global health tribune - june 2012 issue

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PaIdWest Palm Bch, Fl

PermIt No. 1340

GLOBAL HEALTH TRIBUNEP.O. Box 213424

Royal Palm Beach, FL 33421

Global HealthGlobal HealthGlobal HealthT R I B U N E

Scientists Discover A Stem CellThat Causes Heart Disease

Serving: Jupi ter n Palm Beach Gardens n Royal Palm Beach n Well ington n Belle Glade n Lake Worth n Lantana n Boynton n Boca Raton

JUNE I SSUE - 2 0 1 2 www. g l o b a l h e a l t h t r i bun e . c om

WELLINGTONSURGICALWEIGHTREDUCTIONCENTERIS COMMITTEDTO YOU

SFRO’SSURVIVORSHIPCLINIC IS A GIFT FROM ABOVE

BUNION DEFORMITY

Paul Wizman, MD., FACS,FRCS(C), FASMBS

Kishore K. Dass, MDBoard-Certified RadiationOncologist

Dr. Juan Sardina

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P 17

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SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTSPalm Beach Children’s Hospital at St. Mary’s Medical Center

I N S I D E

“Help, I Can’tFall Asleep!”

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Healthy Diet, ExerciseExtend Life for Womenin Their 70s: Study

Many Americans Taking Too MuchAcetaminophen

The Do’s and Don’tsof Speed Dating

P 21P 6

UC Berkeley scientists published a report in the journal Nature Communications saying that they have isolated a type of stem cell that causes heartdisease in later life. PAGE 4

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WWW.GLOBALHEALTHTRIBUNE.COM2 JUNE ISSUE • 2012

Wellington Surgical Weight ReductionCenter is Committed to You

By Deborah Lynn

It is common knowledge thatobesity rates in the UnitedStates are soaring and, unfor-tunately, diet and exercise

don’t always work. Over time,this extra weight may lead to ahost of medical issues (co-mor-bidities).

Fortunately, there is a high quali-ty surgical weight loss programat Wellington Regional MedicalCenter that can help you achieveand maintain your desiredweight for the long term, helpresolve many of the associatedco-morbidities and restore yourquality of life.

Since October, 2008, when thefirst surgical weight loss proce-dure was performed atWellington Regional MedicalCenter, patients have lost morethan 8,000 pounds collectively, anumber that is growing daily.

I met with Program Coordinator,Gwen Gosney, RN, a certifiedbariatric nurse, and JodieThollander, RD LD, a registereddietitian working with surgicalweight loss patients. You canclearly see the passion and dedi-cation of both professionals whocredit the program’s successes tothe patient’s commitment. Theytell me that they only provide the

tools, but I’m certain there’smore to it than that.

The number of men and womenopting for surgical weight lossand attending the monthly edu-cational seminars is on the rise,they say. According to HealthGrades, Inc. there were 14,395bariatric surgery procedures per-formed in Florida alone from2007-2009.

There are a number of reasonswhy, but one driving force maybe the correlation between typeII diabetes and obesity. Somepatients may decide to take con-trol of their weight after witness-ing a loved one battling chronicdiseases due to obesity. Otherreasons may include high blood

pressure, infertility, sleep apneaand joint pain.Patients can begin the process byattending one of the free month-ly educational seminars wherethey will learn about all the sur-gical options available to themand therefore, help them make amore informed decision. There,they will have the opportunity tomeet the talented and experi-enced bariatric surgeon, PaulWizman, MD, who is MedicalDirector of the program.

Dr. Wizman is experienced in allsurgical weight loss options:Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass,Laparoscopic AdjustableBanding, Laparoscopic SleeveGastrectomy and Revisional sur-gery. The decision about whichprocedures is best suited for thepatient may depend on the tar-geted weight loss, co-morbiditiesand perhaps, insurance companyrequirements.

Once the patient has made thedecision to go forward with thesurgery, Gwen will help guidethem through the insurance mazeand assist with paperwork.Patients must undergo psycho-logical evaluation as well asnutritional counseling. “Patientsneed to make immediate changesto their diets,” said JodieThollander. “We teach themproper eating habits so they are

equipped to go forward once thesurgery is completed.”Following surgery, there will belong-term follow up appoint-ments. It is strongly suggestedthat patients attend the monthlysupport group meetings to helpthem discuss life changes andchallenges with others who havebeen through the surgery. Gwenand Jodie are available to answerpatients’ questions and concernsand to provide support.

“One of the main concernspatients have following surgeryis not being able to eat the foodsthey love,” Gwen said. “Withinthe first six months to a year, thepatient may be limited, but afterthat, we encourage them to eat avariety of foods they enjoy.”

“Being obese is more than a cos-metic problem,” said Dr.Wizman. “Given the increasedrisk of developing co-morbiditiesassociated with obesity, losingweight can be a matter of lifeand death for some patients. Atthe Wellington Surgical WeightReduction Center, we’re a fami-ly. Your success is our success;it’s personal.”

If you would like additionalinformation, please visitwww.wellingtonregional.com, orgive the surgical center a call at561-798-8587.

Signs ThatYou Havea HearingProblem

Paul Wizman, MD., FACS, FRCS(C),FASMBS

hearing loss is among themost common conditions inolder people, the clevelandclinic says, affecting aboutone-third of people 60 or olderand half of those older than 85.

do you have the condition?here is the clinic's list ofpossible warning signs:

l difficulty hearing people onthe telephone.

l Problems hearing whenthere is background noise.

l straining to follow aconversation.

l thinking that most peopleare mumbling, andfrequently asking others torepeat themselves.

l Frequentlymisunderstanding whatothers say.

l difficulty understandingchildren and women, orneeding to turn the tVvolume up very loud.

l Frequently hearing ahissing, roaring or ringingsound.

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Podiatric Physicians & surgeonsWhirlpool

with every visit!Dr. Arthur Hansen

Dr. Lori Lane Dr. Juan SardinaDr. Daniel Heck Dr. Shelley Plumb

Personal & Gentle Care For:• Diabetic Foot Care • Hammer Toe• Fracture Care • Ingrown Nails, Bunions• Ankle/Heel/Foot Pain • Poor Circulation• Neuropathy • WOUND Care• Custom Molded Orthotics • Diabetic Shoes

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Call to make your appointment(561) 433-5577WEST OFFICE:

3347 SR 7, Suite 204Wellington, FL 33449

EAST OFFICE:2326 South Congress Ave.

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Bunion deformity is acommon foot deformitywe see in patients of allages. The misconcep-

tion that only older ladies havethis problem when the big toestarts turning towards the outsideof the foot and they have a hugebump of the inside of the foot isnot true. This deformity occurs inadults, adolescents and youngerchildren. Why and how the buniondevelops is not well understood. Abunion or hallux valgus is whenthe big toe of the foot turns to theoutside of the foot and a largebump develops on the inside ofthe foot. The deformity starts verymild as well as the symptoms, butincrease in severity overtime.

The direct cause of the bunion isstill debatable, but there areintrinsic and extrinsic factorsleading to the deformity. The

direct cause is not well under-stood, but how it develops is.The foot tends to turn out as inthe case of flat foot and thedynamic muscle of the foot tendto pull the big toe towards theoutside of the foot while the firstmetatarsal is going toward theinside of the foot, causing thebig bump to appear. Overtime,the inside of the joint of the bigtoe stretches, and the outside ofthe joint contracts pulling the bigtoe more towards the outside.This can cause the other areas ofthe foot to absorb more pressureduring walking and as thebunion becomes more severe,the second toe drifts over the bigtoe. Ill fitting shoes, like thosewith high heels and very narrowtoe box have been implicated inextrinsic factors leading tobunions. There are also intrinsicfactors like genetics, flat foot,and the shape of the bone thathave been shown to lead tobunion deformity.

Patients often complain of pain,difficulties wearing shoes andirritation on the inside of thefoot. In severe cases, the bumpcan lead to wounds and infectionfrom friction on the enlargedbump. Evaluating the patientthoroughly by an experienceddoctor that specializes in footand ankle surgery is very impor-tant in order to address some ofthe causes and assess how the

deformity can be treated. X-raysare necessary and will help toguide the doctor to determinewhat type of surgery is necessaryto correct the deformity.

Not all the treatments have to besurgical, especially at the begin-ning of the deformity. Non-sur-gical treatments include usingwider shoes with soft covers thatdo not irritate the enlargedbump. Orthotics can also help todelay the progression of thedeformity and aid when the pres-sure is transferred to other areasof the foot. There are alsoextensive amounts of splints thatcan keep the big toe in a straightposition, but they can be uncom-fortable to wear with shoes. All

conservative treatments helpeither delay the deformity ormodify it, but will not correctthe problem.

The bunion will only be correct-ed with surgical intervention.There are more than 100 proce-dures that have being describedin the medical literature aboutcorrecting bunions. The surgicalprocedures vary for children andwith the severity of the bunion.Some patients can partially walkafter surgery while others haveto be in a cast without puttingweight on the foot for about 6-8weeks. Having the procedureperformed by a specialized footand ankle surgeon is very impor-tant to have lasting good results

as recurrence is common. Alsoaddressing the deformity at anearly age is beneficial to thepatient and prevents wounds andinfection as is seen when thedeformity is severe in the laterdecades.

Bunion deformity


CONTRIBUTING ARTICLESU.S. Department of Health andHuman Services, ARA Content,Hispanic PR Wire, Centers forDisease Control and Prevention,METRO Editorial Services, Family

Features

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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CONTACT USP.O. Box 213424

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Deborah LynnStaff Writer and Sales Executive

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Erica WhymanStaff Writer and Sales Executive

(561) [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNSergio Aguilar (561) 797-2325

[email protected]

Global Health Tribune is a newspaperpublished every month in Palm Beachcounty and surrounding areas.Copyright 2012, all rights reserved bySEA Publications, Inc. Contents may notbe reproduced in any form without thewritten consent of the publisher. Thepublisher reserves the right to refuseadvertising. The publisher does notaccept responsibility for advertisementerror beyond the cost of theadvertisement itself. All submittedmaterials are subject to editing.

Global HealthGlobal HealthGlobal HealthT R I B U N EScientists Discover A Stem Cell

That Causes Heart Disease

The research is profound be-cause it contradicts muchof the generally accepted

theories of what causes arterialhardening, and the concept mayalso relate to many other diseasescould the associated stem cells bepinpointed.

What senior author Song Li, abioengineering professor at UCBerkeley and a researcher at theBerkeley Stem Cell Center, andhis team have uncovered is adormant stem cell in blood ves-sel walls, that seems to sit inac-tive for most of a person's life-time, before coming to life andcausing less functional cells tobegin to grow. Li says these newtypes of cells that start growingin later life, are the root cause ofarterial hardening and cloggingthat are associated with deadlystrokes and heart attacks.

Originally, it was thought thatthe smooth muscle cells in thearteries lining become scarredover time, and this leads to thenarrow and brittle arteries thatplay a major part in causing car-diovascular disease. Not so saysLiu: Essentially, what the scien-tists are saying is that the smoothmuscle cells are not to blame.Rather a different kind of stemcell, that Li calls multipotentvascular stem cells, kicks in, andbegins growing cells that lookmuch like the smooth musclecells, but don't function correct-ly. The cells were not found pre-viously, because there are so fewof them, that they were hard toisolate.

It almost sounds like somethingfrom Blade Runner, where thereplicant humans have beendeliberately designed to deterio-rate and die at a much faster ratethan the natural ones. What pur-pose would it serve the bodyunder standard evolutionaryterms to have cells activatinglater in life that effectively leadto its demise? With the arteriespoorly formed, with wrong celltypes, the blood flow becomesslowed and can then stoppedcompletely. This causes strokesor heart attacks, depending onthe location of the blockage.Strokes and heart attacks are oneof the leading causes of death inthe United States.

Creating drugs or other genetictreatments to shut down thesestem cells or even deactivatethem while a person is stillyoung has the potential in thefuture to prevent arteriole hard-ening, reverse the damagealready done, and even makethis type of cardiovascular dis-ease a thing of the past. Perhapsthe futuristic Woody Allenmovie "Sleeper" where peoplesmoke tobacco and eat a high fatdiet because it's healthier is notso far fetched after all.

Li backs up his theory by point-ing out that the current ideas, ofsmooth muscle cells in the arterywalls, "dedifferentiating", orbasically reverting back to anearlier stage of development andcausing the scaring and degener-ation seen in hardened arteries,actually had no fundamental

proven mechanism to back it.

Li traced the lineage of the cellsback to the multipotent vascularstem cells, which are able to formseveral types of cell, includingthe smooth muscle cells.

Dr. Deepak Srivastava, directorof the Gladstone Institute ofCardiovascular Disease at UCSF,who provided mouse tissue sam-ples to the UC Berkeley scien-tists but was not involved in theresearch commented on the dra-matic findings:

These findings shift the paradigm... If the new data holds up, thetarget for treating vascular dis-ease may be very different thanwhat we've been aiming at ...Maybe the reason we've met withlimited success in treating heartdisease is because we've beengoing after the wrong target."

It is worth noting, of course, thatthe research is ground breakingand will need to be repeated andconfirmed by other researchteams, and Li did most of hiswork on mouse rather than

human tissue. Nonetheless, it isan impressive work and one thatwill soon give drug companies atarget to begin preventing growthof these negative "death" cells.

Interestingly, the stem cells thatform arteries are also capable ofbecoming nerve, cartilage, boneand fat cells, suggesting whyarteries become brittle or evenfilled with fat deposits. Li saysthat trying to attack the problemwith diets and lower cholesterolis just attacking the symptoms,much like trying to stop a runnynose when you have a cold.

The research is certainly eyeopening, and when we thinkback 100 years to some of themore outlandish scientific theo-ries that have long since beendiscarded, it doesn't requiremuch stretch of the imaginationto realize that there must still betheories taken to be practically afact, that are at best misleadingor at worse plain wrong. In thespirit of a true scientist, Li hasreminded us that we have somuch more to understand aboutour existence.

UC Berkeley scientists published a report inthe journal Nature Communications sayingthat they have isolated a type of stem cellthat causes heart disease in later life.

Many Kids on Medicaid Don't See Dentist: StudySome improvementfound over 5-yearperiod but expertsays program cutscould hurt.

Only about one-third ofU.S. children on Medi-caid receives dental care

in a single year, and how oftenthese kids see a dentist dependson where they live, a new studyfinds.In 2007, the prevalence of vis-its to the dentist ranged from12 percent in Nevada to 49percent in Vermont, but didn'treach 50 percent in any state orthe District of Columbia, theresearchers found.The researchers also comparedthe 2007 findings with datafrom five years earlier.

"This study confirms with actualpaid Medicaid claims data thataccess to dental services forMedicaid-eligible children hasincreased 16 percent nationallybetween 2002 and 2007, eventhough no state has yet reachedeven 50 percent access," saidstudy co-author Dr. Allen ConanDavis, an associate professor atthe University of Alabama atBirmingham School of Dentistryand former chief dental officer

for the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services (CMS).Although progress has been madenationally, more work needs to bedone to improve access to dentalservices for Medicaid-eligiblechildren, he said. "CMS hasestablished goals for preventivedental services for the states in aneffort to encourage continuedimprovement," he noted.However, as with all Medicaidprograms, children's dental careis a partnership between statesand the federal government,Davis said.Since eligibility rules and avail-able dollars vary widely state bystate, so does the care providedto those covered by Medicaid, headded.Medicaid dental programs coverregular check-ups as well asneeded procedures.The report was published online

June and will appear in the Julyprint issue of Pediatrics.The researchers looked atMedicaid records and found thatfor infants and toddlers, the rateof dental visits was low in all butthree states and peaked whenthey started school.Children in the Primary CareCase Management part ofMedicaid tended to have thehighest number of dental carevisits; those covered by theChildren's Health InsuranceProgram (CHIP) also tended tosee a dentist more often.Dental-care programs in schoolsand having a regular dentist werekey in improved children's den-tal care and the likelihood ofseeing a dentist, the researchersnoted."More people are on Medicaidand more and more states, in anattempt to balance their budgets,

have eliminated dental bene-fits," said Dr. LindsayRobinson, a spokeswoman forthe American DentalAssociation.In addition, states are eliminat-ing money for school-baseddental education programs, shesaid.More investment is needed indental care to cover those whorely on Medicaid, Robinsonsaid. "Only about 2 percent ofMedicaid dollars go to dentalcare, in the private system it'striple that," she said.Not only are Medicaid dollarsfor dental care being cut andschool programs being aban-doned in an effort to savemoney, but reimbursements todentists from Medicaid are solow that many dentists aren'twilling to see Medicaidpatients, Robinson said.


Dawn Thompson Named Director ofEmergency and Trauma Services atSt. Mary’s Medical Center

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- May 22,2012—St. Mary’s Medical Center ispleased to announce the appointment ofDawn Thompson as the new EmergencyDepartment and trauma services director.Thompson will be responsible for over-seeing the Emergency Department andtrauma services at the 464-bed compre-hensive hospital.

