Central Jersey Health �June 27, 20�4

Central Jersey HEALTHYour Guide to Healthcare in 2014

Triple the fun. Adam, Ella and Lacy and Madeline, John and Robert and Pooja, Shraddha and Sarayu. All delivered by the doctors at Comprehensive OB/GYN Care of Princeton.

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Central Jersey Health2 June 27, 20�4

Celebrating more than 15 years building healthy fami-lies throughout New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Re-productive Medicine & Fertil-ity is a proven leader in repro-ductive medicine.

Dr. Gregory Corsan, Dr. Ra-hul Sachdev, and Dr. Suna Qasim have established a practice that boasts a unique approach to a full range of fertility treatments from three convenient locations – Edison, Cranford, and Princ-eton.

Offering what they term a “just-the-right-size” envi-ronment, the Center is large enough to offer patients the most current, advanced tech-nologies available, but small enough to know their pa-tients by name and help each one through the often com-plicated process of infertility treatment.

Dr. Gregory Corsan, a founding partner of the prac-tice commented, “So often, today’s practices can leave patients feeling like a num-ber. And so often, today’s patients can assume that in order to receive advanced care utilizing cutting edge technologies they’ll have to give up a more personal physician-patient relation-ship. That’s where the Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine & Fertility steps in and fills the void for them. Here, they can enjoy both.”

And that dual approach can prove very helpful dur-ing the infertility experience. While the circumstances surrounding infertility are unique to the individual, it

Environment is important when it comes to fertility treatment

Dr. Gregory Corsan Dr. Rahul Sachdev Dr. Suna Qasim

is well known that difficulty conceiving can incite feelings of fear and guilt for those in treatment. It is an exception-ally stressful process.

The Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine & Fertility believes that strong practice relationships can often help patients deal with the inevitable stress. Patients have a strong sense that there is a team behind their care, one that knows them person-ally and cares deeply about their individual success.

Dr. Suna Qasim believes strongly that this compas-sionate care can have a positive influence on patient outcomes. “As stress levels decrease, success rates in-crease,” Dr. Qasim says. “In-fertility patients benefit from the kind of relationships we forge here at our practice.” Dr. Qasim is a multi-year recipi-ent of the industry’s coveted Most Compassionate Doctor Award, am his patients obvi-ously agree with his philoso-phies.

Recently, the Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine & Fertility has ex-tended those stress-relieving viewpoints to help patients struggling with the infertil-ity experience even further. Fertility treatments are quite expensive. Even patients with insurance coverage can be surprised to learn that their benefits do not extend to some of the more typical infertility procedures. Others don’t have coverage at all, or have limited benefits.

“The treatment of infertility has advanced tremendously

during the last decade. Technology has progressed and helped us to offer pa-tients better outcomes. My partners and I all under-stand that those technolo-gies are pointless to those patients who can’t afford the cost of treatments. We want to encourage patients to embrace treatment without worry and that’s why we designed our new special pricing program for patients without coverage,” commented Dr. Rahul Sa-chdev.

You can inquire about the Center for Advanced Repro-ductive Medicine & Fertili-ty’s new pricing programs for those without coverage by calling the headquarters office in Edison at 732-339-9300. They’ll be happy to fill you in on the details of the discount structure applied to IVF for these patients that can amount to up to a 50 percent reduction in the costs of the procedure.

Located in Edison at 4 Ethel Road, in Cranford at 123 North Union Ave., and in Princeton at 114 Stan-hope St., Forrestal Village, the Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine & Fertility has an office that will work for the needs of most patients. You can check out their website at www.infertilitydocs.com to learn more about the prac-tice, its philosophies and its physicians.

– Provided by Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine & Fertility

Bariatric SurgeryRobert E. Brolin, MD, FACSWai Yip Chau, MD666 Plainsboro Road Building 600, Suite 640Plainsboro, NJ 08536609.785.5870

Lisa Dobruskin, MD2333 Whitehorse Mercerville Road Suite 7Hamilton, NJ 08619609.228.3124

Comprehensive OB/GYN Care of PrincetonOne Union Street, Suite 106Robbinsville, NJ 08691609.252.8756

Comprehensive OB/GYN Care of Princeton2 Centre Drive Suite 200Monroe, NJ 08831609.395.2470

Family MedicineRednor-Risi Family Medicine1 Washington Boulevard Suite ARobbinsville, NJ 08691609.448.4353

Hamilton Medical Group2275 HWY 33, Suite 301Hamilton Square, NJ 08690609.586.6006

GynecologyLuc J. Lemmerling, MDAlectis R. Santiago, MD, FACOG601 Ewing Street Suite A-3Princeton, NJ 08540609.921.1500

Princeton Medicine. More doctors. More specialties. One convenient name.Coordinated care means exceptional care.

Finding the doctor that’s just right for you and your family has never been easier. Because the area’s finest primary care physicians, specialists and surgeons have joined together under one, convenient name: Princeton Medicine.

Backed by the strength of Princeton HealthCare System, Princeton Medicine is an exciting collaboration of lo-cal practices working in concert to offer exceptional care throughout the Central New Jersey community.

This network can provide you with greater access and coordinated care throughout a range of specialties — from cardiology, primary care and geriatrics to surgery, cancer care, obstetrics & gynecology and more.

Each practice is linked together with a computerized medi-cal records database — so your information and updates are shared quickly among the physicians who care for you.Services and Specialties

Services and specialtiesPrinceton Medicine doctors include board-certified in-

ternists and family medicine practitioners who specialize in preventive, routine and acute care for adults and chil-dren. They provide a comprehensive range of services, in-cluding:

• Office visits• Physicals• Management of acute and chronic health conditions• Immunizations• Flu shots• Screenings• ConsultationsPrinceton Medicine also offers specialized care and treat-

ment of diseases and disorders in such areas as:• Bariatric surgery• Cardiology• Family medicine• Gastroenterology• Geriatric medicine• Hematology/Oncology• Obstetrics/Gynecology• Pulmonology• Sleep medicine• Thoracic surgery

New offices — and new neighborsPrinceton Medicine has added number of new offices in

your area. Plus they are proud to announce the return of Comprehensive OB/GYN Care of Princeton back to the Robbinsville area as well as internist, Dr. Sean Naini, to a new location in Princeton.Comprehensive OB/GYN Care of Princeton

Comprehensive OB/GYN Care of Princeton opened a new office at One Union Street, Suite 106, in Robbinsville, NJ. They designed their new, larger office space to be even more comfortable, with new, state-of-the-art technology to serve patients better. They specialize in a wide range of ob-stetric and gynecologic care for women from adolescence

through menopause and beyond, including preconception planning; infertility evaluation; management of healthy and high-risk pregnancies; menopause management; and the lat-est in minimally invasive surgical treatments.Dr. Sean Naini opens new office in Princeton

Princeton Medicine is excited to welcome Dr. Sean Naini to his new office at 281 Witherspoon Street in Princeton — right next door to the former University Medical Center at Princeton.

