Rochester In Good Health

in good The Best Cup of Tea? White, green or black?

Find out what’s the best tea you can buy

s n i m a t Vi

Sure, you know all about vitamin C or D. But how about the lesser-known vitamins such as biotin or copper?

Jacob, Isabella Most Popular Names in ‘10 See the top most popular names, according to Social Security data

42

Number of new generic grugs about to hit the market. See page 26

Meet Your Doctor:

Rochester–Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

June 2011 • Issue 70

The Struggles

to Become a Parent

This is the story of Erica Walther Schlaefer and her husband A.J. Schlaefer’s journey to become parents and how they touched other people’s lives in the process. P. 11

Ready to Do Some Jogging?

Local experts say the key is to prepare first to avoid any injuries

Getting Comfortable in Your Own Skin

New Study:

Teens Prefer Liquor to Beer, Hardly Touch Wine

Immigrants to U.S. Get Supersized Study shows new immigrants to U.S. getting obese within 15 years

Lori Medeiros L I V I N G A LO N E

FREE

Men’s Health June 2011 •

• Vasectomy Reversal Offers Hope for Fathering Again • ADD in Adult Men. What to Expect • What to Do When a Daily Shave is a Real Pain IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 1

Underage Drinking – is not a minor problem Being a healthy hero means doing everything to help your kids to be fit and healthy. These four little numbers—5, 2, 1 and 0— are a great place to start. They’re a fun, easy-to-remember way to get kids to eat right and exercise every day.

See it, hear it, talk about it.

Start talking before they start drinking.

Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States. Although it is illegal, young people under age 21 drink 11 percent of all alcohol consumed in the U.S.

For more information or to schedule a presentation, call (585) 719-3489 or visit our website at www.ncadd-ra.org.

DEPAUL

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence –

5 2 1 0

Brand-name drugs are just

generics in disguise.

If you take a brand-name prescription drug, you should know that there are new generic and over-the-counter options that can save you money. Not every brandname drug has a generic equivalent, but there are generic and over-the-counter alternatives for treating many conditions, including high cholesterol. Generic drugs are real medicine. They are approved by the FDA as safe and effective, but they cost less. A lot less. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if generic drugs are right for you.

Generics are

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hour of active play sugary drinks

© 2011 Greater Rochester Health Foundation

HIGH CHOLESTEROL?

Page 2

hours or less of computer or TV time

Find out more: www.BeAHealthyHero.org Cool tools. Simple tips. Visit today.

Rochester Area

A nonprofit independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association

fruits and veggies a day

go.excellusbcbs.com/generics

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

U.S. Immigrants Get

Supersized

“Become One” One Makes a Difference!

Study shows new immigrants to U.S. getting obese within 15 years

I

mmigrants to the United States may be packing on the pounds, in part, because of a desire to fit in with the citizens of their new country, a new study suggests.

Immigrants and their children are known to put on weight after moving to the United States, with some approaching levels of obesity within 15 years.

While the abundance of junk food in the American diet no doubt plays a role in their weight gain, immigrants and their families may choose typical American dishes as a way to show that they belong and to prove themselves as Americans, the new study finds.

“People who feel like they need to prove they belong in a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in,” says researcher Sapna Cheryan, a psychologist at the University of Washington.

The study, which surveyed AsianAmerican and white college students, found children of immigrants are often embarrassed by consuming food from their home country in front of others.

Sixty-eight percent of the Asian-American respondents recalled food-related insecurities around white peers while growing up, such as awkwardness about using chopsticks and the custom of eating all parts of the animal (chicken feet, fish eyes, and pork heads).

Only 27 percent of white respondents remembered embarrassing food practices from childhood.

The researchers also measured whether the threat of not being identified as American had an influence on food preferences. To trigger this threat, a white experimenter asked half of the participants, “Do you speak English?” before beginning the experiment.

Then the 53 participants — all English-speakers and a mix of whites and Asian-Americans — wrote down their favorite foods.

Inquiring about English skills prompted 75 percent of Asian-Americans to mention a typical American food as their favorite compared with 25 percent of Asian-Americans who had not been asked if they spoke English.

White participants’ lists of favorite foods did not differ whether the experimenter asked if they spoke English or

While the abundance of junk food in the American diet no doubt plays a role in their weight gain, immigrants and their families may choose typical American dishes as a way to show that they belong and to prove themselves as Americans, the new study finds. not.

Finally, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to select a dish to eat from local Asian and American restaurants.

Before making this selection, researchers told some participants: “Actually, you have to be an American to be in this study,” as a way of threatening the participants’ American identity.

The Asian-American participants whose American identity was threatened chose more American dishes, such as hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches, than Asian-American participants who were not asked if they were American. Because the sampled American dishes tended to have more fat, threatened participants ended up consuming an extra 182 calories, 12 grams of fat and seven grams of saturated fat than participants who were not asked if they were American.

“In American society today, being American is associated with being white. Americans who don’t fit this image — even if they were born here and speak English — feel that pressure to prove that they’re American,” Cheryan said.

The study will be published in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science.

SERVING MONROE, ONTARIO AND WAYNE COUNTIES in good A monthly newspaper published by

Health Rochester–GV Healthcare Newspaper

Local News, Inc. Distribution: 30,000 copies. To request home delivery ($15 per year), call (585) 421-8109.

In Good Health is published 12 times a year by Local News, Inc. © 2011 by Local News, Inc. All rights reserved.

106 Cobblestone Court Dr., Suite 121 – P.O. Box 525, Victor NY 14564.

• Phone:(585) 421-8109 • E-mail: Editor@GVhealthnews.com Editor & Publisher: Wagner Dotto Associate Editor: Lou Sorendo Writer: Mike Costanza Contributing Writers: Dr. Eva Briggs, Jim Miller, Deborah J. Sergeant, Gwenn Voelckers, Anne Palumbo, Sylviane Duval, Chuck DiNatale, Amy Cavalier, Sheila Livadas Advertising: Marsha K. Preston, Beth Clark Layout & Design: Chris Crocker Officer Manager: Laura Beckwith No material may be reproduced in whole or in part from this publication without the express written permission of the publisher. The information in this publication is intended to complement—not to take the place of—the recommendations of your health provider. Consult your physician before making major changes in your lifestyle or health care regimen.

June 2011 •

OPEN INTERVIEWS!

Wednesday July 13th 9:00am-3:30pm TOWN OF Brockport, at the Brockport Exempts 248 West Avenue Brockport, New York 14420 Are you ready to make a difference in the lives of children or adults with developmental disabilities? “Become one”, join our team of enthusiastic, caring staff today! If you have a desire to make a difference, possess excellent people skills, and work directly with individuals to help them gain and maintain independence in their lives, then Lifetime Assistance Inc is the employer for you!