Before joining the St. Mary’s MedicalCenter team, Thompson was theEmergency Department nurse managerfor a hospital in north Broward County,where she received several promotionsthroughout her 15-year career with thehospital.

Thompson has over 25 years of nursingexperience and has earned certificationsin Critical Care Nursing andNeuroscience Nursing. Thompson is cur-rently pursuing her Master of Science inNursing at Florida InternationalUniversity, specializing in family health.She has dedicated her nursing career tocontinuously advancement and learning,

earning her Bachelor of Science inNursing from Florida InternationalUniversity; Associate of Science inNursing from State University of NewYork; and Practical Nursing degree fromMcFatter Vocational School.

“We are pleased to welcome DawnThompson to our team of directors at St.Mary’s Medical Center,” said chief execu-tive officer, Davide Carbone. “St. Mary’sMedical Center looks forward to Ms.Thompson’s leadership in continuing ahigh level of excellence in providingemergency and trauma services to ourcommunity.”

Dawn Thompson.

Disney to Curtail Junk FoodAds Aimed at KidsChange will affect the media giant's child-focused TVchannels, radio stations and websites.

Anew strict set of nutritional stan-dards is being introduced for allproducts advertised on the Walt

Disney Company's child-focused televisionchannels, radio stations and websites.The company said its new advertisingstandards largely follow recommendationsproposed last year by federal regulators,The New York Times reported Tuesday.Under the new rules, a wide range of fastfoods, sugared cereal, candy, drinks andother products will no longer be accept-able advertising material for Disney.In addition to the new advertising stan-dards, Disney will reduce by 25 percentthe amount of sodium in the 12 millionchildren's meals served each year at itstheme parks. The company also planspublic service announcements encourag-ing exercise and healthy eating for chil-dren, the Times reported.According to USA Today, by 2015, allfoods and beverages advertised, promotedor sponsored on the Disney Channel,Disney XD, Disney Junior, Radio Disney,Disney.com and Saturday morning pro-gramming for children on ABC-ownedstations will have to meet the new guide-lines for limiting calories and reducingsaturated fat, sodium and sugar. The WaltDisney Co. owns the ABC Network.In response to Disney's announcement,Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president andCEO of the Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation, said: "The Walt DisneyCompany is taking strides to help millionsof children lead healthier lives. Sellingand marketing healthier foods and bever-ages, and providing more informationabout those options, will help childrenand families make healthier choices."Disney has set a new bar that other com-

panies and business leaders should striveto reach. The company's new policy goesbeyond commitments made by other busi-nesses and recommendations made by thefederal government to help prevent child-hood obesity," Lavizzo-Mourey added ina foundation news release.Disney executives were to make the for-mal announcement Tuesday inWashington, D.C., where they will bejoined by First Lady Michelle Obama,who has long campaigned for healthierlifestyles for America's children. In astatement, she said: "This new initiative istruly a game changer for the health of ourchildren . . . With this new initiative,Disney is doing what no major mediacompany has ever done before in the U.S.-- and what I hope every company will dogoing forward. When it comes to the adsthey show and the food they sell, they areasking themselves one simple question:'Is this good for our kids?'"

1 in 3 Teens Admits toTexting While DrivingOn the plus side, manymore young motoristsbuckle up, drive sobernow than before, CDCsays.

Although more teen drivers arebuckling up and not drivingdrunk than in years past, an-other danger -- texting -- is

posing a new threat, U.S. government re-search shows.

One in three high school students saidthey had texted or emailed while driv-ing during the past month, says aresearch team from the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC)."Texting or emailing while driving canhave deadly consequences that areentirely preventable," Howell Wechsler,director of CDC's Division ofAdolescent and School Health, said dur-ing a noon press conference Thursday."So while we are pleased to see changesin many behaviors related to motorvehicle crashes, we are alarmed bysome of the new findings, especiallythose involving distracted driving."

There was some very good news fromthe new report: Over the past 20 yearsthere have been marked improvementsamong teens in terms of wearing seat-belts, not riding with drunk drivers andnot driving drunk, Wechsler's teamfound.

"The most notable finding in this reportis the significant reduction in riskbehaviors related to motor vehiclecrashes, which are the leading cause ofdeath among youth in the UnitedStates," Wechsler said. "They accountfor more than one in three teen deathsevery year."

From 1991 to 2011, the time span cov-ered by the report, the number of highschool students who said they "never orrarely" wore a seat belt dropped from26 percent to only 8 percent.

Over the same period, the number of stu-dents who said they had recently riddenwith a driver who had been drinkingdropped from 40 percent to 24 percent.The number of teens who said they hadbeen drinking while driving fell from 17percent in 1997 to 8 percent in 2011, thereport notes."These trends show that we are makinggreat progress in helping our nation'syouth make positive health choices,"Wechsler said. "Over the past decadethere has been a 44 percent drop in motorvehicle crash deaths in teens aged 13 to19 years old."

But new distracting, potentially dangerousbehaviors such as texting have alsoemerged. "For the first time, the reportoffers national data showing that the useof technology [such as cellphones] amongyouth is resulting in new risks," Wechslersaid.

In addition, the report found that one insix teens had been bullied through email,chat rooms, instant messaging, websitesor texting in the past year.

Other highlights of the report include:In 2009, 19 percent of teens smoked; in2011 it was 18 percent.

Marijuana use rose from 21 percent in2009 to 23 percent in 2011.

More high school students smoke mari-juana now than smoke cigarettes.The data were collected by interviewingmore than 15,000 high school studentsfrom around the nation. For the first time,data were collected using both landlinephones and cellphones.

Too Much Screen TimeMay Harm Kids' Fitness

Spending too much time in front ofcomputers and other electronicscreens may cause American chil-

dren's heart and lung fitness levels, or"cardiorespiratory" fitness, to decline, anew study suggests.Cardiorespiratory fitness involves thebody's ability to transport oxygen tomuscles during exercise.The study included more than 2,000

children who were followed from ages 11to 13. Each child reported their screentime and completed shuttle run laps toassess their fitness level.Children who reported more screen timecompleted fewer shuttle run laps, theinvestigators found. This association wasstrongest in children with mid-to-highcardiorespiratory fitness levels, and wasindependent of physical activity levels.The study was published in the June issueof the journal Medicine & Science inSports & Exercise."The results are interesting and add to theevidence that spending too much time sit-ting is hazardous to children's health,"study lead author Jonathan Mitchell, whoconducted the research while at theArnold School of Public Health,University of South Carolina, said in anews release from the American Collegeof Sports Medicine.


The Do’s and Don’ts of Speed DatingBy Deborah Lynn

So, you’ve just signed up foryour first speed dating eventand as you wait for the big

day to arrive, your mind is floodedwith questions. What should Iwear? What should I ask? Is thereanything that I shouldn't do?

Having hosted numerous eventsfor the top speed dating compa-ny in Chicago, I have seen first-hand how people have interacted- both appropriately and inappro-priately. Therefore, to makeyour dating event as enjoyable aspossible, I have composed a listof Do's and Don'ts that willensure a positive outcome.

DO register in advance and foryour correct age group. If youregister for the wrong group anddo not make a connection, youwill have a negative opinion ofthe service.

DO dress appropriately as firstimpressions count. If you lookunkempt, that is what someonewill remember.

DO arrive early and with a posi-tive attitude. People that exudepositive energy will have a muchmore favorable experience at theevent and in life in general.

DO come prepared with a list ofquestions that are important toYOU. Are there certain thingsthat are a deal breaker for you?Be honest and upfront. They donot need to know your life story,your illnesses or your favoritesexual position (yes, there was awoman that offended everyonearound her by asking every manthat very question). Keep per-sonal stuff to yourself.Remember, these are strangers

that are simply trying to meetsomeone - just like you are try-ing to meet someone. So, keepit simple.

DON'T use your phone once theevent begins. Unless it's anemergency, texting and phonecalls can wait until after theevent has ended.

DON'T have more than twodrinks!!! I don't care how nerv-ous you are, how well youTHINK you can handle youralcohol or how thirsty you are -drink water!!! You are there tomeet people and enjoy yourself.No one wants to date a sloppydrunk.

DO remember - you only havebetween three and eight minutesto talk with someone. When thebell rings or the whistle is blown– move on.

DO focus and take notes.People will often end up out ofnumerical order and if you onlywrite down their number - you'rein trouble. Write down their firstname and things that you willremember them by, such as a

Delray Medical Center Nurse WinsPalm Healthcare Foundation’s Educator of the Year Award

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – May,2012- Delray Medical Center isproud to announce that clinicalnurse educator, Laine Sherman,RN, won the Educator of theYear award at this year’s PalmHealthcare Foundation NursingDistinction Awards event. Theevent attracted 450 supportersthat gathered for “Broadway atThe Breakers,” to pay tribute tothe exceptional nurses in PalmBeach County. Laine Shermanand other award recipients wererecognized for their dedication toexcellence in an area of expertisebeyond the scope of their jobs,commitment to the profession ofnursing, and a sense of commu-nity.

“Delray Medical Center congrat-ulates Laine Sherman on her

Laine Sherman was awarded the Educator of the Year award for herdedication to nursing and clinical education

well deserved Educator of theYear award,” said JenniferChiusano, chief nursing officerof Delray Medical Center. “Withher enthusiasm and constant

quest for learning and sharingknowledge, Ms. Sherman is atrue inspiration to our staff atDelray Medical Center. She is avalued member of our hospitalteam and community.”

This special evening honoredregistered nurses, licensed prac-tical nurses, nurse educators,nursing assistants, nursing stu-dents, and leaders of the nursingcommunity. A committee of 30selected the eight honorees fromover 100 nominations submittedby healthcare professionals andpatients/families. Winners werechosen on the basis of dedicationto excellence in an area ofexpertise beyond the scope oftheir jobs, commitment to theprofession of nursing, and asense of community.

Laine Sherman, RN.

beautiful smile.

DON’T give out your personalinformation. A first name is allthey need to know at that point.You will generally find out with-in 48 hours if there is a mutualconnection. At that time, youwill receive their e-mail addressand with some services, theirphone number as well.

DON’T try to pick up your host.They are there to ensure that youhave an enjoyable experience,answer questions and to makesure the event runs smoothly.

DO come alone. You will findthat most of the people thatattend these events come alone.

DO come with friends, but keepin mind that you may be interest-ed in the same person. If theychoose you and not your friend,will your friend feel rejected?Unfortunately, this does happenquite often and sometimes theywill not pick either just to elimi-nate any potential problems.

Remember that the most impor-tant thing is DO HAVE FUN!!!

Good Samaritan Medical CenterReceives Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award

Awarddemonstrates GoodSamaritan MedicalCenter commitmentto quality care forheart failurepatients

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -May 16, 2012 — GoodSamaritan Medical Center hasreceived the Get With TheGuidelines®-Heart FailureGold Plus QualityAchievement Award from theAmerican Heart Associationfor its excellence in the treat-ment of patients with heartfailure.

This award is given only tohospitals that achieve 85 per-cent or higher adherence to allGet With The Guidelines-Heart Failure QualityAchievement indicators fortwo or more consecutive 12-month intervals and haveachieved 75 percent or highercompliance with four of nineGet With The Guidelines-Heart Failure QualityMeasures to improve qualityof patient care and outcomes.

Get With The Guidelines is aquality improvement initiativethat provides hospital staffwith tools that follow provenevidence-based guidelines andprocedures in caring for heartfailure patients to improveoutcomes, prevent future hos-pitalizations and prolong life.

Under Get With TheGuidelines–Heart Failure,heart failure patients are start-ed on aggressive risk reduc-tion therapies such as choles-terol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors,aspirin, diuretics, and antico-agulants in the hospital. Theyalso receive alcohol/drug use

and thyroid management coun-seling as well as referrals forcardiac rehabilitation beforebeing discharged.

“Here at Good SamaritanMedical Center, we are strivingto provide the best care to ourpatients and family members,and to ensure that all of ourpatients and visitors are in goodhands. The American HeartAssociation’s Get With TheGuidelines program has provideda pathway for our cardiacpatients such that we assist intheir healing and help them toexperience longer and healthierlives, said hospital CEO MarkNosacka. “We are pleased forour doctors and caregivers to berecognized for our dedicationand commitment to cardiaccare.”

Get With The Guidelines–HeartFailure helps Good SamaritanMedical Center’s staff developand implement acute and sec-ondary prevention guidelineprocesses. The program provideshospitals with a web-basedpatient management tool, deci-sion support, robust registry,real-time benchmarking capabili-ties and other performanceimprovement methodologiestoward the goal of enhancingpatient outcomes and savinglives.

This high-tech, evidence-basedapproach enables GoodSamaritan Medical Center toimprove the quality of care itprovides heart failure patients,save lives and ultimately, reducehealthcare costs by avoiding re-hospitalization.

According to the American HeartAssociation, about 5.7 millionpeople suffer from heart failure.Statistics also show that, eachyear, 670,000 new cases arediagnosed and more than277,000 people will die of heartfailure.

Small Batteries, Other ShinyObjects Pose Risks to ChildrenCoins, magnets and smallbatteries pose serious dangersto children when accidentallyswallowed, the AmericanCollege of EmergencyPhysicians warns.Not only are theseobjects potentialchoking hazards,some can causesevere internal dam-age."Items like these are smalland shiny and attractive toyoung children," collegepresident Dr. David Seabergsaid in an organization newsrelease. "They are easilyaccessible to kids. Small bat-

teries, for example, are oftenfound in a child's toy and fromthat child's perspective, they canlook like pieces of candy."

If swallowed, small batteriesused in many toys andremote controls can getstuck in a child's esopha-gus or gastrointestinaltract. If not removed

quickly, the batteries canerode tissue.A life-threatening situation canoccur if a child swallows smallbut powerful neodymium (a typeof metal) magnets. The magnetscan attract each other inside thechild's body and trap tissuebetween them.


Undoing health law couldhave messy ripple effectsIt sounds like a silver lining.

Even if the Supreme Courtoverturns President BarackObama's health care law, em-

ployers can keep offering popularcoverage for the young adult chil-dren of their workers.

But here's the catch: The parents'taxes would go up.

That's only one of the messypotential ripple effects when theSupreme Court delivers its ver-dict on the Affordable Care Actthis month. The law affects mostmajor components of the U.S.health care system in its effort toextend coverage to millions ofuninsured people.

Because the legislation is socomplicated, an orderly unwind-ing would prove difficult if itwere overturned entirely or inpart.

Better Medicare prescriptionbenefits, currently saving hun-dreds of dollars for older peoplewith high drug costs, would besuspended. Ditto for preventivecare with no co-payments, nowavailable to retirees and workingfamilies alike.

Partially overturning the lawcould leave hospitals, insurersand other service providers onthe hook for tax increases andspending cuts without the law'spromise of more paying cus-tomers to offset losses.

If the law is upheld, other kindsof complications could result.

The nation is so divided thatstates led by Republicans arelargely unprepared to carry outcritical requirements such as cre-ating insurance markets. Thingsmay not settle down.

"At the end of the day, I don'tthink any of the major players inthe health insurance industry orthe provider community reallywants to see the whole thing

overturned," said ChristineFerguson, a health policy expertwho was commissioner of publichealth in Massachusetts whenMitt Romney was governor.

"Even though this is not themost ideal solution, at least it ismoving us forward, and it doesinfuse some money into the sys-tem for coverage," saidFerguson, now at GeorgeWashington University. As theGOP presidential candidate,Romney has pledged to wipeObama's law off the books. Buthe defends his Massachusettslaw that served as a prototypefor Obama's.

While it's unclear how the jus-tices will rule, oral argumentsdid not go well for the Obamaadministration. The central issueis whether the government canrequire individuals to havehealth insurance and fine them ifthey don't.

That mandate takes effect in2014, at the same time that thelaw would prohibit insurancecompanies from denying cover-age to people with existinghealth problems. Most expertssay the coverage guarantee

would balloon costs unless virtu-ally all people joined the insur-ance pool.

Opponents say Congress over-stepped its constitutional authori-ty by issuing the insurance man-date. The administration says therequirement is permissiblebecause it serves to regulateinterstate commerce. Most peo-ple already are insured. The lawprovides subsidies to help unin-

Because the benefit is a winnerwith consumers, experts saymany employers and insurerswould look for ways to keepoffering it even if there's no legalrequirement to do so.

But economist Paul Fronstin ofthe Employee Benefit ResearchInstitute says many parentswould pay higher taxes as aresult because they would haveto pay for the young adult's cov-erage with after-tax dollars.Under the health care law, thatcoverage now comes out of pre-tax dollars.

