Archive for May, 2011

The Food Crisis

May 24th, 2011

Each year American farmers must feed an additional 80 million people internationally.

Food is The New Oil (c) ForeignPolicy.com - Nick Jacobs, FACHE - Healing Hospitals

Image credit: ForeignPolicy.com

During the first two decades of my adult life, it was commonplace to see story after story about the starving people in places like Biafra. Some three decades later, I now understand more deeply the geopolitical ramifications of these tragedies. A friend of mine sent me an article from the May/June Foreign Policy magazine. It detailed the food supply challenges facing this planet’s  growing population. The intensity of concern that this essay raises is palpable.

The article, The New Geopolitics of Food, by Lester R. Brown, opens with an example of what a 75% increase in wheat prices might mean to the average American who spends less than 1/10th of their income at the supermarket.  The answer is…probably a ten cent increase in a loaf of bread. As a result, a $2.00 loaf of bread will become a $2.10 loaf of bread. He then contrasts that difference with the impact it would have in a place like New Delhi where that same wheat is carried home to be ground into flour. The cost of the wheat there is actually double what it was. Consequently, Brown states, the world’s poorest two billion people — who spend 50 to 70% of their income on food — will go from two to one meal a day. His evaluation of this situation is that it can, will, and has already resulted in revolutions and political upheaval.

When the reasons for these shortages are explored, it quickly becomes apparent that changes in our climate represent a major contributing factor.  Be it too much hot dry weather, too many storms contributing to excessive rainfall, or soil that is simply exhausted from a lack of nutrients caused by depleted aquifers, the result leads to food becoming the hidden driver of world politics. As land and water become more limited, as temperatures go up and world food security deteriorates, scarcity is emerging as the norm, rather than than the exception.

Infographic: The Food Price RollercoasterUntil recently, the food supply was primarily in the hands of the world markets which were primarily monitored and sometimes driven by the United Nations’ World Food Program, but because of recent shortages and population growth, several countries have taken it upon themselves to secure their food supply in nontraditional ways. We are seeing unprecedented land grabs in developing countries, and water grabs from geographies where the end result creates shortages and where grain is being directly purchased from U.S. farmers.  All of this is contributing to a global power struggle for food security.

According to Brown, “With grain stocks low and climate volatility increasing, the risks are also increasing.  We are now so close to the edge that a breakdown in the food system could come at any time.”  For example, a 40% drop in grain production in the U.S. would be equivalent to a loss of 160 million tons of grain as opposed to a 40 million ton drop in Russia from the same percentage loss.  This would be devastating to the world food supply. As long as oil is expensive, ethanol production will remain high and corn will be pulled from the food chain to the fuel chain. “Oil exporting countries that import grain would…barter oil for grain, and low income grain importers would [lose] out.”

Brown concludes:

“If we cannot produce higher crop yields with less water and conserve fertile soils, many agricultural areas will cease to be viable. Each year, 1,400 square miles of land in Northern China turn to desert. If we cannot move at wartime speed to stabilize the climate, we may not be able to avoid runaway food prices. If we cannot accelerate the shift to smaller families and stabilize the world population sooner rather than later, the ranks of the hungry will almost certainly continue to expand.”

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Posted in Current Affairs, Nutrition, Public Policy

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Coffee and Cancer

May 19th, 2011

Several years ago, at the Clinical Breast Care Project’s (CBCP) offsite retreat with the physicians from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, our biomedical informatics group had prepared a demonstration for the CBCP’s Scientific Advisory Board, a group of distinguished scientists, breast cancer consultants and physicians.

Colonel Craig D. Shriver, MC Director, Clinical Breast Care Project Program Director and Chief, General Surgery Walter Reed Army Medical Center

COL Craig D. Shriver, MC Director, Clinical Breast Care Project (CBCP), Program Director & Chief of General Surgery, Walter Reed Army Medical Center

As the 7:00 PM meeting time approached, it was obvious that there was not going to be a quorum present to start the formal meeting.  The two additional members had called in and we sat waiting patiently for the remainder of this august body to join us; fifteen minutes passed, then twenty and finally at about 7:25 PM, the group burst apologetically into the conference room to begin the call.

In case you’re wondering what would have caused such a delayed response from an otherwise very prompt group of individuals, it was the introduction provided by the biomedical informatics group of how this data repository’s capabilities could be explored.  The advisory group was so captivated by the power of this tool that they literally became lost in the excitement of the demonstration.