Sean Naini, DO, board certified in internal medicine, has over 10 years of experience providing a wide range of pri-mary and preventive care for patients. He also specializes in helping patients with more serious conditions such as diabe-tes, hypertension, asthma, osteoporosis and more.

Dr. Naini is seeing patients at the new Princeton office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays and Thurs-days, he will continue to see patients at Princeton Medicine’s office in the Medical Arts Pavilion — 5 Plainsboro Road, Suite 300, Plainsboro — adjacent to University Medical Cen-ter of Princeton.Hamilton Medical Group for primary care

Hamilton Medical Group based in Hamilton Square has also joined Princeton Medicine. The practice features two physicians and a nurse practitioner — Joseph DeBlasio, MD, and Robert Siniakowicz, MD, and Yvonne Berrio, RN, MS, NPC — who provide primary care to patients of all ages. While a member of Princeton Medicine, Hamilton Medical Group will maintain its name and its office in the Golden Crest Corporate Center at 2275 Highway 33, Suite 301, Hamilton Square, N.J. NJ Bariatrics

NJ Bariatrics, a Plainsboro-based medical practice spe-cializing in weight-loss surgery, is now also part of Princ-eton Medicine. This means PHCS has three experienced and highly skilled bariatric surgeons: Robert E. Brolin, MD, FACS, of NJ Bariatrics; Wai-Yip Chau, MD, FACS, who sees patients at NJ Bariatrics; and Lisa Dobruskin, MD, FACS, who joined the staff late last year. The surgeons all perform procedures at the Center for Bariatric Surgery at University Medical Center of Princeton (UMCP) in Plainsboro.

One recent bariatric success story is Cynthia Meekins, who weighed 247 pounds and, as a result, suffered from hy-

Here’s a list of all the Princeton Medicine locations for your convenience:

Internal MedicinePrinceton Medicine281 Witherspoon Street, Suite APrinceton, NJ 08540609.497.2211

Primary & Specialty CarePrinceton Medicine401 Ridge RoadSuite 6Monroe, NJ 08831609.395.2470

Princeton Medicine5 Plainsboro Road Suite 300Plainsboro, NJ 08536609.853.7272

Thoracic SurgeryPrinceton Medicine5 Plainsboro Road, Suite 260Plainsboro, NJ 08536609.853.7200

Princeton Medicine also has additional locations in central New Jersey and are adding new physicians and facilities to their network all the time.

For more information, or to find a Princeton Medicine practice near you, call 1.800.FINDADR (1.800.346.3237) or visit

www.FINDADR.com.Medicare and most insur-

ance plans are accepted

pertension, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, fatigue, and acid reflux. After consulting with Dr. Chau, Cynthia decided to undergo vertical sleeve gastrectomy, a procedure that re-duces the size of stomach by about 85 percent. She’s now down to 125 pounds and feeling great. “Yes, I’ve lost a lot of weight,” she says. “But I’ve also gain immeasurable, life-long benefits.”

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732-339-9300

Central Jersey Health �June 27, 20�4

Princeton Orthodontics is where Drs. Louis Russo, Jr. and Jonathan Nicozisis combine clinical research and focused artistry with the latest technology to provide their patients with confident smiles that last a lifetime.

A nationally known ex-pert on Invisalign®, Dr. Jonathan Nicozisis lectures around the country and the world teaching other orthodontic specialists ad-vanced techniques using Invisalign as an alternative to traditional brace. “The advantages of using Invis-align to straighten teeth include using less-notice-able aligners with less dis-comfort and a much easier time keeping teeth and gums clean when com-pared to traditional braces and wires,” he says.

With Invisalign, patients at Princeton Orthodontics can also whiten their teeth as they straighten them. As a faculty board mem-ber for Invisalign, in ad-dition to giving over 200 lectures on Invisalign, he has co-authored a chap-ter about the system in an orthodontic textbook to be published in the fall of 2014.

Everyone knows that straight teeth give you a beautiful smile. Did you know straighter teeth can also affect your overall health? Crooked teeth, or malocclusion, affect 74% of adults in America. If left untreated, crooked teeth cause excessive stress and pressure leading to prema-ture wearing or fracture of tooth enamel. Further-more, it can easily lead to periodontal disease where

Accelerated Orthodontics Without Braces and

Princeton Orthodontics!PROPEL Orthodontics and Invisalign!

there is a loss of supporting bone and gum structure and eventual tooth loss.

Crowded teeth create hard-to-clean pockets that allow food and bacteria to accu-mulate forming plaque that contribute to periodontal disease. Research shows that as little as 4 mm of crowding is a risk factor for periodon-tal disease. Bacteria in peri-odontal pockets have been shown to travel throughout the rest of the body, damag-ing the lining of blood ves-sels, making this a contribut-ing factor in cardiovascular disease.

Teeth that are straight and fit together properly last lon-ger and eliminate costly den-tistry to repair what has been lost. Properly fitting teeth help lend to optimal oral health that not only helps you keep your teeth through-out your whole life but also lends to ideal overall health in general.

Over half of Drs. Russo and Nicozisis’ patients are using Invisalign aligners to cor-rect their bites and straighten their smiles. This includes both teenagers and adults. In fact, adults make up 40% of their new patients. It’s never too late to get the smile you’ve always wanted!

3-D scanning technology is now a reality at Princeton Or-thodontics! Digital intra-oral impressions have replaced traditional impression ma-terial, allowing for not only more accurate aligners, but better outcomes as a result of the better-fitting aligners. There is no more messy and goopy impression material used to create aligners. That means no more gagging! And the aligners are made and shipped to the office in

about two weeks for a faster turnaround time.

Wondering how long your treatment might take? We now have the ability of us-ing a patient’s own biology to increase the rate of tooth movement, thereby decreas-ing overall treatment time. This means fewer visits to the office, less overall time in the dental chair and less time away from work or family activities to complete your treatment.

PROPEL Orthodontics simulates the local bone re-sponse and bone remodel-ing occurs at a faster rate. The net effect is faster tooth movement through bone.

As a result, patients are able to switch their aligners out weekly instead of every two weeks, thus treatment time is reduced by up to 50%. We are also able to use it with tradi-tional braces as well.