Fronstin says there's no way totell exactly how much that taxincrease might be, but a coupleof hundred dollars a year or moreis a reasonable ballpark estimate.Upper-income taxpayers wouldhave a greater liability.

"Adult children aren't necessarilydependents for tax purposes, butan employer can allow anyone tobe on a plan, just like they nowallow domestic partners," saidFronstin. "If your employer said,'I'm going to let you keep this,' itwould become a taxable benefitfor certain people."

Advocates for the elderly arealso worried about untoward rip-ple effects.

If the entire law is overturned,seniors with high prescriptioncosts in Medicare's "donut hole"coverage gap could lose annualdiscounts averaging about $600.AARP policy director DavidCertner says he would hope thediscounts could remain in place atleast through the end of this year.

Yet that might not be possible.Lacking legal authority,Medicare would have to takeaway the discounts. Drugmakers,now bearing the cost, coulddecide they want to keep offer-ing discounts voluntarily. Butthen they'd risk running afoul ofother federal rules that bar med-ical providers from offeringfinancial inducements toMedicare recipients.

"I don't think anyone has anyidea," said Certner.

A mixed verdict from the highcourt would be the most confus-ing outcome. Some parts of thelaw would be struck down whileothers lurch ahead.

That kind of result would seemto call for Congress to step inand smooth any necessary adjust-ments. Yet partisan divisions on

sured middle-class householdspay premiums and expandsMedicaid to pick up more low-income people.

The coverage for young adultsup to age 26 on a parent's healthinsurance is a popular provisionthat no one's arguing about. Areport last week from theCommonwealth Fund estimatedthat 6.6 million young adults

have taken advantage of the ben-efit, while a new Gallup surveyshowed the uninsured rate forpeople age 18-25 continues todecline, down to 23 percent from28 percent when the law tookeffect.

Families will be watching tosee if their 20-somethings tran-sitioning to the work worldwill get to keep that newfoundsecurity.

Supreme Court.

'Dead' boy sits up in coffin, asks for water and dies again in BrazilMelbourne: A two-year-oldBrazilian boy, who wasdeclared dead, sat up in hiscoffin and asked for waterbefore laying back downagain lifeless.

According to Website ORM,Kelvin Santos stopped breath-ing during treatment for pneu-monia at a hospital in Belem,northern Brazil.

The boy was declared dead at7.40pm on Friday and hisbody was handed over to hisfamily in a plastic bag.

The child's devastated familytook him home where grievingrelatives held a wake throughoutthe night as the boy's body laidin an open coffin.

But just an hour before hisfuneral was to take place onSaturday, the boy apparently satup in his coffin and said askedhis father for water.

"Daddy, can I have some water,"the child said.

"Everybody started to scream,we couldn't believe our eyes.Then we thought a miracle hadtaken place and our boy hadcome back to life," the boy'sfather, Antonio Santos said."Then Kelvin just laid backdown, the way he was. We

couldn't wake him. He was deadagain… Mr Santos rushed hisson back to the Aberlardo Santoshospital in Belem,where the doc-tors reexamined the boy andconfirmed that he had no signsof life.

"They assured me that he reallywas dead and gave me no expla-nation for what we had just seenand heard," Santos said.

The boy's family decided todelay the funeral for an hourhoping that he would wake upagain, but ended up burying him

at 5 pm the same day in a localcemetery. Santos, who is con-vinced that his son was victimof medical malpractice, hasnow registered a complaintwith the police who havelaunched an investigation.

"Fifteen minutes after rushinghim away for resuscitation,they came and told me he wasdead and handed me his body.Perhaps they didn't examinehim properly. Dead peopledon't just wake up and talk. I'mdetermined to find out thetruth," Santos said.

Because the legislation is socomplicated, an orderly unwinding

would prove difficult if it wereoverturned entirely or in part.


Junk Food More Appealing When You're Sleepy: Study

Unhealthy foods, such assweets and chips, aremore appealing to peo-ple who haven't had

enough sleep, new research sug-gests.

When researchers examined theareas of the brain that were mostactive when people were lookingat healthy or unhealthy foods,they found the reward centers ofthe brain were activated whensleep-deprived study volunteerssaw pictures of unhealthy foods."We found regions associatedwith reward and motivation --those that are involved withaddiction and pleasure-seekingbehaviors -- were more stronglyactivated in the short-sleepphase," said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a research associate at St.Luke's Roosevelt HospitalCenter and an assistant professorat Columbia University'sInstitute of Human Nutrition inNew York City.

Findings from the study arescheduled for presentation at theAssociated Professional SleepSocieties annual meeting inBoston.A second small study from thesame meeting didn't find a largedifference in the activation of thebrain's reward centers in people

who were tired. The researchersfrom the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley did, howev-er, find significantly impairedactivity in an area in the frontallobe of the brain. This area ofthe brain helps control behaviorand make complex choices. When people were sleep-deprived and then presented pic-tures of unhealthy foods, thisarea of the brain didn't respondwell, which would make choos-ing healthy foods more difficult.The study included 16 healthy

young adults who underwentfunctional magnetic resonanceimaging (fMRI) once after a fullnight of sleep and then againafter 24 hours of sleep depriva-tion. They were asked to ratetheir desire for 80 different foodsduring each test.

St-Onge's study included 25 nor-mal-weight men and womenwho underwent fMRI after fivenights of restricted sleep (fourhours a night) and then againafter five nights of being allowed

to sleep for nine hours.

While they were in the fMRIscanner, they were shown pic-tures of healthy foods, such asfruits, vegetables and oatmeal;unhealthy foods, such as candyor pepperoni pizza; and nonfooditems, such as office supplies.

They found that unhealthy foodsactivated areas of the brain con-sidered reward centers only inpeople whose sleep was restrict-ed. When the same people wereallowed to rest a full night, theyhad no such activation in thebrain's reward center when theysaw the unhealthy foods.

"I think it's related to cognitivecontrol," St-Onge explained."Your guard is somewhat downwhen you're tired and sleepdeprived. Even though you knowyou probably shouldn't eat cer-tain foods, when you're tired youmight just decide to go for it."Registered dietician SamanthaHeller said she was not surprisedby the studies' findings.

"It makes sense that when youare fatigued, your body wouldwant calorie-dense foods thatgive you quick energy," saidHeller, clinical nutrition coordi-nator at the Center for CancerCare at Griffin Hospital in

Derby, Conn. "In an evolution-ary sense, doing so would pro-vide an advantage because youdo get a momentary lift whenyou eat."

In today's society, the foods peo-ple often turn to for a quick shotof energy are processed carbohy-drates, rather than a piece offruit. But, she said, that momen-tary lift from processed foodswon't last long, and trying to eatto make up for sleep deprivationjust won't work.

A better choice is to keephealthy foods around, in bothyour home and workplace, so it'seasy to reach for a healthyoption, Heller said.

St-Onge said a clear messagefrom her study is that it's impor-tant to get enough sleep everynight. She suggested betweenseven and eight hours nightly."This is especially important ifyou're trying to lose weight," shesaid, because you may choosethe wrong foods if you don't getenough sleep.

Because this study was present-ed at a medical meeting, thedata and conclusions should beviewed as preliminary untilpublished in a peer-reviewedjournal.

Japan team create liverfrom stem cells: report

Key to More Active, SlimmerKids: Friends: report

Japanese researchers havecreated a functioning hu-man liver from stemcells, a

report said Friday, raising hopesfor the manufacture of artificialorgans for those in need oftransplants.

A team of scientists transplant-ed induced pluripotent stem(iPS) cells into the body of amouse, where it grew into asmall, but working, humanliver, the Yomiuri Shimbunsaid.

Stemcells are frequently har-vested from embryos, whichare then discarded, a practicesome people find morallyobjectionable. But iPS cells --which have the potential todevelop into any body tissue --can be taken from adults.A team led by professorHideki Taniguchi at YokohamaCity University developedhuman iPS cells into "precur-sor cells", which they thentransplanted into a mouse'shead to take advantage ofincreased blood flow.

The cells grew into a human

liver 5 millimetres (0.2 inches)in size that was capable of gen-erating human proteins andbreaking down drugs, theYomiuri reported.

The breakthrough opens thedoor to the artificial creation ofhuman organs, a key battle-ground for doctors who con-stantly face a shortage of trans-plant donors.

Taniguchi's research could be"an important bridge betweenbasic research and clinicalapplication" but faces variouschallenges before it can be putinto medical practice, theYomiuri said.

An abstract of Taniguchi'sresearch was delivered toregenerative medicineresearchers ahead of an aca-demic conference next week,but Taniguchi declined to com-ment to AFP before the meet-ing.

Two separate teams, one fromthe United States and one fromJapan, discovered iPS cells in2006.

Could your young child beputting on excess poundsbecause her friends sit

around? A small study suggests it'spossible: Kids seemed to becomemore active in after-school pro-grams if they hung out with activekids, and the reverse was true, too.The findings don't prove thatfriends directly affect how activekids are, and it's not clearwhether there's enough of animpact to make a difference inobesity or activity levelsthroughout the day.Still, the research raises ques-tions about whether chubbierkids can be influenced by moreactive peers, said study co-author Eric Tesdahl, a graduatestudent in Vanderbilt University'sdepartment of human and orga-nizational development. Perhaps,he said, less-active kids could begrouped with more-active ones."There's a pretty good chancethat you could make some sig-nificant changes based on thesocial-influence factor alone,"Tesdahl said. This is especiallytrue, he said, since the researchsuggests kids don't simply flockto other kids who are like them -- active or non-active -- butinstead are influenced by theirpeers.In the study, researchers ana-lyzed 81 kids aged 5 to 12 inafter-school programs. Theiraverage age was 8 and mostwere black or Latino. Theresearchers followed them overthree months, asked them about

their friends and tracked theiractivity levels with devicescalled accelerometers. They onlywore the devices during theafter-school programs, whichlasted for three hours a day.The kids appeared to adjust theiractivity levels to those closest tothem. While other research hassuggested that kids are drawn tothose who are most similar tothem in terms of obesity --"obese kids tend to befriendobese kids," as Tesdahl put it --this study didn't show that."It was much more likely for achild to adjust their activity levelto that of their friends than itwas for them to not adjust or togo in the opposite direction,"Tesdahl said.The study found that childrenconsistently increased theiractivity levels by 10 percent tobe more in line with their peers.Ray Browning, an assistant pro-fessor at Colorado StateUniversity's department of healthand exercise science, praised thestudy and said it helps clarify

"how relationships affect health-related behavior" even though "itis easy to look at a study likethis and say 'duh.'"However, he said, the study onlylooks at a few hours of the day.In the big picture, he said, it's"well-established" that peersmake a major difference inteenagers when it comes tothings like using drugs. But theinfluence of other kids is not asclear in younger kids.To make things more complicat-ed, "the friendships of youngchildren are fairly dynamic," hesaid. "They're forming andreforming with some relativelyhigh frequency."By contrast, he said, "we tend tothink of obesity as more of achronic condition that weacquire over time. When thefriendships are coming andgoing, you could make the argu-ment that it may have less of animpact."The study appears in the Juneissue of the journal Pediatrics,published online.


Delray Medical Center Celebrates First Quarter DAISY Award Winner and NomineesDAISY awardrecognizesextraordinary nurses

DELRAY BEACH,Fla.- May 22, 2012-To recognize nursesthat provide extraordi-

nary nursing care, Delray Med-ical Center announced its firstquarter DAISY Award finalistsand winner. Four nurses were se-lected as nominees of whom onewinner was selected. All nomi-nees were chosen based on theireducation, training, skill, judg-ment and compassionate care,which truly make a difference inthe lives of so many of DelrayMedical Center’s patients and thecommunity.The first quarter Daisy Awardwinner was Nathalie Garrettfrom the Neuro Telemetry Unit.Nominees were Gwen McGeefrom the TICU; Taylor Mackey

from the ED; and Deena Dooleyfrom the Trauma Unit. “Delray Medical Center is proudto celebrate all of our DAISYAward nominees and winner,Nathalie Garrett,” said DelrayMedical Center chief executive

officer, Mark Bryan. “We alwaysstrive to recognize our nurseswho take pride in the nursingprofession and who go over thecall of duty to provide a highlevel of service and quality careto our patients.”

For the DAISY Award, numer-ous hospitals and medical facili-ties around the country selectaward recipients each quarter.Recipients are chosen by theirnurse administrators, peers,physicians and patients. As of

July, 2009, over 4,500 nurseshave received the DAISYAward. Since it takes a team to providegreat patient care, physicians,nurses, and staff at DelrayMedical Center were treated toCinnabon® cinnamon rolls dur-ing the DAISY Award presenta-tion. Delray Medical Center alsoreceived a banner to hang in thehospital to celebrate The DAISYAward honors and the nursingprofession. The DAISY award is sponsoredby Cinnabon's franchisees andparent company, FOCUS Brandsas the Premier Sponsor. It is co-sponsored in several hospitals byfamilies and companies, includ-ing the Angels BaseballFoundation; Hill-Rom; Johnson& Johnson's Campaign ForNursing's Future; NovaVine;Sam’s Club; UnitedHealthcare;U.S. Airways; Wells Fargo; andWellington Vineyards.

ExerciseCan HelpManageMenopauseafter menopause, women are morelikely than before to have heart diseaseor develop osteoporosis, the americancouncil on exercise says.

the council says aerobic and weight-bearing forms of exercise can decreasea person's risk of:

l heart disease.

l osteoporosis.

l anxiety and depression.

l losing too much weight.

By Deborah Lynn

It has been a few months now sincedouble board-certified Cardiologist,Dr. Waqar Khan, arrived in SouthFlorida after selling his very successful

practice in a suburb of Houston.

So, one would obviously be curious as towhy someone who truly made such animpact in the Houston area with his inno-vative techniques and numerous accoladeswould leave his thriving practice behindand relocate to Florida?

The answer is quite simple… family. Dr.Khan’s wife, Sarah, missed her family inFt. Lauderdale and being a devoted fami-ly man, he made the concession – out oflove.

While sitting down with Dr. Khan to dis-cuss his move and practice, I quickly real-ized just how passionate he is about thethings he loves in his life - family, prac-tice and his wonderful office staff.

Thanks to that very staff, his transitionhas been a smooth one. When you walkinto his office at 1395 State Road 7, youwill find Jenna, a sweet young lady that ismore than willing to help you with yourappointment. When you meet hisMedical Assistants, Esther and Norrissiee,you can easily see why they are part ofthe team as they are so warm, friendlyand eager to help all the patients.

Summer, his nurse practitioner, is just aspersonable as everyone else and worksalongside Dr. Khan and their patients.Last, but certainly not least, Shelly is thepractice manager. Thanks to Shelly, theoffice appears to run effortlessly, but thereis truly so much that goes into makingthis practice as good as it is – it’s an out-

standing team and an incredibly giftedcardiologist.

Being double board-certified means thathe is certified in cardiology and interven-tional cardiology - which are actually twodifferent divisions. Although he does thetypical procedures that any cardiologistdoes, he also goes beyond as he is con-stantly looking for new and innovative

techniques and procedures to better servehis patients. According to Dr. Khan,“there are a lot of new things comingdown the pipeline. We will be able to dosurgeries of the chest without opening upthe chest by going through their groin. Inaddition, there are new types of stents thatwill actually eat up plaque, including theheavy plaque of the legs. We can also putstents in the arteries in the neck instead ofopening them up for the old style surgicaltechnique.”

He currently enjoys privileges atWellington Regional Medical Center,Palms West Hospital, Bethesda MemorialHospital and Delray Medical Center whichis one of the top 50 hospitals in the country.

In addition to his office on the grounds ofWellington Regional Medical Center, healso has another location at 14428 S.Military Trail in Delray Beach. If youwould like to make an appointment ateither location, please give Jenna a call at561-424-5555 and she will be happy toset that up for you at either location.

Dr. Khan is board certified in Cardiology aswell as Interventional Cardiology and is afellow of the American College of Cardiol-ogy. He has extensive experience in Pe-ripheral Vascular Interventions, Coronaryand Carotid Artery Angioplasty and Stents.Dr. Khan is one of only a few cardiologistsin South Florida trained to perform the rev-olutionary Carotid Artery Stenting proce-dure designed to open blockages in arter-ies supplying brain circulation and therebyavoiding the potential for stroke. Dr. Khanholds a Masters degree in Public Healthfrom the University of Texas Health Sci-ences Center in Houston. His internshiptraining was at St. Louis University Med-ical Center, followed by residency in Inter-nal Medicine at University of Texas HealthSciences Center in Houston. Upon thecompletion of a fellowship in cardiology atthe University of Texas Medical Branch inGalveston, he completed additional fellow-ships in peripheral and coronary interven-tional cardiology at St. Elizabeth’s MedicalCenter-Tufts University School of Medicinein Boston and the Cardiovascular Instituteof the South in Louisiana respectively. DrKhan performs advanced cardiac and vas-cular procedures at some of the area’sbest hospitals in Boynton Beach, DelrayBeach and Wellington.