This form of science was fascinating to me, because having trillions of pieces of data available from thousands of women allowed the queries to be guided by the data itself.  When this power was coupled with the normal questioning generated by the intellectual curiosity of the individual scientists, the outcomes were beyond fascinating.

For example, you could ask the question, “How many of you drink coffee?” The thousands of participants whose biopsies – both malignant and benign – were being stored in the tissue repository at our research institute had agreed to answer over 500 demographic questions relating to their very personal and now anonymous lives. A graph appeared showing the proportion of women who were coffee drinkers. When I then asked, “How many cups a day do you drink?”a new graph appeared with that information as well. My final question was, “How many of you were diagnosed with breast cancer?” This resulted in an interesting fusion of information. The women who consumed the most coffee had the least amount of breast cancer. Of course, that general assumption needed to be researched, confirmed and proven in numerous ways, but there it was, way back in about 2005.

A report that touched on this topic was released during the second week of May, and it was fascinating. It was a Harvard study that followed almost 50,000 male health professionals for more than two decades.  Over 5,000 of the participants got prostate cancer – 642 of them the most lethal form. “For the men who drank the most coffee, their risk of getting this bad form of prostate cancer was about 60 percent lower compared to the men who drank almost no coffee at all,” says Lorelei Mucci, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and an author of the study. The same group reported about a 50 percent reduced risk of dying from prostate cancer among men who took two or three brisk walks a week. As a part of our funding, similar studies performed by the Preventative Medicine Research Institute under the direction of Dr. Dean Ornish also confirmed this exercise theory of risk reduction for prostate cancer.

The new study shows that a 60 percent reduction in risk of aggressive prostate cancer requires at least six cups a day. However, men who drank only three cups a day still had a 30 percent lower chance of getting a lethal prostate cancer, and that’s not bad. Earlier research also suggests coffee reduces the risk of diabetes, liver disease and Parkinson’s.

But here is best part of this story. Just last week, Swedish researchers reported that women who drink at least five cups of coffee a day have nearly a 60 percent lower risk of a particularly aggressive breast cancer that doesn’t respond to estrogen.

Epidemiologist Mucci says more research is needed before officially urging people to drink coffee for its health benefits. Meanwhile, she says, “there’s no reason not to start drinking coffee.

So, all of these years later, the National Cancer Institute is using about 200 of these CBCP biopsies from that same tissue repository to map the Human Breast Cancer Genome, and everyday new reports are emerging that confirm the value of this research. All of this from a little coal mining town in Western Pennsylvania – the location of the research institute and hospital where I served as President and CEO – just three seconds in air miles from where Flight 93 went down.

Now that’s a story.

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Posted in Diet, Healthcare, Public Health, Science

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Fracking, Beiber Fever…and Bedbugs

May 12th, 2011

Every once in a while, it’s important to write about things that are hot. (It keeps the blog numbers up.) Well, hydraulic fracking, Justin Beiber and bedbugs… yes, bedbugs are all very hot and in the news again. While the D’s and the R’s sort out the nuances of cutting $14 trillion or so from the U.S. federal budget over the next few centuries, we still have to deal with the day to day challenges of living on this planet. In Pennsylvania and New York at least, the hot news — according to the New York Times — is the radioactive water that is reportedly being forced from deep below the surface of the earth as a means of releasing natural gas reserves:

“The relatively new drilling method — known as high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking — carries significant environmental risks. It involves injecting huge amounts of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, at high pressures to break up rock formations and release the gas.”

“With hydrofracking, a well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. Other carcinogenic materials can be added to the wastewater by the chemicals used in the hydrofracking itself.”

Of course, the essence of those two paragraphs will be the source of numerous heated discussions between environmentalists and the gas and oil lobbyists until this issue can be sorted out. In the meantime?  Well, that’s the question du jour.

On a lighter note, my five year old grandchild, Nina, is madly in love with Justin Beiber. She knows every lyric from every one of his songs and regularly either dances or does gymnastic flips to his music. On Saturday, she, her brother, sister and I worked to clean up their two car garage sized playroom. She turned on the Karaoke Machine and let it rip. We were all dancing and singing to the Bieb as we put the toys away, cleaned up the miniature kitchen, folded baby doll clothes and stacked their books.