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425 Paul Road, Rochester, NY 14624 • 585-426-4120

Do you feel depressed?

Announcing a medical research study for people with depression.

Depression isn’t just feelings of sadness – it can affect the way you see the world. Your body may feel constantly fatigued, and your mind may dwell on thoughts of worthlessness and guilt. If you are currently depressed and not taking an antidepressant, you may qualify for a medical research study to determine the effectiveness and safety of an investigational medication for Major Depressive Disorder. If you qualify, you’ll receive investigational study medication, study- related medical exams and lab tests at no charge.

Financial compensation for time and travel may also be available. To learn more, please call Dr. Sarah Atkinson at the number below.

Call: (585) 241-9670 (M-F 8 a.m. To 5 p.m.)

FINGER LAKES CLINICAL RESEARCH 885 Winton Road. S., Rochester, NY 14618 (at the 12 Corners in Brighton.)

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 3

Medical Society of Monroe County Welcomes New President

T

he Monroe County Medical Society recently elected its 2011/2012 officers at the society’s 190th annual meeting May 4 The officers are: • President: James E. Szalados, MD, MBA, Esq. of Hilton, a critical care specialist and anesthesiologist with Westside Anesthesiology Associates of Rochester, LLP and a New York attorSzalados ney concentrating in health law; • Vice president: Leslie Algase, MD, of Honeoye Falls, an internist and geriatrician with Partners in Internal Medicine; • Secretary: James Fetten, MD, of Pittsford, a hematoloAlgase gist and oncologist with the Interlakes Oncology Group; • Treasurer: Peter Deane, MD, of Rochester, an allergist and rheumatologist with Allergy Asthma Immunology of Rochester, PC.; • Member-atFetten Large: Wallace Johnson, MD, of Brighton, an internist, director of the University of Rochester Center for Primary Care; and • Member-atLarge: Louis J. Papa, Jr. MD, of Fairport, an internist with Olsan Medical Group.

Deane The meeting was held at the Rochester academy of Medicine, 1441 East Ave. in Rochester. Leah McCormack, MD, immediate past president of the medical society of the State of New York was the keynote speaker.

Over 1,700 physiJohnson cians are members of the Monroe County Medical Society.

The Monroe County Medical Society is a non-profit organization formed to extend medical knowledge and to advance medical science, to elevate the standards of Papa medicine, to promote reforms and to enlighten and direct public opinion in regard to the problems of health and medicine for the best interests of the people of Monroe County.

The meeting was sponsored by Charles J. Sellers Co., Inc; Kern Augustine Conroy & Schoppmann P.C.; Underberg and Kessler, LLP and The Wladis Companies, Inc. Page 4

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CALENDAR of

HEALTH EVENTS

June 7

Hearing Loss Association to sponsor programs The Hearing Loss Association of Rochester will present two programs Tuesday, June 7, at the vestry room at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, East Avenue at Westminster Road, across from George Eastman House.

The daytime meeting starts at 11 a.m. and is titled “Hearing aids don’t help me any more. What should I do?”

It will be presented by Dr. Paul O. Dutcher, and Mark Orlando, both affiliated with the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The evening meeting will start at 7 p.m. and is titled “Job search and employment: It’s clear, communication is critical!” John Macko and Mary Ellen Tait, NTID Center on Employment will present the program.

All programs are audiolooped.

Those needing a sign language interpreter should contact Linda Siple at 585 475 6712. For more information visit www.hlaa-rochester-ny.org or telephone 585 266 7890.

June 11

CCDP to sponsor 29th Annual Children’s Festival The Coordinated Child Development Program, a Canandaigua-based nonprofit that offers childcare, Head Start, Universal Pre-Kindergarten, before and after school programs and full time summer programs for schoolage children, will celebrate the 29th Annual Children’s Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the Canandaigua Early Childhood Center,55 Wilcox Lane in Canandaigua. The event will include games, prizes and entertainment for both pre-school and school age children. Roscoe the Clown, fire prevention demonstrations, a talent show and martial arts demonstrations will add to the fun. Food will be provided by Clifton Springs Boy Scout Troop 59 with plenty more kid friendly activities. Call 585-394-5310 for more information,

June 13

Kidney Foundation holds golf tournament Area golfers and people who want to support a worthy cause can still sign up to play in this year’s local National Kidney Foundation Cadillac Golf Classic, which will again be presented by the law firm of Faraci Lange LLP. For the second straight year, Faraci Lange is the presenting sponsor of the tournament, which benefits the National Kidney Foundation Serving Upstate New York. The firm has participated in the golf tournament every year since its inception. The NKF Cadillac Golf Classic helps raise awareness of chronic kidney disease and the importance of early detection of the disease, which affects 26 million American adults. This year’s local tournament will take place on Monday, June 13 at Irondequoit

Country Club. First, second and thirdplace teams from the Upstate New York tournament are invited to attend the National Championship in January 2012 at the Pebble Beach Resorts.

People interested in participating in the golf tournament can contact Michelle Castrogiovanni at NKF Serving Upstate New York at (585) 697-0874, ext. 27.

June 18

Rose Walk to benefit cardiac rehab center Thompson Health will hold its 15th annual Rose Walk from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 18, at Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion Historic State Park, 151 Charlotte St., Canandaigua.

Proceeds benefit the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Fitness Center, which helps patients regain and maintain their physical health after a cardiac event. For a minimum donation of $10, participants are invited to walk a one or two mile route through historic Canandaigua, plus enjoy refreshments, free admission to the gardens and more. The first 100 walkers collecting $35 or more in pledges will receive a commemorative T-shirt. This year’s honorees are Ted and Rosalie Fafinski of Farmington, dedicated supporters of the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Fitness Center. Kevin Doran, managing editor at WROC-TV, New 8 Now, will emcee the event. Rose Walk is sponsored in part by Wegmans, Finger Lakes Cardiology, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and many more generous businesses and individuals. To register online, visit www.ThompsonHealth.com or call (585) 396-6253 for more information.

Town Park Lodge, 777 Westfall Rd., in Brighton (between East Henrietta Road [Route 15A] on the west and S. Clinton Avenue on the east). Dinner is a vegan potluck. Vegan means no animal products (no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products or honey). Bring a dish (with enough to serve a crowd) and a serving utensil; also bring a place setting for your own dinner. Free for members and $3 for guests. For more information, call 234-8750 for help.

