DAVID

M E D I C A L

E D I T I O N

AUGUST 2012

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FAT TOWN THE CRISIS OF OBESITY IN SIN CITY

A COVER UP ALERT TREATING THE SIDE EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH SUN ON THE SKIN

FROM THE GARDEN TO THE TABLE GROW YOUR OWN FRUITS AND VEGGIES IN THE SUBURBS

THE ART OF FERTILITY REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCE LEADER DR. GEOFFREY SHER AND HIS IVF RESEARCH TEAM OFFER HOPE

ETHNOPLASTY WHY DOES COREY PLAY BRIDGE WITH HIS NOSE?

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so much happened before dorothy dropped in.

AuGuST 29 - OCTOBeR 7 The SmiTh CenTeR fOR The PeRfORminG ARTS GOOD SeATS STill AvAilABle The Smith Center Box Office TheSmithCenter.com or call 702-749-2000 Groups 20+ 702-749-2348 • Groups@thesmithcenter.com

M wickedthemusical.com • Grammy® Award-Winning Cast Recording available on Decca Broadway

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Las Vegas Design Center is home to the city’s most comprehensive selection of home furnishings and interior design resources.

LOCATED AT WORLD MARKET CENTER LAS VEGAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, 10AM TO 5PM AND SATURDAY, 10AM TO 3PM COMPLIMENTARY VALET PARKING · LVDESIGNCENTER.COM

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Sher Fertility Institute Las Vegas

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explore The month’s event listings to help plan your day or your stay devour Where to find some of the best eats, drinks and foodie happenings in the Valley desire Sin City abounds in world-class shopping ... these are a few of our favorite things discover Hot spots to go, cool things to do, hip people to see—the Entertainment Capital of the World, need we say more mingle Snapshots of the latest, greatest Vegas events

speak Local humorist, Corey Levitan visits plastic surgeon, Dr. Robert Troell to discuss a nose job.

34 know The United Way recently celebrated its 125th anniversary.

It recently launched its new campaign “Live United”.

40 taste Growing your own produce has become quite the thing.

Besides the obvious financial advantage the nutritional and emotional benefits are obvious. Heirloom tomatoes anyone.

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The A.R.T. of Fertility Reproductive medicine offer hope to the childless.

Fat Town The crisis of obesity is exacerbated by the cities we live in.

Snake Oil Welcome to the miracle cure graveyard.

SPF, Your Best Friend Dealing with a rise in incidents of skin cancers. In this case a cover up is the best policy.

Daliahy Wachs MD, Physician & Talk Show Hoast The month’s spotlight on an institution of interest

on the cover

Dr. Geoffrey Sher, Executive Medical Director and cofounder of Sher Institute of Reproductive Medicine. Photo: Steven Wilson

Copyright 2012 by JewishINK LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. DAVID MAGAZINE is protected as a trademark in the United States. Subscribers: If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we are under no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year.

The publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited or contributed manuscripts, photographs, artwork or advertisements.

Submissions will not be returned unless arranged for in writing. DAVID MAGAZINE is a monthly publication. All information regarding editorial content or property for sale is deemed reliable. No representation is made as to the accuracy hereof and is printed subject to errors and omissions.

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Max Friedland

max@davidlv.com editor@davidlv.com

Joanne Friedland joanne@davidlv.com

EDITORIALllllllll

Editorial Assistant

Brianna Soloski

Copy Editor

Pat Teague

Jeremy Leopold a

Contributing Writers

brianna@davidlv.com

Marisa Finetti Jaq Greenspon Corey Levitan Brian Sodoma Pat Teague Lyn Wexler-Margolies

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY

Art Director/ Photographer

CARLOS BANCHIK, P.E. PRESIDENT

Innovating Solutions For You Š

Steven Wilson

steve@davidlv.com

ADVERTISING & MARKETING (702) 220-6640 1432 S. Jones Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89146 www.innovanv.com

Advertising Director

Innova is providing creative construction engineering support for the new High Roller Observation Wheel near the Las Vegas Strip.

Joanne Friedland joanne@davidlv.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS 702-254-2223 | subscribe@davidlv.com

Volume 03 Number04 www.davidlv.com DAVID Magazine is published 12 times a year.

Copyright 2012 by JewishINK LLC. 1930 Village Center Circle, No. 3-459 Las Vegas, NV 89134 (p) 702-254-2223 (f) 702-664-2633

To advertise in DAVID Magazine, call 702-254-2223 or email ads@davidlv.com To subscribe to DAVID Magazine, call 702.254-2223 or email subscibe@davidlv.com

DAVID Magazine sets high standards to ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable manner. This copy of DAVID Magazine was printed by American Web in Denver, Colo., on paper from well-managed forests which meet EPA guidelines that recommend use of recovered fibers for coated papers. Inks used contain a blend of soy base. Our printer meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act standards and is a certified member of both the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. When you are done with this issue, please pass it on to a friend or recycle it.

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contributors

Marisa Finetti is a local writer, marketing professional and blogger. The Tokyoborn Finetti has called Las Vegas home since 2005.

She has written for such publications as Spirit and Las Vegas and Nevada magazines and has a healthy-living blog at bestbewell.com.

When she’s not writing, Finetti enjoys family time with her husband and two boys.

Jaq Greenspon is a noted local journalist, screenwriter and author with credits on The New Adventures of Robin Hood and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

He also is a literary and movie critic, has taught and written about filmmaking but is most proud of his role in the film, Lotto Love. A Vegas resident for most of his life, his native language is Hebrew, but he doesn’t speak it anymore.

Corey Levitan is a local journalist who was laid off four months before the Nevada Press Association named his “Fear and Loafing” series the Best Local Column of 2011. He is now a freelance writer, a new dad and a pauper. With unexpected time on his hands he has become a three-time NASCAR champion, an avid shrunken head collector and is now in training to become the first eunuch in space.

Brian Sodoma has been writing professionally since 1998. He has called Las Vegas home since 2002, and enjoys covering the city’s business issues, real estate, health, sports ... anything that isn’t fashion. Sodoma currently is working on a feature-length screenplay about Las Vegas real estate meltdown with local film director Roger Tinch. When he’s not hunting for new story ideas, Sodoma dabbles in real estate, coaches youth soccer and plays ice hockey.

Pat Teague has been a practicing journalist, manager and editor for international and regional wire services, and has worked for several metropolitan daily newspapers. He also has worked for one of the world’s largest corporations and was one of five Southern Californians in the Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists honored in 2000 for career achievement.

Lynn WexlerMargolies has been a feature writer and contributor for magazines and newspapers, locally and nationally, for over 20 years. She writes a monthly online column entitled Manners in the News, which comments on the behavior of politicians, celebrities and others thrust in the public arena.

She is the Founder and President of Perfectly Poised, a school of manners that teaches social, personal and business etiquette to young people.

She is a former TV Reporter and News Anchor. Of her many accomplishments, she is most proud of her three outstanding teenaged children.

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from the publisher “If you need a good doctor in Las Vegas, go to McCarran.” That sardonic comment thankfully belongs to another age; today, we’re blessed with world-class medical research institutions, and cuttingedge physicians in a wide range of specializations. Whether it’s Nevada’s favorable tax climate or its actual weather, Vegas has become quite the doctor destination. This has created a dynamic medical tourism industry that’s pumping millions into the local economy.

As much as I have tried to check the credentials of all our staff, family and friends, I failed to find anyone with sufficient chutzpah to join the DAVID Magazine Medical Review Board. As a result, we are not in a position to anoint doctors, the leaders in their respective fields. Our medical advertisers, however, are all winners — at least in their judgment of venues to advertise in.

This month’s magazine focuses on health and wellness stories that address the challenges of those who call Las Vegas home. The politics of health care aside, the patient-physician relationship is extremely important.

The responsibility of this publication is to provide the information the patient needs, to empower them to be active partners in their important health decisions.

While it is impossible to replicate the curriculum of a medical school, we pride ourselves on the diversity of subjects covered. From Corey Levitan’s proboscis preoccupations, to Leslie Doyle’s homegrown sweet tomatoes, we think we have it covered. We also have the rundown on some important medical issues of the day, the obesity crisis and the alarming rise in skin cancer occurrences. These two topics have special relevance to our lives here in this sunny car city that we live in.

The Trojan efforts of our friends at the United Way are also celebrated. Their slogan “Live Together” has special significance in these times of great social and economic challenge. It really does take a village to raise a child, and to solve society’s intractable problems.

Our piece titled “Snake Oil” chronicles the rise and fall of the “miracle” cures that promised everything but mostly enriched their producers. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Buyer, beware!

Twenty-three years ago, my wife Joanne and I were dealing with our own inability to have a second child. We both were diagnosed with medical conditions that complicated conception. A family member gave us the phone number of Dr. Geoffrey Sher, who at that time was practicing in Reno. We enjoyed a loving and informative conversation, which led to us making contact with an infertility specialist in our city. Thanks to the good doctor’s continued encouragement and practical advice Joanne gave birth to a healthy little girl who 21 years later still amazes us. The gift of life these dedicated practitioners offer cannot be overstated.

Simply put, to all our crusaders for public health and wellness: todah rabah (thanks); now, let’s just sort out the costs.

Max Friedland max@davidlv.com 12 DAVID AV/ELUL 5772

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More doctors trust their patients to us than to all other Nevada cancer treatment facilities combined.

Matthew Schwartz, MD Radiation Oncologist

Karin Maxfield Diagnosis: Cancer of the Tongue

What does a doctor look for when considering a cancer treatment referral?

The same things that matter to you: Treatment on the healing edge of medical technology. Access to a depth of clinical research. And modern facilities where everyone, from the person who greets you to the doctor who treats you, will do everything in their power to help you get well.

As an affiliate of both the world-renowned Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA and of The US Oncology Network, which is one of the largest oncology networks in America, we are now conducting over 170 clinical research studies – more than all other Nevada cancer treatment centers combined. On the treatment front, we offer the only physicians in Southern Nevada who specialize in the most advanced radiation therapy technologies available, including breakthrough non-invasive surgery with the revolutionary Las Vegas CyberKnife®.

No matter what you face, we’ve faced it before. And we know the most current, effective way to treat you.

When it comes to cancer treatment, you have a choice. Ask your doctor.

Visit us on the web. Get to know us and you’ll see what doctors already know: Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada is the strongest ally you can have in your fight against cancer.

There are thirteen Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada treatment facilities in Southern Nevada. Visit our website for details. cccnevada.com

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pulse INSIDE explore @ 16 devour @ 21 desire @ 22 discover @ 24

Jay Leno, 8.31, pg. 17

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eXplore L A S

V E G A S

porary Arts Center, 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-382-3886. lasvegascac.org Roberto Cavalli Display: Through Aug. 3, times vary, free. Crystals at CityCenter, 3720 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-590-9299. crystalsatcitycenter.com Rodney Lough Jr. Wilderness Display: Through Sept. 12, times vary, free. Crystals at CityCenter, 3720 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-590-9299. crystalsatcitycenter.com The Pinpoint Remains: Through Aug. 3, free. Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas. 702-4554323. accessclarkcounty.com Screensaver: The Art of Philip Denker: Through Aug. 17, free. Winchester Cultural Center Gallery, 3130 McLeod Drive, Las Vegas. 702-455-7340. philipdenker.com Lost Vegas Exhibition: Through Aug. 26, free. The Clark County Museum, 1830 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson. 702-455-7955. clarkcountynv.gov Images from Cameroon: Through Sept.

1, free. Left of Center Art Gallery, 2207 West Gowan Road, Las Vegas. 702-647-7378. leftofcenterart.org

Bloc Party: 9 p.m., $30. Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-698-7000. cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

AUGUST 1

Moonwalk: An Artist's Tribute to Michael Jackson: Through Aug. 20, by appointment only, free. Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth Street, Las Vegas. 702229-1012. artslasvegas.org Celine Dion: Through Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m., $55-$250. The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-7317525. caesarspalace.com The Jungle Book Children's Summer Concert: $3, 10:30 a.m. & 2 p.m. Charleston Heights Art Center, 800 S. Brush Street, Las Vegas. 702-229-6383. artslasvegas.org “Mythos” Exhibition Through Aug. 23, Mon.-Thur., 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m., free. Las Vegas City Hall Terrace Gallery, 495 S. Main Street, Las Vegas. 702-229-1012. artslasvegas.org “You are Here” Exhibition Through Sept.