While Invisalign has addressed the cosmetic concerns of orthodontic treatment, PROPEL now ad-dresses the concern of how long treatment takes. To-gether, the two technologies potentially open up the idea of orthodontic correction for people who previously re-fused to consider it because of wearing braces or they thought it would take too long. It’s also perfect for peo-ple who have big events com-ing up: wedding, reunions, graduations, etc. If you have any further questions, please contact Princeton Ortho-dontics for an initial exam to discuss your orthodontic concerns.

Princeton Orthodontics is located at 601 Ewing Street, Suite B12, Princeton, NJ 08540. 609-924-3271; www.princetonorthodontics.net.

Summer is finally here! That means it’s time for fun in the sun! However, summertime brings new challenges for parents. Here are a few summertime safety tips.Sunscreen:

Babies under 6 months old should be kept out of direct sunlight. If a baby cannot be shad-ed, small amounts of sunscreen can be used. For children older than 6 months, sunscreen should be used. All children should limit sun exposure from 10 am to 2 pm when the sun’s rays are the strongest. Sunscreen should be reapplied every 2 hours, and after swimming or sweating.

How to pick a sunscreen: - pick one labeled, “broad spectrum”- choose a SPF between 15 and 50. Sunscreens with SPFs higher than 50 have not been shown to be more effective- test the sunscreen on your child’s wrist the day before you need it. Sunscreens contain chemicals that can be allergens. If your child has a reaction to a sunscreen, try a diffe ent product- avoid sprays and powders. The safety of inhaled particles of sunscreen is unknown

Heat Stress and Exhaustion: Heat stress is a common condition that occurs when children are physically active in

warm conditions without adequate hydration. Before outdoor physical activities, children should drink freely and should not feel thirsty. While outdoors, follow these guidelines to stay safe and hydrated:

- Kids should always have water or a sports drink available and take a break to drink every 20 minutes while active in the heat.

- The intensity of activities that last 15 minutes or more should be reduced whenever heat or humidity reach critical levels.

- Children should promptly move to cooler environments if they feel dizzy, lightheaded or nauseous.

- Seek medical attention if symptoms persist for longer than 1 hour or if your child faints.

Water Safety:Pools and beaches are a summertime staple, but you must be cautious with children in

or near water. Never leave children alone in or near water, even for a moment. Infants and toddlers should be within arm’s length of a supervising adult providing “touch supervision.” “Floaties,” or inflatable swimming aids are not a substitute for a life vest and can give par-ents and children a false sense of security. If your child is swimming in open water, make sure a lifeguard is on duty.

If you have a pool at your home, follow the safety guidelines below:- install a pool fence at least 4 feet high around all four sides of the pool. - Ensure that your drain cover is compliant with the Pool and Spa Safety Act to avoid entrapment from suction from a pool drain. - Keep rescue equipment poolside.- If a child is missing, look for him or her in the pool first.

Bites and Stings:A few simple steps will drastically decrease the chance of being bitten or stung while en-

joying the outdoors. The following steps can help prevent stings and bites:- Dress for protection. This means lightweight long sleeves, long pants and hats to keep

the skin covered. - Use insect repellant. DEET is safe for children 2 months and older. We recommend u

ing between 10% and 30% strength. Picaridin is also a safe alternative.- Check for ticks. Make a habit of checking each other for ticks after outdoor activities

from hikes to soccer games. Showering after outdoor activities can wash away a tick before it has a chance to bite.

If your child is stung, immediately remove the stinger by scraping along the skin with a credit card. Consider a cold compress, an antihistamine like Zyrtec and a pain reliever like Motrin. Any serious reactions beyond a small localized swelling should be evaluated by a doctor promptly.

If you do find a tick, don’t panic! Carefully remove it by grasping it as close to the skin as possible with a pair of tweezers and pulling straight back. If you think the tick may have been embedded for more than a day, save the tick and call your doctor.

Summertime SafetyBy Deborah Pulver, MD and Matthew Toohey, MD

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Central Jersey Health4 June 27, 20�4

The air is aromatic with the flavors of Persia: Basmati rice with cranberries, chicken with herbs, and tantalizing sweets. There are brightly colored eggs, and fragrant blooms to welcome the Persian New Year, which coincides with the vernal equinox, as cultures around the globe mark the season of rebirth and renewal. This was the scene recently at Tooth Fairy Family Den-tal, housed in a beautiful historic home in the center of Plainsboro village.

Some might find it unusual that a dental practice would open its doors with a party for clients and the community to celebrate such a joyful cultural event, but for Dr. Marjan Habibian, the face behind Tooth Fairy Family Dental, it is all a part of who she is and her philosophy of life and work.

“I feel a responsibility to enrich the community; we can teach each other,” she says. “I try to show people the similarities we have with our cultures, because it brings people together.”

Whether it’s promoting cultural understanding or empowering her patients to take charge of their oral health, it’s this warm and open attitude that helps explain why Dr. Habibian’s dental practice has been flourishing for more than two decades, and why patients continue to come, seeking her special touch.

Emile Haddad and his wife, both residents of Plainsboro, have been regular patients for the better part of the decade, and for them, seeing the dentist is like seeing an old friend.

“She is an awesome doctor, so gentle, you can’t even feel what she’s doing,” says Mr. Haddad. The feeling of comfort starts the minute patients walk into the door of the white house on

Plainsboro Road. The waiting room is painted with bright, cheerful colors, and the furniture is soft and beckoning. The homey feeling is designed to ease the dread some patients have about visiting the dentist, and make them feel welcome. Business manager Roham Nejad says the comfort factor also was built into the name of the practice, which is intended to bring back the happiest childhood memories about dental care.

“With her own kids she probably had to take them to the dentist as well, and she didn’t want them to have that feeling of uneasiness,” says Mr. Nejad. “So being somewhere that’s cozy, warm and organic, you forget that feeling of ‘I’m in a dental office, I’m here to see the doctor.’ You say ‘I’m here to see the Tooth Fairy.’ And that brings a smile to everyone’s face and makes them feel better.”

Dr. Habibian was trained at the New York University College of Dentistry and is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry. She leads a team of professionals who provide the latest in technology and know-how, with services that include everything from implants, root canals, orthodontics, and periodontics, to Invisalign, whitening, and veneers. The services come with a personalized approach that treats patients of all ages like family.

“I feel like I’m helping my patients look and feel better,” says Dr. Habibian. “I can help if they are feeling pain in their mouth, or if they want something that makes them feel more beauti-ful, prettier. I love my job. Dentistry is important because your oral health is important to your whole body. With our medical training, as dentists, we are on the front line of patient care and are often the very first to detect serious health problems, including oral cancer.”