June 29

Hospital to host geriatric nursing seminar Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic and the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center of Upstate New York are partnering to offer a free seminar for nurses who work with older patients.

“Sorting Out the 3 Ds: Delirium, Dementia, Depression” will be held from 9 – 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29, at Clifton Springs Hospital. This workshop will help the nurse learn how to sort through the subtle differences of delirium, dementia and depression to help improve the older patient’s quality of life. Upon completion of the program the participant will be able to unravel the differences between delirium, dementia and depression; identify and implement appropriate mental status exam assessment tools; and recognize and implement basic nursing interventions. The workshop is a collaboration of Clifton Springs Hospital and the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center of Upstate New York at Ithaca College Gerontology Institute.

The presenter is Kay Viggiani, adjunct faculty at Keuka College. Her presentations on gerontology have occurred in numerous national conferences, and she has authored chapters in various nursing and gerontology textbooks.

Registration is free, but limited. Call to register by June 20. To register or for more information, call Patricia Dlugosh, Clifton Springs Hospital education department, at 315-462-0505.

July 17

Golf tournament to benefit Good Days Fido Fest to feature ‘Animal Camp The Fifth Annual Ryan J. McPhee Planet’ star Memorial Golf Tournament will be June 19

Boom Towne’s Second Annual Fido Festival will feature Victoria Stilwell, a dog trainer and beloved star of Animal Planet’s “It’s Me or The Dog” TV show. The event will take place from 12-4 p.m., Sunday, June 19 at the Boom Towne Canine Campus at 1296 Beaver Creek Road in Farmington.

Fido Fest is free for everyone and will include local animal support organization, vendors, food, live music, agility demonstrations and a dog trick contest.

More information and contest entry details are available at www.boomtowne. com

June 19

Vegetarian society inviting public for dinner, program The Rochester Area Vegetarian Society (RAVS) is inviting the public to attend its June meeting, which will include a vegan dinner and a program titled “A Raw Food Diet: Benefits and Strategies” presented by Becky Rice, the Gourmet Raw Food chef and a graduate from Living Light Culinary Art Institute. The event will take place starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Brighton

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

held Sunday, July 17, at Eagle Vale Golf Club, 4344 Nine Mile Point Road, Fairport. All proceeds from the event will benefit the many children and families served by Camp Good Days and Special Times. Individual golfers may register for $100 per person, which includes 18 holes of golf (scramble format) with a cart, lunch at the turn, hors d’oeuvres, and dinner.

Awards will be presented to the top three teams and prizes will be given for Closest to the Pin and Longest Drive, for both men and women. There will also be mulligans, 50/50 raffle, and a silent auction. Registration and sponsorship information is available by contacting Amy Richardson at Amy_Q_Richardson@rochester.rr.com.

Information is also available online at www.tournevents.com/Ryan2011.

CORRECTION: A story about Monroe 2-Orleans Board of Cooperative Educational Services Center for Workforce Development — or BOCES 2 – in the last issue of In Good Health included the wrong address of the facility. BOCES 2 operates out of two locations: 3545 in Gates and 3589 Big Ridge Road in Spencerport.

Job Loss Greatly Increases Risk of Premature Death, Especially in Men

The Coordinated Child Development Program, Inc.

29th Annual

Sat., June 11, 2011 • 11 am- 4 pm

Stony Brook University: “Our study results clearly indicate that unemployment is not just bad for your pocketbook; it’s also bad for your health”

I

n a meta-analysis of 42 studies with data on 20 million people regarding the relationship between unemployment and the risk of death, a team of researchers at Stony Brook University found that the risk of death was 63 percent higher in those who experienced an episode of unemployment than those who did not.

They also found that the increased risk was greater for men (78 percent) than for women (37 percent).

Reported in Social Science & Medicine, the overall study results reveal that the relationship between unemployment and mortality risk has Schwartz remained constant for the past 50 years.

“Our study results clearly indicate that unemployment is not just bad for your pocketbook; it’s also bad for your health,” says Joseph E. Schwartz, senior author and professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. “The results suggest a causal relationship between unemployment and higher risk of death, as well as the need to identify strategies to minimize the adverse health effects of unemployment.”

Schwartz points out that while unemployment is always an issue for society, the current economic crisis and unemployment rates intensify the need to research the relationships between unemployment, health risks, and premature death. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the national unemployment rate reached 9.6 percent in August 2010, near its highest level in

25 years. The rate continues to be high, at 9 percent in April.

The study, titled “Losing life and livelihood: A systematic review and meta-analysis of unemployment and all-cause mortality,” included an analysis of working-age men and women mainly in Western countries over a 40-year period. Employment and unemployment were documented in the studies for people in all phases of their careers. Individuals were followed for different lengths of time in the various studies.

The researchers also found that for those who were younger (under age 50) and who experienced an episode of unemployment, the risk of death was greater (approximately 75 percent) than for those who were 50 or older (25 percent) experiencing the same.

“Those studies that followed people for more than 10 years showed a weaker relationship between unemployment and risk of death,” adds David J. Roelfs, first author, and a doctoral candidate in the department of sociology at Stony Brook University.

“This finding strongly suggests that the increase in risk is greater during an episode of unemployment and the initial 10 years thereafter.”

Schwartz and colleagues emphasize that future research should focus on possible mediating, moderating, and confounding factors, and on whether the risk of death could be modified in individuals, either at the health care system level or individual level. Some methods they suggest could include public health initiatives that target unemployed people for more aggressive cardiovascular screening, or targeted interventions to help unemployed individuals reduce risk-taking behaviors.

Uninsured Hospital Stays Surged from 2003 to 2008

H

ospital stays for uninsured patients jumped 21 percent between 2003 and 2008, after holding fairly steady during the previous five years, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

By comparison, all hospital stays grew only 4 percent between 2003 and 2008, and 10 percent during the previous 5 years.

The federal agency found that there were 2.1 million uninsured admissions in 2008, compared to 1.8 million in both 2003 and 1998. The average cost of a 2008 uninsured hospital stay was $7,300.

AHRQ also found that: • Public hospitals saw the greatest

share of uninsured stays (8.3 percent) in 2008, compared to private, for-profit hospital stays with 5.5 percent, and private, stays in not-for-profit hospitals with 4.7 percent.

• Hospitals in the South had more than twice as many uninsured stays (7.6 percent) than those in the Northeast (3.2 percent) in 2008. Uninsured patients made up 4.9 percent and 3.6 percent of stays in the Midwest and West, respectively.

• Between 2003- 2008, the number of uninsured hospital stays increased by 55 percent for skin infections, 43 percent for gall bladder disease, 40 percent for diabetes complications, 35 percent for alcohol-related disorders, and 20 percent for heart attacks.