1, Wed.-Fri. 12:30-9 p.m. & Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., free. Charleston Heights Art Center Gal-

lery, 800 S. Brush Street, Las Vegas. 702-2296383. artslasvegas.org “Celebrating Life! 2012 Winners Circle” Through Sept. 6, Mon.-Thurs. 7 a.m.5:30 p.m., free. Las Vegas City Hall Chamber Gallery, 495 S. Main Street, Las Vegas. 702229-1012. artslasvegas.org Flash! The Short, Short Fiction Contest: Through Aug. 17. For more information or to register, call Karen Bramwell at 702-507-6285. lvccld.org HELP of S. Nevada: School supply drive.

Through Aug. 20, Mon.-Thurs., 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

HELP of Southern Nevada, 1640 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-369-4357. helpsonv.org Dillon Boy Presents Apopalypse!: Through Sept. 30, hours vary. The Box Office Gallery, 1129 S. Casino Center Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-868-9357. dillonboy.com The Garden of the Forking Paths: Through Aug. 18, hours vary. Las Vegas Contem-

Trash to Treausre: The Sculptures of Dave Thompson: Through Sept. 9, $10. The Gardens at Springs Preserve, 333 South Valley View, Las Vegas. 702-822-7700. springspreserve.org Jewish Senior Singles: 6:30 p.m., free.

JCC of Southern Nevada, 9001 Hillpointe Road, Las Vegas. 702-794-0090. jccsn.org Fine Art Photography of the Great Southwest: Through Aug. 5, free. Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, Las Vegas.

702-507-3860. lvccld.org Nevada Camera Club Electronic Image Competition: Through Aug. 7, free.

Whitney Library, 5175 East Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-507-4010. lvccld.org 4th Annual Over the Rainbow Art Competition: Through Aug. 7, free. Windmill Library, 7060 Windmill Lane, Las Vegas.

702-507-6030. lvccld.org War on Hunger-Peace Corps-Afghanistan 1971-1973: Through Aug. 12, free. West Charleston Library, 6301 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-507-3940. lvccld.org Nevada Camera Club's Members Show: Through Aug. 15, free. Laughlin Library, 2840 S. Needles Highway, Laughlin.

702507-4060. lvccld.org

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First Friday: 6 p.m., free. Various downtown locations. firstfridaylasvegas.org Clint Holmes: Through Aug. 4, 8:30 p.m., $35-$45. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702-749-2000. thesmithcenter.com Outdoor Picture Show @ The District: Fri. & Sat., through Oct. 27, free. The District at Green Valley Ranch, 2240 Village Walk Drive, Henderson. 702-564-8595. shopthedistrictgvr.com

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Nicki Minaj: 8 p.m., $47.38-$75.95. Planet Hollywood, 3667 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-785-5555. planethollywoodresort.com

Ron White,8.4

Irving Lopez Photography: Through Aug. 28, free. Enterprise Library, 25 East Shelbourne Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-507-3760. lvccld.org Talent and Treasures-Cartoon & Fine Art Illustrations of DB Donovan: Through Aug. 30, free. Centennial Hills Library, 6711 N. Buffalo Drive, Las Vegas.

702-507-6100. lvccld.org

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Jazz Under the Stars: Rick Arroyo: 7 p.m., free. Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas, 30 Strada di Villagio, Henderson. 702567-8173. montelagovillage.com

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Movies in the Square: Hoodwinked Too: Sundown, free. Town Square Las Vegas, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-2695000. mytownsquarelasvegas.com Performing & Visual Arts Summer Camp for Kids 2012 Final Musical Production: The Me Nobody Knows: 1 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702507-3459. lvccld.org

Farm to Strip Dinners: Through Aug. 4, 6 p.m., $48. First Food and Bar, 3327 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-607-3478. firstfoodandbar.com Ron White: Through Aug. 4, 10 p.m., $59.99-$79.99. Terry Fator Theater at The Mirage, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-792-7777. mirage.com Martina McBride: 8 p.m., $42.50-$75.

Green Valley Ranch, 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson. 702-617-7777. greenvalleyranchresort.com

The Tenors (The Canadian Tenors): 2 p.m., $29-$69. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702-749-2012. thesmithcenter.com 2013 Miss Nevada Pageant: 6 p.m., $19.95. Suncoast Showroom, 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas. 702-636-7075. suncoastcasino.com

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Created at Pottery West: Through Sept.

25, free. Sahara West Library, 9600 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-507-3630. lvccld.org

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Gardens: Mandala Stepping Stones 10 a.m., $30-$40. Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-822-7700. springspreserve.org

Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou: Tues. through Aug. 28, 1 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. lvccld.org Near and Far by Clayton Rippey: Through Oct. 7, free. Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, Las Vegas. 702-5073860. lvccld.org

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The Composers Showcase of Las Vegas: 10:30 p.m., $21.50. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702749-2012. thesmithcenter.com Art & Wine at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art: 5 p.m., $30-$38. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-693-7111. bellagio.com Beck: 7:30 p.m., $59.40-$81.35. The Pearl at the Palms, 4321 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas.

702-942-7777. palms.com AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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Aug. 12, 7 & 2 p.m., $31.50-$49.50. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702749-2012. thesmithcenter.com Mt. Charleston Arts & Crafts Fair Through Aug. 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., free. The Resort at Mt. Charleston, 2 Kyle Canyon Road (route 157), Mt. Charleston. mtcharlestonartsandcraftsfair.webs.com The Osmonds: Through Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m., $29.95. Suncoast Showroom, 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas. 702-636-7111. suncoastcasino.com HELP of Southern Nevada’s Boot Scootin’ Benefit: 1-5 p.m., $25. Gilley's at Treasure Island, 3300 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-369-4357. helpsonv.org

The All-American Rejects, 8.11

Super Summer Theatre: Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Through Aug. 28, 8 p.m., $12-$20. Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, 6375 Highway 159, Blue Diamond. 702-895-2787. supersummertheatre.org

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Movies in the Square: Dolphin Tale: Sundown, free. Town Square Las Vegas, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-269-5000.

Mytownsquarelasvegas.com Yellow Ostrich: 7 p.m., $20. Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-698-7000. cosmopolitanlasvegas.com Back to School Fair: 6:30 p.m., free. Ansan Sister City Park, 7801 Ducharme Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-229-6851. lasvegasnevada.gov 6th Annual Diversity in Clay: Through Sept. 13, free. Windmill Library, 7060 West Windmill Lane, Las Vegas. 702-507-6030. lvccld.org

Toby Keith: 7 p.m., $35-$149. Red Rock Resort, 11011 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas. 702797-7777. redrock.stationscasinosrooms.com Jazz Under the Stars: Vernell Brown, Jr.: 7 p.m., free. Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas, 30 Strada di Villagio, Henderson. 702-567-8173. lakelasvegas.com Saturday Movie Matinee: Sherlock Holmes - A Thousand Words: 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. lvccld.org

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Diana Krall: 7:30 p.m., $42-$162. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas.

702-749-2012. thesmithcenter.com

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La Cage aux Follies: Through Aug. 19, 7:30 & 2 p.m., $27-$141. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702-7492012. thesmithcenter.com Women's Leadership Conference: Through Aug. 15, times vary, $100-$350.

MGM Grand, 3799 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-891-7777. mgmresorts.com/wom-

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Norm MacDonald: Through Aug. 11, 8 p.m., $34.95. Orleans Showroom, 4500 West Tropicana, Las Vegas. 702-365-7111 orleanscasino.com

301 N. Buffalo Drive

255-3444 www.thebagelcafelv.com

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The All-American Rejects: 9 p.m., $40.

Mandalay Bay Beach, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-632-7777. mandalaybay.com Bloc Party: 9 p.m., $30. Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-698-7000. cosmopolitanlasvegas.com Fern Adair Presents Concert Fantasy and Fantasy Petite 2012: Through

WhereTheLocalsEat.com

The Osmands, 8.11

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Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas.

702-822-7700. springspreserve.org COYOTE COUNTRYFEST: 6:30 p.m., $15-$60.

Orleans Arena, 4500 W. Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-365-7111. orleanscasino.com

Members Wanted

COLBIE CAILLAT & GAVIN DEGRAW: 9 p.m., $51.05. Mandalay Bay Beach, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd.

S., Las Vegas. 702-632-7414. mandalaybay.com JAZZ UNDER THE STARS: FREDDIE B.: 7 p.m., free. Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas, 30 Strada di Villagio, Henderson. 702567-8173. montelagovillage.com

Vernell Brown, 8.11

ensleadershipconference JEWISH DELI DINNER WITH A TWIST: 6:30 p.m., $15-$20, 50+. JCC of Southern Nevada, 9001 Hillpointe Road, Las Vegas. 702-794-0090. jccsn.org THE ESOTERIC BY TRACY S. MOORE: Through Oct. 21, free. West Charleston Library, 6301 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas.

702-507-3940. lvccld.org

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MOVIES IN THE SQUARE: ALPHA & OMEGA: Sundown, free. Town Square Las Vegas, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-269-5000. mytownsquarelasvegas.com BARBARA COOK: Through Aug. 19, 8 & 3 p.m., $40. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702-749-2012. thesmithcenter.com

BILL FAYNE AND FRIENDS - RODGERS AND HART AND HAMMERSTEIN, TOO: Through Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m., $15.95. Suncoast Showroom, 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas. 702636-7075. suncoastcasino.com

Your Family. Your Home.

16 WEEKS BY DB DONOVAN: Through Oct. 31, free. Laughlin Library, 2840 S. Needles Highway, Laughlin. 702-507-4060. lvccld.org

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JEWISH GENEOLOGY SOCIETY: 1 p.m., free. Sahara West Library, 9600 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas. 702-528-4334. jgssn.org

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STEVE MARTIN AND THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS: 7:30 p.m., $29-$108. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702749-2012. thesmithcenter.com

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MOVIES IN THE SQUARE: THE LORAX: Sundown, free. Town Square Las Vegas, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-269-5000. mytownsquarelasvegas.com

FUN.: 7 p.m., $20. Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-698-7000. cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

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Cantor Mariana Gindlin

Rabbi Malcolm Cohen

August 17th 7:30pm Sisterhood and Men’s Club Board Installation August 26th 11:00am-1:00pm Religious School Open House August 29th 7:00pm Comedian Keith Barany LIVE RSVP online at www.Templeinsilv.org Shabbat Worship

Friday evenings at 7:30pm Saturday mornings at 10:00am Got Kids?

1st Friday Tot Shabbat 6:15pm 3rd Friday Family Shabbat 6:15pm

GARTH BROOKS: Through Aug. 18, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m., $225. Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-770-7000. wynnlasvegas.com

Interfaith Marriage?

Looking to get Involved?

Seeking Adult Education?

LGBT?

PAULA POUNDSTONE: Through Aug. 18, 8 p.m., $19.95. Orleans Showroom, 4500 West Tropicana, Las Vegas. 702-365-7075. orleanscasino.com

Temple Sinai is Your Family - Your Home!

Call Temple Sinai Office and ask Debra for membership information.

SHABBAT SHALOM HENDERSON: 6 p.m., $10. JCC East, 55 N. Valle Verde, Henderson.

702-794-0090. jccsn.org

9001 Hillpointe Road, Las Vegas, NV 89134

702-254-5110 www.TempleSinaiLV.org Temple Sinai a Reform Congregation in Summerlin

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SUMMER FARE: CHILLED SOUPS AND SMOOTHIES 10 a.m., $30-$40. Springs

George Lopez, 8.24

Member

AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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Candlelighting AV/ELUL 5772 FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, AV 15 Light candles at 7:25 p.m.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, AV 16 Shabbat Nahamu Shabbat ends at 8:24 p.m.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, AV 22 Light candles at 7:18 p.m.

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, 8.22

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, AV 23 Blessing of the New Month Shabbat ends at 8:16 p.m.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, AV 29 Light candles at 7:10 p.m.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, AV 30 Rosh Chodesh Elul Shabbat ends at 8:07 p.m.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, ELUL 1 Rosh Chodesh Elul

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, ELUL 6 Light candles at 7:01 p.m.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, ELUL 7 Shabbat ends at 7:57 p.m.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, ELUL 13 Light candles at 6:51 p.m.

