’s move on to the next news story…”

“A warm winter, a record warm spring, a record hot July and a warmer than average autumn combined to make it even more likely that 2012 will go down as the warmest year in the contiguous United States on record, the federal government reported Thursday. Just how likely?

"For 2012 not to be record warm, December would have to be unprecedented," Jake Crouch, a scientist at the National Climatic Data Center, told NBC News. "December temperatures would need to be more than 1 degree F colder than the coldest December on record, which occurred in 1983."

Based on past numbers, he added, "the odds of that occurring are less than 0.3 percent."

In other words, he said, "2012 has a greater than 99.7 percent chance of being record warm." That's up from Crouch's odds just last month of 90 percent.

January-November was already the warmest first 11 months of any year in records that go back to 1895, according to data released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the center. The average national temperature through November was 57.1 degrees F.

The year has had a string of warm events, Crouch noted. "We had our fourth warmest winter (2011/2012) on record, our warmest spring, a very hot summer with the hottest month on record for the nation (July 2012), and a warmer than average autumn," he said.

"The warm winter and spring were associated with an unusually northern track of the jet stream, which kept cold Arctic air out of the contiguous United States," he added. "The early start to spring was a precursor to the summer drought. The large size of the summer drought was associated with a large area of the country experiencing a very hot summer. Those conditions continued into much of the fall season."

"When you put these local and regional factors on top of a warming trend for the contiguous United States and the globe," he said, "the result has been the warmest year on record for the Lower 48."

If 2012 does go down as the warmest year on record in the U.S. it would depose 1998, which averaged 54.3 degrees F.” (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Here’s Forbes 2012 Ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People

        Good Day World!

I wasn’t too surprised to see that the president of the United States ranked as the most powerful person on the planet.

After that however, I was totally surprised by who came in second. This seems to be the time of the year everyone turns out lists of stuff.

The following list is the Ultimate List (or Mother of all lists), when you think about it:

“What do the president of the United States, the pope and the founder of Facebook all have in common? They’re all featured on Forbes’ 2012 ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People – an annual look at the heads of state, financiers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs who truly run the world.

U.S. President Barack Obama emerged, unanimously, as the world’s most powerful person, for the second year running. Obama was the decisive winner of the 2012 U.S. presidential election, and now he gets four more years to push his agenda. The president faces major challenges, including an unresolved budget crisis, stubbornly high unemployment and renewed unrest in the Middle East. But Obama remains the unquestioned commander in chief of the world’s greatest military and head of its sole economic and cultural superpower.

The second most powerful person in the world also happens to be the most powerful woman: Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, jumps up from #4 last year to take the runner-up spot on the list. Merkel is the backbone of the 27-member European Union and carries the fate of the euro on her shoulders; she’s shown her power through a hard-line austerity solution for  the European crisis.

Mark Zuckerberg (#25) is one of the youngest people on the list, at age 29; he dropped significantly from last year’s top-10 ranking after Facebook’s much-anticipated IPO turned out to be a flop. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff (#18) is one of the list’s biggest gainers: At the midpoint of her first term, Rousseff’s emphasis on entrepreneurship has prompted a slew of new startups and energized Brazilian youths.

Apple CEO  Tim Cook (#35) made a big upward move, too: A year after he succeeded iconic founder Steve Jobs, the company is the most valuable in the world. Apple stock hit an all-time high in September, at $696.82 a share: That’s up $319 from the day Jobs died in October 2011.

New members of the list include LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman (#71), the world’s most powerful venture capitalist and the most-connected man in Silicon Valley. Elon Musk (#66), the entrepreneur behind PayPal and Tesla Motors, is the most powerful man in space: His company SpaceX is a leader in the private space industry, and with that business set to boom, Musk stands to make out like a 19th-century railway tycoon.”

Photo - U.S. President Barack Obama, right, talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Nov. 3, 2011, during a meeting in Cannes, France. Obama and Merkel come in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on Forbes list of the world's most powerful people. Jim Watson/AFP Getty Images File

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A Note to My Readers: Got Travel Plans?

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.
Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!
I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing.