June 2011 •

CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL Canandaigua Early Childhood Center 55 Wilcox Lane, Canandaigua, NY

Free Admission!

Games! Prizes! Entertainment!Talent Show!

And much, much more!

Our sponsors: Canandaigua National Bank • Kiwanis

Shingles Pain (PHN) Do you suffer from Post Herpetic Neuralgia?

A new treatment is available.

Call us to discuss your options for all your Chronic pain issues.

Naseer Tahir, MD Board Certified in Pain Medicine 2050 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 585-271-4480 gvpnurse@yahoo.com

Macular Degeneration Dr. George Kornfeld uses miniaturized binoculars or telescopes to help those with vision loss keep reading, writing driving and maintaining independence.

By Elana Lombardi Freelance Writer Just because you have macular degeneration or other eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy doesn’t mean you must give up driving.

“People don’t know that there are doctors who are very experienced in low vision care.”Dr.George Kornfeld, a low vision optometrist.

Low Vision patient, Bonnie Demuth, with Bioptic Telescopes

Bonnie was helped with two pairs of glasses: Special $475 prismatic glasses let her read the newspaper and bioptic telescopes helped her distance vision.

“My new telescopic glasses make it much easier to read signs at a distance.” Says Bonnie, “Definitely worth the $1950 cost. I don’t know why I waited to do this. I should have come sooner.”

Low vision devices are not always expensive. Some reading glasses cost as little as $450 and some magnifiers under $100. Every case is different because people have different levels of vision and different desires.

“Our job is to figure out everything and anything possible to keep a person functioning visually.” Says Dr. Kornfeld.

Dr. Kornfeld sees patients in his five offices throughout upstate New York including Rochester.

For more information and a FREE telephone consultation call:

585-271-7320 Toll-free 1-866-446-2050

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 5

Meet

Your Doctor

By Mike Costanza

Dr. Lori Medeiros Medical director at Rochester General Hospital Breast Center discusses “individualizing cancer care” Q. I’m always curious as to why people do what they do. Why go into surgery?

A. I had family experiences with cancer. My dad had gastric cancer when I was young, and that interaction with the surgeon was pretty important.

Back then, gastric cancer was much more lethal than it is now. He lived for three years, and then died of metastatic disease. Understanding the role of surgery in palliating symptoms, but also in saving people with cancer when things are detected early—that was pretty much what drove me into it.

Q. From general surgery, you specialized in the surgical treatment of breast cancer. The question comes again: why?

A. One of the pros or cons — whichever way you want to look at it — of being a female surgeon is that I’d often get women sent to me for treatment of breast cancer. I now have one who is 30 or 31, who kind of bounced around for awhile with this lump in her breast, and was told she had a cyst and [needed] not to worry about it. She finally came in.

She has a relatively aggressive breast cancer. She’s a single parent with two young kids. When you see that kind of thing, it makes it hit home that you need to be watching and staying on top of your game. Those kinds of things, when they slide, it’s devastating to see.

potential for individualizing care based on the profiling of the tumors. We do something called “Oncotype DX” [the Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Assay].

What it is, is a gene profile that we can run on tumors. That can allow us to say, “Well, you know what, the chance of this particular tumor, because of its genetic makeup, coming back is low enough that you may be able to avoid chemotherapy,” or, “The risk is very, very high so chemotherapy would be beneficial.” It’s really about trying to individualize that therapy, so you’re not getting too much, you’re not getting too little. Having that knowledge of what you can do medically to treat cancer allows you to limit a little bit what you do surgically. Other things that we do are

[also] a little more specialized than what I used to do in general surgery.

Q. Can you tell us about some of those treatments?

A. Whole breast irradiation—which is irradiating the whole breast for five weeks, is what was done for breast cancer in general. Sometimes you have patients that come in that have other issues. They can’t get to a radiotherapy facility for five weeks, or they’re older, or this is going to be a significant strain on them, or they simply have a very good prognostic tumor that may not even require that [treatment]. Instead, we can do something called “partial breast irradiation.” What that is, is I put a balloon in under ultrasound guidance here in the office. The balloon has a catheter in the middle that allows the radiotherapist to put little seeds inside. The seeds deliver radiation therapy and they are in-dwelling. The treatment is cut down from five weeks to five days, and it’s twice a day for 30 minutes of treatment.

For a lot of women, it’s provided them with an opportunity to be able to complete their therapy. Sometimes these women they can’t get to a radiation facility, or they don’t want to do five weeks of radiation therapy. By being able to offer this, you’re giving them another option that is also viable, and that fits in better with their lifestyle overall.

Q. You’ve spoken of other ways in which the surgical treatment of cancer might change in the coming years. Can you tell us about some of them?

A. This is an example of something that’s changed recently. For the past 100 years, we’ve been taking out lymph nodes whenever we go in for breast cancer.

The thought was kind of that these lymph nodes were guardians of the breast cancer progressing from the breast outside the breast to the rest of the organs in the body.

If you could get the lymph nodes out, maybe you could stop it [the cancer] from going somewhere

Q. What challenges have you encountered since entering your field?

A. One of the nice things about breast cancer is there’s a lot of research in that field. The challenge, subsequently, of breast cancer is that the knowledge base is continually shifting. You have to keep up with the basic science behind it, and then translate that into a surgical procedure that’s going to provide an optimal outcome for the patient.

What we try to focus on is individualizing cancer care.

Q. “Individualizing cancer care?”

How might you do that?

A. With breast cancer, probably more so than most of the other types of cancers, there exists a Page 6

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

else—metastasizing.

Since I was in medical school, there has been some doubt about that.

People have questioned what the utility of doing it was, and if you were really helping patients by doing that procedure. It was a little bit of, “Are you stopping the horse from getting out of the barn or is it just telling you that the horse is out?”

There was a big study a few months ago that they asked me to comment on—it was actually in the New York Times as well—talking about the utility of taking lymph nodes out for breast cancer surgery. What they found was that it actually doesn’t impact on patient survival at all.

Other studies have also hinted at or demonstrated what people have been arguing for awhile—that maybe we don’t need to be doing this in today’s day of modern chemotherapy and modern radiation therapy. That there’s some subsets of women that you may be able to do less surgery on.

It’s pretty exciting, because additional surgery doesn’t come without expense. There’s a set of risks and complications that go along with it, one of the worst being lymphedema, a swelling of the arm. The arm might become extremely swollen and extremely debilitated. If you can avoid a procedure that would get those complications—up to 13 percent of women will get some form of it—then that’s a big advance.