POLICA: 7 p.m., $20. Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-698-7000. cosmopolitanlasvegas.com JEWS BOOZE SCHMOOZE: 6:30 p.m., $12$18. Republic Kitchen & Bar, 9470 S. Eastern Avenue, Henderson. 702-794-0090. jccsn.org

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GEORGE LOPEZ: Through Aug. 25, 10 p.m., $59.99-$79.99. Terry Fator Theater at The Mirage, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-792-7777. mirage.com THE SYMPHONIC ROCKSHOW: 8 p.m., $27-$85. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702-749-2012. thesmithcenter.com FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSIC ROCK: THE EDGE: 7 p.m., free. Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas, 30 Strada di Villagio, Henderson. 702567-8173. montelagovillage.com KEVIN NEALON: Through Aug. 25, 8 p.m., $24.95. Orleans Showroom, 4500 West Tropicana, Las Vegas. 702-365-7075. orleanscasino.com

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SPECTRUM & RADIANCE: 7 p.m., $33-$36.

The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702-749-2012. thesmithcenter.com JAZZ UNDER THE STARS: DARREN MOTEMDARY: 7 p.m., free. Montelago Village at Lake Las Vegas, 30 Strada di Villagio, Henderson.

702-567-8173. montelagovillage.com JAY AND THE AMERICANS: Through Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., $15.95. Suncoast Showroom, 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas. 702-636-7075. suncoastcasino.com

SATURDAY MOVIE MATINEE: JOHN CARTER: 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-5073459. lvccld.org

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JAZZIN' JEANNE BREI & THE SPEAKEASY SWINGERS IN CONCERT: 2 p.m., free. Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-507-3459. lvccld.org

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WICKED: Through Oct. 7, 7:30 & 2 p.m., $42$175. The Smith Center, 361 Symphony Park, Las Vegas. 702-749-2012. thesmithcenter.com

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THE MAD CAPS/DUDE CITY 7 p.m., $20.

Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-698-7000. cosmopolitanlasvegas.com MOAPA VALLEY ART GUILDS MEMBERS SHOW: Through Nov. 4, free. Enterprise Library, 25 East Shelbourne Avenue, Las Vegas.

702-507-3760. lvccld.org

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WHOOPI GOLDBERG 9 p.m., $79, Treasure Island, 3300 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas.

702-894-7111 treasureisland.com JAY LENO: 10 p.m., $59.99-$79.99. Terry Fator Theater at The Mirage, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd.

S., Las Vegas. 702-792-7777. mirage.com

To submit your event information, email calendar@ davidlv.com by the 15th of the month prior to the month in which the event is being held.

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devour Purple Penguin Snow Cones Finish off the evening with a cold delight from Purple Penguin Snow Cones. In Henderson since 2009, the shack serves the locals (and those willing to venture to the other side of town) from April to September each year. Purple Penguin has real deal snow cones – the kind with the consistency of snow. No crushed ice here! Cream or ice cream can be added to make your snow cone even more delicious. With more than 40 flavors and a special flavor of the week, there is sure to be a snow cone to satisfy even the pickiest eater’s palate. Don’t forget to get a punch card while you’re there. Sun.-Thurs. 12-8 p.m. & Fri.-Sat. 12-9 p.m. Purple Penguin Snow Cones, 1500 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, Henderson.

702-400-3652. purplepenguinsnow.com

Pop Up Pizza @ Plaza Hotel In keeping with the trend of food trucks and pop up food comes Pop Up Pizza. A pop up restaurant is one that’s around for a limited time and rarely has a set schedule. It might be open a few hours each day and might pop up in a different location each time it opens; Pop Up Pizza, which recently sprouted in the newly remodeled Plaza Hotel, is defining the term pop up a little differently. It’s open every day with set hours. At first glance it looks like a traditional pizza parlor, with intimate tables and white tile behind the counter. But the art gives it a distinctive twist on typical Italian décor. There are pieces

by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and by the Dutch design team Moooi. Pop Up Pizza, 1 South Main St., Las Vegas. 702-366-0049. popuppizzalv.com

The Blue Bay Caipirinha @ Fogo de Chao Although summer will soon be coming to a close in other parts of the country, it’s still going strong in Vegas. Fogo de Chao is here to rescue you from the dog days with its new Caipirinha menu, featuring a dozen tropical drinks guaranteed to make you feel as if you’re lying on the beach in Hawaii. The Blue Bay Caipirinha is the color of the ocean on a bright, sunny day. It features Cachaca, Blue Curaçao, and fresh lime muddled with sugar. While enjoying your beverage, check out Fogo de Chao’s summer menu for a number of food and drink specials. Fogo de Chao, 360 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. 702-431-4500. fogodechao. com AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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desire

August Your answer to the modern plaid shirt - trim fit, clean lines and bold colors. The Tamarind Plaid Shirt is sharp, whether you’re setting sail from St. Kitts or working through a pitch meeting. $138. Tommy Bahama at Town Square Las Vegas, 6635 S. Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-948-8006

Refined sophistication meets sleek sporty precision with the David Yurman Classic GMT World Timepiece, featuring a 21-jewel movement, black galvanic dial and matte black alligator strap. $4,200. David Yurman at Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Boulevard S. Las Vegas. 702-794-4545.

Elegant and lavish baroque-inspired scrolls sculpt the temples with the Prada Baroque sunglasses. Crafted in Italy and 100% UV protection. $290. Saks Fifth Avenue at Fashion Show, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-733-8300.

Stick out from the crowd with the MadPax pack. Large enough to store your books and gear with a style and color that says you’re one-of-a-kind. $78 - $88. Kid’s Castle, Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. (702) 369-5437

A moderate chill in the fall warrants a stylish scarf that reminds you of what’s left of the sunny summer season. A handstitched wool paisley scarf in a popping limeade color does the trick. $68. Michael Stars at Town Square, 6569 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-851-0511.

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Large enough to make several stops on a busy day and stylishly bold showing off one of fall’s favorite hue, the Guess Belton Large Shopper will make others green with envy.$118. Guess at Town Square Las Vegas, 6569 S. Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-269-8601.

A waterproof combination of lustrous burnished leather and a lightweight and rugged, molded-rubber outsole infuse a classic lace-up silhouette with contemporary style accents. UGG Australia’s Montgomery boot for men is a high-tech essential for treading in comfort and casual luxury. $175. UGG at Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-430-7250.

The ultimate weapon of stylish seduction steps forward with Giuseppe Zanotti Design’s red patent leather pumps with a silver-plated sculpted heel that runs straight as a blade. $650. Giuseppe Zanotti Design at Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas 702-866-0055.

A stunning masterpiece, inspired by natural minerals graces the neckline. It features an accumulation of crystals encrusted in Crystal Silvernight and Crystal Metallic Light Gold chatons. $425. Swarovski Town Square, 6643 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-269-9508.

AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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discover Cathedral Rock @ Mount Charleston If you can’t take the heat, get out of the desert! Head to Mount Charleston to escape the heat and enjoy some of Las Vegas’ most beautiful scenery. Just three miles roundtrip and on a well-groomed trail, the Cathedral Rock hike is perfect for the beginning to moderately experienced hiker. There are wildflowers and aspen trees all along the trail, which afford hikers plenty of photographic opportunities and the possibility of seeing some native wildlife, such as deer. About halfway up the trail (and 100 yards or so off to the side) is a naturally flowing waterfall – the cascade flows directly down to Cathedral Rock itself and provides some stunning views of the mountain and surrounding areas.

It’s an easy hike, although it probably wouldn’t be so great for those with a fear of heights, as you do gain a bit of elevation heading up the trail. Cathedral Rock at Mount Charleston, 2 Kyle Canyon Road, Mount Charleston. 702-515-5400. http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/CathedralRock_4120.asp

The Children’s Park @ Town Square The Children’s Park at Town Square is the cool place to see and be seen. Designers and manufacturers from around the world came together to create this expansive play area. A tree house, built into a 42-foot live oak tree, anchors the play area and features a rock wall, slides and a fort. There is also a princess tower playhouse with slides and a walkway. The fountain is in the middle of it all, so parents can easily see their kids no matter where they are in the park. There are a number of other cool features in the park, which are sure to excite kids of any age, and kid-sized restrooms. The Children’s Park at Town Square is open Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; FridaySaturday, 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; and Sunday 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Town Square Las Vegas, 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas. 702-269-5000. mytownsquarelasvegas.com

Michele Popejoy

M

W H

Springs Preserve Springs Preserve has been around for a while now and the rangers there are continually expanding what the park has to offer. Besides the gardens, amphitheater and indoor museum, the preserve is offering gardening and cooking classes. This year’s focus is on a healthy summer fare and using locally grown fruits and veggies. The August cooking class is on chilled soups, which can be a great way to liven up the dinner table on the hottest days of the year. The gardening class for August covers mosaic stepping stones, a great holiday gift for parents or grandparents. Be sure to keep an eye on the Springs Preserve website for future classes and other events. Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas. 702-822-7700. springspreserve.org

T a

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More Doctors. More Locations.

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To schedule an appointment or for a list of doctors and locations, visit our website at hcpnv.com.

Twitter/HCP_Nevada Facebook/healthcarepartnersnevada

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mingle

(left to right)Niki J Sands, Dorit Schwartz, Jennifer Seda, Jennifer Lier, Tanya Amid, Debora Ashton-Cooke and Michelle Perlmutter

Las vegas Jewish Chamber of commerce

Oscars Steakhouse, Plaza Hotel Monday, July 9

(left to right)Niki J Sands, Dorit Schwartz, Jennifer Seda, Jennifer Lier, Tanya Amid, Debora Ashton-Cooke and Michelle Perlmutter

Photographs by Tonya Harvey

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mingle

jewish community center of southern nevada: where art thou

David Barton Gym, Las Vegas Thursday, July 12 Photographs by Tonya Harvey

AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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I DIDN’T MISS A DAY OF SCHOOL Through United Way of Southern Nevada’s Health initiatives, we are changing lives.

By bringing together passionate advocates, UWSN’s collective power is building a more solid community fabric. Together, person by person, we can make lasting change.

WWW.UWSN.ORG

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live INSIDE speak @ 30 know @ 34 taste @ 40

Grow Your Own. pg. 40

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AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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speak

Ethnoplasty

Why Does Corey Play Bridge With His Nose?

Dr. Troell and Corey

W

hen my mother was 15, as she tells it, she roller-skated into a wall and that’s how her nose developed a hook.

When her father was 15, as he told it, he got cracked by a stickball bat and that’s how his nose developed a hook.

When I was 15, nothing happened … and my nose developed a hook. Sorry, elders, but guess what?

Today, I’ve come to Beauty by Design, the Las Vegas office of plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Troell, for a nose job consult. I have no intention of having the surgery. I’m married, so it no longer matters how I look. However, I was always curious, and what’s the harm in subjecting my profile to a computer simulation of surgery?

Not all Jews have “Jewish” noses. The shape of facial features varies according to region, and Jewish ancestry is a mix of regions.

However, the proboscises of Hebrews like me, with Mediterranean heritage, are the ones that tend to show up on Google Earth maps.

It’s a trait we share with the majority of Arabs, Italians and Greeks.

The Mediterranean climate, scientists believe, encourages plump growth in both noses and olives. (Bigger noses supposedly do a better job of warming and humidifying cold, arid, nighttime desert air before it enters the lungs, according to the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Olives, I didn’t do any research on.)

“In general, most people go to what the nose looks better as,” Dr. Troell tells me, “and that turns out to be more of what a Caucasian nose is.”

The reason for the American beauty standard is obvious: Our melting pot was constructed by – and for most of its history has consisted overwhelmingly of –White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

Finding a nose job in Israel, by comparison, is as rare as finding a literal job in Las Vegas. But why do we buy into this beauty standard so wholeheartedly, so subconsciously? (It’s not like Jewish nose job patients seek Jew-ectomies. They just want to look better.)