Dr Khan performs advancedcardiac and vascular procedures

at some of the area’s besthospitals in Boynton Beach,Delray Beach and Wellington.

Dr. Waqar Khan is Settlingin Quite Nicely

Example 3: 37-Year-Old with BRCAI(+)

Example 5: 31-Year-Old with Ductal Carcinoma High GradeExample 2: 34-Year-Old with Strong Family History

Example 1: 37-Year-Old with BRCAI(+)

Example 6: 55-Year-Old with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma

Pre-op

Pre-op Post-op Day #1 3 Months Post-op Pre-op 3 Months Post-op 3 Months Post-op

Pre-op

Pre-op

Pre-op 4 Months Post-op

4 Months Post-op

3 Months Post-op

Pre-op

Pre-op 2 Months Post-op

6 Weeks Post-op

2 Months Post-op

Example 4: 54-Year-Old with Invasive Lobular Carcinoma


Nipple Areolar Complex Skin- Sparing Mastectomies;

A Thirteen Year Retrospective Study From A Community HospitalJFK Medical Center – Palm Beach County, FL

Objectives: The standardtreatment of breast cancer from asurgical approach is to eradicatethe cancer by excision of thetumor obtaining clear margins.Lumpectomies as a conservativeprocedure have produced excel-lent results; however, in caseswhere mastectomies are neces-sary or requested, the nipple are-olar complex- skin sparing mas-tectomy produces similar resultsas a lumpectomy or modifiedradical mastectomy and shouldbe considered for the standard ofcare. This retrospective studycontains statistically significantdata to consider nipple areolarcomplex mastectomy as anappropriate choice without com-promise of the ultimate goal of

cancer removal. The preserva-tion of the nipple areolar com-plex has an additional benefit tothe patient both psychologicallyas well as cosmetically.

Methods: Nipple areolar com-plex skin- sparing mastectomieswere first performed by us in1998 with patients entering thestudy up until 2011. Between1998 and 2011, 178 patientsunderwent 280 NAC- skin spar-ing mastectomies. Thesepatients were chosen from agroup of women that eitherrequested or required a mastecto-my. Prophylactic procedureswere performed in gene positivepatients or patients with a strongfamily history of breast cancer.

The patients were informed thatthis procedure was investigation-al and not a standard of care andwere referred to a medical oncol-ogist, a radiation oncologist, anda plastic surgeon for consulta-tion. This procedure was offeredto patients regardless of theirpathology or tumor location, andno patients were denied theopportunity of undergoing a nip-ple areolar complex- skin spar-ing mastectomy.

Results: A total of 280 nippleareolar complex mastectomieswere performed; 102 were bilat-eral and 76 were unilateral; 114were done for invasive cancer;48 for in situ cancer; 15 were

either gene positive or had astrong family history of cancerand one patient required a mas-tectomy for an extensive phyl-lodes tumor. One patient had anipple recurrence requiring thenipple to be removed and is can-cer free eight years following thesecond operation. There were 9patients who had a recurrence toother areas of the breast requir-ing additional surgery. None ofthe non-cancer patients devel-oped cancer.

Conclusion: This thirteen-year study demonstrates excel-lent cancer-free survival usingnipple areolar sparing mastecto-my. This procedure offers supe-

John D. Corbitt, Jr., M.D. Luis A. Vinas, M.D.

Lori Anthony, PA-C, MPH Victoria Vanacore, PA-C, MMS

Teresa Vaughn, RN, CNOR, CRNFA

surgimend is a non-crosslinked collagenmatrix derived from fetal bovine dermis.chosen for its ability to be quicklyincorporated and revascularized withoutinflammation, this product was added to thereconstruction procedure in 2006 to provide

Addition of a Biologic Matrix to the Surgical Procedure

Nipple Sparing Mastectomy (NSM): 178 Patients Patients Procedures Procedure Type

87 174 Bilateral Nsm for bilateral cancer of unilateral cancer76 76 Unilateral Nsm for unilateral cancer15 30 Bilateral prophylactic Nsm (gene positive of strong family history)

rior cosmetic results with addi-tional psychological benefits inthe overall treatment of thebreast cancer patient.

Their offices are located at:

John Corbitt, M.D.142 JFK Drive

Atlantis, FL 33462(561) 439-1500

Luis Vinas, M.D.550 S. Quadrille Blvd.

West Palm Beach, FL 33401(561) 655-3305

please see page 11 for the physician's ads

support and promote rapid healing. Inclusionof this collagen and promote rapid healing. Inclusion of this collagen implant reduced thenumber of surgical complications andsignificantly improved the overall aestheticresults.


We are located just North of JFK Medical Center142 JFK Dr. Atlantis, F.L 33462 Phone: (561) 439-1500 • Fax: (561) 439-9902

We accept most insurances!aetna american Pioneer

amerihealth avmedBlue cross Blue shield care Plus

cigna coventryghI healthcare district

humana medicaresecure horizons tricare

United healthcare Universal healthVista health.... and more!

John D. Corbitt, Jr., M.D.diplomate of american Board of surgery

Breast SurgeryLaparoscopic Surgery

General Surgery

dr. corbitt is a general surgeon who specializes in breast disease. heperforms the latest procedures for breast care and has the largest, longest

running study for nipple sparing skin sparing mastectomies for breast cancer inthe U.s. he is a graduate of emory University and completed his residency

training at emory University, henrietta egleston children's hospital, atlanta V.ahospital, and grady memorial hospital. he is also a former major in theUnited states air Force medical corp. dr.corbitt has 31 publications and

contributions to 14 textbooks on laparoscopic, hernia, and breast surgery, andhe is currently working on publishing a paper regarding the Nipple areolar

complex skin-sparing mastectomy for breast cancer patients and patients athigh risk for the disease based on family history and genetic testing.

Humans Can Sniff Out Old Age in Others,Study ShowsAnd coming from thehealthy elderly, theodor isn't unsettling,participants said.

How old do you thinkyou smell? A newstudy suggests that hu-mans possess the abil-

ity to judge whether a person hasreached their senior years just bysniffing their body odor.People in the study correctlygauged whether the former wear-er of an underarm pad was elder-ly or not just by sniffing it. Andfor the record, most didn't think"old-people smell" was off-putting at all.The finding "shows that there'syet another signal hidden in thebody odor that we are somehowable to extract and make use of,"said study co-author JohanLundstrom, an assistant profes-sor at the Monell ChemicalSenses Center, in Philadelphia.As for the notion that "old-peo-ple smell" doesn't leave peopleas disgusted as you mightexpect, Lundstrom said theodor's power -- or lack thereof --

appears to have a lot to do withwhether the elderly are actuallyphysically present. "Lacking acontext, the negativity of thebody odors disappear," he said.The study authors launched theirresearch as part of an effort tobetter understand the chemicalsignals that people detect inbody odor. Previous research hadsuggested that we can pick upsigns of sickness in other peo-ple's body odor and even get asense of whether someone isrelated to us, Lundstrom said.Animals appear to be able todetect age through body odor, hesaid, although it's not clear whyit might matter to them. One the-ory is that the signal could letother animals know that an ani-mal is older and thus more likelyto produce offspring because it'smanaged to stay alive so long,he said.In the new study, 56 people -- 20young (20 to 30 years old), 20middle-aged (45 to 55), and 16elderly (75 to 95) -- wore cleanT-shirts and underarm padswhile sleeping. The pads soakedup a sample of each individual'sbody odor.The researchers then asked 41

young people to smell the result-ing odors -- from pads kept inglass jars -- and try to tell themapart.Participants were generally ableto discriminate between the agegroups, but they weren't muchbetter at it than chance,Lundstrom said. However, theywere able to do a better job ofgrouping together body odorsfrom older people and identify-ing them as coming from theelderly."The old-age body odor sticksout," Lundstrom said, but it did-n't do so in a negative way. Infact, the subjects tended to thinkthe old age body odors weremore pleasant and less intensethan those of other age groups.One factor might explain that:

Older men smell more likewomen, possibly because they'velost testosterone, Lundstromsaid.He also noted that the peoplewho provided their body odorfor the study were healthy. Thatmeans the older people did notsuffer from problems that canoccur among seniors that mightaffect their body odors, such asincontinence.The "popular prejudice" againstthe odor of the elderly probablyreflects people's distaste forodors in geriatric wards andnursing homes, noted one expert,Tim Jacob, a professor of bio-sciences at Cardiff University, inEngland, who studies smell andis familiar with the new study'sfindings.

"This is obviously an unfairassociation," he said. "But ifpeople know where the smelloriginates [that is, in an olderperson], they may be uncon-sciously or consciously preju-diced. In this study they did notknow where the smell originat-ed."So how might people be able todetect old age through smell? It'snot clear, Lundstrom said. Onepossibility is that we're notdetecting old age specifically,but instead a signal that "piggy-backs" on chemical signs of dis-ease in the elderly, he said.In the big picture, "given theresearch showing the importanceof the olfactory -- smell -- sys-tem among other animal species,it is likely that humans possesssimilar capabilities that we don'tyet fully understand, yet influ-ence our behavior more than werealize," said ElizabethKrusemark, a smell researcherand postdoctoral fellow at theUniversity of WisconsinMadison's Cognitive andAffective Neuroscience Lab.The study appears in the Mayissue of PLoS One.


have already contributed to thequestion of patients coping withthe big stressors like their cancerdiagnosis itself. The question wehaven’t addressed is whether can-cer survivors are more (or less)vulnerable to the everyday hassles.

Costanza and coworkers (2012)compared a group of cancer sur-vivors to a matched group ofindividuals with no history ofcancer, measuring their responseto daily stress. They have report-ed their results to two questions:1) do they perceive stress differ-ently? 2) does stress affect their

Quality of Life (mood, physicalsymptoms) differently?

Cancer survivors and non-cancerpersons reported the sameamount of stress and similar per-ception of stress. Rather thanbeing more vulnerable, itappears that cancer patients arevery resilient to every day stress.

Cancer survivors did howeverreport an increased sensitivity torelationship stress, such as dis-agreements and tension. Theyreported more of a negative moodin response to this stress than

their non-cancer counterparts. This study reminds us to payattention to the small stressorsand especially the relationshipstressors in cancer survivors’lives, even after they have com-pleted cancer treatment. As theauthors state, “Therapeutic inter-ventions…and stress manage-ment…to target strategies forcoping with everyday lifedemands may have an addedbenefit of optimizing cancer sur-vivor’s Quality of Life.”

Taken from Health Psychology (2012), Vol 31, No 3, 360-370.

How Do Cancer Survivors Copewith Everyday Stress?

Cindy Collins, Ph.D., R.D.Experimental Health Psychology/ Nutrition

SFRO’s Survivorship Clinic is a Gift from Above

By Deborah Lynn

Before long, South FloridaRadiation Oncology willbe opening their new sur-

vivor clinic in Palm Beach Gar-dens. Judy Armstrong, a board-certified advanced nursepractitioner at SFRO, will be run-ning the clinic and believe me, shewas the perfect choice. Judy hasbeen with SFRO since their in-ception and has truly given everyounce of herself to her patients.She is one of the most loving andgiving souls that you will evermeet and her survivors are basi-cally her children. Judy and theentire staff will be on hand to helpsurvivors navigate through theirinitial diagnosis and prepare themfor what’s to come. For her, it’s ajourney of support, love and hope.

The clinic will offer just about

everything you need to help edu-cate and guide you through sucha difficult fight. They will offera variety of alternative therapiessuch as; acupuncture, physicaltherapy, massage therapy, psy-chotherapy, as well as studiedtherapies. In addition, they willhave classes in meditation, yoga,and a full kitchen with cookinglessons from a chef along withnutritional advice. There is alibrary with computers, booksand other sources of informationfor you to educate yourself onyour diagnosis which will allowyou to make the right choices foryou. Support groups that arecurrently in place will also bepart of the offerings. The facili-ty is not only available to helpeach and every patient, but everyfamily member or friend of any-one that had been touched bytheir diagnosis as well.

ply not the right way to dealwith the diagnosis.”

Unfortunately, the individual thatanswers the phone at your physi-cian’s office is unaware of yourdiagnosis. Therefore, it’s impor-tant to let them know that youneed an appointment right away.“When someone has cancer, theyneed to be moved through thesystem much quicker. Oftenpatients that have had cancer arefearful that with every ache andpain the cancer may havereturned. That is why it’s veryimportant for them to do the fol-low-up as each cancer will havea different type.” Judy and herstaff strive to help patientsunderstand what to expect fromthe treatments and what life willbe like afterwards.

In addition to guiding youthrough the initial diagnosis, aswell as the treatment and posttreatment, they will also assistyou with finding financial assis-tance. There are many founda-tions that can help you withsome of your household bills,one of which is the CancerAlliance of Help and Hope

(CAHH). As Judy is a volunteercommittee member, she willabsolutely try her best to find away to not only get you the sup-port you need, but the monetaryhelp you need as well. To date,these organizations and founda-tions have helped Judy with anumber of patients and continueto do so. “I can call them andsay, I need your help with thisand they’re there. I also workwith Caridad and help withimmigration patients and withProject Access, which is support-ed by the Palm Beach MedicalSociety.”

“Our goal is to use a foundationand get donations and charge thepatients from little to nothing byhaving fundraisers. It’s a hugeeffort, but this is my baby. Myjob is my life.”

If you would like to volunteer ormake a donation, please call877-930-SFRO (7376).

For additional information aboutJudy Armstrong, South FloridaRadiation Oncology, or the newclinic, please visit their websiteat www.sfrollc.com.

By Cindy CollinsPhD, RD, LD/N

The number of cancer sur-vivors is growing. Two ofevery three adult patients

diagnosed with cancer are ex-pected to survive greater than fiveyears. It is estimated there are acurrent 10.5 million cancer sur-vivors living in the United States.

Because so many patients are liv-ing in post-treatment survival, ithas become of interest to learnhow they cope with life’s everyday stressors. Many researchers

Judy Armstrong, ARNP, OCNCertified Family Nurse PractionerOncology Certified Nurse

Judy Armstrong is a Board-Certified AdvancedNurse Practitioner and a graduate of the PeterBent Brigham School of Nursing in Boston. Shecompleted her Bachelor of Science degree inNursing at Framingham State College inMassachusetts and her Master’s degree inNursing and Nurse Practitioner education atFlorida Atlantic University.

Studies clearly prove that peoplewho have support in their livesdo much better than those thathave none. Sometimes whenpeople find out they have cancer,they turn to spirituality as it’s anawakening. “They need to real-ize that from the day of theirdiagnosis, their life will never bethe same. They make decisionsdifferently and they will choosethings differently because justabout everything has changed.They may decide to go on avacation that they never wouldhave or spend more time withkids as they normally wouldn’t,just things like that.” With thenew clinic and all the wonderfulamenities, survivors can spendtime doing productive things thatwill certainly help them in thelong run – mentally, physicallyand emotionally. As the locationwill not be open until late sum-mer, the therapy is currentlybeing done in the SFRO office.

Judy stresses, “Patients need torealize that once they are diag-nosed, time is of the essence.Some people think that going fora biopsy in four weeks is theappropriate step, but that is sim-

Kishore K. Dass, MDBoard-Certified RadiationOncologist

“We are committed to ensuring your total well-beingand want to provide the atmosphere and resources tomake sure you have a smooth transition fromcompletion of your cancer care to having total comfortin living your life.” -- Kishore dass, m.d., sFro

Anthony Addesa, MDBoard-Certified RadiationOncologist

A diagnosis of prostate cancer dramatically affects the lives of you

and your loved ones. That’s why at South Florida Radiation

Oncology, we focus on providing comprehensive care with a

complete range of the most technically advanced treatment

options in the world. Leading technologies, including the

CyberKnife®, RapidArc™, TrueBeam™ and brachytherapy,

offer fast, effective results to help you get back to living your life.

At South Florida Radiation Oncology, our team of radiation

oncologists and support staff is knowledgeable and experienced,

providing gentle, compassionate care — all at the South Florida

location of your choice.

Call South Florida Radiation Oncology today to discuss the

available treatment options for your fight against prostate

cancer, and get back to living your life.

South Florida Radiation Oncology.

Get back to living your life.

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CPAP Machine Vs. Oral Appliance

Maxillofacial Orthopedics with Functional Appliances

By Alvaro Betancur, DDS

Develop A More AppealingFace With A BeautifulSmile

Starting as young as 2 yearsold, you may help your chil-dren develop a beautiful

smile with a more attractive pro-file as well as prevent sleep apnea,long time orthodontic treatments,extractions to align the teeth andavoid orthognatic surgery; all withFunctional Appliances.

We work with the children andparents to motivate them toenjoy wearing the appliances for10 to 20 minutes twice a day.This amount of time is enough toproduce a positive effect on mas-

ticatory muscles during swallow-ing and breathing.