Q. After completing your surgical residency, you worked in hospitals in some of northern Quebec’s rural communities. What was that like?

A. When you come off of your residency the first year, sometimes you’re not really thinking about settling down in one job. I went to areas that were very underserved. There might be one -year docs or two-year docs. It was often no surgeons at all for long periods of time. It was a nice way to hone your skills after residency, establish your confidence and also to give back to some of these communities that really don’t see physicians for long periods or stretches of time.

I would see the run of the mill general surgery things, because I was doing general surgery back then. One of the first things I did when I came out of residency was a motor vehicle accident—a woman who’d been involved in a Ski-Doo [snowmobile] accident.

She was in snow for four hours and they brought her into the emergency room in shock. She had a liver laceration. We packed that off, stabilized her, and then shipped her by airplane to a tertiary care center.

She lived. It was gratifying.

Lifelines Position: Medical director, Rochester General Hospital Breast Center, 1415 Portland Ave., suite 245, Rochester.

Practices: Rochester General Hospital Breast Center, Newark-Wayne Community Hospital, 1200 Driving Park Ave., Newark.

Education: MD CM, (Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery) McGill University, Montreal, Quebec.

Residency: McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec.

Personal: Born in the Labrador region of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Married, with 3-year-old and 1-year-old sons.

Language: Fluent in English, French and Portuguese.

Hobbies: Enjoys traveling and gardening.

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By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

T

here’s more to becoming a jogger than tossing on sneakers and charging out the front door. By preparing, you can avoid injury and stay more comfortable as you make jogging your fitness activity.

Richard Fame, supervisor of physical therapy and trainer at Midtown Athletic Club, advises newbies to “consult a physician if you’ve never done it before or it’s been a long time to make sure your heart is in good condition to get back into an exercise mode.”

Once your medical doctor gives you a green light, get the right shoes for jogging, especially if you have flat feet, high arches or health concerns such as diabetes.

“You can put undue stress on the feet and injure the knees, hips and back,” Fame warned. “Consult a podiatrist to check the foot posturing or footwear specialty stores that have pedorthists who are trained in evaluating foot postures and recommending appropriate footwear and orthodics to improve positioning while they’re running.”

Department stores’ shoe departments may not have staff educated in foot care. A sporting goods or runningspecific store can likely help you find just what you need. Some are equipped with treadmills so an expert can observe your running gait and find the shoe that will best support your feet.

You may have a few issues you don’t realize that could result in injury over time.

“Most people’s toes turn in, or pronate, a little too much and they don’t have a perfectly flat takeoff on the toes,” said Dave Etzel, owner of Jim Dalberth Sporting Goods in Rochester.

“For that reason, a lot of shoes have a lot of support under the arch. You can also get an insert in the shoes to have the right form for your foot. Pronation is normal. Over-pronation isn’t. Only a very small percentage have under pronation, which is like a bowlegged look.”

Kevin Bushnell, physical therapist from the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, recommends shoes that offer good arch support and a generously-sized toe box.

“If your alignment of your feet is improper, it will throw off your back and cause abnormal wear on your body parts,” he said.

A good running shoe should provide lateral support.

“As you pick it up, it shouldn’t twist like a slipper,” Etzel said. “It should have stability.”

Choose moisture-wicking socks to keep your free dry and blister-free.

Cotton is usually a poor choice since it holds moisture against your skin once it is wet. Diabetics should consult their health care providers when choosing

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Most sporting goods stores also carry moisture-wicking clothing. Select layers that you can peel off as you become warm from exertion.

Hydrate before, during and after jogging, especially during warmer weather. Once you are shod and clothed for running, warm up by walking five to 10 minutes.

“Stretch warmed up, not cold,” Fame said. “After you have the blood flowing, the muscles and tendons are more flexible and not as brittle as when they were cold.”

Stretch the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles for 30 seconds apiece without bouncing. You should feel mild discomfort.

Walk for a few minutes then jog for a few minutes. As you become more and more fit, you should be able to decrease the walking time and increase the jogging time.

“Start on flat land,” Bushnell said.

“I wouldn’t do uneven terrain until you are pretty much in shape.”

If you have a choice, a running track will provide a softer, more forgiving surface than asphalt.

Take time to cool down when you’re done.

“Don’t just stop at the end of the run because your heart’s going at a good rate,” Fame said. “Walk for a half mile or quarter mile to slowly bring your heart rate down. Once it’s down at a comfortable level and you’re breathing easier, do some stretches as you did in the beginning.”

Always let someone know where you’re going and how long you plan to be gone for safety’s sake. Wear reflective clothing that makes you more visible to traffic if you’re jogging alongside a road. Use the sidewalk and against the flow of traffic so you can watch for oncoming vehicles.

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Page 7

Live Alone & Thrive

By Gwenn Voelckers

Practical tips, advice and hope for those who live alone

Getting Comfortable in Your Own Skin D

id you notice my new photo?

I thought it was about time I updated my picture with something more “age appropriate.”

Of all the challenges I’ve encountered on my own, accepting my aging self has been one of the most complex and tricky. It ranks right up there with managing a plumbing disaster, purchasing a new furnace, and finding the perfect anti-aging face cream.

As if living alone weren’t challenging enough all by itself! Living alone as we age can cause even the most confident among us to lose precious beauty sleep.

The antidote? Getting comfortable in our own skin. We need to see ourselves as beautiful inside and out, wrinkles and all.

And since we’re all going to live in our own skin for the rest of our lives, the sooner we get comfortable with it, the better.

How have I tackled this age-old challenge? With a change of attitude, a sense of humor, and a few practical purchases. If on occasion, you, too, look in the mirror and think “oh, no!” you might find some encouragement in some of my coping strategies below.

Here’s what I’ve chosen to do:

Call a truce

For me, my journey toward selfacceptance began when I called a ceasefire with my aging face and body.

I made a conscious decision to stop critiquing my every flaw and imperfection, and instead to make peace with the older, wiser woman in the mirror.

Do you fall prey to self-criticism?

Make a pile of all your negative body images, light ‘em on fire, and let the wind take them far, far away.

Appreciate wrinkles

They’re here to stay, so I decided to focus on how they got here. This shift in thinking changed everything and I now have a warm fondness for my wrinkles.

The furrows between my brows come from the tough decisions I make every day at work and at home. The deep lines come from helping friends and family through difficult times. And the wrinkles under my eyes come from the crying and heartache I felt when losing my dad, my dear friend Cosmo, and my beloved springer spaniel Lillie.