Attending high school in a New York suburb that was virtually half-Jewish and half-Italian, I found that few kids looked down their

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CONTINUE

THE CARE

DISCHARGED ISN’T THE LAST WORD. RECOVERY IS. Kindred understands that when a patient is discharged from a traditional hospital they often need post-acute care to recover completely. Every day we help guide patients to the proper care setting in order to improve the quality and cost of patient care, and reduce re-hospitalization.

In the Las Vegas area Kindred offers services in: 3 Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals • 1 Subacute Unit 1 Outpatient Wound Center • 2 Transitional Care and Rehabilitation Centers • Homecare and Hospice Central Admissions: 702.784.4333 Dedicated to Hope, Healing and Recovery www.continuethecare.com

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Original Corey far right

noses at my nose; it was the default model. I even remember one Jewish girl being gorgeous enough – in spite of her hook – to earn me a “D” in Mr. Rudolph’s geometry class. In fact, as I learned after her surgery, the hook was part of her appeal; her new Barbie look did nothing for me. (And that, I used to tell myself, is the only reason we didn’t hook up.)

Still, I had a television, and “The Love Boat” and “The Sonny & Cher Show” told me that something was wrong, something that needed fixing. (OK, maybe not “Sonny & Cher.”) Many of my friends and family members must have felt similarly. I won’t identify them,

since I may be in their wills, but three Jewish people very close to me got their rhinos plastied during my childhood, swearing me to secrecy in cover-ups involving falsified two-week vacations and dark glasses. (Deciding upon invasive surgery as the only possible way to like yourself more is apparently not something to take excessive pride in.)

When droves of Jews began arriving at Ellis Island in the early 20th century, however, it was more than vanity that made them want to eradicate all signs branding them “other than white.” Want ads frequently included the words “only Christians need apply,” American icon Henry Ford circulated racist nonsense about the Elders of Zion and, as late as 1945, Dartmouth and other colleges maintained and defended Jewish admission quotas.

So they started with what they could afford to change: their names. This was especially true of Jews seeking to enter show business. Would we ever have known the names Izzy Demsky, Bernard Schwartz or Allen Konigsberg had they not been changed to Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis and Woody Allen? It’s hard to say. But because those guys weren’t up for the experiment, the message their actions conveyed to their knowledgeable fans was that being Jewish was unacceptable to mainstream America.

Since the big nose has been part of anti-Semitic stereotypes since the Middle Ages, the surgery came next. Only Howard Stern and Joan Rivers (Joan Molinsky) spring to mind as celebrities who freely admit to it. But Google some old photos of Winona Ryder (Winona Horowitz) and Natalie Portman (Natalie Herslag) and you’ll catch what I’m trying to say.

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It’s not ironic that the modern nose job came from pre-World War II Germany, since few Jewish populations were as thoroughly assimilated. It was invented, in fact, by a Jew to make his fellow Jews look less Jewish. And shortly before his death in 1934, Dr. Jacques (born Jakob) Joseph was no longer performing the surgery for aesthetic reasons but to help save patients from the earliest death camps.

“Your septum is too long,” Dr. Troell says as he sics a computer morphing program on a detailed photo that brutally lays my nose out in front of my nose – in addition to revealing how inaccurate I am at sideburn-trimming. Several intense clicks and drags of the mouse follow.

We haven’t even gotten to the hook, and he is already fakeamputating the end of my cartilage and tilting the result 5 percent upwards. (“We’re seeing too much inside your nostrils,” he explains.

On the positive side, Troell says I look “nearly perfect” from the front au naturel, a fact that doesn’t need pointing out to someone who spent his entire dating life attempting to remain at that angle.)

There are signs that beauty standards are changing, as they always do in every culture. (In Ancient Rome, for instance, the ideal woman was plump, since that suggested no peasant-like lack of nourishment. And in 1970s America, Sean Connery’s toupee was considered reasonable.)

Of 2,000 respondents to an Allure magazine poll last year, 73 percent of women said they found curvier bodies more attractive than they did 10 years ago, and 64 percent believed that women of mixed race represent the “epitome of beauty.” (When the magazine conducted a similar poll in 1991, beauty was epitomized by Christie Brinkley.)

According to a recent article in Tablet magazine, nose jobs are down 37 percent from last year. And although ethnic data are not recorded, the article suggests nose jobs are down even more among Jews.

If these supposed changes are valid, a possible reason is a rise

in ethnic pride spurred by our changing population: According to Census data, last year (for the first time) most U.S. children under a year old were members of racial or ethnic minorities. (Although Jews still make up less than 2 percent of the American population, at least they’re holding stronger than the WASP.) I also think we Jews owe a debt of gratitude to the groundwork laid by Seinfeld. Twenty years ago, Jerry and his fellow domainmasters successfully proved what even they didn’t initially believe: Mainstream America was ready for a network television show that hung itself out there like a veritable big matzo ball – depicting its characters as looking, sounding and acting like members of the tribe (although only the lead identified as one).

I can’t say how my life might have gone had I joined my friends and family members on their falsified two-week vacations with dark glasses at age 16. But I can’t see how it could have gone much better. I ended up with a gorgeous wife and daughter and, until last year, a successful career.

Yes, I look Jewish (or Italian or Greek). Eventually, though, I learned to flip feeling out of place into a point of self-pride, as I developed this unique personality I like to call “hysterical” and “larger-than-life” and that only a few people like to call “self-obsessed” and “repugnant.”

Dr. Troell puts the final touches on his simulation of me with a straightened snout, shaved chin, plumped lips and about $8,000 more in credit card debt. “This is how you can look,” he says.

Wow. The guy on the “after” side of the computer screen is hot. I mean, Michael Douglas hot – even if his sideburns could still use a better trim. Hmm. Would you still respect me if I took back everything I just wrote and disappeared for two weeks?

— Corey Levitan

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Living Together The United Way Enlists and Enables Americans to Help One Another

T

he United Way recently celebrated its 125th anniversary – determined to remain at the forefront of charitable giving nationwide.

For more than a century its stated mission has been to enlist and enable Americans to help one another overcome hardship and despair.

With more than 1,400 local chapters across the country, the largely volunteer organization was the first to establish procedural

standards for coordinating fundraising activities, the collection of contributions and the disbursement of those funds to the 45,000plus humanitarian groups it now assists.

Despite a management fundraising scandal in 1992 that besieged the organization for years, UW has endeavored to maintain its place as the nation’s pre-eminent services agency.

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Concierge Cancer Care At It’s Finest At 21st Century Oncology, our “Concierge Medicine” approach towards you and your cancer care is personalized and catered to each individual. Our physicians and staff will work to encompass your entire healthcare team so that every physician from your primary care provider to your surgeon or specialist will be able to understand the complete treatment plan.

Throughout your treatment, our physicians and staff will be there, with you, every step of the way.

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Race Against Prostate Cancer UNLV’s Track & Field Stadium Sept. 29, 2012 | 8:30 a.m.

Visit www.21stCenturyCARE.org for more information and to register.

Participants will gather to raise funds and awareness on the importance of prostate cancer screenings and to provide support for those affected by the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American males. All proceeds will benefit the C.A.R.E. Foundation and the UsToo Prostate Cancer Support Group, Las Vegas Chapter.

www.21stCenturyOncologyLasVegas.com | (702) 990-4767

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A woman philanthropist, in cooperation with a priest, two ministers and a rabbi, established United Way’s roots in Denver in 1887, amid a period of local corruption in government and crime bosses.

Striving to address Denver’s dire welfare problems, they created an organization to serve as an agent to collect funds for local charities, coordinate relief services, counsel and refer those in need to cooperating agencies and directly issue emergency assistance grants to anyone who could not be referred. They raised a sizable amount of money to fund the precursor organization of the United Way. Today, the UW’s mission is to conquer need on all levels of society through a multitude of partnerships, ranging from government agencies to faith-based communities, financial institutions to health care organizations and organized labor to schools, all of which must go through an accreditation process to qualify as a UW Partner Agency. The Jewish Family Services Agency and the Jewish Federation, both of Las Vegas, are accredited partner agencies.

Specific issues, however, are determined and prioritized at the local level, to best address the diversity and demands of each community’s needs, according to UW. “The community-based agenda of the United Way of Southern Nevada focuses on the three building blocks for a good life – health, income and education,” said UWSN President Cass Palmer.

“In order to conquer poverty and its manifold tribulations,” Palmer says, “children need a quality education that will lead to a stable job with sufficient income to eventually support a family through retirement and sustained good health.”

Founded in Southern Nevada in 2003, UWSN’s Success By 6 program provides preschool age children access to the services and opportunities they need to enter elementary school with self-confidence and awareness.

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“Insuring healthy early childhood development prevents serious behavioral problems in later years,” said Tammy Gates, director of the Hill and Dale Child Development Center on Tropicana, near Pecos, where she has worked for 15 years.

Stacy Burrell’s son attends the Variety Early Learning Center, on D Street between Jefferson and Washington avenues. When her child began there a year ago, she says, “he was quiet and unsure of himself. Now he interacts socially with the other kids. He’s reading — he loves to read, and brings us a stack of books each night to read with him — and he has this real thirst for wanting to learn and to know more about the world around him.”

Diane Anagnostopoulos is co-director with Marisa Lacroix of the Shenker Academy for Early Childhood Education, in Summerlin.

“Studies have shown that children who attend an accredited preschool program enter kindergarten developmentally on track regarding literacy, and with greater social, emotional and intellectual skills than their counterparts who do not,” Anagnostopoulos says.

“And as those children are tracked through their young adult years, those who began in preschool overwhelmingly pursue higher education, resulting in careers, financial stability and ultimately making a positive contribution to society,” she adds.

Each of the early childhood development centers, along with some 30 others in and around the Las Vegas valley, provide high quality school readiness programs and educational resources for families that want and value this kind of preschool education for their children. The centers have joined forces with the United Way to accept qualified children from families in need and eligible for Tuition Assistance Preschool Scholarships, known as TAPS.

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“TAPS enables children to attend a vital preschool program they otherwise could not afford. As a result, their chance for success in life is significantly improved through grade-level literacy, on-time graduation and more, resulting in a better community,” says Palmer, the chief executive officer at UWSN. “Through TAPS we get closer to realizing the UW worldwide goal of increasing the graduation rate in Clark County (by) 50 percent by 2018.”

Shenker Academy, established in 1998, recently won accreditation from the National Association of Education for Young People.

In September 2011, Shenker signed on with the COR (for Child Observation Record) Reporting Assessment Program.

“COR is internationally respected as an authentic, research-validated, observation-based assessment tool,” Anagnostopoulos says.

“They do a full assessment from birth to 6 years of age. That data is then processed through the High Scope Perry Education Foundation, which tracks each child through high school and records their choices from there – college, trade school, married, jail, etc.

“Utilizing the data, they publish statistics regarding the benefits or not of attending a preschool program prior to entering the school system. Thus

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far the statistics are hands-down in favor of the benefits of attending.”

High Scope is also an educational research foundation that develops curricula and trains staff and faculty in “active participatory learning” in the classroom.

“Since High Scope receives funding from the UW,” Anagnostopoulos says, “and utilizing COR as a preschool assessment tool is one of the criteria in becoming a partner with the UW, the UW approached us about partnering with them to accept TAPS families: to enhance our program and faculty aptitude through free High Scope educator training; and to offer to TAPS families another UW-funded program called Family Engagement Resource Centers, which meets regularly with TAPS parents to guide, empower and support their efforts to be a better parent, to partner with their children in learning and to discuss other child-related needs.

“We said yes for two reasons. We certainly want to be a part of helping the community and the United Way partner agencies provide outstanding benefits.

“Our already exceptional early childhood programs and teachers are now elevated even more. Our classroom environment now fosters enhanced independent learning and engagement within the context of classroom rules and boundaries that students learn are important to respect. In brief, what we ultimately see coming from these little 3and 4-year-olds is not to be believed,” Anagnostopoulos says.

“And while our TAPS families attend school in strict confidence regarding their financial status, the level of volunteerism from our parents has increased substantially,” she adds.

United Way believes in finding the best way to help the most people.

Its “Live United” campaign “means it takes everyone working together to create a brighter future,” Palmer says. “What a wonderful achievement it will be to find that the product of our investment in this vision for education is the collective prosperity, happiness, safety and all-around wellbeing of a society. That’s what this United Way program is all about.”

