Derek Paravicini’s extraordinary gift

There are some people we meet in our “60 Minutes” stories who we just can’t let go, whose next chapter we’re almost compelled to follow. Like Derek Paravicini, a masterful musician who is blind, with disabilities so severe he can’t tell his right hand from his left or hold anything but the simplest of conversations. When Derek is playing the piano, it’s hard to believe there is anything he can’t do, and yet when you meet him away from the keyboard, as we first did in London six years ago, the contrast is shocking. Derek is a musical savant, blessed with an island of extreme talent in a sea of profound disability. … Asked if he knows how old he is now, Derek said, “I don’t know how old I am, no.”

Today Derek is 30. He grew up in an upper class British family, the nephew of Camilla Parker-Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall. But none of that matters much to Derek.Derek was excited to show us the skills that make him so exceptional, the ability to instantly call up any piece of music he’s ever heard. Like the Village People’s “YMCA” or the show tune “My Favorite Things.” … But it isn’t just that Derek remembers them: he can transform them effortlessly and seamlessly into the styles of different musicians, like jazz greats. Asked to change to the style of Oscar Peterson, Derek changed style mid-song, playing “My Favorite Things” Oscar Peterson-style. He also wowed Stahl by playing the tune in the style of Dave Brubeck.

“It’s like he’s got libraries of pieces and styles in his head,” Adam Ockelford, Derek’s teacher, told Stahl. “And he can just whip out a piece book and a style book and just bring them together. It just kind of explodes.” How Derek’s fingers can do this but can’t button a button or zip a zipper remains a mystery. There are lots of theories about savants, but few real answers. Watch the entire video and read the full story at the “60 Minutes” site.

via ’60 Minutes’ exclusive: Derek Paravicini’s extraordinary gift – Yahoo! News.

It’s the law of the land: Health overhaul signed

Claiming a historic triumph that could define his presidency, a jubilant Barack Obama signed a massive, nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul on Tuesday that will for the first time cement insurance coverage as the right of every U.S. citizen and begin to reshape the way virtually all Americans receive and pay for treatment.

After more than a year of hyperpartisan struggle — and numerous near-death moments for the measure — Obama declared “a new season in America” as he sealed a victory denied to a line of presidents stretching back more than half a century. Democratic lawmakers cheered him on, giving the White House signing ceremony a rally-like atmosphere as they shouted and snapped photos with pocket cameras or cell phones.

Not everyone was cheering. The Democrats pushed the bill through Congress without GOP support, and the Republicans said Tuesday that those Democratic lawmakers would pay dearly in this November’s elections. Opinion polls show the public remains skeptical, too, and Obama will fly to Iowa on Thursday for the first of a number of appearances that will be more like a continuing sales job than a victory lap.

Aside from the huge, real-life changes in store for many Americans, the White House hopes the victory — even as a companion Senate “fix-it” bill moves through the Senate — will revitalize an Obama presidency that has been all but preoccupied with health care for his first year and two months in office. Vice President Joe Biden was caught whispering a profanity as he exclaimed to the president what a big deal it was.

Indeed, the reshaping of one-sixth of the U.S. economy, to be phased in over several years, ranks among the biggest changes ever devised by Washington. That was a main complaint from Republicans who characterize the measure as a costly, wrongheaded government power grab. Obama and the Democrats portray it as literally a lifesaver for countless Americans.

The core of the massive law is the extension of health care coverage to 32 million who now lack it, a goal to be achieved through a complex cocktail of new mandates for individuals and employers, subsidies for people who can’t afford to buy coverage on their own, consumer-friendly rules clamped on insurers, tax breaks, and marketplaces to shop for health plans.

The law’s most far-reaching changes don’t kick in until 2014, including a requirement that most Americans carry health insurance — whether through an employer, a government program or their own purchase — or pay a fine. To make that a reality, tax credits to help cover the cost of premiums will start flowing to middle-class families and Medicaid will be expanded to cover more low-income people. Insurers would no longer be allowed to deny coverage to people with health problems. …

via It’s the law of the land: Health overhaul signed – Yahoo! News.

We don’t have a health care crisis so much as a health crisis…  we don’t exercise, we don’t get enough sleep, we stress each other out, and we eat junk  … but I’m hopeful this national health overhaul will lead to more preventative care.

Increased physical health improves mental health, happiness and productivity.

Facial Aging is More Than Skin Deep

Facelifts and other wrinkle-reducing procedures have long been sought by people wanting to ward off the signs of aging, but new research suggests that it takes more than tightening loose skin to restore a youthful look. A study by physicians at the University of Rochester Medical Center indicates that significant changes in facial bones – particularly the jaw bone – occur as people age and contribute to an aging appearance. …

This loss of bony volume may contribute sagging facial skin, decreased chin projection, and loss of jaw-line definition. As jaw volume decreases, soft tissue of the lower face has less support, resulting in a softer, oval appearance to the lower face and sagging skin, which also affects the aging appearance of the neck.

“Physicians have long been taught that facial aging is caused by soft tissue descent and loss of elasticity,” Langstein said. “Though we have always known that bones change over time, until now, the extent to which it causes an aged appearance was not appreciated.”

… “The future of facial cosmetic procedures to restore a youthful look may include methods to suspend soft tissue – such as chin and cheek implants – to rebuild the structure that time has worn away, in addition to lifting and reducing excess skin,” Shaw said.

via Facial Aging is More Than Skin Deep – News Room – University of Rochester Medical Center.