I’ll never, ever want to erase the crow’s feet and lines around my smile

KIDS Corner Teens Prefer Liquor to Beer, Hardly Touch Wine

By Sylviane Duval

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early half of American teen drinkers would rather have a shot of liquor than a bottle of beer, a new study finds. The golden brew and malt beverages only come a distant second and third, and wine barely registers on the radar.

Teens who prefer liquor are much more likely to indulge in high-risk behavior, like binge drinking, drinking and driving, smoking tobacco or marijuana and having multiple sexual partners, researchers also found.

The study, which covered 7,723 teens aged 12 to 18 in eight states, uses Page 8

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data from the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Researchers found that boys were more likely to prefer liquor and beer than girls, and that teens “graduate” to liquor and beer from malt beverages — such as Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Silver or Hard Lemonade — and wine coolers as they get older.

African-Americans and Hispanic teens preferred malt beverages to beer, but not to liquor.

“The number of liquor advertisements on TV has increased dramatically,” said lead study author, Dr. Michael Siegel of the Boston University School

that come from all the laughs I’ve enjoyed with my funny sister, Annie.

Respect the reminders of youth

A pimple here, a blemish there.

These persistent reminders of my teenage years keep me humble and test my confidence (not to mention my sense of humor). My skin thinks I’m 16. I’m not going to argue with that!

Say good riddance

I avoid or part ways with youthobsessed people. Who needs it? I choose to spend time with mature, empathetic peers who share my fears, frustrations, and fascination with the natural, normal changes that come with growing older.

Avoid comparing

She’s 30-something. Her skin is flawless and she’s fit as a fiddle. She’s on a magazine cover in the checkout line, in the crowd at the concert, or strutting her stuff in the mall. I’ve decided to admire her beauty (briefly) and then to look the other way.

I’m done with comparing myself to air-brushed models and other younger women. It only serves to kindle my insecurities and I’m choosing not to go there.

Invest in better skin

On the practical side, I’ve stepped up my skin-care routine in the morn-

of Public Health. “So it’s not surprising that liquor has become very popular among underage drinkers and surpasses beer as the alcoholic beverage of choice.”

The study appears online and in the April 2011 issue of the “American Journal of Preventive Medicine.”

Siegel said he does not believe that the type of alcohol teens consume affects their health directly. However, indirectly, the drinking patterns associated with the different types do have a strong influence.

“The study results suggest that youth might initiate drinking with sweeter, more-flavored alcoholic beverages like malt beverages and wine coolers, and that they progress toward harder alcoholic drinks, like beer and hard liquor — and the high-risk behavior,” Siegel said.

“Any time MADD sees a study showing the prevalence of teen drinking, we are concerned about the health and safety of America’s youth and the harmful effects on their decision-making ability,” said Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD). The group re-

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

ing and at night. I’ve never been one to spend much time or money at the cosmetics counter, but there are better products on the market these days for both women and men. These are worth a look. I’ve invested in better moisturizer, sun block, and sun glasses, and I’ve vowed to drink more water and get more sleep.

Soften the lighting

My female readers will relate to this. When shopping for clothing, there are some dressing rooms that just feel better than others. The lighting is natural and pleasing, which makes the whole experience much more enjoyable. I’ve taken my cue from these dressing rooms, and replaced the harsh lighting in my bathroom with softer, more flattering light. It’s made a nice difference!

Embrace it: beauty is skin deep

Learning to accept my wrinkles, age spots, and gray hairs didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a process, not unlike the one I undertook when I made the decision to create a wonderful life on my own, in my own home, in my own way. The path was full of twists and turns and, yes, wrinkles — some deep, some fine.

With time and the wisdom that comes with age, I believe it’s possible to fully embrace the notion that beauty really is only skin deep. I believe a face that reflects the profound joys, sorrows, laughter, and losses one has in life is the most beautiful face of all.

Gwenn Voelckers is the founder and facilitator of Live Alone and Thrive, empowerment workshops for women held throughout the year in Mendon, New York. For information about her upcoming workshops or to invite Gwenn to speak, you can call her at (585) 624-7887, email her at gvoelckers@rochester.rr.com.

ports that underage drinking kills 6,000 people in the United States each year.

A solution could lie in the way alcohol is marketed to teens. Wine, for instance, is not advertised heavily in teen-oriented media and does not appear to be part of their partying and drinking scene, all factors that might contribute to its lack of popularity.

Siegel said that restricting advertising for malt beverages and wine coolers in youth-oriented media could have a dramatic effect on overall youth drinking.

“The association between drinking hard liquor and increased risky behaviors is not surprising,” said Pat Paluzzi, head of the Healthy Teen Network. “It is often the same group of youth who engage in multiple risky behaviors, and this relationship is especially true for drinking and unsafe sexual practices.

If this study leads to more effective prevention and intervention measures, the impact could go beyond what these authors note.”

Sylviane Duval is a contributing Writer for Health Behavior News Service.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Boys Girls Jacob Isabella Ethan Sophia Michael Emma Jayden Olivia William Ava Alexander Emily Noah Abigail Daniel Madison Aiden Chloe Anthony Mia

Isabella and Jacob Top Social Security’s List of Most Popular Baby Names

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acob and Isabella are king and queen of the crib for another year.

This is the twelfth year in a row on the list for Jacob and the second for Isabella, although 2010 has a new No. 2 for girls, Sophia. The only new name to crawl into the top 10 on either list this

year is Aiden, which replaces Joshua on the boys’ side.

For all the top baby names of 2010, go to Social Security’s website www. socialsecurity.gov. Here are the top 10 boys and girls names for 2010.

Corporate bocce, weight loss battles and Zumba classes Twelve local employers win the 2011 Wealth of Health Awards for promoting a healthy workplace

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inners of this year’s Wealth of Health Awards included companies that stocked cafeterias with yogurt bars and black bean sliders and instigated battles among employees to craft the best healthy recipes and lose the most weight.

Winning companies also organized employee kayaking and skiing trips and hot cider walks in the winter. Employees could play bocce, Wii bowling and lift weights at work. Zumba classes danced into several winning workplaces.

Overall, 12 local businesses have won this year’s Wealth of Health Awards, sponsored by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) and the Rochester Business Journal (RBJ).

The awards honor innovative organizations of various sizes that promote workplace wellness, improving the health of the community. The honorees said their wellness programs helped workers stay healthy, lose weight, quit smoking, lessen stress and identify critical health problems.

Judges chose companies based on criteria such as participation levels, measurable results and program creativity and sustainability.

Honorees will be presented with the 2011 Wealth of Health Awards at a luncheon June 3 at the Hyatt Regency Rochester.