In fact, researchers have found a relationship between bacteria in the mouth to stroke, heart disease, and diabetes. Dentists also are often the first to see signs of sleep apnea and recommend follow-ups with other specialists.

While she is a dedicated medical professional and a strong believer in community, Dr. Habib-ian is also an artist, who created much of the artwork that lines the walls of her office. Much of the artwork was created by Lou Bisso, her life partner and a beloved music teacher, who died of cancer five years ago.

Upstairs, on the second floor, is a gallery that is dedicated to Mr. Bisso’s art, which also in-cluded a love of music and sports. The gallery is open to patients and the public, and is often a place they visit for quiet reflection of a gentle man who gave so much of himself to his students and those around him.

“We’re not here just to be a dental practice. We’re here to help the community and believe in reaching out,” Mr. Nejad says. “So having a gallery for a person like Lou, who was so important to the community and had so many students who loved him, it’s one way for us to do that. We want people to know and to share in the knowledge that there are finer things in life, like music and art.”

Dr. Habibian, who acknowledges that dentistry is a science, also points out that it is an art and a craft that she takes very seriously. She also sees the connection between art and the people she sees every day, whether it is her own patients, or the people whose lives she touches outside her office.

“Every person, they are like paintings, different colors and a mixture of different emotions,” she says. “It makes you step back so you don’t look at people like they are just people or a statue passing by. Each one of them, each person is like artwork.”

It is clear that Dr. Habibian loves what she does, and that’s what makes her patients love her. “She’s very professional, very good and friendly,” says Cameron Clark, another longtime pa-

tient. “And that’s why I like coming to see her.”

Tooth Fairy Family Dental

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Central Jersey Health �June 27, 20�4

PM Pediatrics is an award-winning provider of special-ized pediatric urgent care, serving patients from cradle through college throughout New Jersey and New York. Last September, PM Pediatrics opened its doors in North Brunswick at 2421 US Route 1 in the new Commerce Center. Led by medical director Dr. Michael Bachman, the 6,362 square foot practice features a beautiful enchanted castle theme and is staffed by Pediatric Emergency Spe-cialists, including board-certified pediatric emergency physicians and pediatricians.

Unlike traditional urgent care practices, PM Pediatrics treats children and young adults exclusively, with physi-cians, nurses, equipment and an office environment all tailored to provide the best possible care for pediatric patients. They provide specialized care and treatment for a broad array of illnesses and injuries including asthma, fever and other infections, dehydration, sprains and frac-tures, wounds requiring stitches and much more. PM Pediatrics features on-site digital x-ray which produces high resolution images read by a board-certified pediatric radiologist, and sent easily to a patient’s pediatrician or orthopedist. The practices also feature a comprehensive laboratory on-site, which performs blood and urine tests and a variety of rapid tests for infectious diseases.

“Every family should have access to top-quality health-care when they need it,” said Dr. Bachman. “We look for-ward to furthering our relationships with local primary care physicians to ensure continuity of care for their pa-tients and provide them with excellent service while pre-venting unnecessary visits to the ER.”

PM Pediatrics of North Brunswick provides walk-in ur-gent care, 365 days a year, weekdays from noon to mid-night and on weekends and select holidays from 10am to midnight. They accept most insurance plans. PM Pediat-rics also has an urgent care practice in Livingston, and is set to open two more New Jersey locations in Holmdel (July 2014) and Springfield (Fall 2014).

PM Pediatrics believes strongly in a child’s medical home and does not offer wellness visits, physicals, school check-ups or immunizations. They take special care to send each patient’s medical record to their primary care provider the day of their visit, ensuring timely follow-up and continu-ity of care. Each location also has access to specialists such as plastic surgeons or orthopedists, as needed.

All PM Pediatrics locations are uniquely themed and feature TVs in every exam room, creating a warm, wel-coming setting for kids and adults alike. This model of care, comfort and convenience has been enthusiastically received with over 500,000 patient visits to date across all of their practices. PM Pediatrics was founded on the be-lief that there is a better way to deliver urgent care to kids and young adults. The company’s mission is to ensure that patients receive superior quality healthcare when they need it, featuring short wait times and convenient hours on weekdays, weekends and holidays.

PM Pediatrics

Bee Stings:

While a bee sting is sure to ruin just about any summer outing, most stings are not serious and result only in local-ized swelling. There’s no need to bug out. Just follow these simple steps from PM Pediatrics:

• Be aware of symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as facial swelling, hives, wheezing or an ill appearance, which may require immediate medical attention.

• For uncomplicated bee stings, a paste made from meat tenderizer (papain) and water applied immediately to the bite will neutralize the bee venom and provide excellent pain relief.

A SUMMER HEALTH TIP from PM Pediatrics• To reduce swelling, give your child oral Benadryl®, if

needed, and apply an ice pack to the site.

• If the stinger is in the skin, scrape it out with a credit card, wash the area with soap and water, and apply baci-tracin.

• Of course, if you know your child is allergic to bee stings, be sure an EpiPen® is readily available at all times.

For more tips on how to keep your kids safe this summer, visit www.pmpediatrics.com/summer.html.

Every week studies are coming out that suggest steps women can take for a healthier pregnancy: take this supplement, avoid that one, increase your intake of this type of food, eliminate other types. Below are a handful of recent findings to help women make good choices.

A study came out in late 2013 showing that taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) while preg-nant may potentially impact they baby’s language skills and result in behavior issues later in life. The study, the first of its kind, evaluated more than 48,000 children in Norway. Four percent were children of women who took the drug while pregnant. The findings are a bit scary. Those children had poorer language skills, motor skills, and were more likely to exhibit behavior issues. The study was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Another study found that children of women who used the drug while pregnant were more likely to exhibit ADHD-like behavior or have a hyperkinetic disorder. This study, also large in size, involved more than 64,000 children and mothers in Denmark. It was published in JAMA Pediatrics.

So, what about taking supplements? The much-praised value of omega-3 supplements has been called into question for

babies. A new long-term study looked at the value of women taking prenatal omega-3 supplements and found that it has little to no impact on brain development for offspring, though women are encouraged to increase their intake of omega-3s.

In 2010, the initial findings did not reveal differences among children’s cognitive, motor and language scores at 18 months, whether their mothers took supplements or not. Inter-estingly, it did find that the supplement group had fewer children with delayed develop-ment. And there was a difference between the genders. Girls in the supplement group had lower language scores than the control group.

Flash forward four years to the follow-up where developmental differences are more likely to have manifested. No significant differences between groups existed.