Life is too short for negative drama & petty things. So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

I think we’re safe: It looks like 'Frankenfish' may never make it to your plate

      Good Day World!

I, for one, am glad to hear that “Frankenfish” probably won’t be served in America anytime soon. The reason is the genetically modified salmon haven’t been approved by the FDA yet, and time is running out on the process.

 I don’t like the direction these biotech scientists are taking the American food supply. It gets creepier all the time.

 I don’t trust steroids, especially in my food! I realize they’re already in my meat supply and milk products, and other foods, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Or trust steroids. I stay away from them whenever possible.

Messing with nature never ends up well. I know these biotech geeks mean well, and are looking to increase the food supply, but they don’t even know what the long-term effects of digesting salmon stuffed with growth enhancers will be. To me, that’s scary.

So here’s what’s going on:

“Salmon that's genetically modified to grow twice as fast as normal could soon show up on your dinner plate. That is, if the company that makes the fish can stay afloat.

After weathering concerns about everything from the safety of humans eating the salmon to their impact on the environment, Aquabounty was poised to become the world's first company to sell fish whose DNA has been altered to speed up growth.

The Food and Drug Administration in 2010 concluded that Aquabounty's salmon was as safe to eat as the traditional variety. The agency also said that there's little chance that the salmon could escape and breed with wild fish, which could disrupt the fragile relationships between plants and animals in the wild. But more than two years later the FDA has still not approved the fish, and Aquabounty is running out of money.

"It's threatening our very survival," says CEO Ron Stotish, chief executive of the Maynard, Mass.-based company. "We only have enough money to survive until January 2013, so we have to raise more. But the unexplained delay has made very difficult."

The FDA says it's still working on the final piece of its review, a report on the potential environmental impact of the salmon that must be published for comment before an approval can be issued. That means a final decision could be months, even years away. While the delay could mean that the faster-growing salmon will never wind up on American dinner tables, there's more at stake than seafood.” (Read the rest here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Dave Stancliff

Ahhhhh! Choooo! Health officals warn this may be a bad Flu season

    Good Day World!

The flu bugs have raised their ugly little heads across the country earlier than usual. Everyone I’ve talked with in the last week either had a bout with that obnoxious bug or knew someone who did. My wife and I were going to go to dinner with a couple of friends, but one of them fell victim to that nasty bug and we had to postpone it.

I got an email from friend and Learnist colleague, Crystal Morgan, who fought the bug over the weekend, and then her kids got it too! Talk about a double whammy! It comes and goes – generally running it’s course in 48 hours- like an extended bad dream. Depending on your age and health, it could last longer.  

According to officials:

"It looks like it's shaping up to be a bad flu season," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The percentage of aching, feverish folks who went to the doctor with influenza-like illness had reached the national baseline of 2.2 percent, the earliest that has happened in the regular flu season in nearly a decade, the 2003-2004 season. Flu season may start as early as October, but typically peaks in January or later.

Five states reported high levels of flu activity -- Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Widespread activity was reported in four states, regional activity was seen in seven states and 19 states reported local flu activity, CDC officials said. That was up from eight states that reported local flu activity the previous week.

By contrast, last year's flu season started late, with an uptick in cases not starting until February.

Health officials are urging people to get their flu shots now, including babies older than six months, and all adults and children. Every year, about a quarter of the U.S. population gets the flu and an average of about 36,000 people die.

The strains making people sick are influenza A -- both H3N2 and the 2009 H1N1 or pandemic swine flu strain -- and influenza B. So far, the vaccines manufactured for this season appear to be a good match, health officials said.

But the H3N2 virusmay  typically cause more severe symptoms than the other flu bugs, noted Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University. His staff has already started seeing flu patients in Tennessee.

"We're all a bit antsy," he said.

About 120 million doses of flu vaccine are available this year, Frieden said. About 112 million people have received their flu shots so far, officials said.

The key to is getting the shot, the experts emphasized.

"We are particularly encouraging people who haven't gotten vaccinated to do it," said Dr. Melinda Wharton, acting director of the CDC's Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…