This year’s honorees:

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• LunchByte Systems, Inc., Rochester • Pathfinder Engineers & Architects LLP, Rochester 100-499 Employees • LeChase Construction Services LLC, Rochester • Lawley Insurance, Rochester • Rochester Midland Corp., Rochester 500-1,999 Employees • ESL Federal Credit Union, Rochester • Thompson Health, Canandaigua • PathStone Corp., Rochester 2,000+ Employees • Rochester Institute of Technology, Henrietta • CooperVision, Inc., Fairport • Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester

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Excellus Looking for Owners of “Forgotten Funds”

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early 12,000 individuals and companies in New York state have forgotten more than $1.5 million in checks issued by Excellus Health Plan, including by its d.b.a., Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS).

This isn’t money left in their pockets, but is in the form of unclaimed checks issued in 2007 to members and providers.

A complete list of names of people and companies with checks to claim is available on the company’s website at www.excellusbcbs.com/wps/portal/

xl/our/news/forgottenfunds.

Every year, the state requires insurers like Excellus BCBS to make a list of unclaimed checks that are at least three years old. The names are then placed in advertisements in local papers in an attempt to find the people who have money to claim. If the property is not claimed by the end of August, the money is then turned over to the Comptroller of the State of New York.

“This is money that was paid for claims or refunded premiums. If the money remains unclaimed it will go to the

state,” said Eve Van de Wal, regional president for Excellus BCBS. “It rightfully belongs to our members or providers and we want to make sure they have one more chance to claim it before it goes to the state.”

If you are no longer a health plan member, or if you are calling on behalf of the estate of a family member, call Excellus BlueCross BlueShield: 1 (877) 757-3850.

Checks will not be mailed until after Aug. 31.

After liposuction, fat usually comes back

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at removed by liposuction eventually returns and is redistributed to other parts of the body, according to a new study.

University of Colorado Denver researchers said the fat usually returns within one year. The fat typically reappears in the upper abdomen, as well as the shoulders and triceps of the arms.

The researchers said that in rodents, when fat is removed it returns.

Likewise, in humans, most people who lose weight eventually gain it back.

“We think the brain somehow knows how much fat is on board and responds in a manner to regulate that weight. That is why preventing obesity is so important,” Dr. Robert H. Eckel,

one of the lead researchers, said in a statement.

Liposuction is one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures in the United States. It has been around since 1974. About 450,000 operations are performed per year.

A full report on the study is published in the journal Obesity.

June 2011 •

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 9

My Turn

By Eva Briggs

What’s in E-cigarettes?

Are They Safe?

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ver the past year, increasing numbers of patients tell me that they use or plan to try electronic cigarettes — or e-cigarettes. That led me to wonder what exactly is in those gizmos. Are they safe, and do they work?

E-cigarettes are devices designed to produce a vapor resembling cigarette smoke that can be inhaled, or “vaped,” purportedly without the risk of fire and with less adverse health effects than cigarettes. Most are constructed to resemble cigarettes, although some look like pens or small screwdrivers. They contain a mouthpiece, heating element, and battery.

The mouthpiece, or cartridge, is a small plastic container open at each end. It’s filled with absorbent material that can be saturated with the solution to be vaporized and inhaled. When the solution is used up, the mouthpiece is either refilled or replaced with a pre-filled cartridge.

The heating element, or atomizer, contains filaments that heat the solution in the cartridge sufficiently to turn it into a vapor.

The battery segment houses a rechargeable battery to power the atomizer, as well as a logic board to control various other features. These other components may include an LED light that glows to simulate a real cigarette, a cut-off switch to prevent overheating, and an airflow sensor.

The liquid used in ecigarettes is called e-liquid, e-juice, or nicotine solution if it contains nicotine.

What’s in e-liquid?

First is a substance that combines with water to turn into a vapor when heated. The most common are propylene glycol (PG), polyethylene glycol (PEG) or vegetable glycerin (VG).

When heated, the resulting vapor looks like cigarette smoke. All three are common food additives, and PG has been used in inhaler and nebulizer medications for

years without evidence of adverse effects.

Next are assorted flavorings. Some are designed to mimic actual cigarettes or specific brands. Other flavors are more creative: Apple, peach chocolate, coffee, vanilla, or (yum) banana split anyone? Or (yuk!) cigar? Finally, some liquids contain nicotine in various concentrations.

Are e-cigarettes safe?

The jury is still out on this question. After all, e-cigarettes are a recent development.

They were invented in 2003 by a Chinese pharmacist and weren’t found in this country until about 2005-2006: a mere five years ago — so there has not been much time for adequate scientific study.

On the one hand, some liquid solutions do contain not only nicotine but also cancer causing substances such as nitrosamines that are found in real cigarettes.

But the concentration of these things is very low, only a trace of that found in cigarettes. There is the fear that the availability of flavored solutions might lure teenagers to start using e-cigarettes, which could serve as a stepping-stone to smoking.

E-cigarettes are legal in the U.S. The FDA attempted to have the devices regulated as drug delivery devices. But that was overruled by the courts. However individual states can regulate e-cigarettes.

Can e-cigarettes help smokers quit

Chemobrain Update Medical community becoming more aware of chemobrain

By Chuck Di Natale

T

he medical community is starting to take chemobrain seriously, according to recent news sources.

In April, Fox News featured a health close-up on the prevalence of “chemobrain,” a syndrome among some cancer patients that affects mental acuity. (Chemobrain was last reported on in the August 2010 issue of “In Good Health.”)

A cover article in the Spring issue of “Cure” magazine highlighted new

research into chemobrain being conducted by some of the most prestigious cancer centers in the country.

According to “Lifting The Fog”

by Dr. Elaine Schattner, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York are working to undo decades of disinterest in chemobrain syndrome. Tim Ahles, PhD, a behavioral psychologist with Sloan-Kettering, attributes the lack of research on the topic to the wide range of cognitive

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complaints labeled chemobrain.

Chemobrain includes complaints and diagnoses so diverse that they can be misinterpreted as early onset Alzheimer’s disease, for example.

At the same time, the anemia, pain, depression, fatigue and other illnesses associated with cancer can affect brain function.

Schattner’s article points out that, although the syndrome has been recognized since the 1980s among chemo-

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

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smoking?

Officially e-cigarette manufacturers claim that the product is targeted toward people who already smoke, but not specifically targeted to people who want to quit smoking. That was one of the reasons that e-cigarettes escaped FDA regulation, since the manufacturers are not supposed to be pushing the devices as smoking cessation aids. But let’s face it, that’s why many of patients buy e-cigarettes. Early studies suggest that e-cigarettes do help many people quit smoking.