— Lynn Wexler-Margolies

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taste

Grow Your Own

Lesile Doyle

Coaxing a Bountiful Harvest From Unforgiving Ground is Easy For the accompanying video of DAVID’s visit with Leslie Doyle in her magical garden, please visit www.davidlv.com.

H

ow does your garden grow? As in the English nursery rhyme, perhaps with silver bells and cockle shells? But, for the most part, drought-resistant desert shrubs dotted among a sea of rock ground cover and the primary native edible – the ubiquitous rosemary bush. Not so terrible if you’re making rosemary chicken, but what about the vine-ripened tomatoes for homemade ratatouille? The mere idea of trying to grow anything for the kitchen table sends us to the market. Gardening can be a challenge here, even if we’ve had success in other parts of the country.

Ask Leslie Doyle, though, and she’ll tell you otherwise. While walking up her pathway, it’s easy to discern a sign on her front door that reads, “I’m in the back in the garden.” Clearly, this isn’t

something she puts up on a day-to-day basis. It’s permanently affixed. Leslie, a desert gardening expert for more than 20 years, has not only perfected growing veggies in this arid climate, but also runs a regional test garden in the back, growing 40-plus varieties of vegetables and 10 varieties of fruit trees –enough to feed the community.

Leslie’s front yard greets visitors with an immense pistachio tree, a massive amount of tomato plants, a volunteer red-vine Malabar spinach, thanks to the bird that brought it from the back, all vigorously growing among many more varieties of edibles.

Dressed in her bright, lime green and floral sundress and white garden hat dotted with pins, Leslie scans her garden with pride and talks of it fondly. “It’s easy to garden here,” she says. Still, the scattering of seed packets on her living room table, the rows of Styrofoam cups on her back porch, the loaded apricot tree trimmed

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with shiny strips of bird repellant, all seem a bit daunting for the first-time gardener. Regardless, she instills hope in anyone willing to learn a few tried and true gardening practices she discovered along the way, with much help from her Sweet Tomato Test Garden. (http://www.sweettomatotestgarden.com). It didn’t come instantly, however.

Doyle, who retired here from Southern California, acknowledges that she had great success as a gardener in California – something that others claim. When she arrived in Las Vegas she experienced a reality many share today: “I really didn’t know anything about gardening [in the desert].”

Some horticulturalists claim gardening in Las Vegas is akin to raising vegetables on Mars – with rocky, alkaline soil and seasonal gusts strong enough to knock off the delicate citrus flowers that would eventually become the lemon slices in our freshly squeezed lemonade. But, Leslie, a regional test gardener for Organic Gardening magazine, grows just about every kind of vegetable that thrives in our climate in her half-acre plot, including tomatoes, peppers, beans, eggplant, squashes, herbs and more.

Leslie says vegetable gardening in Las Vegas is as simple as using all the resources properly. “We have everything we need: the sun, the water,“ she says. “With good soil and a good clock, it’s an ideal climate for growing vegetables.”

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from soils to seeds to mulches for Rodale Institute, universities and publications since the mid-1990s. In her living room stands a rack of vegetables just back from another successful sale at the Springs Preserve Farmers’ Market. She picks up a tomato with a peculiar hue. “See these tomatoes? They are being tested by Oregon State University here in my test garden. They wanted to develop the blackest tomato. But what we have found is that it only turns dark on the surface that the sun hits it. This tomato is called ‘Indigo Rose.’”

Leslie claims tomato gardening is much different here than in other regions of the country. She grows hers on raised beds and recommends planting them 6 inches to a foot apart. The closeness of the plants provides a natural canopy, she says, and transpiration keeps the microclimate beneath it cool. “Yes, it’s 100 degrees outside. But feel the soil; it’s 75 degrees under there.”

She boasts about her Tomato Lady Soil, a soil-less mix that has a negligible amount of sand, a blend she developed. It can be used as a planting mix and as mulch. “One of the worst things to do is to mix native soil with good soil,” she says. Since most vegetable plant roots only go down about 4 inches below the soil level, she just lays down her special mix, provides pest control, kelp fertilizer and lets the sun and water do the rest.

She also talks about silver reflective mulch, a plastic lining that borders her crops. She adopted this practice from the agriculture industry. “It increases crops, maintains moisture and is unattractive to insects that carry diseases.”

One of the biggest secrets to a successful garden in the desert, however, is proper watering, she says. “Right now I’m watering my

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Leslie’s backyard dream garden offers much inspiration for anyone who wants to start one. With more than 40 varieties of veggies, a chicken coop with hens that produce four to five eggs a day, she’s certainly “growing her own” … and sharing. This season, she expects to harvest 100 pounds of tomatoes per day from just 17 of her 200 tomato plants. She will be selling them at the Springs Preserve Farmers’ Market, and to visitors who make the pilgrimage to her home.

Roughly 10 varieties of fruit and nut trees surround her garden, adding to her year-round harvest. Heavy with peaches, apricots, pomegranates and more, her trees produce pounds and pounds of delicious, organically grown fruits for her, her friends and family, and the community.

Tony Valenti, owner of First Choice Tree Service in Las Vegas, says there are many fruits that grow well in this region. Figs, apples, peaches, apricots and plums are successful.

“One of the most important things to remember about fruit trees is when planting, dig a large hole and provide a good composted soil mix,” he says. “Irrigate or distribute the water around the trunk that exceeds the area of the canopy of the tree,” Tony says. “This promotes even root growth.”

As fruit trees grow taller, people are inclined to shorten the tree to access fruit easily. Tony says this practice should be avoided.

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Proper pruning in the winter is important for fruit production, he says, and for promoting an abundance of fruit when picking season arrives.

While the rest of us may strive to grow a few crops that yield a moderate amount for the table during the season, abundance is Leslie’s trademark – something she claims other gardeners can achieve.

Beverly Wenger learned about Leslie through a garden workshop her husband attended. She also relies primarily on Leslie’s books, Growing the Tomato in Las Vegas and Slam Dunk Easy Desert Gardening, which outlines when to plant what in our desert gardens. “I read somewhere that we are no longer eating food, but that we are eating food-like substances,” says Beverly. “In my search for healthy food choices, I decided to try my hand at gardening.”

Gardening in Las Vegas is very simple, she says, with a little research. “For instance, many varieties of tomatoes don’t do well here – they are not heat-tolerant. But there are a handful that will thrive here.”

Beverly is a first-time gardener. Her plentiful crops show that anyone can grow fruits and vegetables in Las Vegas. “We have harvested tomatoes, eggplant, squash, cilantro, basil and a bounty of corn,” she says.

This sounds like a recipe for that summer ratatouille.

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The

A.R.T.

of

Fertility

Reproductive Medicine Pioneers Offer Hope to the Childless

By Brian Sodoma

C

arolyn Savage’s heart-wrenching story was virtually made for the television morning shows. And it dominated them three years ago.

The Ohio mother, accidentally implanted with another woman’s embryo in 2009 and notified of the error early in the pregnancy, gave birth to “Little Man” months later. She and husband Sean held the newborn for a half hour on Sept. 24 that year before surrendering him to be with his originally intended family from Michigan.

Inconceivable, one of the books the modern tragedy spawned, chronicled the immense strain she and her family endured during and after the pregnancy.

Within months of the birth of the child (now known as Logan), Savage contacted Dr. Geoffrey Sher, medical director of Sher Fertility Clinic in Las Vegas. She wanted to try in vitro fertilization, or IVF, again. Sher spent 45 minutes on the phone with the Savages

that February day in 2010, and he gave them his cell phone number.

“That was very … you just don’t see that,” Carolyn Savage says.

After the initial consultation call, the 41-year-old mother of three felt she was in good hands. She’d checked several years’ worth of IVF message boards and noticed that Sher’s name came up frequently.

She also noticed his reputation for obsessive attention to patient care, and his passion for making advances in his field. She may have been unaware, though, of his penchant for tackling the difficult cases.

“I work with everyone else’s headaches,” Sher says.

This experience was far from a headache for either party, however.

In August 2011, Savage gave birth to twin girls, and a year later they’re healthy and happy.

Pioneering Sher’s message board reputation was well deserved. He is as active AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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in his business as he is in the virtual world. He blogs regularly and is available to answer questions on some discussion sites.

Thirty years ago, Sher was invited to London to study with IVF pioneer, Patrick Steptoe, who with British biologist Robert Edwards was blazing new trails in the nascent field. Four years earlier, their first IVF child, Louise Brown, was born in England.

Sher was a fertility specialist in Reno when he embarked for Britain. He was a man who loved research and abhorred boredom – which came easily. The chance to work with pioneers was far too alluring to ignore.

In time, he would set up an IVF clinic in Reno. He has others, as well, in Las Vegas, New York, St. Louis and Dallas, with some 18,000 births to date.

In 1997, as Americans snickered about the sexual revival magic of Viagra, Sher suggested the medicine could be used to enhance the thickness of the uterine lining in IVF patients – a common practice now.

In 2005, the emergence of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, or PGD, brought great hope to the fertility community. It provided a means of assessing whether an embryo was “competent” and free of chromosomal abnormalities, greatly enhancing the chances of IVF success.

Sher was an early adopter of PGD, but began using a newer embryo-testing form called Comparative Genomic Hybridization, or CGH, in 2007. The next year, he dared to try it with eggs.

Today, he is among the few – if any – who will use CGH at the egg stage, a trickier proposition. The eggs are quite small for the invasive procedure that usually involves plucking a Cryo-preservation tank. cell from an embryo. And eggs are sensitive to the freezing and thawing processes associated with storing them as tests are being done.

After two IVF cycles for the Savages, good eggs were found. But they were not tolerating the freezing and thawing processes well.

For the Savages, staunch Roman Catholics, CGH with embryos was not an option. They believe an embryo is too close to the human life stage and, if chromosomally incompetent, should not be discarded.

“It’s just a personal belief,” Carolyn says. “I can understand the desire to CGH an embryo, as it cuts down on the miscarriage rates.

But, for us, it wasn’t what we were going to do.”

So the center used older methods of observing embryos, ones incapable of truly analyzing all 23 chromosomal pairs (CGH would

have offered a higher likelihood of full analysis). Two embryos were transferred to a surrogate mother, upping the chance that one would take. Both did.

Testing controversy Savage doesn’t judge those who choose to test under PGD or the more advanced CGH protocol in the embryo stage. She understands some couples are dealing with genetic predispositions to diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. In those situations, CGH is an important tool to help deliver a healthy baby.

“In that case, I really get it,” Savage says. “It might not be my decision, but I understand that.”

About the time Savage was undergoing IVF with Sher, a Nobel Prize was awarded to Edwards, with whom Sher had worked in England. The award focused both acclaim and criticism on the IVF world. The Catholic Church has denounced IVF in general, and considers PGD and CGH ripe for use in genetic tinkering – what some might refer to euphemistically as “family balancing.”

With PGD and the more advanced CGH, gender selection could be possible.

Sher and his colleagues often face situations, for example, where a couple with two boys might want a girl. Sher isn’t opposed to such “balancing,” but draws the line when wouldbe parents are simply “being hostile toward a particular sex.”

“I think if we’re using technology for the betterment of society and … to enhance the human condition, it’s OK. If we try to use science for the means of self-service only, it’s not,” Sher reasons.

Barbara Collura is president of RESOLVE (The National Infertility Association), a patient advocacy group that finds support groups and offers education to men and women diagnosed with infertility. She believes people unable to procreate naturally will do whatever’s necessary to have a healthy birth, regardless of previous beliefs.

“Frankly, the Catholic Church is opposed to IVF,” she says. “But there are plenty of Catholics doing it today. It’s interesting because you have pro-life people that are opposing someone who is spending all this time and money to bring a life into the world. It’s really an interesting dynamic.”

CGH, whether used at the egg or embryo stage, above all is a tool to help prevent miscarriages and multiple births, Sher says, the latter of which he calls a “justifiable reason for criticism in the field.”

Multiple births can mean smaller babies with pulmonary and

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nervous system problems, he says, along with a host of added financial responsibilities for the parents. Savage was content with having an “extra” baby, but the highly publicized stories of “Octomom” and the like – underscoring the physical and economic realities of some multiple births – have stigmatized the IVF world to a degree.