While omega-3 supplements don’t seem to have much of an impact on a baby’s develop-ment, there are other supplements that do protect a baby’s brain, namely, iodide supple-ments. A policy statement drafted by the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on

Tips for a healthy pregnancyBy Stephanie Vaccaro

Environmental Health indicated that about one-third of pregnant women have an iodide deficiency and only 15 percent take an iodide supplement.

It’s been suggested that taking a low dose of aspirin can be beneficial for pregnant women. A new study conducted at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Health showed that the benefit may not be what was previously thought, that preconception aspirin could help a woman avoid a miscarriage. Instead, the true value might be in that doing so might help increase implantation rates. The study looked at more than 1,000 women, ages 18to 40 who had lost one or two pregnancies, taking 81 mg of aspirin per day. Interestingly, 62% of women taking aspirin, compared to 53 percent of the control group, who had experienced only one pregnancy loss before 20 weeks, experienced live births during the study. The percentages of miscarriages were nearly the same for both groups.

The negative impacts of smoking are widely known now. A study that came out in early 2014 looked at more than 80,000 women and found that pregnant women exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke experienced an increased rate of miscarriages, stillbirths and fetal deaths. Stillbirths were 22 percent more likely among women who’d been exposed to secondhand smoke.

In the recent past there has been somewhat of a debate in the media regarding drink-ing alcohol while pregnant. But the overwhelming evidence rests on the side of abstaining while pregnant.

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251 Princeton Hightstown Rd. Suite 4 East Windsor, NJ 08520

609-448-1421

Princeton Road Pediatrics PA

Rebecca F. Notterman, MD. F.A.A.P. (Founder)

and

Dewi S. Sudjono Santoso, MD. F.A.A.P.

Daniel Notterman, M.D. F.A.A.P.

Central Jersey Health� June 27, 20�4

When Aly Cohen was in college, she loved anthropology. But because she knew she wanted to become a doctor, she was only able purse it as a minor. As she went forward, an anthropological perspective shaped the way she saw the world. When it came to medicine, that meant that after completing her training in Western medicine, which resulted in her becoming a rheumatologist, she started contemplating the lifespan of different therapies.

The drug companies have existed for less than 200 years, while a number of therapies and practices like acupuncture and Ayurvedic medicine have been used to treat people for 5,000 years. And she returned to the quote from Hip-pocrates who said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

The first practice she worked in only allowed for brief 10- to 20-minute visits with patients, where physicians really only had time to write prescriptions and couldn’t present alternatives to medicine and in some cases didn’t even have time to explain why the medicine was necessary.

After five years, with two children, she started questioning whether it was what she wanted to pursue in the long term. “Is this ethically appropriate for what I’ve been trained to do, what I missed parties for, all the things that I missed so I could become this doctor?” She found herself wondering, is this it?

It was the culmination of her undergraduate education, her medical training, and her professional experience of witnessing a system of fee-for-service (ver-sus one that rewards physicians for keeping their patients well) that led her to strike out on her own and set up an integrative medical practice in Monroe.

Dr. Cohen was the recipient of a fellowship for integrative medicine at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. “As I was leaving this big practice, I was also embarking on this two-year journey with this integrative medicine training,” Dr. Cohen said. “It was perfect because these were people who were coming to the table who were sick of the establishment as well. So, I was with a supportive group of people who really felt that there’s always a use for medicine if you need it but there’s other things that we could be doing.”

In her practice, she allocates 30 to 45 minutes for each patient. Dr. Cohen, a Cranbury resi-dent, has seen this additional investment of time produce better results in the well-being of her patients. She was able to incorporate what she had learned through the fellowship.

“The practice took off,” Dr. Cohen said of the endeavor that began in July 2011. “It was pretty much sticking very closely to Western medicine, but… with all of my referrals, all the doctors that were very old school, I would slowly introduce fish oil and acupuncture.”

“People started doing really well, and people started sharing the information with friends and relatives and started getting back to their doctors that they were doing well,” Dr. Cohen said. “It bloomed. I could work seven days a week if I wanted to right now. It’s just that I don’t want to do that because it’s stressful to me, and I have to manage that as well.”

“It’s hard to find that holistic approach, at least within rheumatologists that I’ve found,” Dr. Cohen said.

“I think having the added tools in my toolbox helps me to help them not have to get on medicine as quickly or as much, and that’s the goal,” Dr. Cohen said. “It’s to support or integrate really healthy nutrition, trying to work with them on diet, working on the stress management. I have a whole bunch of tools for that. Using topical instead of orals.”

Her awareness that mankind is essentially organic with the world has led her to give a number of lectures, become a medical liaison for the Environmental Working Group, and she’s in the process of writing a book titled “The Smart Human”, which is scheduled for release in January 2015.

Finding an alternativeAly Cohen bring an organic approach to her practice

By Stephanie Vaccaro

“In the last 200 years, we have had more chemicals than in the last two (millennia),” Dr. Cohen said. “Our bodies haven’t evolved fast enough to protect ourselves. We have amaz-ing bodies. We have the blood-brain barrier, we have the placenta, which doesn’t help that much, but we have skin and all these different defense mechanisms, the liver. But they break down if you’re inundated 24-7 with chemicals. It’s pseudo-persistent, even if they break down in our body chemically, we’re around them so much that they just stay there.”

To make a few immediate changes that would positively impact your body, she recommends:

1. Awareness is key

2. Avoid cooking in plastics because plastics leach into the food

3. Canned foods are all lined with BPA, which is a plastic that coats the inside of every

can; including baby formula; most frozen food is as inexpensive

4. Buy organic food; it’s the only standard though it has faults

5. Safe Water — Dr. Cohen uses a reverse osmotic water filter removes chemicals from

drinking water

For more information see: http://www.alycohenmd.com/.

Central Jersey Health 7June 27, 20�4

Primary Care Medicine has a simple goal when it comes to offering primary care medi-cine for adult and geriatric patients — a focus on preventative medicine.

Based in East Windsor, Primary Care Medicine has a goal to provide an easy access to primary care medicine for adult and geriatric patients.

The practice was established in 1996, with offices in New Jersey and New York. Daniel Cimafranca MD is a Board Certified physician in Internal Medicine. He is currently a member of New York Mount Sinai IPA Beth Israel and the University Medical Center of Princeton Physicians Organization. He has admitting privileges at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton & University Medical Center at Plainsboro.

He is currently affiliated as an attending physician at Morris Hall St. Joseph Skilled Nurs-ing facility, St. Mary’s Assisted Living, The Grace Garden Dementia Unit in Lawrenceville, NJ and The Garden at Monroe Skilled Nursing Home.