More than 60% of a child's facialbone growth occurs before age 6and the majority of childrendevelop orthodontic problems atthis early age. Therefore, it isonly logical to apply orthopedictherapy early on and preventlong term and expensive ortho-dontic and surgical procedures.

The teeth are guided into posi-tion by the lips, cheeks andtongue. The shape of the jaw isaffected by mouth breathing andtongue position and affects thefacial profile. All of these func-tions can be trained correctly tohelp develop normal teeth, jawsand faces. Then, if braces areneeded, it will be only for lessthan a year, decreasing the risksof long-term braces.

You can help your child byevaluating the followingrisk factors:(1) Lack of space betweenbaby teeth: Usually the per-manent teeth are bigger than thebaby teeth, therefore if there arenot enough spaces between babyteeth, the permanent teeth will,most likely, be crowded.

(2) Dental Arch form:Ovoid dental arches are ideal;triangular or square formed arch-es do not provide enough spacefor permanent teeth to be posi-tioned correctly.

(3) Jaw position:When cor-rectly positioned the facial pro-file will be straight. If the jaw isleft behind when biting it willcreate a convex profile withincreased overbite (retrognatic).If jaw is positioned forwardwhen biting, the profile will be

concave (prognatic) withreversed overbite.

(4) Profile: Straight profile isideal. Convex and concave pro-files are due to incorrect Jawpositioning or maxilla underde-velopment. If detected early - asyoung as 2 - the problem can becorrected. There is no need towait until the situation getsworse and can only be solvedwith orthognatic surgery andlong time braces.

(5) Facial Asymmetry:When the jaw is positioned toone side or both sides are outsidethe maxilla it will create facialdeformation.

(6) Open Bite and DeepBite:When the upper and lowerteeth don't meet properly leavingan open space or negative space,it can lead to abnormal facialgrowth creating too long or tooshort faces. With orthopedics wecan change that and create moreappealing faces.

(7) Breathing: Day time andnight time breathing should beperformed with the mouth closedand lips sealed. If your childsleeps with the mouth open orkeeps the mouth open during theday, professional evaluation isrecommended since this problemwill affect dramatically the

child’s facial development andsmile. Children with mouthbreathing have a higher risk ofdeveloping obstructive sleepapnea, that can be prevented iftreated early.

(8) Habits: Tongue trust, overuse of pacifier, nails biting,thumb sucking, lips sucking,mucosa sucking and other habitscan have a big effect on chil-dren’s facial development andbreathing patterns leading tosleep apnea, small chin, facialasymmetry, exaggerated overbite, teeth crowding and manyother breathing, TMJ, facial andorthodontic problems. This canbe managed and retrained toguide facial development cor-rectly with a beautiful widesmile and optimal facial profile.The kids usually have fun duringthe easy, inexpensive and effec-tive process of correcting theirface and smile. In our offices weencourage the mothers to starttreatment as soon as a problem isnoted, and we also recommendto have the kids evaluated every6 months starting at 2 years ofage.

(9) Swallowing: Should beperformed with the propertongue seal at the roof of themouth. if tongue is directed tothe teeth, will create teeth mis-positioned and open bite that

will compromise the airwayfacilitating sleep apnea and TMJproblems.

(10) Diet: Softer diet in younginfants create a smaller bonesand an incorrect maxilla /mandible relationship. This willallow to develop teeth crowdingwith mayor orthodontic needs,TMJ dysfunction andObstructive Sleep apnea.Hard/semi-hard and fibrous dietaccompanied with normal swal-lowing and breathing stimulatesgrowth factors to develop thenecessary bone structures toaccommodate all teeth and prop-er airway.

Children 2 to 6 years old can betreated with trainer and otherorthopedic appliances. If yourchild is between 6 to 10 yearsold, different orthopedic appli-ances combined with the trainercan be used for an early correc-tion of the bite and facial profile.Children 10 to 16 years old, willbe treated with combination oforthopedic appliances and ortho-dontic appliances and/or onlybraces in some cases. Adult’streatment usually involvesOrthodontics, extractions and insome cases orthognatic surgery.

If your child presents one ofmore of the described signs,do not wait any longer; Thefacial development problemsshould be treated as soon asdiscovered, without the propertreatment the situation is onlygoing to get worse. Call ouroffice today for a complimen-tary consultation:

Boca Raton, Florida: 561-750-6790

Pembroke Pines, Florida: 954-392-1851

Obstructive sleep apnea(OSA) is a breathingdisorder in which thereis a brief interruption

of breathing during sleep.

The throat collapses duringsleep causing the individual tosnort and gasp for breath. Theseepisodes are called apneas (atemporary suspension of breath-ing) and can last from ten sec-onds to over a minute. Hundredsof these episodes can occurevery night. According to Dr.Alvaro Betancur, "The bodyneeds oxygen, if it is deprivedof oxygen, something bad isgoing to happen."

Dr. Betancur's practice encom-passes general and cosmeticdentistry, oral surgery, dentalimplants, and sleep medicine.He considers sleep apnea to besignificantly under diagnosed,which is part of what drew himto obtain advanced training inthat area. With the help of anoral appliance, patients sufferingfrom OSA can discover restfulnights and better health.

"It's one of the most rewardingparts of my practice. You actual-ly extend patient’s lives, as wellas increase the quality of thoselives, perhaps making it so thatthey can sleep in the same bed-room as their spouse again, andallowing them to feel like theyhave energy rather than beingrun down.”

"Sleep apnea has so many co-morbidity factors, such as heartdisease, high blood pressure, andadult-onset diabetes," adds Dr.Betancur. Other risk factorsinclude; snoring, old age, menare twice as likely to have OSA,menopause, excess weight, nar-row airway, chronic nasalobstruction, a family history ofsleep apnea, smoking and use ofalcohol, sedatives or tranquiliz-ers. “It’s also one of the maincauses of acid reflux. Treatmentjust makes life a whole lot easierfor patients."

Dr. Betancur points to the inci-dence of cardiac arrest by way ofexample. "When do most peoplehave a heart attack? Between11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. andalthough it may say heart attackon the death certificate, whatactually happened is that anepisode of sleep apnea has trig-gered cardiac arrest. The breath-ing stops, the pulse skyrocketswhich causes the heart to pumpmuch harder as it tries to getoxygen."

We have also found that thenumber one reason for grindingof the teeth is sleep apnea, notesDr. Betancur. "We used to thinkit was a result of stress, but nowwe know that it occurs becauseof the body's protective mecha-nism of moving the jaw forwardto open the airway so the patientcan breathe. When you treat thesleep apnea using oral appli-ances, the grinding comes to ahalt. Patients don't wake up inthe morning with headaches orsore jaws, plus it protects theirteeth, which ends up savingthem a great deal of money.”

From a financial standpoint,sleep apnea treatment is consid-ered economical by patients andinsurance companies alike.

"Most patients who have acidreflux, for example, after beingtreated with a sleep apnea appli-ance, don't need their medicationanymore. However, they shouldfollow up closely with theirphysician.”

"That's one possible reason thatmedical insurance, as well asMedicare, pays for the treatment.It's far cheaper for them to treatthe sleep apnea than to handle theco-morbidities down the road."

Dr. Betancur hopes to help asmany sleep apnea sufferers as hecan. "We work with a number ofphysicians and pulmonologists.For sleep apnea patients whocannot be treated with a CPAP(continuous positive airway pres-sure) machine, or who drop outof treatment, there are alterna-tives using oral appliances thatenable us to extend their lives. Inaddition, the convenience of an

oral appliance leads to a greaterchance of compliance in theirtreatment."

In terms of those oral alterna-tives, Dr. Betancur adds, patientshave many options. "There areninety-two FDA-approved appli-ances for the treatment of sleepapnea," he explains.

To find out more about sleepapnea and treatment, visitwww.sleepsnoredentist.comUnderstanding and treating sleepapnea leads to better rest, higherenergy levels, and improvedheart health. If you are con-cerned about the possibility ofsleep disordered breathing foryourself or a loved one, Dr.Betancur and his staff would liketo help.

The practice accepts Medicareand most major insurance plans.The offices are located at 3401N. Federal Hwy., Suite 101, inBoca Raton, telephone (561)750-6790 and 18203 Pines Blvd,Suite 305 in Pembroke Pines,telephone (954) 392-1851.

Alvaro Betancur, DDS, haspracticed dentistry in Floridasince 1990. After receiving hisdental degree, Dr. Betancurcompleted a residency in cranio-facial pain and pathofunction atthe University of Florida and afellowship at the University ofFlorida Pain Center rand theAmerican Academy of Craniofa-cial Pain. Dr. Betancur is amember of the American Acad-emy of Dental Sleep Medicine.

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affects more than 18 millionamericans and can lead tohypertension, heart attack,stroke, diabetes, reduced libido,tmJ dysfunction, morningheadaches and excessivedaytime sleepiness which canlead to work and car accidents.treatment with oral appliance therapy (oat): for mild and moderatesleep apnea and snoring. Plus severe osa when the patient isintolerant to cPaP or needs to be used in conjuntion with cPaP.

eliminate the cPaP mask and continue using cPaP equipment withthe new oral appliance to obtain the benefits of both.

Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedicsstarting as young as 2 years old, you may help your

children to solve ear inflammation symptoms,develop a beautiful face and smile with a more

attractive profile as well as prevent sleep apnea andavoid orthognathic surgery; all with Funtionalappliances and Facial focused orthodontics.

We can straighten your teeth at any age, fast and comfortably usinginvisible technology with or without braces. Improve your facial

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3401 N.Federal Hwy. Suite 101Boca Raton, FL 33431

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West Boca Medical Center Assistant Nurse ManagerSue Swiderski Awarded Palm Beach County Medical

Society 2012 “Heroes in Medicine” Award

Swiderski won thehero award in thehealth care providercategory

BOCA RATON, Fla. (May 24,2012) — West Boca MedicalCenter is proud to announce thatPediatric Intensive Care Unitassistant nurse manager, SueSwiderski, earned a 2012 PalmBeach County Medical Society“Heroes in Medicine” award inthe health care provider catego-ry. Swiderski was selected forthis prestigious award among anextensive list of applicants andfive finalists. Swiderski was alsoinducted into the Tenet HeroHall of Fame in 2011 for herloyal commitment to help fami-lies cope with the range of emo-

tions often experienced whenyoung children and their familiesare faced with a serious or life-threatening illness. “On behalf of the staff at WestBoca Medical Center, I congrat-ulate Sue Swiderski on yetanother deserving award for hercountless hours of work and end-less compassion that she shareswith her pediatric patients and

their families,” said MitchFeldman, chief executive officerof West Boca Medical Center.“Sue is a true “hero” at WestBoca Medical Center and in thecommunity, where she is oftenhelping others outside of herclinical role.”Sue was surrounded by hundredsattendees and other healthcareheroes that were awarded by thePalm Beach County MedicalSociety at an awards luncheonon May 9th. These prestigiousawards honor individuals, organ-izations, and businesses through-out Palm Beach County that usetheir skills and resources in thefield of health care to provideoutstanding services for the peo-ple of our local, national, andglobal communities. In additionto properly recognizing the com-munity’s “Heroes in Medicine,”this initiative serves to encour-age and stimulate future heroesby promoting a commitment tocommunity service.

Sue Swiderski.

Daily 'Dose' of Dark ChocolateMight Shield the Heart

There's more sweet newsabout chocolate and yourhealth: A new study sug-

gests that eating a bit of darkchocolate each day may cut theodds of heart attack and stroke inhigh-risk people.Dark chocolate is rich inflavonoids, antioxidant substancesknown to have heart protectiveeffects. Until now, the potentialbenefits of dark chocolate onheart health have only been exam-ined in short-term studies.In the new study, Australianresearchers used a mathematicalmodel to predict the long-termhealth effects of daily consump-tion of dark chocolate amongmore than 2,000 people who hadhigh blood pressure and what'sknown as the "metabolic syn-drome" -- a group of conditionsthat increase a person's risk ofheart disease and diabetes.Daily consumption was set at100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) ofdark chocolate.None of the participants had ahistory of heart disease or dia-betes and none were receivingtreatment to lower their bloodpressure.The researchers determined that100 percent compliance with eat-ing dark chocolate every daycould potentially prevent 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal cardiovascularevents per 10,000 people over 10years, while 80 percent compli-ance could prevent 55 non-fataland 10 fatal cardiovascularevents.The mathematical model alsoindicated that promoting or sub-sidizing the daily consumptionof dark chocolate at a cost of$42 per person per year wouldbe a cost-effective strategy forreducing cardiovascular eventsin high-risk people, according toElla Zomer and colleagues atMonash University inMelbourne.

The researchers stressed thatprotection against cardiovasculardisease has only been shown fordark chocolate (at least 60 to 70percent cocoa) and not for milkor white chocolate.Experts in the United States hadmixed views on the findings.The new findings "will certainlyget people with metabolic syn-drome excited, but at this pointthese findings are more hypo-thetical than proven, and theresults need real-life data to con-firm," said Dr. Kenneth Ong,interim chair of the departmentof medicine and interim chief ofcardiology at The BrooklynHospital Center in New YorkCity.Ong added that "consuming darkchocolate every day for 10 yearsmay have unintended adverseconsequences. The authors readi-ly acknowledge that the addi-tional sugar and caloric intakemay negatively impact patientsin this study, who are overweightand glucose intolerant to beginwith."But another expert said theAustralian team is not the first tosuggest that dark chocolatemight help the heart."Multiple studies have shownthe benefits of dark chocolate onpreventing heart disease, highblood pressure and diabetes,"noted Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum,preventive cardiologist at LenoxHill Hospital in New York City."For those patients who are at asignificant risk for cardiovascu-lar events, like those who havethe metabolic syndrome, a dailydose of 70 percent dark choco-late may be part of not only ahealthy eating plan, but an inte-gral component of a preventiveprescription."The study, which did not receiveany food industry funding, waspublished online May in theBMJ.

Quitting Smoking No Harder forWomen Than Men, Study SaysMen are no better than

women when it comesto quitting smoking, a

new study reveals.The finding challenges the beliefthat women have more difficultykicking the habit than men, anidea largely based on the resultsof clinical trials of smoking ces-sation aids that showmen have higher quitrates than women.Such a gender-baseddifference would beimportant in strategiesmeant to help reducesmoking, noted studyauthor Martin Jarvis, professorin the department of epidemiolo-gy and public health atUniversity College London inEngland, and colleagues.For this study, the researchersexamined data from more than102,000 smokers who took partin surveys conducted in 2006and 2007 in the United States,

Canada and the UnitedKingdom. The analysis revealedsimilar and consistent patterns inall three countries.Before age 50, women weremore likely than men to success-fully quit smoking. This was par-ticularly true among smokers intheir 20s and 30s. Among people

over 60, men weremore likely thanwomen to stop smok-ing. However, this maybe due to higher deathrates from smoking inolder men, theresearchers noted.

When smoking quit rates exclud-ed people who continued to usesmokeless tobacco and includedthose who had stopped smokingfor more than a year, the quitrates in the United States wereabout 50 percent for women andnearly 47 percent for men, whilequit rates in Canada were about46 percent for women and about

43 percent for men. No compa-rable figures were available forthe United Kingdom.The study was published onlineMay 30 in the journal TobaccoControl."Our study has found convincingevidence that men in general arenot more likely to quit smokingsuccessfully than women. Themyth of female disadvantage atquitting smoking is bad, first andforemost, for women," who maybelieve it, Jarvis and colleaguesnoted in a journal news release.It's also bad for men, becausethey may think they're at anadvantage, the researchersadded, and for health care pro-fessionals and policy makerswho are trying to help peoplequit."It is time to put aside the ideathat women are less successfulthan men at giving up smoking,"the authors concluded in thenews release.


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Shekhar V. Sharma, M.D.Board Certified in Internal Medicine

“Help, I Can’t Fall Asleep!”

Millions of Americanshave trouble fallingasleep. However,this is not just a

problem in America, but a world-wide issue. So, why is it so diffi-cult to fall asleep and maintain thatblissful sleep throughout thenight? In my opinion, a goodnight sleep consists of seven ormore continuous hours of sleep.Unfortunately, there are a varietyof reasons why people have such adifficult time and I will addresssome of them below.

I see patients on a daily basisthat complain about their lack ofsleep, going to sleep really lateor having to get up early. Manyof them want me to prescribesedatives in order for them to geta restful night of sleep. As I

have no problem pulling outmy prescription pad, I wouldrather figure out the real reasonas to why they are having aproblem sleeping – first. I feelthat getting to the core of theissue is much more importantfor their long-term health.