But, as Sher concluded in a recent blog, “There is this troubling tendency to consider IVF success and failure purely in terms of achieving a pregnancy (or even birth). … Rather a successful outcome should be defined by the ability to propagate a healthy baby that is born with optimal potential for subsequent physical and intellectual development.”

More advancement coming

banking, Ringler says.

Sher says egg and embryo vitrification is particularly advantageous to women in their late 30s or early 40s who decide they want two children. After the first birth, nursing and some time with the child, several years often pass and it’s too late to have a second child. Getting pregnant on the first attempt at age 45 offers a 1 percent chance of taking, he says.

“People can’t afford to be spinning their wheels while the biological clock is on the move,” he said. “By having embryos banked, you could come back five years later and be good to go.”

Cryo-preserving also allows career-minded women in their early 20s to bank their eggs for later. Some might even choose to donate eggs to infertile women or cancer survivors with compromised reproductive systems. But, says Ringler, few women in their early 20s give it much thought or realize it’s an option.

“Either they’re not aware of it. It’s not a priority. It’s not on their list,” Ringler says. “Only 10 years ago it was not a viable option at all. Today, the success rates have increased five-fold. … It’s surprising women are not taking advantage of this technology.”

Still, egg banking isn’t cheap, Ringler acknowledges.

Some see Sher’s use of CGH at the egg level as a game-changer. If the egg is competent, there is an 85 percent chance the embryo will work. That takes away some pressure and provides a psychological benefit, Sher says. With a good egg, there is about a 60-70 percent chance of pregnancy, he says. With two competent embryos, the Savages’ chances were even better.

But Sher and other doctors The money factor anticipate new medical avenues IVF costs about $11,000 per for CGH. Dr. Guy Ringler, head cycle, and two to three cycles of California Fertility Partners are the norm in most cases. in the Los Angeles area, expects Tests on embryos or eggs are advances in how eggs and not included, and can cost a embryos are frozen, thawed and few hundred dollars each to treated during the PGD testing $3,500 for CGH. If a surrogate process. As Savage found, eggs mother’s in the equation, her and embryos don’t like freezing legal and medical costs must be – even the far better flashcovered, along with a personal freezing vitrification process fee ranging from $25,000 to commonly used today. $85,000. Only 15 states require Testing methods could insurers to provide infertility use some advancement, too, coverage.

Ringler says. With PGD testing, For Savage, there was only one cell of an embryo is Dr Geoffrey Sher with one of the first CGH babies. compensation for the anguish biopsied. This happens after an she suffered through no fault of her own. “We had a settlement,” egg goes through three days in culture. Ideally, it should reach a fiveshe says. “There was no way we would have been able to afford this day blastysis stage where more cells can be taken and even better (second IVF) without it.” readings made.

Despite the advances, Ringler says the IVF road is long and “One cell may not represent what’s going on with the whole difficult.“Infertility treatment is very emotionally, physically and embryo,” he says. “The future of testing will be to biopsy after five financially draining.

I think the goal should be to provide the least days in culture.” amount of personal and physical stress as you can,” he says.

Banking Collura says many couples believe that making the decision to go the IVF route is the difficult part, overlooking the costs and other And what about situations where there are multiple competent factors. eggs and embryos? Should they be discarded? Some will donate “We have a big myth among women that you can easily procreate them – if there is funding for freezing, which can run about well into your 40s,” she says. “Then doctors tell them ‘here are your $11,000, the cost of one IVF cycle. Huge strides have been made options’ and they’re really surprised.” in the last decade in the freezing process regarding egg or embryo AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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Fat Town The Obesity Crisis in Sin City

By Brian Sodoma

L

as Vegas has very little construction to speak of these days. But if and when money surfaces for new projects or redevelopment, Monica Lounsbery would love to have a say in how it’s spent.

The UNLV nutritional science professor wants to design anti-obesity elements into our neighborhoods, subdivisions and workplaces.

Lounsbery, who directs the university’s Physical Activity Policy Research program, believes Las Vegas has failed to incorporate into buildings and open spaces ways to counter obesity. Take our parks, for instance, she says. “You see people at a park and they’re usually sitting. They’re there to supervise a child or a dog.”

Justin Williams, Clark County’s senior park planner, was involved with Lounsbery’s recently completed O.P.E.N. (Observing Park Environments in Nevada) study. UNLV and county representatives monitored several Las Vegas parks over the course of a year to see how they were used. Williams will use the data in formulating suggestions for a future park in the Mountain’s Edge master planned community in the southwest Valley, and at the existing Bob Price Park in the northeast.

“Parks are designed to get people active,” Williams says. “But a lot of spectatorship goes with that, especially with kids sports. You’ll have kids running around, but twice as many parents sitting and watching. People take kids to the playground, and parents are sitting at the picnic table, too. It becomes a question of how to engage the spectator.”

At the Mountain’s Edge park, Williams says, elliptical trainers will be set up so parents can exercise while watching their children.

Recently, the county put similar devices along walking trails at Bob Price Park.

Lounsbery and others believe more can be done beyond the park environment. In much of suburban Las Vegas, where most of the city’s residents have flocked the past few decades, businesses and homes often don’t front the street or sidewalk, she says. How many times must pedestrians traverse hundreds of feet of parking lot before reaching a neighborhood center?

Lounsbery believes designers should consider placing parking lots behind a structure, with stores, buildings and sidewalks closer to the

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street and natural buffers between the walkway and road. Narrower streets might encourage walking rather than driving, she says.

“I consider myself a reasonably healthy person,” she adds. “But sometimes there’s not even enough time for me to get across these (wide) streets. Think of a blind person or an older person.”

Carrie Sheets, who is doing postdoctoral study in clinical psychology, works at the Surgical Weight Loss Center and at Creative Health Solutions. During her student years back East, she often rode a bike to work and class; Las Vegas presents a natural deterrent to biking, she says.

“Once you have a close brush, or that one experience, you don’t want to chance it anymore,” she says.

More gain, less pain?

Two-thirds of the U.S. adult population is considered at least overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity among children ages 6-11 has reached 20 percent, nearly triple the rate of 30 years ago. The Silver State ranked 37th in the Kaiser Foundation’s State Health Facts survey in 2010, with

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obesity rates near the overall U.S. level. The state spends nearly $350 million a year on obesity-related health care costs, the nation $130 billion, data show.

And while most of us are reminded frequently to monitor our intake of sugar, carbohydrates and fat, and to get to the gym, Marjorie Nolan of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics says our exercise regimen doesn’t have to be a killer. Slow, but regular physical activity throughout the day can replace hard workouts in the gym, she says, while promoting a slower weight loss that’s easier to maintain.

Nolan rejects the “no pain, no gain” ethos.

“Our bodies are designed to move relatively slowly, but constantly,” she says. “Our messages are completely off track with the ‘Biggest Loser’ and these programs that are putting these people into a ‘fat camp.’”

Nolan is amassing evidence for a book to show that vigorous exercise actually increases the “hunger hormone” ghrelin, which also is exacerbated by extremely low calorie diets that are often suggested with intense activity. In fact, she says, this coupling can result in a ghrelin spike and a fall-off in appetite-suppressing hormones such as leptin.

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A 2009 study in Australia suggested that extreme weight loss promoted elevated ghrelin levels of roughly 20 percent in 50 men and women. Critics found the sample too small, but the results may spark a larger study.

Nolan sees “less pain, more gain,” for instance, as walking a quarter mile from the market to her Manhattan apartment while toting 20 pounds of groceries, or taking the stairs at work and brisk walks throughout the day, and a moderate intake of calories.

Lounsbery is interested in occupational energy expenditure, such as treadmill desks. TrekDesk and TreadDesk sell mobile workstations that keep users upright, enabling them to walk as they work if desired. The stations cost from $500 to $4,000.

She acknowledges it’s a stretch to compare New York’s walk-friendly urban environment to Southern Nevada’s suburbs. And she’s not advocating an overhaul of Las Vegas or the workplace per se. For now, she’s satisfied with the park plans, realizing much more must be done before society is ready to tackle the obesity problem head-on.

The mind game Our suburban environments offer cues that favor a car ride over a walk, while the social message we receive is gluttony deserves physical punishment. That presents a quandary for most folks: Lace up the running shoes, or sink into the couch for more chips and cookies.

Dr. Kim Dennis is medical director for Timberline Knolls, a Chicago-area residential treatment facility for women and girls with eating disorders. The 122-bed facility, with many obese patients, usually has a waiting list on any given day, she says.

Many obese people, she adds, battle a food addiction that resembles

a disease. Often the uncontrolled eating masks the physical and sexual abuse some patients experienced during childhood, Dennis says.

“They have no real control over (eating) without outside help,” she said. “Too many people go right to simple behavior modification, like a diet and exercise program. But there’s usually a deep emotional, spiritual, physical aspect that needs to be addressed.”

Still, surface-level behavior modification techniques have their place. Sheets encourages routines: leaving sneakers by the front door; eliminating junk food from the cupboards; using social media to engage with other active people and those in similar situations.

Calorie trackers, pedometers and self-monitoring apps are increasingly popular, she says. Any way that technology fosters behavior change and maintenance is good, she adds. Even something as simple as having a family get-together at a park, rather than at a buffet, helps establish dietary control, Sheets says.

But simple behavior modification tips aren’t always enough, she believes. And Dennis says it’s common to see slimmed-down patients who’ve undergone weight-loss surgery now being treated for chemical or substance abuse. Focusing on the physical side of the equation to the detriment of the mental aspects won’t work, she says, adding that even physicians can get too locked in on body change alone.

“I still have doctors calling me and talking about great diet plans that can help patients get great results,” she adds. “It’s just not sustainable.”

Dennis says some obese people haven’t addressed the spiritual side of life.

“It’s simply a connection to something bigger and something other than themselves. We call it the ‘hole in the soul.’ These people

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have been neglected and abused on some level and they just look to substances like food, sex, bad relationships, you name it,” she says.

Playing hardball at school A Kaiser Foundation report published earlier this year cited the importance of schools in helping allay obesity, particularly in youth.

Understanding nutrition is key, experts say, which often puts the school lunch in the crosshairs.

Virginia Beck, the Clark County School District’s assistant director of food services, has been tinkering with the menu for some time now. Fresh fruit is now offered at breakfast and lunch. Even the pizza now has multi-grain crust and low-fat and low-sodium cheese, Beck says.

But if the kids don’t eat what’s offered, Beck adds, administrators will make different menu requests. “Administrators are supposed to adhere to the student wellness regulations, but not all of them do,” she says.

And some social factors are beyond the purview of schools, Beck says.

“The mudslingers want to blame everything on the school meals. … But there’s the media with the (junk food) commercials, and parents that don’t have the time to prepare a nutritious meal themselves. Then kids are sitting down to video games; you can’t just nail it down to one factor,” she says.

In a perfect world, Dennis says, schools would assist with nutrition, parenting and helping moms and dads meet their child’s emotional needs.

“If you don’t look at these other factors,” she adds, “it’s like treating someone with tuberculosis with a cough suppressant.”

Congratulations goes to Michael Tamburro, who took this photograph at the Dead Sea, Israel. At 1,388 ft. below sea level it is the earth’s lowest elevation on land. Due to its hypersaline nature the sea has an impressive density making swimming an exercise in sublime floating.

He wins a year’s subscription to DAVID. To enter submit your photo to editor@davidlv.com

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To advertise, please call Joanne PHONE 702.254.2223 • CELL 702.497.2092 joanne@davidlv.com • www.davidlv.com AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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Snake Oil Welcome to the Miracle Cure Graveyard

By Jaq Greenspon

I

’m one of those people who will scream like a baby at nap time if I get a paper cut. But if it’s something serious, I’m incredibly stoic and take it “like a man.” I assume the same would hold true if I were ill instead of hurt. I’ve never been seriously sick, but when I have a cold I whine and moan and just want someone to take care of me. I want to feel better. I get to that point, a day or two into an illness, where I forget what it was like to be well. My nose was always running, my eyes always itched. I didn’t have days where I didn’t sneeze. And this is just a common cold.