Among the services offered by Primary Care Medicine are EKG, Rapid Strep throat test and preventive vaccinations. The practice provides same-day appointments up to 8 p.m. as necessary for sick calls.

Primary Care Medicine is located at 441 Route 130 North in East Windsor. For more information, call 609-336-7518.

Primary Care Medicine — focusing on adult and

geriatric patients

Joan remembers a brilliant warm day in Septem-ber 40 years ago. Her husband was trying to get his red Catalina convertible ready for selling. He never should have had that car to begin with. The car was sitting up on the hill in front of their garage and her 10-year-old son was in the car helping his dad with the finishing touches. She decided to go pick up the newspaper at the end of the driveway when she heard the desperate screams of her husband shout out “Joan, look out!” She turned around to the shiny chrome fender approaching her head.

The next thing she remembers is waking up in a hospital bed wrapped in bandages. Her head was pounding and she felt like a balloon was blown up in her right ear. It was difficult to hear her husband who was holding her hand and trying to talk to her.

Over the next 40 years, the feeling in the right ear persisted. She felt like she was trying to hear through a cotton plug. The hearing on her left side was also fading. Listening to conversations required a lot of concentration and became exhaust-ing. She began to feel detached from her family and friends, afraid to engage in conversations because she was embarrassed by her confused interpretation of what was being said.

Fortunately, that all changed when she met Dr. Dave, Dr. Kay and Ms. Herring, a team of hearing professionals at Princeton Otolaryngology Associates. They took an extensive medical history, performed a thorough physical exam and used the latest technology to test her hearing. She was diagnosed as having a hearing loss due to a temporal bone fracture 40 years ago. She could not undergo surgery to fix it but she could receive rehabilitation through the use of hearing aids. They provided her with a pair of hearing aids from Oticon called Alta which she re-ports, “has changed my life.”

Her new hearing aids have a feature called “Speech Guard E” which can recog-nize the contrast between a voice and surrounding background noise and accen-tuate those contrasts to make it easier for her to hear conversations more clearly.

She doesn’t get the whistling sounds from her aids which a lot of her friends would complain about.

Her aids also have something called “Spatial Sound” which processes surround-ing sound information between both of her aids to provide her with a three di-mensional quality to sound allowing her to locate where sounds are coming from and preventing sounds from sounding tinny.

She tells us, “Since I’ve been wearing these devices I don’t have to think about keeping up with the conversations around me. Now I can concentrate on the content and the people in front of me. I am looking forward to the sights, smell and SOUNDS of this Thanksgiving.”

How to recapture time with a tiny device

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Offering Services For:• Hearing• Balance• Tinnitus

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Our Team Of Experts Can Help You

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Central Jersey Health� June 27, 20�4

A new imaging system dramatically improves treatment for some individuals with pe-ripheral artery disease.

Doctors at Saint Peter’s University Hospital have a promising new weapon in the fight against peripheral artery disease, or PAD.

PAD is a common circulatory problem marked by impeded blood flow to the extremities, most often the feet and lower legs. The classic symptom of PAD is claudication (pain while walking), which can adversely affect quality of life. If left untreated, patients with wounds or ulcers can develop gangrene, placing them at risk of amputation. PAD is also associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and transient ischemic attack (“mini-stroke”).

Like stroke itself, PAD is a complication that can result from atherosclerosis, in which deposits of fats, cholesterol and other substances (also known as plaque) build up inside the arteries.

Initial management of patients with PAD who suffer from claudication is often medica-tions and exercise therapy. In patients who continue to have claudication or have wounds that are not healing, a procedure to open the blockages is recommended. In approximately 40 percent of patients who suffer from PAD, the artery that supplies blood flow to the foot is totally occluded, which makes it difficult to achieve a successful, durable result. Navigating through these long occlusions without damaging the arteries themselves has been challeng-ing. But a new imaging system called Lightbox, which in central New Jersey is exclusive to Saint Peter’s University Hospital, offers physicians a clearer picture of the clots and allows them to operate more safely and effectively.

“It uses light waves coming from the tip of a catheter to help us see as it goes into the le-sion,” says Stephan Haspel, R.N., manager of cardiac catheterization. “This allows us to stay within the lesion and away from good tissue.”

The system is manufactured by a company called Avinger. Bart Beasley, the company’s vice president of marketing, and Kevin Meehan, lumivascular program manager, say that Avinger forms close partnerships with the physicians and labs that purchase Lightbox. “Our goal is to collaborate with training the surgeons — and in getting the word out,” says Bea-sley. The company trained Ramzan Zakir, M.D., an interventional cardiologist who is the

For those who prefer it that way, surgery can now be performed safely without transfu-sions.

When Kisha Hairston, a 41-year-old homemaker from Piscataway, needed a hysterec-tomy in March, she had to decide where to have it done based on a special requirement. Hairston is a Jehovah’s Witness; her religion bars her from using blood products, so she needed to find a hospital that could do her surgery without the need for transfusions. She had to look no further than Saint Peter’s University Hospital. To meet the religious, medical and personal beliefs of patients who opt not to have transfusions, Saint Peter’s has launched a bloodless medicine and surgery program.

Patients decline to receive blood or blood products during medical treatment, especially surgery, for various reasons. Some object due to religious beliefs, while for others it is sim-ply a personal preference, sometimes based on a wish to be absolutely certain of avoiding blood-borne infections or other risks of blood transfusion.

Hairston learned about the Saint Peter’s program from her doctor and met with Marcie Colon, the program coordinator. “We discussed my options and she respected the care that I wanted,” Hairston says. “It boosted my confidence that the medical field has become more open-minded. I told Ms. Colon I appreciated how she made me feel.”

Along with the bloodless surgery option, says Howard Lakritz, M.D., director of the pro-gram and chairman of Anesthesiology at Saint Peter’s, has come increased attention to prudent “blood management, which will benefit the majority of patients.” As he explains, that means using transfusions sparingly with all patients and only when absolutely needed. Prompted by the challenge of serving the Jehovah’s Witness population and others who reject transfusions, he explains, medical researchers have learned more about optimizing safety for all of us in the handling of blood.

It’s true that complications are very rare — blood used for transfusion is safer than ever, says Dr. Lakritz — but they do occur, and they can lengthen hospital stays and add to re-covery time. “In the operating room we now have strategies to reduce blood loss with med-ications and surgical techniques,” says the doctor, “and we can ‘cell-salvage’ blood — that is, use a person’s own blood that is suctioned, filtered and returned to the body.”