First, try to avoid stimulants,such as; caffeinated drinks, nico-tine and over-the-counter med-ications that contain caffeine.Try to avoid consuming exces-sive amounts of alcohol at nightas this could lead to acid refluxsymptoms in the long-term,which can keep a person awakeat night. In addition, try not toeat a heavy meal late at night. Ifyou have acid reflux, try toavoid items with citric acid inthem, such as orange juice,ketchup and some berries, withthe exception of blueberries.Avoid chocolate, peppermint andagain, do not smoke cigarettesprior to bedtime. Acidity atnight can keep you awake andcause various other symptoms.

Second, try to eliminate otherstress factors in your routine.This may include reading latenight e-mails, watching TV, orthose late night movies whichmay cause worrisome thoughtsand therefore deprive you ofyour sleep. In doing so, thismay cause you to feel fatigued

and sleepy during the day andespecially after lunch, which isnot conducive with your job.Your lack of sleep can lead toirritability, mood swings, depres-sion, headaches and your lack ofability to concentrate.

Essentially, the lack of sleep orpoor quality sleep can have anegative impact on your dailyproductivity, health and emotion-al balance.

Finally, there are various other

Dr. Sharma is a Board certified Internist that has been in practice forthe past 19 years. His office is accepting new patients: Palomino

Park, 3347 State Road 7 Suite 200 Wellington, FL 33449 and for an appointment please call (561) 795-9087

Dr. Sharma's office in Belle Glade is at 1200 South Main Street, Suite 100 (opposite the Old Glades General Hospital). He will be seeing patients at this location along with

Ebonee Johnson ARNP.

He is currently accepting New Patients and the office accepts most insurances.

Call 561-996-7742for an appointment.

reasons why a human beingcannot sleep well and thatwill have to be dissectedmethodically by a trainedand caring physician whowill spend time with you intheir office as they try to findthe cause of the problem. Thisway, we can find an effectivedrug-free way of giving youthat restful night of sleep thatyou have been longing forwhich will in turn be much

better for your long-termhealth. While sleeping pills mayhelp you get a good night ofsleep for now, they are only a

temporary fix and can easilybecome addictive.Therefore, I prefer tofind the cause of theproblem and stay awayfrom prescribing sleeping

pills as often as possible.


Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center’sInformation goes Digital ahead of Schedule By Erica Whyman

Palm Beach Gardens, FL---The American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act of2009 (ARRA), com-

monly referred to as the Stimulusor The Recovery Act provided animportant provision for healthcareproviders to bring information tothe center of care. The Act pro-vided $19.2 billion in funding toadopt a certified electronic healthrecord system (EHR), there are in-centives to adopt such systemsearly and penalties for adoptinglate. Palm Beach Gardens Med-ical Center is ahead of schedule,officially launching their programthis April.

I had the opportunity to meetwith the technology team during“Go-Live” week of the launch totalk about the systems imple-

mentation. The energy at thehospital was palpable; there werebanners, signs and green shirts,announcing the launch of theIMPACT project, IMprovingPAtient, Care throughTechnology.

While moving into the digitalage will certainly reduce thereliance on paper records, Ms.Stewart said that the driver is the“increase in patient safety andcare” the change will make.

“Does this mean no more deci-phering a doctor’s handwriting?”I joked.

I guess I was not so far off, byhaving all the patient informa-tion keyed in electronically, itreduces the chance medicationerrors due to written records thatwere possibly illegible. Also, not

having medication history of apatient can result in errors. Withimplementation of the new EHRsystem, “patient history is atyour fingertips,” echoed theteam. The end result is anincrease in patient safety andpatient care.

This implementation will alsoallow all the most up-to-datepatient information to beaccessed by physicians 24 hoursa day, at any location within thehospital or even from remotelocations, information such asvital signs and lab results, aswell as any previous hospitalvisits, will be available to thosecaring for and making criticalclinical decisions for the patientsexactly when needed.

The system is very sophisticated,each patient’s hospital arm band

has an associated Aztec code thatis scanned to ensure the correctpatient is identified and allpatient information is immedi-ately available. The system alsoprovides physicians with the lat-est clinical practices at point ofcare or where the actual care istaking place.

Palm Beach Gardens MedicalCenter was an ideal implementa-tion due to the fact that theyalready housed certain informa-tion electronically and the teamwas very anxious to adapt to theElectronic Health Record system.

When I asked how the week onewas going, I was surprised tohear how few hiccups they havehad. The nursing staff was phase1 of the roll out, but the physi-cians were already stopping bythe department eager to be

loaded into the system.

The IMPACT project is a multiphased strategic initiative centeredon technology; subsequent phaseswill include integrating personalhealth records, interoperabilityand participation in the healthinformation exchange and com-puterized provider order entry.

Before leaving, I was taken tothe hub or what is referred to inthe IT world as the “war room.”Basically it is a room set up as atechnology hub, offering 24 hoursupport to those utilizing the sys-tem, during the initial roll out.The room was set up with com-puters, monitors, phones and ofcourse a plethora of food andcaffeinated beverages, but mostof all it was filled with peoplewho were excited and enthusias-tic about the roll out.

Healthy Diet, Exercise Extend Lifefor Women in Their 70s: StudyParticipants who were tops in bothcategories had 8 times the odds of survival.

Women in their 70s cangain more years by fol-lowing advice they may

be giving their grandkids: exerciseand eat your fruits and vegetables.So finds a new study that helpsconfirm healthy living canextend life, even in the retire-ment years.

"This is one of those findingsthat sounds like common sense,"said study lead author EmilyNicklett, an assistant professorof social work at the Universityof Michigan School of SocialWork, in Ann Arbor.

"But while it may seem obvious,it's important to go back to thebasics in terms of understandingthat diet and exercise can strong-ly predict mortality among olderadults," she said. "Promotinghealthy diets that include fruitsand vegetables, together withsome form of simple physicalactivity like walking, can makedramatic improvements in termsof health outcomes."

Nicklett and her colleagues pub-lished their findings in the Mayissue of the Journal of theAmerican Geriatrics Society.The authors noted that U.S. sen-iors over age 65 are the fastest-growing slice of the country'spopulation.

In the study, Nicklett's teamfocused on more than 700women between the ages of 70and 79 who were living inde-pendently in their communities

and enrolled in two related phys-ical disability studies.The women were asked howmuch they engaged in physicalactivities such as structured exer-cise (i.e., walking or strengthtraining), household or outdoorchores, or pastimes such asbowling or dancing.

The women's nutrition wasmeasured via blood samples thatmeasured each participant's totallevel of carotenoids. Theseplant-based compounds arethought to be an accurate indica-tor of an individual's fruit andvegetable consumption, theresearchers explained.

All the participants were thentracked for five years, duringwhich time nearly 12 percent ofthe women died.The researchers found that themost active women had the bestsurvival prospects, and so didthe women who consumed themost fruits and vegetables.

Breaking it down, the teamobserved that the most activewomen had a 71 percent lowerdeath rate during a five-yearperiod compared with the mostsedentary women in the study."And we're not talking aboutdramatic activity when we talkabout exercise," Nicklettstressed. "We're not talkingabout rugby players. We're talk-ing about something as simple aswalking around the block, whichis the way most women in ourstudy burned the most calories."

The women with the highestcarotenoid levels faced a 46 per-cent lower chance of dying dur-ing the five-year follow-up peri-od versus those with the lowestfruit-and-vegetable intake.And because the study also wasdesigned to explore the impactof exercise and nutrition togeth-er, the team found that womenwho were both the most physi-cally active and the highest con-sumers of fruits and vegetableswere eight times more likely tobe alive after the study's fiveyears of follow-up, compared towomen who scored lowest onboth counts.

"In terms of public health, thisfinding raises the question of,'How do we encourage a healthylifestyle that boosts longevity?'"Nicklett said. "And that canmean looking into whether thereare enough safe places for thesewomen to walk, or whether ornot they have access to freshfruits. It's really about goingback to the basics."Lona Sandon, a registered dieti-

cian and assistant professor ofclinical nutrition at theUniversity of TexasSouthwestern in Dallas, agreedthat although the findings were"not particularly surprising,"they are an important reminderthat "exercise and eating health-fully is good for you.""We already know in other agecategories that eating well andstaying active is good for us,"she said. "So it makes sense thatit should then also apply to us aswe get older."

"As to what it is exactly aboutexercise and fruits and vegeta-bles that helps women to livelonger lives, that is not exactlyclear," Sandon cautioned."Maybe if you stay more physi-cally fit you remain more func-tional and are less likely to falland break a leg or hip, for exam-ple. Or perhaps exercise andgood food keeps your immunesystem healthier. Or it could bethe socialization involved whenexercise is done in groups. Ormaybe all of the above."

More FamiliesSeek KidneyDonations onFacebook

more patients and families areusing Facebook to seekkidney donations, but it's notclear if doing so improves thechances of obtaining a donororgan, a new study finds.researchers from loyolaUniversity medical center inmaywood, Ill., examined 91Facebook pages that wereseeking kidney donations forpatients aged 2 to 69 andfound that 12 percent of thepages reported receiving akidney transplant and 30percent reported that potentialdonors had come forward tobe tested for compatibility.one page reported that morethan 600 people had beentested as potential donors fora child, according to the studyrecently presented at ameeting of the NationalKidney Foundation.on kidney solicitation pageswhere identities could bedetermined, the researchersfound that 37 percent of thepages were created bypatients, 31 percent bypatient's children, and 32percent by other familymembers or friends ofpatients.there was wide variation inthe amount of personalinformation revealed on thepages. some pages simplyasked people to donate,without providing any otherinformation. other patientsoffered extensive details aboutpatients who needed kidneys,including medical history,family photos and emotionalstories about hospital stays,emergency room visits,financial problems and thedifficulties of living on dialysis.


Pre-diabetes ups patient'srisk of future strokeLondon: Patients suffering

from pre-diabetes may beat a higher risk of stroke, a

new study has suggested.Pre-diabetes is characterised byhigher than normal blood glu-cose levels that, if left untreated,develops into type 2 diabetes.The scale of the problem is enor-mous and growing, with an esti-mated 79 million people in theUS and 7 million people in theUK affected.People with pre-diabetes alsoharbour the same vascular riskfactors as people with type 2 dia-betes, such as high blood pres-sure, high cholesterol and obesi-ty, but its effect on future strokerisk has not been established.So a team of researchers fromthe University of Californialooked at the relationshipbetween pre-diabetes and risk ofstroke whilst taking into consid-eration other cardiovascular riskfactors such as an unhealthyweight and lifestyle. The authorsanalysed the results of 15 studiesinvolving 760,925 participants.

They showed that the relation-ship between pre-diabetes andrisk of stroke appears to dependon the definition of pre-diabetes.Pre-diabetes is generally definedas impaired fasting glucose(raised blood glucose levels aftera 12-hour fast). A range of 70.2to 100 mg/dl is normal, while alevel of 100 to 126 mg/dl is con-

sidered a sign of pre-diabetes.The researchers found that pre-diabetes based on the 1997American Diabetes Association(ADA) definition of 110 to 125mg/dl carried a 21 percent higherchance of stroke.However, in 2003 the ADA rede-fined pre-diabetes as an impairedfasting glucose of 100 to

125mg/dl and no risk was foundin studies using this current, lessstringent definition.This suggested that there may bea 'threshold effect' with regard tothe relationship betweenimpaired fasting glucose andfuture stroke risk to the extentthat the risk of a stroke onlybegins to rise at or above a fast-

ing glucose level of 110 mg/dL.The researchers stress the possi-bility that some other unmea-sured (confounding) factor mayexplain these results and it isimportant to note that the qualityof evidence was variable.They concluded that people withpre-diabetes (with a fasting glu-cose 110 to 125 mg/dl) were at a"modestly higher risk of futurestroke". They do add howeverthat those with the 2003 ADA'sdefinition (100 to 125 mg/dl) donot have an increased risk ofstroke.The researchers suggested thatthose with pre-diabetes "shouldbe aware that they are atincreased risk of future stroke"and that the condition is associ-ated with the presence of one ormore other cardiovascular riskfactors. They recommended thatweight be kept under control andthat healthy lifestyle changesshould be adopted to decreasethis risk.The study was published onbmj.com.

Vaccine trial for Alzheimer'sclears key hurdle

Fruits, Veggies MayHelp Smokers Quit

Avaccine which revives apromising but long-aban-doned path to thwart

Alzheimer's disease has cleared akey safety hurdle in human trials,researchers say.In a small-scale test, the formulawas found to be safe and primedthe body's frontline defencesagainst protein deposits in thebrain that are associated with thecatastrophic disease.Swedish doctors report theresults in the issue of the journalLancet Neurology, saying thatthe way is now open for widertrials.The prototype vaccine, calledCAD106, is a new exploration oftraditional vaccine engineering.In this approach, the pathogenthat causes a disease is used toteach the immune system toidentify an intruder and attack it.In Alzheimer's, one of the ene-mies is a toxic protein calledamyloid beta peptide, whichaccumulates in plaques in thebrain, although exactly how itworks remains unclear.A decade ago, doctors launcheda first attempt at an amyloid betavaccine, called AN1792.But they were forced to abandonit at the second of the three-phase trial process after six per-cent of the volunteers fell illwith meningoencephalitis, aninflammation of the brain.The suspected reason was thatAN1792 activated white blood

cells called T cells that attackedthe brain tissue.The new vaccine uses a smallerfragment of the protein and com-bines it with a booster, called anadjuvant, intended to prevent T-cell activation.After lengthy trials in the lab, ateam led by Bengt Winblad ofthe Karolinska Institutet'sAlzheimer's Disease ResearchCentre, tested the vaccine on 46volunteers aged 50 to 80, diag-nosed with mild to moderateAlzheimer's.A "control" group of 12 patientsreceived a harmless formula,called a placebo, as a compari-son.The group was studied over 52weeks and given a follow-upexamination two years later.Eighty-two percent of thepatients who received CAD106

developed antibodies, a sign thatthe immune defences hadresponded to the dangerous pro-tein.Overall, nine patients hadepisodes of ill health during thetrial, but investigations showedthese were unrelated to the drug,and none entailed meningoen-cephalitis.The next step after this Phase 1safety trial should be a largertest, possibly with modificationsof the dose, to see if the vaccineworks, says the study.Around 26 million peoplearound the world haveAlzheimer's, which remains anincurable and progressive dis-ease characterised by memoryloss and dementia.The toll by 2050 is likely to be115 million, according to figurescited in the journal.

People trying to quit smokingare three times more likely tosucceed if they eat plenty offruits and vegetables, accord-ing to a new study.Pubic health researchers at theUniversity at Buffalo alsofound a diet rich in producehelps people remain smoke-free longer."Other studies have taken asnapshot approach, askingsmokers and nonsmokers abouttheir diets," Gary Giovino,chairman of the Department ofCommunity Health and HealthBehavior, said in a universitynews release. "We knew fromour previous work that peoplewho were abstinent from ciga-rettes for less than six monthsconsumed more fruits and veg-etables than those who stillsmoked. What we didn't knowwas whether recent quittersincreased their fruit and veg-etable consumption or if smok-ers who ate more fruits andvegetables were more likely toquit."The researchers conducted anational telephone survey of1,000 smokers aged 25 andolder. The survey participantsreceived a follow-up call 14months later to find out howmuch they had smoked in thepast month.The study, published in thejournal Nicotine and TobaccoResearch, revealed that smok-

ers who ate the most fruit andvegetables were three timesmore likely to have not smokedfor at least 30 days at the timeof the follow-up call than thoseeating the least amount of pro-duce. The researchers notedthis was true even after theytook into account the smokers'age, gender, race and ethnicity,education, income and motiva-tion to be healthy.The study also found smokerswho ate more fruits and veg-etables smoked fewer ciga-rettes daily, waited longer tosmoke their first cigarette ofthe day and were less depend-ent on nicotine."We may have identified a newtool that can help people quitsmoking," said study firstauthor Jeffrey Haibach, a grad-uate research assistant in thedepartment of communityhealth and health behavior.


US wants 9/11 health programto include 50 cancersPeople who were stricken

with cancer after beingexposed to the toxic ashthat exploded over Man-

hattan when the World Trade Cen-ter collapsed would qualify forfree treatment of the disease andpotentially hefty compensationpayments under a rule proposedFriday by federal health officials.

After months of study, theNational Institute forOccupational Safety and Healthsaid in an administrative filingthat it favored a major expansionof an existing $4.3 billion 9/11health program to include peoplewith 50 types of cancer, covering14 broad categories of the dis-ease.

People with any of the cancerson the list could qualify for treat-ments and payments as long asthey and their doctors make aplausible case that the diseasewas connected to the causticdust.

The decision followed years ofemotional lobbying by construc-tion workers, firefighters, policeofficers, office cleaners, andmany other people who fell ill inthe decade after the terror attack,and were sure it had somethingto do with the many days theyspent toiling in the gray soot.