These are the days when I’d give anything to take a magic elixir, have Harry Potter cast a spell, stand upside-down while breathing into a paper bag, whatever it took to get healthy and feel normal again – and I know there are a lot of people out there who feel the same.

How do I know? Just look at some of the solutions being offered.

If you tell someone you’re sick, expect a plethora of remedies passed down from one relative to another, most coming from “the old country.” The level of commitment to these remedies is, at times, almost pathological. Some of these “cures” are relatively harmless, or at best provide a temporary or placebo effect. In Eastern Europe, for example, the cure to almost everything is a shot of alcohol. In

Hungary, it’s a homemade, fruit-based concoction known as Palinka, and a shot will cure what ails you — no matter where you are or what you’re doing. In Moldova and Russia, it’s vodka – with a liberal dose of pepper. These are fine. Even if they don’t fix you, they’ll relax you enough so you feel better anyway.

Not all cures, however, are so benign. And not all health plans are so very healthy.

These cures have been around for a while. According to Joe Nickell, in an article for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, the second royal patent (no one knows who got the first) for a medical compound was granted in 1712 to Richard Stoughton’s Elixir.

He continues: “By the mid-eighteenth century an incomplete list included 202 ‘proprietary’ medicines-those protected by patent or registration. Relatively few of the ready-made medicines were actually patented-which required disclosure of their ingredients-but rather had their brand name registered. Nevertheless, the term patent medicine has become a generic term for all self-prescribed nostrums and cure-alls.”

In America, we’ve given these fixatives the blanket term of “Snake Oil” and that’s been around since at least the mid-19th century. Again, the origins of the term have become lost to history, but AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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various sources suggest it either came from rumors of an oil actually made from the bodies of slaughtered rattlesnakes to a mispronunciation of the Seneca Indian tribe in the Pennsylvania and New York area. In any case, we didn’t know the actual chemical content of these elixirs, which could cure everything from the common cold to colon cancer, until 1917, when the federal government decided to investigate Clark Stanley, inventor of the very popular Stanley’s Snake Oil. Nickell describes how, “In 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Stanley is said to have held crowds spellbound as, dressed in colorful western garb, he slaughtered hundreds of rattlesnakes, processing the juices into the cure-all.”

After nearly 25 years, the government seized a shipment of the oil and had it tested, revealing “it to be mostly mineral oil containing about one percent fatty oil (thought to have been beef fat), along with some red pepper (probably to impart a soothing warmth to the skin) and possible traces of turpentine and camphor (perhaps to provide a suitably medicinal smell).” The government successfully sued Stanley for peddling his product as a medicinal cure, winning a whopping $20 settlement.

At about the same time Stanley was learning how to make his snake oil, John Harvey Kellogg was in Battle Creek, Mich., using hydrotherapy and yogurt to make sure the bowels of his patients were nice and clean.

His advocacy of enemas and abstinence was part of his belief that all diseases could be cured by changing or replacing the “intestinal flora,” the bacteria that thrive in the intestines. To do this, he would administer a course of alternating water and yogurt, half to be taken orally and half delivered via enema. He followed this with a low-protein, high fiber vegetarian diet in hopes of creating the proper environment for healthy bacteria to grow within the intestines. He was also an early adopter of various methods of circumcision (for both men and women), as a method of curbing masturbatory tendencies. He also founded the Race Betterment Foundation, whose ideological views led to scientific research on eugenics. He also invented Corn Flakes.

In his day, Dr. Kellogg (he did, in fact, have a medical degree, even if most of his medical philosophies were holistically based) was an incredibly well-respected physician whose clientele included presi-

dents, entrepreneurs, inventors, writers, athletes and Amelia Earhart. Today, we can laugh at his methods and conclusions – except in California, where spas and wellness centers still routinely offer “colonics” as a way to cleanse the bowels and “restart” the digestive system. Just for the record, while there are certain times and places where the bowels should be flushed, doing it with regularity because you can is not medically advisable.

Along those same lines, and just as medically viable, is the Master Cleanse, which purports to do the same thing as Kellogg’s enemas but from a more organic entry point. This one started in 1941 and involves drinking a concoction of water, lemon (or lime) juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

That’s it. This beverage becomes your only caloric intake for 10 days to several weeks. Needless to say, this isn’t a highly recommended way to rid the body of toxins; even the weight loss that usually accompanies the diet fades quickly once actual food re-enters the daily calorie count.

Sometimes, of course, medical science just hasn’t caught up to practical applications. In medieval times, doctors routinely prescribed a course of bloodletting. Leeches were attached to the skin at various, specific points – the chest for heart ailments, the arms for fatigue and so on. These points easily translate into the pressure points where Chinese acupuncturists stuck needles along a mystical body map; puncturing a nerve near the eye can alleviate vertigo, for instance, and several pins behind the knee and above the belly button might eliminate bowel obstruction or constipation.

Consider the art of phrenology, by which 19th century German physician Franz Josef Gall (quoted in an American Association of Neurological Surgeons Bulletin by Roy Selby) believed “one could discern the relative strengths, weaknesses, proclivities and abilities of an individual’s behavior from measurement of the contours of one’s head. He believed these were indicative of underlying cerebral contours, which in turn possessed those particular attributes.” By the 1920s, phrenology as a medical science had been debunked as just a little bit silly … and yet … according to Selby: Phrenology might otherwise be a sociological curiosity except that it stirred the thoughts of a few doctors, primarily in France, that some localization of cerebral functions might exist. The most

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notable initial observation was that of Paul Broca in 1861, which led to the work of Wernicke in Germany and the general formulation of ideas about the localization of language functions. Ferrier and Jackson in Great Britain and Fitsch and von Hitzig in Germany discovered the primary visual cortex and the sensorimotor cortex.

This pseudoscience contributed to the initial discoveries and concepts of cerebral localization. The latter eventually reached rather extreme parcellation of both cortical functions and anatomy, which have undergone significant modifications in understanding. Yet the development of the initial ideas of localization allowed the preoperative diagnosis of the location of the first successful operation for brain tumor, thus making possible important contributions to clinical neurologic exams.

Then you have modern science jumping the gun completely, as in the early part of the 20th century, just after the Curies discovered the isotope radium.

Doctors started prescribing radiation-infused anything as general analgesics. Things came to a head in 1927 when a wealthy industrialist named Eben Byers fell during a train ride and injured his arm. His doctor advised him to drink a new product called “Radithor,” a mixture of radium and thorium.

According to Charles M. Glassmire, it was “supposed to cure by stimulating the endocrine system.”

It worked … to start with.

Byers followed the instructions to “drink directly from the bottle” and downed a whole thing one night after dinner. He felt better. He felt so much better, in fact, he decided that if one bottle was good, more would be better. From then on, he drank about three bottles a day. In 1932, when Mr. Byers died of severe radiation poisoning, it was believed he had consumed more than 1,400 bottles of the stuff.

The Wall Street Journal headlined: “The Radium Water worked fine until his Jaw came off.” Today, we use radium to treat cancer instead of causing it, but the doctors then really thought they were helping.

It makes you wonder about the people advertising on late night television, though. At least with these various curatives, there was some sort of medical basis, however misguided, at the start of it all. On the flip side of things, you have the makers of “Biotape.” The silver conductive adhesive is supposed to bridge the “broken Chi” (which causes pain), leaving you in the pink – kind of like putting

a piece of metal along two leads to bypass a bad fuse. At $49.50 for a 6-foot roll of the 6th generation tape, it seems like a pretty good deal – until you read this small print: “We make no medical claims on this web site that Biotape® and conductive supports will stop, heal, or relieve pain … ” I’d bet they’re receiving dozens of orders a day.

A more recent trend to hit the marketplace is magnets. It seems magnet therapy arrived full-blown in the mid-‘90s. A number of companies offered a variety of products, all laced with small, static magnets designed to interact with the body’s own magnetic field to generate healing and pain relief. Items included insoles for shoes, mattress covers for beds and seat covers to heal you as you drive. And then there are the iRenew and Q-Ray ionized bracelets. Put one on and you’ll be stronger, healthier and have better balance, according to the ad.

Imagine this: There are no scientific studies that show any significant decrease in pain or increase in health while using these products. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission investigated Q-Ray’s claims and found their “ionized” bracelets weren’t.

The company was ordered to refund tens of millions of dollars.

So far we’ve been talking about health and weight loss programs, easy solutions to problems that usually require time and energy to solve. What about fitness? The results are disturbingly similar.

With abdominals, by far the most prolific body image problem, we have the same situation.

Machines that require you to at least do some work (e.g., Perfect Abs Roller, Ab Swing, Ab Scissor, etc.) don’t serve you as well as traditional ab crunches. But they’re not dangerous and, eventually, you will see results. The bigger problem comes with the electronic belt devices that enable the user to do 1,000 sit-ups while sitting on the couch watching TV. These, I’m afraid, are all false. More than 10 years ago, with Project ABsurd, the FTC filed complaints against the makers of AB Energizer, AbTronic and Fast Abs. Separately, all three were ordered to pay restitution for making false claims. Today, on late night television or at Wal-Mart or any number of places, these ab belts are still marketed, with a promise that they’ll provide a sixpack without any work.

I think I’ll order one, then sit on a magnet couch cover, drinking a vintage bottle of Radithor and just wait to feel better.

I hope to see you next month.

AUGUST 2012 DAVID

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SPF, Your Best Friend Dealing with the Rise in Incidents of Skin Cancer

By Pat Teague

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Danielle DeBruno

W

hat is the body’s biggest organ? Give up? It’s our skin. On average, human flesh spreads over about 3,000 square inches and weighs some 6 pounds. By comparison, the adult brain is just over 3 pounds.

Our skin represents the first line of defense against foreign invaders. It’s also a supple (if less than impervious) barrier to trauma, a heat regulator with sensation properties, a complicated sheathing with the ability to excrete some waste. Its built-in melanin (pigment) protects us from ultraviolet light — up to a point.

UV light includes two types of invisible rays: UVA and UVB. Ninety-five percent of the light that strikes our bodies is in the form of UVA rays. They penetrate our skin more deeply and cause tanning, but also can lead to skin damage and skin cancer. The other 5 percent of the rays are classified UVB. They don’t get as deep into our skin as UVA rays, but have more energy and cause sunburn.

Most sunscreens target UVB rays, leaving us vulnerable to the effects of UVA. Too much UVA can damage DNA. Too much damage can cause skin cancer. Some of us are predisposed to it: We have difficulty tanning, we sunburn easily, have natural Dr. H.L. Greenberg red or blond hair, blue or green eyes, family members with skin cancer, and multiple or unusual moles.

A problem on a massive scale An estimated 3.5 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year in this country, making it the No. 1 cancer. One in five Americans will develop it at some point. Among the warning signs are any changes on the skin, especially in the size or color of a mole, growth or spot, or a new growth – even one with no color. Another possible sign of skin cancer is scaliness, oozing, bleeding or a change in the appearance of a bump or nodule; the spread of pigmentation beyond its border, such as the dark coloring that spreads past the edge of a mole or mark; a change in sensation, including itchiness, tenderness or pain.

The most common form of skin cancer is basal cell carcinoma; it’s easy to treat and rarely spreads. The second type is squamous (SQUAY-mus) cell carcinoma, found in the skin’s epidermis layer.

If left untreated, it can spread to the dermis, then move through the lymph system to other parts of the body, with potentially fatal results. Generally speaking, though, these non-melanoma skin cancers – common on sun-exposed areas such as the face, the lips, the neck, the ear, even the backs of hands – rarely spread and can be treated effectively if found early enough.

The most dangerous type of skin cancer is malignant melanoma, a rare type associated with a mole. Despite its infrequent occurrence, it is blamed for 75 percent of the 12,000 annual skin cancer

fatalities in the United States. This particular cancer begins in the melanocytes, the cells that generate our skin coloring, or melanin.

If detected early on, malignant melanoma is curable.

Dr. H.L. Greenberg runs Las Vegas Dermatology.

After earning his degree at the University of Michigan, the Colorado Springs native spent 11 years at various medical and research institutions before settling in Nevada.