Patients interested in the bloodless surgery program at Saint Peter’s University Hospital meet with Colon to discuss the options available to them. “I then make certain the medical team is informed and aware of those wishes, and I work with the team to honor them,” she says.

Hairston recalls that before her surgery, her doctors came in to tell her they knew of her preferences and would abide by them. “That really took a load off my mind,” she says. “I am very satisfied with the care given to me. From meeting Ms. Colon prior to surgery through admittance, being prepped and after surgery, the whole experience was very satisfactory in my book.”

CALL TO ACTION:Visit saintpetershcs.com/Bloodless Medicine or call Marcie Colon at 732.339.7869 for

more information about the bloodless medicine and surgery program at Saint Peter’s Uni-versity Hospital.

Low-dose CT screening often finds the disease early, when treatment has its best chance to save a life.

Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States, after breast and prostate can-cer — but it’s the leading cause of cancer deaths, claiming more lives than the next five cancers combined. One big reason for this has been that lung cancer has not had a reliable screening test comparable to mammography for breast cancer or colonoscopy for colon cancer, a test that can detect the disease at its earliest, most treatable stages.

Until now. Research over the past couple of years has confirmed that low-dose CT (com-puted tomography) screening effectively enables physicians to diagnose lung disease at its earliest stages, improving patients’ chances for curative treatment and long-term survival. The National Cancer Institute reports that in one recent study, one life was saved among every 320 high-risk per-sons screened using low-dose CT scanning over a two-year period (three screenings), resulting in a

20 percent reduction in the lung-cancer-specific mortality rate when compared with chest X rays. That data led The New England Journal of Medicine to conclude: “Low-dose CT reduces mortality from lung cancer.”

Major medical groups quickly followed with new recommendations that people at high risk for lung cancer should be screened. And in December 2013, Saint Peter’s University Hospital became the first hospital in Middlesex County to offer low-dose CT screening for the detection and treatment of lung cancer.

“There is no doubt that early diagnosis leads to better outcomes,” says Robert Caccavale, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at Saint Peter’s. “If cancer is found too late, the opportunity for a surgical cure is gone.” That is because by then, the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. Physicians have long known that the idea of screening for lung cancer “was a no-brainer for those at high risk,” he says, but finding the right test proved elusive.

“Twenty years ago we were doing chest X-rays, but they were not very sensitive,” says Gopal Desai, M.D., chairman of Radiation Oncology at Saint Peter’s. Another test called sputum cytology, which looked for signs of cancer in mucus from the lung, also wasn’t very effective, he says.

Fortunately, CT technology has progressed. It now allows for clear imaging with lower doses of radiation, giving doctors the tool they’ve needed. “It has all come together now, with the right test and the right information to improve survival rates,” says Douglas Frenia, M.D., a Saint Peter’s pulmonologist.

If anything, a CT scan can sometimes be too sensitive. “Often, the problem with CT scan-ning is that it shows too much, including a lot of things that are not cancer,” says Dr. Cac-cavale. But at Saint Peter’s, diagnoses are confirmed by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians with a variety of technical and surgical options at their disposal, minimizing any worries caused by “false positive” scans. Anyone with a suspicious scan enters the program, where the team includes a patient navigator, a nurse practitioner, a team of pulmonologists, tho-racic surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, and medical oncologists.

“We have also started a new lung cancer tumor board conference, in association with the screening program,” says Dr. Frenia. “We meet once a month to review cases found from the screening or by other means.” Those results are then reviewed with the patient’s provid-ers, and together, in consultation with the patient, they decide the best course of action.

Says Dr. Desai: “We look at every single case and discuss what we should be doing.”Because smoking remains the biggest preventable cause of lung cancer, patients who un-

dergo low-dose CT screening and are current smokers will be given information about smoking-cessation resources available in their community. And because there has been a significant increase in lung cancer in women, the Saint Peter’s lung cancer team is also col-laborating with the Saint Peter’s Breast Center as it participates in a national research trial. The study, “Low-Dose Computed Tomography (CT) Screening for Women Who Are at High Risk for Lung Cancer,” evaluates women who face a significant danger of developing the disease.

Of course, finding cancer is only the first step; treatment must then be administered, and lung cancer patients are fortunate to have new and better options here as well. These include less invasive surgeries that sometimes use robotic technology. There are also new chemo-therapy agents and more precise radiation treatments such as the CyberKnife® that can pinpoint radiation to target cancerous cells and avoid surrounding healthy tissue, reducing side effects significantly.

All of these developments dramatically increase the odds for a cure, but catching the can-cer early remains a paramount need. “For stage 1 lung cancer, the cure rate is now between 70 percent and 80 percent,” says Dr. Desai. “When it progresses to stage 4, average survival is less than two years.”

To be screened, patients should call the lung cancer screening program navigator, Nancy Pingitore, RT.T., who will coordinate all necessary steps with the patient’s primary care phy-sician or pulmonologist. All follow-up services the patient may need, including connecting the patient with a primary care physician if they do have one, can also be arranged. Because these recommendations are so new, health insurers have yet to catch up; most private insur-ers, Medicaid and Medicare do not yet cover low-dose CT screening. Saint Peter’s, however, charges a nominal $99 per screening.

“When people hear that they have to pay a little they sometimes become reluctant, which is a shame,” says Dr. Caccavale. “But think of this: It costs about the same as going out to dinner one night, and it could save your life.”

To schedule your CT scanFor a lung cancer screening at Saint Peter’s University Hospital or to ask any questions

about lung screening call Nancy Pingitore, RT.T, patient navigator, at 732.339.7747 be-tween 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Learn more at saintpetershcs.com/Our-Services/Cancer-Care/Lung-Screening-Program.

Let there be Lightbox!

Dr. Ramzan Zakir has per-formed several procedures

using Lightbox since St. Peter’s University Hospital acquired the technology in

December 2013

The bloodless alternative

Dr. Howard Lakritz says Saint Peter’s University Hospital uses several strate-gies designed to reduce blood loss during bloodless surgeries.

Hope for lung cancer patients

director of the Peripheral Vascular Institute at Saint Peter’s, as it has more than 100 physi-cians at about 60 hospitals around the country.

“Based on clinical trials, we believe Lightbox offers patients the best treatment modal-ity in crossing through difficult blockages,” says Meehan. Dr. Zakir agrees. He has already performed several procedures using Lightbox since the hospital acquired the technology in December 2013. “Our success rate has been excellent,” says Dr. Zakir. “This tool is a real game changer.”