Justin Bieber - photo credit: celebrity-gossip.net - Nick Jacobs FACHE - Healing HospitalsImagine my shock when one of my Google news alerts appeared spouting the fact that young Justin suddenly had become violently ill at one of his concerts in Manila, then quickly returned to the stage. He had been diagnosed with a bad chest infection prior to the show, but insisted on performing, having tweeted before the show, “Sick as a a dog… But the show must go on.” As a non-medical/non-science healthcare guy, the diagnosis made me a little curious, (remember, I’m a musician, too), but Yahoo Answers cleared things up for me with this patient testimonial: “I’ve spent so many years of my life convincing myself that I have emetophobia, because when I was about 11, I was sick from a chest infection and I threw up…” So, there you have it:  Justin is not the only person who gets sick from being sick. So, relax, Nina, he’s going to be okay.

Now, some additional disconcerting news. After having  personally survived a bedbug attack at a top-notch hotel in a major U.S. city last year,  I read with trepidation that it has recently been discovered that MRSA infection has now been associated with the scratching that comes after the bed bug bites.  This dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (usually acquired from hospital visits or things like high school wrestling mats), is a strain of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus which is called Community Associated MRSA or CA-MRSA.  Because it is resistant to oxacillin, penicillin, amoxicillin and other antibiotics, it is not to be ignored.  My medical friends tell me that the best treatment for bed bug bites is to keep the area clean, use antibiotic ointments or gel and keep a close eye on the bite to ensure that it doesn’t become infected.

So, all of you frackers, Bieberbots and bedbug-dreaders …should have a sip of some Grey Goose or Courvoisier.  They’re not radioactive, may calm your fear of tossing your cookies, and would probably – in the right quantities – kill bedbugs…or at least make you stop caring if  they didn’t.  And, if you still want to learn more…well, there’s an app for that.

Bedbugs 101 mobile app - Nick Jacobs, FACHE - health 2.0 - healthcare

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Nick Jacobs – Presentations to Date