“I was recruited to a larger practice here in Las Vegas. And after being with them for a year, I started my own,” Greenberg says. He has a commonsense approach to the desert sun. “I’d say that the one thing that I like to emphasize the most to everybody is to be sun-smart. I’ve just seen so much skin cancer, especially here in Nevada, that if you are going to go out in the sun, just to wear sunscreen, or go out during the time that the sun is a little bit lower down on the horizon, whether that’s first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon.”

A prescription for lowering your skin cancer risk Most dermatologists agree the best time to avoid long exposure to the sun is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They also recommend we: • Practice the “shadow rule” and teach it to our kids. If your shadow’s shorter than you are, the sun’s rays are at their strongest.

• Slip on a shirt; choose comfortable fabrics that are tightly woven (you can’t see through them when they’re held up to a light).

• Slop on sunscreen (and lip balm), even on a cloudy day; make sure it’s SPF 15 or higher; reapply every two hours and after swimming, toweling off or sweating.

• Slap on a wide-brimmed hat; if a baseball cap’s all you’ve got, slather some sunscreen on your neck and ears.

• Wear sunglasses with 99 percent to 100 percent UV absorption; melanoma can attack the eyes and surrounding skin.

• Keep in mind that other UV light sources should be avoided, too, including tanning beds and sun lamps.

Greenberg advises his patients to put on a “shot glass” worth (2 ounces) of sunscreen before going into the midday sun, and to remember to reapply in two hours. As for ultraviolet rays he tells his patients “A ages and B burns.”

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do radiation treatment as an alternative to surgery.”

She stresses, however, that surgery is often an excellent option for dealing with skin cancer.

Reisinger says conventional radiation treatment involves patients going “Monday through Friday, for about four weeks. … But we’ve been doing something a little bit different in order to make it easier for the patient, with what’s called brachytherapy.”

Brachytherapy, or “near therapy,” involves using Dr. Susan Reisinger a radioactive source that targets the skin lesion directly.

The procedure involves six visits, Reisinger says. “So it cuts down your treatment time, especially if you have a debilitated patient, or somebody that lives far away, or people who work or who can’t make that four-week time commitment.”

“We see a ton of skin cancer, a lot of skin cancer,” she adds. “I have worked in Northern areas (of the country) … and you don’t see nearly the skin cancers that you do in Nevada – or Florida.”

“We’re (not) Number 1!”

“I’ve seen more skin cancer here than I have in any place that I’ve trained, and that includes Texas. … The sun is just so strong (here),” Greenberg says.

“And the thing with the melanoma is even if you are safe every day you get that one sunburn — that’s the blistering sunburn — that could be the one that gives it to you … People say, ‘Well, I’ve been in the sun for 40 years, why should I stop now?’ And I tell them, ‘It’s like that smoker, who smoked for 40 years: It’s not that 40th year that’s so bad. It’s the 41st year.’”

An alternative to surgery Dr. Susan Reisinger of 21st Century Oncology, Las Vegas, is from a small town in south-central Pennsylvania. “I would not trade the hot summers (of Las Vegas) for the cold winters back East no matter what,” she says. “I would rather wear sunscreen than deal with the snow.”

Reisinger’s company, an international firm headquartered in Fort Myers, Fla., specializes in radiation therapy to battle skin cancer. It has five Las Vegas area centers.

“There are some circumstances where surgery is not the best idea,” she says, “or the patients don’t want it, particularly if it’s on a sensitive part of the face or something like that. So you can always

Dr. Wolfram Samlowski, recruited five years ago from Salt Lake City to open a melanoma treatment center in Las Vegas, has been with the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada a little more than a year, where he specializes in treating melanoma, kidney cancer and sarcoma.

“In the Nevada population we’re one of the states with the highest frequency of melanoma (Utah is No. 1).

It has to do with genetic susceptibilities,” he says, although altitude (more direct rays) also is a factor.

“You have to remember that these statistics are based on the whole population and not just the Caucasian component of the population. And so if there’s more fair-skinned Dr. Wolfram Samlowski individuals, there’s a higher risk of melanoma.”

Samlowski says 85 percent of melanomas are now detected when a surgeon or dermatologist can still remove them.

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“I spend a lot of time learning about new scientific advances and melanoma, and then figuring out what drug companies have new agents that they’re testing that might be suitable for melanoma treatment, and try to negotiate to get them here … that’s an ongoing challenge …” he says.

“I probably am a participant in something like 15 or 20 clinical trials.

They range from very early tests of drug effectiveness to comparisons of the best standard treatments. And in some cases there are studies where I’ve participated in the planning or writing, and they might be unique to our institution.”

He says the “survival rate” for melanoma is increasing, with probably 50-60 percent of diagnosed patients still alive in five years, compared to 2030 percent a decade ago.

So what magic bullets are researchers seeking now? and spreading around the body,” he says. “So finding melanoma in lymph nodes, or finding it spread, makes treatment more challenging, and the risk of dying of melanoma higher. (But) there have been significant advances in the coordination of surgery, pathology and then subsequent medical treatment, (so) that even in high-risk primary melanomas, with lymph node involvement, that survival (rate) has increased decade by decade. … ”

Magic bullet in the chamber?

The population most susceptible to melanoma, says Samlowski, is northern European, including the English and those of Scandinavian extraction, where “sunlight is not so common.” Scientists theorize the bodies of those people were designed to get as much vitamin D from the sun as possible.

He contrasts them with people nearer the equator, whose bodies may require additional pigment to provide more protection from the sun.

“And we are now starting to understand that melanoma is maybe five or six different diseases, with different gene mutations that cause it,” he says. “And what’s happening is there are really two other advances that this has led to: One is the idea that we can target the effects of these mutations with drugs. And that leads to oral treatments that shrink melanoma, even when it’s widespread, and cause significant regression and can hold the disease in check with daily oral therapy.

“The other thing that’s happened is that we’ve learned better how the cancer evades the immune system. And there are now new antibodies that reactivate the immune system and produce sometimes dramatic responses or remissions in melanoma.”

Some of the drugs that may one day be prescribed are still experimental, he says, and are in testing at CCCN.

“There are sort of two paths that are happening. One is since we know the mutations and the genes of the melanoma cell that cause it to grow, can you block that and keep the cancer from evading your medicine?

And then the second part is how can we reawaken the immune system to more effectively fight the cancer, because that can take out even the last residual cells.

“So the first approach means chronic therapy, by turning cancer into an illness like diabetes or emphysema where you have to take medicines on a daily basis. The second approach is you try to get a remission and try to make the cancer go completely away and stay away. I personally am more attracted to that. But both are effective in prolonging the time patients have — and the quality of time.”

Hometown care As for CCCN, “the group has tremendous commitment to testing new treatments and to clinical studies with new drugs … Las Vegas is one of the top places in the country actually to get some of these new (experimental) drugs, which is something most people don’t realize. I would say in melanoma we’re one of the five or six places west of the Mississippi (River) that have some of these drugs available.”

Samlowski says Las Vegas has plenty of medical talent around, too, though it may take an educated consumer to find it. And treatment options are better here than other places.

“Twenty years ago we beat everybody up with chemotherapy,” he says. “Nowadays, the drugs are much more selective for the cancer, and have much lower side effects. … So the quality of life for patients is high, the amount of time to do the things they want to do is high, and they’re not so sick from the treatment as they used to be.”

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grill Stethoscopes & Microphones Dr Daliah Wachs is taking patients on AM 720 KDAWN She packs a mean stethoscope in one hand and a radio mic in the other. She’s Daliah Wachs, the dynamic doc of the medical airwaves, dispensing straight talk health advice to Las Vegas listeners on AM 720 KDAWN; on the Internet’s TalkSuperstation.com; XM Satellite Channel 166; and more than a dozen radio stations from California to Kentucky.

Her educational, candid and entertaining perspectives on a variety of health concerns have placed her on the broadcast fast track.

She was in syndication within a year on the air; named within two years to The Top 250 Radio Talk Show Hosts by Talker Magazine; and has one of the fastest expanding radio programs in the country. But it doesn’t end there. Dr. Daliah practices integrative family medicine in offices here in Las Vegas that she shares with her chiropractor husband. She’s a mom. She teaches at Touro University and UNLV’s School of Medicine; was nominated Woman of the Year by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; and donates her time to Children’s Miracle Network and St. Judes for Children. DAVID barely caught up with this medical tour de force as she and her family took a much needed break in Alaska.

DAVID: Whatever possessed you to combine medicine with radio showbiz?

DR. DALIAH: Well, I was exposed to radio as a child. In the ‘60s, my grandfather told stories on the radio. At 3 years of age I would run around imitating him with a toy microphone. Curiously, at that same time, I knew I wanted to be a doctor. Go figure. Some paths are just destined.

By college age I was presented with two opportunities … to pursue a career in musical comedy or accept an academic scholarship to UNLV in pre-med. I opted for the latter.

DAVID: How and when did radio come into play?

DR. DALIAH: When the recession hit in 2008, many families found themselves out of work and without health insurance. People needed a place to go for medical advice, so I thought it would be a good idea to offer my services to answer some of their concerns and questions.

I bought airtime on KLAV AM 1230 Las Vegas in 2009. The rest is history. KDAWN loved the show and picked it up within a week!

DAVID: Wow! That’s amazing. To what do you attribute your appeal?

DR. DALIAH: My honesty. I’m one of the people. I’m just like my callers. I don’t pretend

that I’m above the issues they are asking about.

If I’m having trouble with hemorrhoids, I talk about it openly. I’ll tell my listeners that I’m sitting on a hemorrhoid pillow! That makes people comfortable. It makes them feel like they can call me with anything, and they don’t have to be embarrassed. There was a 15-year-old boy in California who was too embarrassed to tell anyone about a growth on his scrotum … then one day it was too late. I don’t ever want that to happen on my watch.

DAVID: I listen to your show. You insert a lot of humor in the points you make and the lessons you impart. Where does that come from?

DR. DALIAH: I was born light-hearted. I naturally saw the funny side of things. I was the class clown, which wasn’t always a good thing! But I owe my mom for encouraging me to utilize my humor. She never tried to shut me down. Humor can bring down walls that might otherwise prevent us from opening up to what we need to hear … like the medical advice I offer.

DAVID: How do you have time for your medical practice?

DR. DALIAH: Well, it’s not easy, but I love my patients. I’m very loyal to them. I get into the office as much as I can. It’s great that my husband and I share office space. I’m also working on two books, a possible local TV show, and my charity work is very important to me.

DAVID: What are your thoughts on the current health care reform legislation?

DR. DALIAH: Our health care system definitely needs fixing, but unfortunately this health care bill has not addressed the problems adequately.

In many instances it’s made things worse. It was written and passed hastily and not well thought through mostly because of politicians who wanted to grab the credit during their elected term. The mandates on employers are problematic; the affordable health care guidelines for physicians restrict their autonomy on how to fully treat a patient; the so called tax that will be imposed on those without insurance … well, it’s going to be cheaper to pay the tax than to insure a family, so many will opt to pay the tax … now you still have a country with too many uninsured people! Many doctors are leaving the profession. It’s a shame. But I’m not going anywhere, and hope to be around for a long time, reaching audiences with helpful medical advice. Thank goodness the health care bill can’t mess with that.

66 DAVID AV/ELUL 5772

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7/24/12 9:18 AM

BE SMART. BE SAFE. BE SEEN. Fact: Nevada is one of the five most dangerous states for pedestrians. Recent painful events in Las Vegas have reminded us of this repeatedly.

Through your emails and calls, you’ve told us you are concerned and are tired of pedestrians, especially our children, dying and being injured on our roadways. Action News wants to change that.

IF YOU ARE DRIVING: Pay attention! Respect pedestrians. Slow down near crosswalks.

Pedestrians do have the right of way in crosswalks and at intersections.

IF YOU ARE A PEDESTRIAN: Pay attention! Look both ways before crossing. Always stay focused on the traffic while you are in the intersection. Don’t assume all cars will stop for you. Wear bright clothing. Don’t wear dark clothing at night.

For the rules of the road regarding pedestrians and driving, go to KTNV.COM.

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Tell us about dangerous intersections or send story ideas to: 13INVESTIGATES@KTNV.COM 7/20/12 6:30 PM

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