"It's amazing," said ErnieVallebuona, a former New YorkCity police detective who retiredafter being diagnosed with lym-phoma in 2004. "It's nice to havethe federal government recog-nize that your cancer was causedby ground zero. It's somethingwe've always known. I'm justecstatic that we are finally beingrecognized. You almost felt likeyou were being brushed aside."

NIOSH, which oversees the 9/11health program, acted after anadvisory committee made up of

doctors, union officials and com-munity advocates recommendedthat cancer be added. Previously,the aid effort has only coveredpeople with mostly less-seriousailments, including asthma, acidreflux disease and chronic sinusirritation.

The decision on whether to addcancer to that list is a difficultone, and there are still substan-tial questions about how the pro-gram will function.

While stories about first respon-ders struck by cancer are com-mon, there is still little scientificevidence of elevated cancer ratesconnected to either the trade cen-ter dust or other toxins at theground zero recovery site.

Cancer experts also say that itusually takes many years for anenvironmental exposure to leadto a cancer case, due to the slow,undetectable development ofmany types of the disease. Thatmeans that many of the peoplefalling ill with cancer now, or inthe past 10 years, are unlikely tohave gotten it as a result of theattacks.

Questions about whether the dusttruly caused cancer was one ofthe reasons why Congress didnot include it in the initial list ofcovered illnesses.

But some occupational healthexperts have expressed concernabout the presence of carcino-gens in the ash and soot, and theadvisory panel said it believedthere were enough toxins presentthat it was plausible that somepeople with heavy exposuresmight get cancer.

In a 123-page report explainingits decision, NIOSH agreed withthat assessment.

"We recognize how personal the

issue of cancer and all of thehealth conditions related to theWorld Trade Center tragedy areto 9/11 responders, survivors andtheir loved ones," NIOSH direc-tor Dr. John Howard said in awritten statement.The expansion proposal isn'tfinal yet. The rule will be openfor public comment for severalweeks, or up to two months,before being finalized. It willstill be open to revisions, or evenoutright abandonment, duringthat time.

U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney,Jerrold Nadler and Peter King,three New York lawmakers whohelped create the law creatingthe health program, then lobbiedhard for its expansion, said in ajoint statement that they were"thrilled," and confident thechange would go through asplanned.

"As we have all seen with ourown eyes again and again, can-cer incidence among respondersand survivors is a tragic fact, andwe must continue to do every-thing we can to provide the helpthat those who are sick need anddeserve," they said.

"Together with our allies, NewYork City pushed for periodicreviews of the medical evidenceto ensure that all those ill fromexposure to the aftermath of the9-11 terrorist attacks receive thecare they need," New York CityMayor Michael Bloomberg saidin a statement. "Today's decisionis an important step in thatprocess, and we will continue tostand up for all those impactedby the 9-11 attacks on our coun-try."

There has been some concernthat adding cancer to the list ofcovered conditions could put asevere financial strain on theprogram's limited resources.Congress capped funding for theprogram at $1.55 billion fortreatment and $2.78 billion forcompensation payments. Thoseamounts will remain unchangedeven if many people file for ben-efits.Some 60,000 people havealready enrolled in 9/11 healthprograms for those who lived orworked within the disaster zone.Up to 25,000 more could stilljoin before the program closes.

In its current form, however, the

program is only open to peoplewho have already been sick, orwho get sick in the next 4 ½years. That means that only afraction of the people who wereexposed to the dust, and whoeventually develop cancer, canactually get coverage.

Based on those figures, NIOSHestimated that the cost of treat-ment to be about $33 million peryear.

No estimate has been done, yet,on how much the addition ofcancer might cost the compensa-tion program, which pays peoplebased on suffering and economiclosses caused by their illnesses.

Sheila Birnbaum, the specialmaster overseeing applicationsfor compensation, has said thatpayouts to the families of peoplekilled by cancer are likely to besignificant, and warned that iffunding runs out, it might benecessary to prorate paymentsbased on the number of peoplewho apply.

Backers of the program, includ-ing King, Nadler and Maloney,are already talking about gettingmore funding, and also extend-ing the program

Noah Kushlefsky, an attorneywho represents about 3,800 peo-ple who plan to enroll in the pro-gram, said he was confidentCongress will eventually extendthe fund past 2016, and appropri-ate additional money if necessary.

"This is a huge victory on manylevels. This gives them muchneeded health care. It gives themmuch needed financial assistance... I think that it means a lotemotionally as well," he said."These folks needed to knowthat everybody recognized whatthey did, and what they aregoing through."

Officials probe E. coli outbreak in 6 statesAmysterious and scat-

tered outbreak of the E.coli bacteria is linked to

14 illnesses, including a child'sdeath, health officials say.No form of contaminated foodor other cause has been identi-fied in the illnesses, whichoccurred in April and May,according to the Centers forDisease Control andPrevention.Three people were hospital-ized. One — a child in theNew Orleans area — died lastweek of May.The reported illnesses werespread across six states.Georgia had five cases,Louisiana four, Alabama two,and Tennessee, Florida and

source of the new outbreak.Until the source of the newoutbreak is identified, healthofficials can offer the publiconly general advice for avoid-ing the infection: Cook meatthoroughly. Avoid unpasteur-ized milk and ciders. And — ifyou have a diarrhea-like illness— wash your hands thorough-ly and do not prepare mealsfor others."People more seriously affect-ed by the disease may haveblood in their stool, fever andbecome extremely fatigued. Ifyou suspect you are infected,see your doctor immediately,"said Dr. Raoult Ratard, theLouisiana state epidemiologist,in a prepared statement.

immune systems. For those peo-ple, it's more likely that the tox-ins made by the bacteria will poi-son the blood and cause kidneyfailure, experts say.The first U.S. foodborne out-break linked to O145 occurred in2010, when more than two dozenpeople in at least five states weresickened by bacteria transmittedthrough romaine lettuce. Healthofficials have also seen instanceswhere it was spread throughwater and deer meat.The U.S. Department ofAgriculture recently enactedmeasures to step up detection ofdifferent strains of E. coli inmeat, including the O145 strain.CDC officials say they've seenno evidence that meat was the

Bosch, who's leading the investi-gation into the outbreak for theCDC.People tend to get sick two toeight days after ingesting thebacteria. It's most dangerous tovery young and very old peopleand those with weakened

California each had one.E. coli is a large family of bacte-ria and most strains are harm-less. The most deadly strain isconsidered E. coli O157:H7,which became well-known in theearly 1990s through a deadlyoutbreak associated with ham-burger meat.Six similar strains are also con-sidered dangerous and one ofthem is E. coli O145, the strainidentified in this new outbreak.Health officials haven't beentracking O145 intensively forvery long; it was only in 2009that the CDC began recommend-ing labs test for it."These are not newly emergingbacteria. Our awareness of themhas been improving," said Stacey


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Scientists Spot MoreMigraine GenesLatest discoverysheds light on mostcommon form ofthese debilitatingheadaches.

Two more genetic links tomigraines have been dis-covered, a finding experts

acknowledge won't yet help thosesuffering from the throbbingheadaches but may one day lead tonew therapies.

Comparing the DNA of morethan 2,300 patients afflicted withmigraines without aura -- themost common type -- with 4,580people in the general population,German and Dutch scientistsspotted two gene variants associ-ated with that migraine form.The research, authored by Arnvan den Maagdenberg of LeidenUniversity Medical Centre in theNetherlands, builds on a U.S.study released last year identify-ing three genes linked tomigraines that suggested thoseinheriting any one of those geneshad a 10 percent to 15 percentgreater risk for the condition.

"Migraines are under-treated,under-recognized and under-diagnosed, especially with com-mon migraines that don't haveany of the dramatic symptoms,"said Dr. Gayatri Devi, an attend-ing neurologist at Lenox HillHospital in New York City. "Alot of times, people feel it's theirfault or that stress causes them . .. it's nice to know there aregenetic basis for illnesses and it'snot all in your head."

The study is published online inthe journal Nature Genetics.

Thought to affect about 12 per-cent of the population, migrainesare characterized by recurringsevere headaches and oftenresult in nausea as well as sensi-tivity to light and sound.Migraines without aura, whichcomprise about two-thirds of allcases, don't include pre-headacheaura symptoms such as experi-encing blind spots or hallucina-tions, seeing zigzag patterns orfeeling weak.

"We're trying to find the geneticbasis of migraine, and basicallyspeaking, this is the beginning,"said Dr. Stephen Silberstein,director of the JeffersonHeadache Center at ThomasJefferson University inPhiladelphia. "Now we know inwhat neighborhood the genes arelocated, but we still don't knowwhere the houses are. It's animportant first step."

While the study uncovered anassociation between the genesand migraine headaches, it didnot prove a cause-and-effectrelationship.

Silberstein and Devi agreed itcould be many years beforethese findings point to new pre-ventive or pain-relievingmigraine treatments. For fre-quent sufferers, preventive thera-pies include certain types of betablockers, antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs or Botox shots.Pain relievers range from over-the-counter ibuprofen, aspirin oracetaminophen to prescription-strength triptans, which narrowblood vessels in the brain andrelieve inflammation.

Devi praised the study for itslarge size, saying it "was verynicely done" and will assistongoing research efforts tounderstand the biological under-pinnings of the condition.

"If we can pinpoint what thesegenes are responsible for, wecan better understand thepathology of migraines andhopefully develop treatmentsthat target those areas that arevulnerable," she said. "But it's along way off from an associa-tion to a cause."

Affordable Care Actmay have expandedaccess to coverage,but many under 25still go without.

About 6.6 million youngAmerican adults whowould likely not have

been able to be covered by theirparents' health plans before theAffordable Care Act took effectjoined such plans in 2011, a newreport finds.

The new study from theCommonwealth Fund foundthat, in total, 13.7 millionyoung American adults, aged19 to 25, either stayed on orjoined their parents' healthplans last year.

But not all young adults canjoin their parents' health plansand many still have gaps in cov-erage and are burdened withmedical bill problems and med-ical debt, the report found.

Nearly two in five young adults(39 percent) aged 19 to 29 wentwithout health insurance atsome time in 2011 and morethan one-third (36 percent) hadmedical bill problems or werepaying off medical debt. Ofthose who were dealing withmedical bills or debt, manyfaced serious financial conse-quences such as using all oftheir savings (43 percent), beingunable to make student loan ortuition payments (32 percent),delaying education or careerplans (31 percent), or beingunable to pay for necessitiessuch as food, heat or rent (28percent), the researchers said.

One-quarter of young adultswith medical debt owed $4,000or more, and 15 percent owed$8,000 or more, the reportnoted.

"While the Affordable Care Acthas already provided a newsource of coverage for millionsof young adults at risk of beinguninsured, more help is neededfor those left behind," leadauthor and CommonwealthFund Vice President SaraCollins said in aCommonwealth Fund newsrelease.

Young adults in low-incomehouseholds were most likely tobe uninsured, the report said.Seventy percent of young adultswith incomes below 133 per-cent of poverty ($14,484 for asingle person) had a gap in cov-erage in 2011. That's more thanthree times the rate of thosewith incomes over 400 percentof poverty ($43,560 for a singleperson).

The study also found that only17 percent of young adults aged19 to 25 in low-income familiesstayed on or joined their par-ents' health plans, comparedwith 69 percent of those in thehighest income households.Young adults older than 25 arenot eligible.

6.6 Million Young AdultsJoined Parents' HealthPlans in 2011: Report


SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTSPalm Beach Children’s Hospital at St. Mary’s Medical Center

service is located here in PalmBeach County.

“For over 70 years St. Mary’sMedical Center has been deeplyrooted in Palm Beach County-both in its history and its com-munities’ health, safety, andprosperity,” says DavideCarbone. “It’s time for our com-munity to know that their homeis also home to the best pediatrichealthcare in South Florida.”

Palm Beach Children’s Hospitalat St. Mary’s Medical Center isthe only 24-hour pediatric emer-gency department from Orlandoto Fort Lauderdale, staffed withphysicians 24 hours a day, 7

By Erica Whyman

West Palm Beach, FL--- Irecently had the privi-lege of spending some

time with Davide Carbone, ChiefExecutive Officer of St. Mary’sMedical Center, to discuss thenewly named Palm Beach Chil-dren’s Hospital at St. Mary’s Med-ical Center. The excitement andpride he and his staff shared whendiscussing the hospital and thenewly named Children’s Hospitalwas contagious, and by the end ofour interview, it was clear as towhy.

While being a leader in pediatriccare is not necessarily anythingnew for St. Mary’s, the namechange reflects the significantachievements made in pediatriccare in the last few years, alongwith the deep commitment thehospital has to pediatric careright here in our own communi-ty. “Soaring to new heights” isthe campaign kicking off theachievements and the namechange. Located in the heart ofPalm Beach County, off 45thStreet, Palm Beach Children’sHospital boasts some impressiveservices, with patients from allover the state, nation and eventhe world. The name changereflects that this superior level of

days a week, 365 days a year.The team includes board-certi-fied pediatric physicians, pedi-atric trauma surgeons, and pedi-atric anesthesiologists.

It is critical when pediatric emer-gency care is needed to knowthat you will find an attendingpediatric physician that is boardcertified no matter what time ofday or night at Palm BeachChildren’s Hospital at St.Mary’s.

Davide Carbone also took amoment to discuss the SocialWorkers and Child LifeSpecialists that work as a vitalpart of the pediatric and emer-gency team, reducing stress andproviding comfort to familiesand children during stressfultimes. It truly takes a village andPalm Beach Children’s Hospitalat St. Mary’s has built that vil-lage, giving families peace ofmind.

“Recruiting the right specialist,”says Davide Carbone, is animportant part of the magic for-mula in providing a superiorlevel of advanced pediatrichealth care. This is clearly evi-dent in the Pediatric CongenitalHeart Surgery Program, whichannounced in 2011, that fellow-

ship trained congenital cardiacsurgeon, Dr. Michael Black,joined the hospital staff, bringingmuch needed advanced cardio-vascular surgery to the PalmBeaches and Treasure Coast.Part of the program, under theleadership of Dr. Black, is toexecute the treatment of cardiacdisease with smaller incisions insurgical care, allowing for short-er hospital stays, less pain anddamage to the muscles and tis-sues, and a quicker recoveryperiod along with added emo-tional benefits to children as theyage, with minimal scarring.

Along with emergency and car-diac pediatric care, Palm Beach

Children’s Hospital at St. Mary’sMedical Center offers a varietyof highly specialized services;the Paley Advanced LimbLengthening Institute, thePediatric Neurosurgery Program,the only pediatric oncology unitin Palm Beach County, and thenew pediatric nephrology andchronic dialysis services.

“Soaring to new heights” indeed,Palm Beach Children’s Hospitalat St. Mary’s has put PalmBeach County on the map as aleader in pediatric care in thestate and beyond. It is easy tosee why Mr. Carbone and hisstaff are so passionate about thehospital and its accomplish-ments.

Davide Carbone, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of St. Mary’s Medical Center

Bump to Bump: Picnic SeasonMonthly Pregnancy Column

By Erica Whyman

At 24 weeks pregnant, I still findmyself asking Google if I amallowed to do this while preg-nant, or eat that while pregnant.One would think after 24 weeks Iwould be a more savvy mom-to-be, but the list of things that oneshould or should not do whilepregnant is endless.

This monthly column will supplyexpectant parents some helpfultips and tricks to keep mom andbaby safe during pregnancy. It isbasically me passing on thethings I learn along the way.

Picnic Season: GetGrilling Essentials to EatSafe This Summer One of my favorite summer tra-ditions in Florida is the SummerPicnic and Backyard Bar-B-Q. Ilove putting on a sundress, mak-ing something yummy to share,and enjoying a hot lazy summerafternoon with friends. Thissummer though, as my bellyexpands, I will have to make afew adjustments… and not justin the sundress, that does not fitanymore.

When pregnant there are certainobvious things on the Picnic

Menu you are going to want toavoid, the frozen cocktails andcold beers will have to wait untilnext year, but there are some lessobvious menu items that youmay want to be careful of.

Listeria, a potentially dangerousbacteria, is commonly found indeli salads, soft chesses andready-to-eat meats. Listeriosis(the illness caused from ingest-ing Listeria) is rare, but accord-ing the Center of DiseaseControl (CDC), pregnant womenare 20 times more likely tobecome infected than non preg-nant healthy adults. An estimated1/3 of all Listeria cases occur inpregnant women. An importantnote, infection is most commonin the third trimester, when apregnant woman’s immune sys-tem is somewhat suppressed.

How will you know if you havebecome infected? Well, symp-toms do not always presentthemselves, but if they do, theywill come about 2-3 days afterexposure, and will resemble mildto severe flu-like symptoms:headaches, fever, chills, stomachaches, and diarrhea. Contactyour health care provider imme-diately if you experience any ofthese symptoms and a blood testwill usually be able to tell if you

are suffering from a Listeriainfection.