May 2nd, 2011

F. Nicholas (Nick) Jacobs, FACHE
HealingHospitals.com

  • The Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute 2011 National Conference
    The audience for these upcoming presentations and meetings will consist of risk and quality managers, patient safety officers, and hospital CEOs .
    Seattle, WA – May, 2011
  • National Leadership Series: Improving Operations and Leadership Success
    The Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative
    Maine – March, 2011
  • National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI)
    Cancer COMM 2.0: Cancer Communication in the Digital Age
    Washington, DC – December , 2010|
  • Waverly Health Center Strategic Excellence Conference
    Waverly, IA – October, 2010
  • Planetree 2010 National Conference
    Denver, CO – October, 2010
  • The Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute National 2010 Conference
    Lansing, MI – August, 2010
  • Planetree 2009 National Conference
    Baltimore, MD – October, 2009
  • Lake Erie Regional Nurses Event
    Redesigning Patient Experiences
    Toledo, OH – May 7, 2010
  • Central Peninsula Hospital, Director’s Summit
    Soldotna, AK – November , 2010
  • Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Pacific Regional Conference
    Riding the Wave to Success:  Best Practices in Philanthropy
    San Diego, CA – April, 2009
  • Second Annual World Health Care Congress – Leadership Summit
    Redesigning the Patient Experience
    Orlando, FL – March, 2009
  • Carolinas Healthcare Public Relations & Marketing Society
    Getting the Word Out: Blogs, Planetree, Web 2.0 and Employer of Choice
    Charleston, SC – November, 2008
  • Patient-Centered Care CEO Summit
    Maximizing HCAHPS Scores
    Chicago, IL – October, 2008
  • 2008 Planetree Annual Conference
    Becoming a Planetree Hospital
    Chicago, IL – October, 2008
  • New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging Annual Conference
    Talking the Talk, Walking, the Walk: Becoming an Employer of Choice
    Syracuse, NY – September, 2008
  • HFMA Appalachian Chapter of Central Pennsylvania Education Session
    Positive Economic Ramifications Generated from Creatively Changing the Hospital Environment
    Harrisburg, PA – October, 2008
  • AHA / Health Forum 6th Annual Conference on Integrative Medicine for Health Care Organizations
    The Healing Hillside
    Phoenix, AZ – May, 2008
  • Pennsylvania Newspaper Association / IAMA
    Leadership, Unlimited Possibilities
    Seven Springs, PA – April, 2008
  • Maine Primary Care Association
    The Future of Healthcare
    Portland, ME – November, 2007
  • World Congress on Cardiology Conference
    The Impact of Behavior Modification on Heart Disease
    Belgrade, Serbia – October, 2007
  • Iowa Hospital Association Annual Meeting
    Healing Environments in Hospitals:  Results of an Eight Hospital Creating Case Study
    DesMoines, IA – October, 2007
  • Summit Health Board Meeting – Building a Healing Environment
    The Planetree Concept and Design
    Chambersburg, PA – September, 2007
  • Consumer Health World Conference
    HOSPITALS & PROVIDERS: Trends, Strategies & Case Studies
    Chicago, IL – September, 2007
  • Consumer Health World Conference
    + Open Health Care:  Learning to Live in the Brave New World – Openness, Controversy and Crises
    + Management in Blogs and Social Media
    Las Vegas, NV – April, 2007
  • Integrative Medicine for Health Care Organizations
    Creating Healing Environments in Hospitals:  Results of an Eight Hospital Case Study
    San Diego, CA– April, 2007
  • Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers 6th Annual PRI Seminar
    Presenter/Keynote Speaker
    New York, NY – November, 2006
  • Cigna Fortune 100 Conference
    Guest Speaker
    Fort Lauderdale, FL – February 2006
  • Quality Insights of Pennsylvania-Public Reporting Collaborative
    Keynote Speaker
    King of Prussia, PA & Harrisburg, PA – February, 2005
  • National Interdisciplinary Breast Center Conference
    Overview of the Windber/Walter Reed Army Medical Center Partnerships
    Las Vegas, NV – February, 2005
  • Disease Management Congress and Exposition
    Integrative and Cardiovascular Health:  The Windber Experience
    San Diego, CA – September, 2003
  • Teradata Partners Conference
    The Windber Research Institute:  Advancing Frontiers, Finding Cures
    Seattle, WA – September, 2003
  • Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield CEO Conference
    Keynote Speaker
    Nemacolin, PA – September, 2002
  • United Nations Conference – EATSET International Biomedical Seminar/Transfusion Workshop
    Keynote Speaker
    Abuja, Nigeria – August, 2002
    Voluntary Hospitals of America, Board of Directors Meeting & Symposium
    The Future of Healthcare
    State College, PA – June, 2001
  • Pennsylvania Rural Health Conference
    Innovation & Transformation: Today’s Windber Medical Center
    State College, PA – June, 2001
  • AmeriNet Central, Spring CEO Forum
    Bridging the Gap with Acute and Nonacute Care
    Warrendale, PA – May, 2001
  • Johnstown Chamber of Commerce Leadership Conference
    Managing Change in the Workplace
    University of Pittsburgh (UPJ campus)– December, 2000
  • Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania, Board of Directors
    Inventing the Future: The Reorganization of Windber Medical Center
    Cranberry, PA – November, 2000
  • AARP Senior Community Service Employment Program & National Shriners Leadership
    Volunteerism & Leadership
    Johnstown, PA – October  and November, 2000
  • American Association of University Women
    Dr. Dean Ornish Program on Heart Disease Reversal
    Johnstown, PA – September, 2000
  • The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP)
    A Creative Approach to Holistic Care:  Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
    Harrisburg, PA – August, 2000
  • The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) – Council for Small Hospitals
    A Creative Approach to Holistic Care:  Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
    State College, PA – June, 2000
  • U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) – Administration on Aging (AoA)
    Improving Access for Health: The Center for Life
    Chicago, IL – May, 2000
  • Pennsylvania Department of Aging
    Model Geriatric Health Center Demonstration: Overview and Presentations
    Grantville, PA – May, 2000
  • Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania
    A Creative Approach to Holistic Care.  Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
    Warrendale, PA – April, 2000
  • American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE)
    A Creative Approach to Holistic Care: Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