Adds Haspel: “I’ve worked in cath labs for 20 years, and in treating PAD this is the first new thing with a ‘wow’ factor that I have seen — something that isn’t just cool, but that really works, and does it well. I’ve been thoroughly impressed.”Do you know the symptoms of PAD?

Many people who have peripheral artery disease (PAD) don’t have any symptoms. But those who do may experience:

• Pain, numbness, achiness or heaviness in the leg muscles when walking or climbing stairs.• Weak or absent pulses in the legs or feet.• Sores or wounds on the toes, feet, or legs that heal slowly, poorly, or not at all.• A pale or bluish color to the

skin.• A lower temperature in one

leg than the other leg.• Poor nail growth on the toes

and decreased hair growth on the legs.

• Erectile dysfunction, espe-cially among men who have diabetes.

Source: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

According to Dr. Robert Caccavale, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at Saint Peter’s, early diagnosis of lung cancer leads to better outcomes.

Central Jersey Health �June 27, 20�4

Central Jersey Health�0 June 27, 20�4

The Only Cancer Center in New Jersey to Offer Immuno-Therapy Clinical Trial for Lung Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the second-most common can-cer among men and women and the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2014, it is estimated that 224,210 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer. Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center was selected as the only cancer facility in New Jersey to offer a clinical study on a new lung cancer investigational drug called Nivolumab, which is made by Bristol-My-ers Squibb.

“This clinical study uses immuno-therapy as a new approach for treating lung cancer. This therapy uses the patient’s own immune system to attack the cancer cells,” stated Myron Bednar, M.D., Medical Oncologist, Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center. Dr. Bednar further explained, “Nivolumab works by blocking the protein called PD-1. The PD-1 antibodies stop lung cancer cells from blocking the body’s natural immune response to cancer. A drug that can inhibit PD-1 may be able to treat a variety of cancers, which is very exciting.”

Patients who may be eligible for the study have been diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer and have undergone at least one therapy prior to entering this trial. “The benefit from standard therapy is limited for this patient population. Our hope is that this drug will keep the cancer from growing and have the patient’s immune system do the work of killing the cancer cells, versus drugs that may have many side effects, said Kenneth Blankstein, Medical Oncologist at Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center. Dr. Blankstein also mentioned, “We are pleased to be able to provide this trial in our community. We are not only the only cancer facility in New Jersey testing this drug in a clinical trial, but the only one in the tri-state area. The next closest facility is in Tennessee.”

Daria Shepherd of Kingwood Township was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer in December. Ms. Shepherd had gone to her family doctor because of a pain she was having on her side. An ultrasound showed that the pain was the result of a cyst on her ovary, but the test also found a spot on her lung. A chest scan and a biopsy determined it was cancer. “I started chemotherapy, but it wasn’t effective for my type of cancer, so Dr. Bednar thought I would be an ideal candidate for the Nivolumab clinical trial,” stated Ms. Shepherd. Shep-herd added, “This is my second week receiving the drug and I feel good, it has not had any side effects that have interfered with my life.” In fact, Ms. Shepherd was heading out to Spruce Run to fish with her family after her treatment.

Through Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center’s partnership with Fox Chase Cancer Cen-ter in Philadelphia, physicians have access to many clinical research trials, which are ad-ministered by specially trained staff. Current trials offered at Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center include new treatment protocols for lung cancer, breast, gastrointestinal cancers, as well as lymphoma and melanoma. To learn more about clinical trials at Hunterdon Re-gional Cancer Center, call Kathy Robbins, RN, MSN, OCN, Clinical Research Nurse at Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center at 908-237-2330 ext. 2 or visit www.hunterdonhealth-care.org/clinicalresearch .

Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center:

From Left: Myron Bednar, M.D., Medical Oncologist at Hunter-don Regional Cancer Center and Daria Shepherd, the first patient at Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center to be included into the clinical trial for Nivolumab.

When it comes to health, myths abound. Here are a few common myths that science has debunked.

Seniors need less sleep as they get olderSo, you think that as you age your body needs less sleep. It’s just not true. You may get

less sleep given how overscheduled your life may be, but the need for 7-9 hours per sleep remains for older adults, according to the National Institutes of Health. The organization cited a study that looked at how long adults over the age of 65 take to fall asleep. It found that 13 percent of men and 36 percent take more than 30 minutes. Their sleep can some-times be interrupted more easily by sleeping less deeply and being more susceptible to noise. Among the possible explanations are that they may have less melatonin and some-times face other medical issues.

Additionally, studies have come out that suggest a possible link between Alzheimer’s and poor sleep. One study found that a sleepless night increased the brain’s amount of amyloid-beta, a protein linked to Alzheimer’s, by as much as 6 percent.

Every cut warrants Neosporin

We’ve been trained to think that all injuries, even minor ones, require medicine. Small cuts and scrapes are often washed, dried, slathered with Neosporin and bandaged. But is it necessary to add the topical ointment? Some doctors say no and add that such use might actually be contributing to drug resistant bacteria. Only when a cut is infected should it need medicine.

Vaccination causes Autism

Vaccines are likely one of the most effective medical advances in modern times. Count-less lives have been saved. But recently, a growing number of families are not vaccinating their children. One of the drivers behind this movement is the theory that there is a con-nection between the increasing rates of children on the Autism spectrum and childhood vaccination.

Pockets of people in areas where the inhabitants are well-educated and left-leaning are not vaccinating their children, and diseases that were once considered eradicated, like measles, are reemerging.

But science doesn’t support this trend. The CDC conducted a four-year study that con-cluded that vaccinations prevented 20 million cases of disease and 42,000 deaths.

Doing crunches burns abs fatEvery ab workout video would have you believe that if you only do enough crunches

and twists that you too can burn away your ring around the middle. Again, this isn’t true. Burning fat takes place across the whole of your body, and there is a direct relationship between calories in and calories burned. Your efforts to tone the muscle around your waist will become more apparent as the fat burns evenly off of your body.

A base tan will prevent sunburn and cloudy days don’t lead to sunburnsBoth are simply untrue. Tanning itself is a form of skin damage. The vast majority of can-

cer-causing UV rays penetrate the clouds. So, even if you don’t feel like you’ll get burned, lather up with a broad spectrum SPF.

Poison ivy rash is contagiousSome people have thought that the burning poison ivy rash can be spread from person

to person by touching someone’s rash. But it doesn’t. The only way it spreads is by coming into contact with the dreaded plant itself.

Cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis

This is yet another myth. The sound that is made when your knuckles crack is the release of gases called synovial fluid, made of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. According to the Library of Congress, cracking your knuckles repeatedly over time can damage the joint’s soft tissue and cause swelling.

Health myths debunkedBy Stephanie Vaccaro

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