Listeria infections can be poten-tially damaging to both you andyour baby. There is an increasedrisk of miscarriage, prematuredelivery, infection to the new-born, and birth defects. Earlytreatment with antibiotics duringpregnancy will in most casesprevent infection to the newborn.

So before you pack or plan thatnext picnic, here are some thingsto help keep Mom and BabySafe:

• Avoid Soft Cheeses; EatHard Cheese: Avoid cheesessuch as Feta, Brie, Camembert,

blue-veined cheeses that do notstate they are pasteurized.

• Avoid refrigeratedSeafood and PateSpreads.

• Avoid Deli Meats andsmoked seafood like novasalmon or lox (Canned or shelfstable versions of these areokay as they have been pas-teurized).

• Hot Dogs and other sausagesshould be cooked to a SAFE165-DEGREE TEMP (use ameat thermometer)

• Practice Safe FoodHandling:Wash your hands,wash all fruits and veggies,keep your fridge at 40 degreesor below, and avoid of crosscontamination between rawand uncooked foods.

For more information on food safety andprevention of food-borne illnesses you cancontact: Centers for Disease Control andPrevention/Food borne Illness Line (24 hrrecorded information) 1-888-232-3228http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/

U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationCenter for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition1-888-SAFEFOODhttp://www.cfsan.fda.gov/

Many AmericansTaking Too MuchAcetaminophen

many U.s. adults are at riskfor overdosing on over-the-counter pain relieverscontaining acetaminophen,according to a new study.acetaminophen (tylenol) isthe most commonly usedover-the-counter painmedication in the Unitedstates, and acetaminophenoverdose is the leading causeof acute liver failure, accordingto researchers fromNorthwestern University inevanston, Ill..the researchers interviewed500 adult patients atoutpatient general medicineclinics in atlanta and chicago.more than half had usedacetaminophen in the past sixmonths and 19 percent saidthey were heavy users, whichmeans they tookacetaminophen every day or acouple of times a week.each extra strength tylenolcapsule contains about 500milligrams of acetaminophen.In addition, nearly half of thepatients were at risk ofoverdosing by using twoacetaminophen-containingproducts at the same time.the study was publishedonline in the Journal ofgeneral Internal medicine.


Solitaire™ Saves Lives; and it is Nota Card Game

By Erica Whyman

West Palm Beach, FL ---Stroke is a disease thateffects the youngest to

the oldest of people, as such every-one should be aware of potentialsigns and associated risk factors. Itis a disease that affects the arteriesleading to and within the brain..According to the American HeartAssociation, stroke is the 4th lead-ing cause of death in the U.S andthe leading cause of long-term dis-ability in adults.

Dr. Ali Malek, Director of theComprehensive Stroke Center atSt. Mary's Medical Center, andhis team, were recently the firsthospital in the state and secondin the southeast, to treat a patientthat came in suffering from anischemic stroke using the mostadvanced form of therapy, theSolitaire™ FR revascularizationdevice, the latest in life savingstroke technology. An, ischemicstroke, occurs when a blood ves-sel that carries oxygen and nutri-ents to the brain is blocked by aclot.

Dr. Ali Malek invited me to viewthe actual device (picture

shown), which was somewhatnon-impressive in appearancebut wildly impressive when oneconsidered its capabilities. TheSolitaire™ FR revascularizationdevice was originally approvedby the U.S. Food and Drugadministration in early March,and was used successfully by Dr.Malek and his team shortly afteron an emergency stroke patient.“The device is a self-expandingstent retriever designed to yieldrapid flow in the brain’s bloodvessels. When deployed in thevessel, its expanded metal cageengages the clot at multiple strutpoints for more effective clotremoval.”

The team also showed me videosand pictures of the device in use.In laments and very simplisticterms, the device is basically

guided from the patient’s grointo the brain via a catheter, andonce the clot is identified, theSolitaire™ FR revascularizationdevice grabs onto the clot,secures the clot and removes itallowing for flow to resume.With one device, the treatmentallows for the removal of theclot and the return of circulation.

When I asked how long thisprocess takes in actual practice, Iwas surprised to learn from Dr.Malek’s team, that the whole life

saving process can be completedin as little as 15 minutes.

The device showed great prom-ise during clinical trials, “in arandomized study of 113 strokepatients at 18 hospitals, theSolitaire system showed a 2.5-fold benefit in restoring bloodflow to the brain, a 1.7-foldimprovement in post-stroke neu-rological function and effectivelycut mortality rate in half at 90days,” said a company pressrelease.

Dr. Ali Malek credits his teamand St. Mary’s Medical Centerto the continued success of TheComprehensive Stroke Center.

“As a result of St. Mary’sMedical Center’s continuedinvestment in developing aNeuroscience program ofExcellence, we have receivedgreat recognition in the industryand been granted the sameopportunities with developingtechnologies, traditionally firstreserved for high-end universityprograms,” says Dr. Malek.

That very commitment wasdemonstrated earlier this year

when St. Mary’s received theAmerican Heart Association/American Stroke AssociationGet with the Guidelines- ®-Stroke Gold Plus QualityAchievement Award.

“With a stroke, time lost is brainlost, and the Get With TheGuidelines–Stroke Gold PlusQuality Achievement Awarddemonstrates St. Mary’s MedicalCenter’s commitment to beingone of the top hospitals in thecountry for providing aggressive,proven stroke care,” said DavideCarbone, chief executive officerof St. Mary’s Medical Center.

St. Mary’s Medical Center is 1of 20 hospitals in Florida, and 1of 4 in Palm Beach County, des-ignated as a ComprehensiveStroke Center. A designationestablished to identify the deliv-ery of specialized care forpatients with more complicatedcerebrovascular disease.

Once again I left another visitfrom St. Mary’s Medical Centerwith admiration and respect forthe care delivered and their con-tinued commitment to the com-munity.

Dr. Ali Malek.

St. Mary’s Medical Center Nurse Wins Palm Healthcare

Foundation’s Extra Mile AwardMartha Eversfield,RN, was presentedthe Extra MileAward for her dedication to nursingand clinicaleducation

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. –May, 2012- St. Mary’s MedicalCenter is proud to announce thatMartha Eversfield, RN, BSNwas honored with the Extra MileAward at this year’s PalmHealthcare Foundation NursingDistinction Awards event. Theevent attracted 450 supportersthat gathered for “Broadway atThe Breakers,” to pay tribute tothe exceptional nurses in PalmBeach County. Eversfield earnedthe Extra Mile Award for goingabove and beyond to foster pro-fessional growth in others andusing compassion to impactlives. Eversfield and other awardrecipients were recognized fortheir dedication to excellence inan area of expertise beyond thescope of their jobs, commitmentto the profession of nursing, anda sense of community.

The annual Palm Healthcarenursing distinction awards honorregistered nurses, licensed prac-tical nurses, nurse educators,nursing assistants, nursing stu-dents, and leaders of the nursingcommunity. This year, a commit-tee of 30 selected the eight hon-orees from over 100 nominationssubmitted by healthcare profes-sionals and patients/families.Winners were chosen on thebasis of dedication to excellencein an area of expertise beyondthe scope of their jobs, commit-

ment to the profession of nurs-ing, and a sense of community.

“St. Mary’s Medical Center con-gratulates Martha Eversfield onher well deserved Extra MileAward,” said Donna Small, chiefnursing officer of St. Mary’sMedical Center. “Ms. Eversfieldexemplifies all of the characteris-tics that we encourage among ournursing staff at St. Mary’sMedical Center; she is a model ofcompassion and skill in nursing,and is always willing to mentorothers to develop their nursingskills. She is a true inspiration toour nursing staff and valuedmember of our hospital team.”

Eversfield has worked at St.Mary’s Medical Center for 40years. She started her career atthe hospital in 1971 and has helddifferent positions over theyears. Eversfield was the firstnurse hired to work in theRadiology Department in 1984.Before coming to St. Mary’sMedical Center, Eversfield dedi-cated many years to the Sistersof Saint Joseph Convent inIndiana, serving as a nun. Whilein the convent, she attendedHoly Cross School of Nursing.

Martha Eversfield, RN.

COPING WITH STROKE/ CARDIAC DISEASESUPPORT GROUP AT

WELLINGTON REGIONAL

Wellington RegionalMedical Center ispleased to announce

a new monthly support groupthat will meet at the hospital,focused on providing educationand support to patients with car-diovascular diseases such asstroke, heart attack, congestiveheart failure, etc.

The “Cope to Hope” supportgroup will help patients andtheir family members copewith cardiovascular illnessesthrough education about theirdiseases and provide wellnessand nutritional information tosupport lifestyle changes.Physician speakers will be

invited to address the group ateach meeting.

The group will meet inWellington Regional MedicalCenter, Conference Room A,on the 3rd Wednesday of everymonth at 3:00pm. The firstmeeting will be held onWednesday, June 20th. Theguest speaker will be Dr. DavidSoria, Chairman of EmergencyMedicine at WellingtonRegional who will speak on“Recognizing Symptoms ofHeart Attack and Stroke—Improving Your Odds.”Refreshments will be served.For more information, pleasecall 561-753-2641

St. Mary Medical Center Comprehensive Stroke Center uses new FDA approved technology

By Deborah Lynn

Several years ago, friendskept talking about JonnyImerman and ImermanAngels, a non-profit or-

ganization that connects newly di-agnosed cancer patients with a sur-vivor of the same type of cancer,age and gender. Whenever any-one spoke of Jonny, you could lit-erally see their faces light up.

Since we both lived in Chicagoand had mutual friends, Ireached out to Jonny throughFacebook and met him for luncha few weeks later. As I walkedin, there was Jonny standing at atable waiting for me. From themoment I laid eyes on him, Isimply could not look away. Hehas the most incredible energy,beautiful smile and is so charis-matic that you are quickly drawnin and simply hooked.

Jonny Imerman was on top ofthe world, having graduated witha degree in psychology from the

University of Michigan. Whileworking a full-time job andtoward his M.B.A., his lifewould forever be changed in2001. At the age of 26, he wasdiagnosed with testicular cancerand ultimately had his left testi-cle removed. Afterward, heendured five months ofchemotherapy and thought hewas on the road to recovery.Unfortunately, a year after histreatment, a CT scan showedtumors along his spine. He hadto undergo surgery to have thefour tumors removed. Sincethen, Jonny has been cancer-free.

During his journey, Jonny real-ized that while he had the sup-port of family and friends, othershad to fight so valiantly alone.While his support group offeredencouragement, hope, love andround-the-clock attention, othershad none. As Oprah so oftentalks about that defining momentin your life, Jonny’s momentcame through his awareness ofothers battling... alone.

Jonny recognized the need toconnect cancer fighters with can-cer survivors. It seems so obvi-ous, yet why hadn’t anyone real-ized there was such a void?Today, Imerman Angels has over4,000 survivors in its networkand over 1,500 caregivers. Hisorganization is recognized andembraced by oncology depart-ments all over the world.

Imerman Angels has a lovingand caring staff that carefully

Imerman Angels Will NotLet You Fight Alone

matches an individual that hasbeen diagnosed with cancer (afighter or survivor) with some-one who has fought and survivedthe same type of cancer (aMentor Angel). In addition, can-cer caregivers (spouses, parents,children and other family andfriends of fighters) also receiveone-on-one connections withother caregivers and survivors.Those relationships inspire hopeand offer the chance to ask per-sonal questions and receive sup-port from someone who has beenthrough the same diagnosis.

If you ever have an opportunityto attend one of Jonny’s speak-ing engagements, please do. Ifeel so blessed to call him afriend and love him dearly as hetruly loves everyone that toucheshis life.

For more information onImerman Angels, please callthem at 312-274-5539, or visittheir website at www.imer-manangels.org.

Jonny Imerman.


Upcoming Medical

Fundraising Events

for June 2012

June 12

Kids Cancer Foundation.Celebrity Bartending atBonefish Mac’s. This eventwill begin at 5:00 pm inWellington. For additionalinformation, go to:www.kidscancersf.org.

June 16

2nd Annual JacksonLaskowski “Keep HOPEAlive” event. Charity golftournament, dinner, silentauction and raffle. Theevent begins at Noon andtakes place at Binks ForestGolf Course in Wellington.Cost is $110.00. Please callTim Laskowski at 561-578-1948, or 561-252-2933 foradditional information.

Quantum House andJupiter Light Lodge. 6thAnnual Jupiter Light LodgeCharity Fishing Tournament.The event begins at 7:00 amat Burt Reynolds Park inJupiter. Cost is $200.00 perboat. Please call 561-494-0515 for additional informa-tion.

June 29

Habitat for HumanitySouth Palm Beach County.2012 Golf Habitat Classicand After-party. The eventbegins at 11:30 am at QuailRidge County Club inBoynton Beach. Please call561-819-6070 for additionalinformation, or go to theirwebsite atwww.hfhboca.org.

If you would like to add a med-ical event or fundraiser to ourUpcoming Events section, pleasee-mail your information [email protected] is a free section.

Dear Deborah is a monthly advice column written by Deborah Lynn with a common sense approach to dating. If you have any questions orcomments, please forward them to: [email protected] as we would love to help.

DEAR DEBORAH:I recently signed up on a datingsite and have been talking withthis one man for a few weeks,but we haven’t met yet. Weseem to have a good connec-tion. Now, a few other menhave been contacting me and Iam not sure if I should reply.Or, should I just talk with thisone man for now?- Not sure what to do

Dear Not sure what to do:Since you and the gentlemanthat you have been talking withfor three weeks have yet tomeet – there is no reason whyyou cannot talk with other men.If and when you finally meetand continue seeing one anoth-er, that may be a different story.However, unless you are in acommitted relationship or haveagreed to not to talk with otherpeople, I would definitely beopen to meeting and conversingwith others.

DEAR DEBORAH:I’m a single woman that lovesto go out with my girlfriend to

meet new people. I am 38,never married and still wantkids. My girlfriend is 41,divorced, has three kids anddoesn’t want anymore. We areboth attractive, have great per-sonalities and good jobs, so weare pretty much on the samelevel. So, why is it that the menwe meet seem to gravitate to herand not me? She has more “bag-gage” and I have none.- No Baggage

Dear No Baggage: I’m not sure how old the gentle-men are that you and your girl-friend are meeting, but there areprobably many reasons why thisis happening. First, becauseyou’re single and 38, to somemen that means that you want tohave children... soon.Unfortunately, men are going tofeel pressure as your biologicalclock is ticking (I know, itsounds foolish even typing it).Men that are divorced and havechildren may be more open to arelationship with women thatalso have children, especially ifthey both have younger children.

Women that have children appearto be more patient and simply notdemand a lot of attention fromtheir partner as they know thattheir children do come first.

DEAR DEBORAH:I have been dating someone forthree months. He is so nice andwe get along really well. Lastweek, he stopped communicat-ing with me for no reason. Hecompletely stopped calling andtexting me entirely. I tried tocontact him, but he won’trespond. I know that he’s alivebecause he works with mycousin. Should I have her askhim what is going on? Or,should I go in and see him atwork? - Please help!

Dear Please help:This is difficult to answer since Ido not know the dynamics ofyour relationship. I know thatafter three months, you feel thatyou have established a bond.

Were youexclusive? Ifyou were bothdating others,perhaps he hada better connection with some-one else and doesn’t want tohurt you. Maybe he is goingthrough some issues of his ownand doesn’t want to deal withothers right now. I know thathis lack of communication isquite hurtful as you have noclosure, but sometimes it’s easi-er for some people to just walkaway. If you feel the urge toconfront him, that is yourchoice. I personally would notas people have reasons for thethings they do and you certainlycannot control what anotherhuman being does. If yourcousin is friends with him andif, and only if, your namecomes up in conversation, byall means she can say that youwere asking about him. But, Iwould limit her input as it reallyis between you and him.

Dear Deborah

Avoid Fighting With the Kids Over FoodYou shouldn't try to forcechildren to eat healthy, theacademy of Nutrition anddietetics says. Pressurewon't work.

But the academy saysthere are things you cando to help achieve thesame goal. here are itssuggestions:

l adhere to structured, scheduledfamily meals and snacks withyour child where you sit downtogether to eat.

l Be a good role model by eatinghealthy foods and practicinghealthy eating habits.

l eat plenty of vegetables, servethem in different ways and tell

your child how much youenjoy them.

l turn off the tV and put awaycell phones while you eat.

l set clear expectations formanners and behaviors atthe table, but be realisticabout what children canmanage.

Palm BeachGastroenterologyConsultants, LLC

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We are conducting a clinical researchstudy of an investigational medicine.If you meet the following criteria, youmay be interested in participating in this clinical trial.• Age 18 – 79 inclusive• At least 28 stools over a 7-day period• Moderate to severe Pain in your abdomen associated with:

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Participants receive study related care, diagnostic tests, and study medication at no cost. Payment for time and travel to the study centermay be provided

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global health tribune - june 2012 issue

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