    Chicago, IL – March, 2000
  • American Society on Aging
    PA’s Primary Care and Senior Center Demo: What We Planned and What Actually Happened
    San Diego, CA – March, 2000
1
F. Nicholas (Nick) Jacobs, FACHE
HealingHospitals.com
Presentations
? The Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute 2011 National Conference
The audience for these presentations and meetings will consist of risk and quality managers,
patient safety officers, and hospital CEOs .
Seattle, WA – May, 2011
? National Leadership Series: Improving Operations and Leadership Success
The Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative
Maine – March, 2011
? National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Cancer COMM 2.0: Cancer Communication in the Digital Age
Washington, DC – December , 2010
? Waverly Health Center Strategic Excellence Conference
Waverly, IA – October, 2010
? Planetree 2010 National Conference
Denver, CO – October, 2010
? The Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute National 2010 Conference
Lansing, MI – August, 2010
? Planetree 2009 National Conference
Baltimore, MD – October, 2009
? Lake Erie Regional Nurses Event
Redesigning Patient Experiences
Toledo, OH – May 7, 2010
? Central Peninsula Hospital, Director’s Summit
Soldotna, AK – November , 2010
? Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Pacific Regional Conference
Riding the Wave to Success: Best Practices in Philanthropy
San Diego, CA – April, 2009
2
? Second Annual World Health Care Congress – Leadership Summit
Redesigning the Patient Experience
Orlando, FL – March, 2009
? Carolinas Healthcare Public Relations & Marketing Society
Getting the Word Out: Blogs, Planetree, Web 2.0 and Employer of Choice
Charleston, SC – November, 2008
? Patient-Centered Care CEO Summit
Maximizing HCAHPS Scores
Chicago, IL – October, 2008
? 2008 Planetree Annual Conference
Becoming a Planetree Hospital
Chicago, IL – October, 2008
? New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging Annual Conference
Talking the Talk, Walking, the Walk: Becoming an Employer of Choice
Syracuse, NY – September, 2008
? HFMA Appalachian Chapter of Central Pennsylvania Education Session
Positive Economic Ramifications Generated from Creatively Changing the Hospital Environment
Harrisburg, PA – October, 2008
? AHA / Health Forum 6th Annual Conference on Integrative Medicine for Health Care
Organizations
The Healing Hillside
Phoenix, AZ – May, 2008
? Pennsylvania Newspaper Association / IAMA
Leadership, Unlimited Possibilities
Seven Springs, PA – April, 2008
? Maine Primary Care Association
The Future of Healthcare
Portland, ME – November, 2007
? World Congress on Cardiology Conference
The Impact of Behavior Modification on Heart Disease
Belgrade, Serbia – October, 2007
3
? Iowa Hospital Association Annual Meeting
Healing Environments in Hospitals: Results of an Eight Hospital Creating Case Study
DesMoines, IA – October, 2007
? Summit Health Board Meeting – Building a Healing Environment
The Planetree Concept and Design
Chambersburg, PA – September, 2007
? Consumer Health World Conference
HOSPITALS & PROVIDERS: Trends, Strategies & Case Studies
Chicago, IL – September, 2007
? Consumer Health World Conference
o Open Health Care: Learning to Live in the Brave New World – Openness, Controversy and
Crises
o Management in Blogs and Social Media
Las Vegas, NV – April, 2007
? Integrative Medicine for Health Care Organizations
Creating Healing Environments in Hospitals: Results of an Eight Hospital Case Study
San Diego, CA– April, 2007
? Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers 6th Annual PRI Seminar
Presenter/Keynote Speaker
New York, NY – November, 2006
? Cigna Fortune 100 Conference
Guest Speaker
Fort Lauderdale, FL – February 2006
? Quality Insights of Pennsylvania-Public Reporting Collaborative
Keynote Speaker
King of Prussia, PA & Harrisburg, PA – February, 2005
? National Interdisciplinary Breast Center Conference
Overview of the Windber/Walter Reed Army Medical Center Partnerships
Las Vegas, NV – February, 2005
? Disease Management Congress and Exposition
Integrative and Cardiovascular Health: The Windber Experience
San Diego, CA – September, 2003
4
? Teradata Partners Conference
The Windber Research Institute: Advancing Frontiers, Finding Cures
Seattle, WA – September, 2003
? Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield CEO Conference
Keynote Speaker
Nemacolin, PA – September, 2002
? United Nations Conference – EATSET International Biomedical Seminar/Transfusion Workshop
Keynote Speaker
Abuja, Nigeria – August, 2002
? Voluntary Hospitals of America, Board of Directors Meeting & Symposium
The Future of Healthcare
State College, PA – June, 2001
? Pennsylvania Rural Health Conference
Innovation & Transformation: Today’s Windber Medical Center
State College, PA – June, 2001
? AmeriNet Central, Spring CEO Forum
Bridging the Gap with Acute and Nonacute Care
Warrendale, PA – May, 2001
? Johnstown Chamber of Commerce Leadership Conference
Managing Change in the Workplace
University of Pittsburgh (UPJ campus)– December, 2000
? Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania, Board of Directors
Inventing the Future: The Reorganization of Windber Medical Center
Cranberry, PA – November, 2000
? AARP Senior Community Service Employment Program & National Shriners Leadership
Volunteerism
Johnstown, PA – October and November, 2000
? American Association of University Women
Dr. Dean Ornish Program on Heart Disease Reversal
Johnstown, PA – September, 2000
5
? The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP)
A Creative Approach to Holistic Care: Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
Harrisburg, PA – August, 2000
? The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) – Council for Small Hospitals
A Creative Approach to Holistic Care: Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
State College, PA – June, 2000
? U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) – Administration on Aging (AoA)
Improving Access for Health: The Center for Life
Chicago, IL – May, 2000
? Pennsylvania Department of Aging
Model Geriatric Health Center Demonstration: Overview and Presentations
Grantville, PA – May, 2000
? Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania
A Creative Approach to Holistic Care. Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
Warrendale, PA – April, 2000
? American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE)
A Creative Approach to Holistic Care: Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
Chicago, IL – March, 2000
? American Society on Aging
PA’s Primary Care and Senior Center Demo: What We Planned and What Actually Happened
San Diego, CA – March, 2000
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What’s Different About a Teenage Brain?

May 1st, 2011
Montogomery County MD band students

L-R: Senior Niraj Raju (trombone), junior Andrew Simmons (tuba) and senior Julia Maas (violin) of the Montgomery County, MD Youth Orchestra - http://www.mcyo.org

Back in the 1970’s, I made a discovery that seemed unique to me. As a young teacher, musician, band, orchestra and Jazz ensemble director, it was my unexpected pleasure to discover that junior high and middle school aged students had an unbelievable capacity to learn and to excel. This discovery was recently confirmed in an article which appeared in a special edition of U.S. News and World Report, “Secrets of Your Brain,” by Nancy Shute entitled, “How to Deploy the Amazing Power of  the Teen Brain.”

Early on in my teaching career, I discovered a mystery of life that, until Nancy’s article, seemed rather extraordinary to me, but I had no scientific evidence to back it up. Before the use of MRI’s beginning in the 1990’s, it was impossible to know what nuanced changes were occurring in the brains of teenagers, but that is not the case today. Of course, the neurologists still don’t understand all of the myriad details of change that appear to be occurring, but they can make certain not so speculative statements about these changes. According to the article, what they found astonished them. The brain’s gray matter, which forms the bulk of the structure and processing capacity, grows gradually throughout childhood, peaks around age 12, and then furiously prunes underused neurons.

Because these changes begin in the back of the brain and move forward, sensory and motor skills mature first followed by the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for judgment and impulse control. According to the scientists at the NIH, the prefrontal and cortex isn’t done until the early 20’s or later in men. The following quote from the article, however, should be the basis for all of the arts education in the United States, “Neurons, like muscles, operate on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis: a teenager who studies piano three hours a day will end up with different brain wiring than someone who spends that same time shooting hoops or playing video games. “Eureka!”

Grown-Up Brain - USNWR - Nick Jacobs, FACHE - HealingHospitals.com

When we consider that during the teenage years, emotion and passion also heighten attention and tramp down fear, teenagehood turns out to be the perfect time to master new challenges. According to Frances Jensen, a neurologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston, “They can do things now that will set them up later in life with an enhanced skill set.” Of course, the 70’s in semi-rural America did not harbor all of the challenges that we face now for our teenagers, but challenges did exist. What I had discovered in my work was by treating the teenagers more closely as peers than subservient children, while still maintaining control, by allowing them to work with you to select and enumerate their goals, and finally by encouraging them along the way, their passions and intensity would take the music and their performances to heights that would have seemed otherwise incomprehensible.

Music arranged for teenaged performing groups was typically watered down and lacked both emotion and challenge. Because of that, it was my choice to make musical scores available to them that would have been considered too mature, too challenging and too far beyond their comprehension. The trade off, however, was that we were careful never to let them hear any of those “too hard” descriptors. The results were stupefying. The kids worked endlessly and tirelessly to make sure these musical scores were mastered. Because their parents were, in many cases, second generation immigrants, they worked to ensure that the kids had: 1.) Plenty of sleep 2.) Healthy foods 3.) No drugs or alcohol.

The U.S. News article concluded with something that was instinctive to me: “Nature had a reason to give adolescents strong bodies, impulsive natures, and curious flexible minds.” It was the stuff from which scholars, great artists and future leaders were made, and to all of my former students who have been so incredibly successful…I hope you’ve tried to give your children these same experiences!

Nick Jacobs speaks to youth on the future of healthcare

Health 2.0 Leadership (1 of 2) from Nick Jacobs, FACHE on Vimeo.

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Posted in Development, Music Education, Science

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