And it’s not just the nicotine content of the e-cigarettes, because solutions without nicotine appear to work about as well as those containing nicotine at suppressing the urge to smoke.

The physical act of holding and puffing the e-cigarette, as well as the flavor and sensation of the vapor appear to reduce cravings as well — or better than — traditional nicotine replacement products like patches and gum.

And substitution of e-cigarettes for the real thing is likely to substantially reduce illness and death compared to smoking.

E-cigarettes are a new product.

Like any other new product, I think that we’re in a honeymoon period.

Only a little more time will tell whether e-cigarettes reduce tobacco use and improve public health over the long term.

Eva Briggs, a board-certified physician, works on the staff at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, in its two urgent care centers: one in Ithaca, and the other in Cortland.

therapy patients, it still lacks a formal medical definition or listing in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

A current focus of researchers is identifying patients who are at risk for chemobrain. Age is an obvious factor, cites Ahles, but genetics may also play a role. Scientists are investigating mutations in specific genes that may contribute to the development of chemobrain in some patients. Other research is trying to understand better the specific effects of chemotherapy agents and drugs.

“Cure” magazine is published by CureMediaGroup and provides quarterly updates on cancer research and education. It is free for cancer survivors, patients and caregivers. (Curetoday.com.)

Passing on the Gift of Parenthood Erica and A.J. Schlaefer tried for years to become parents. After they opted for adoption they started a nonprofit organization to help other couples become parents

By Amy Cavalier

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his is the story of Erica Walther Schlaefer and her husband A.J. Schlaefer’s journey to become parents and how they touched other people’s lives in the process.

Erica has shared her and A.J.’s struggles with infertility and decision to adopt with hundreds of people across the country through her blog Parenthood for Me. And in 2009, the Irondequoit couple founded a national nonprofit organization of the same name aimed at providing emotional and financial support, and educational tools to those adopting and pursuing assistive reproductive technology to try to conceive.

“What’s maddening to me is that parenthood comes down to the size of your bank account for so many people,” said Erica. “There’s so many children out there that need families.”

Married in 2003, Erica and A.J. tried to start a family. Unsuccessful, the couple visited a fertility specialist who informed them that their dream to have a child would not come so easy. Both Erica and A.J. had reproductive issues that would make it difficult for them to conceive naturally. After four years and over $20,000 on assisted reproductive technology, the emotional and financial struggle became too much, Erica said, and they decided adopt.

Erica and A.J. welcomed their son from South Korea in June of 2008 and they are expecting a second son through international adoption. Parenthood is a dream come true, Erica said in her blog in late April during National Infertility Awareness week.

“We couldn’t be happier with our little family, and it is very exciting to have a brother for our son,” she wrote on April 29. “However, the very long and arduous journey to parenthood has left an imprint on my soul forever.

Infertility, the disease of infertility, changes one’s life.”

Erica began her blog, Parenthood for Me, in October 2008.

“I knew by putting it out there, another man or woman would read it,” she said. “I guess if we’re going through this, we might as well have something good come out of it.”

Soon, the blog began to reach people across the United States. People Erica didn’t even know began reading the blog and coming forward to share their own stories about In vitro fertilization, infertility and adoption. There are 7.3 million Americans that suffer from infertility, Erica said, and one in four couples will have some problem with conception.

Although infertility was recently defined as a disease by the World Health Organization, Erica said, it’s debated by insurance companies as to whether infertility is more of a life enhancing procedure that’s not neces-

sary or if it’s a medical procedure that’s a necessity of life.

“Procreating is such a natural part of being human,” Erica wrote in her blog. “When you are forced to come to terms with the fact that it may never happen, you are giving up a large piece of yourself. It’s a blow so unexpected it takes your breath away.”

In 2009, A.J. and Erica founded the nonprofit Parenthood for Me with the intention of providing education, emotional and financial assistance to other couples wanting to become families, either through reproductive therapy or adoption.

“I wanted a place under one umbrella where people could go who were desperate for parenthood...whether they wanted adoption, surrogacy, in vitro fertlization,” she said. “We don’t claim to be an expert in any one of

these areas, but we can point you in the right direction to the experts, to an infertility clinic in your area, because there’s a lot of research to be done and its very overwhelming.”

adopting and pursuing assistive reproductive technology to try to conceive.

The nonprofit awarded its first set of grants in the summer of 2010. Out of the 90 applicants on the first grant round, Parenthood for Me gave a total of $12,000 to four couples, two who were pursuing assistive reproductive technology and two pursuing adoption. The couples were from New York, California, Florida and North Carolina.

Over 110 people attended the second annual Parenthood for Me Gala held in April. The organization recognized Dr. Eberhard Muechler with the 2011 Commitment to Excellence Award for his 43-year commitment to building families. Muechler was the first doctor to perform in vitro fertilization in Rochester at the University of Rochester Medical Center, according to Erica’s blog.

Other fundraising events have included Bowling for Babies and Artwork for Building Families, an ongoing fundraising effort that includes the sale of stationary note cards, posters and bookmarks. Parenthood for Me will award it’s second grants in July. Erica said she is amazed by the support she’s received from her blog followers, people she’s never had the chance to meet, who have helped her grow Parenthood for Me. “Its amazing, we’ve got so many grant applications from all over the country,” said Erica. “It makes you want to do more. I can’t tell you how many heartwarming, wonderful things that have happened since we started.”

Jerry Furciniti of Fairport, 34,

For more information about Parenthood for Me, visit www.parenthoodforme.org/ International adoption cost the couple about $25,000. It can range upwards of $40,000. A federal tax credit covered about $12,000, but Erica and A.J. still had to come up with all the money up front without taking out any loans. For many couples dealing with infertility, the cost of fertility treatments and adoption can be out of reach.

Parenthood for Me is raising money to provide grants to those

Continued on next page

Erica and A.J. Schlaefer in a recent photo. The couple decided to adopt after fertility treatments failed to yield results. They now help couples across the nation though their nonprofit Parenthood for Me. June 2011 •

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 11

Dr. Rosalind Hayes is president of Rochester Fertility Care:

“It Takes a Lot of Motivation to End Up in My Office”

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Jerry Furciniti, his wife Laura, and son Evan. The couple began the adoption process with their first son 2009. The son, Evan, arrived from South Korea on Christmas Eve that same year. Jerry serves on the board of directors of Parenthood for Me.

Passing on the Gift of Parenthood Continued from page 11 serves on Parenthood for Me’s board of directors. He and his wife Laura began the adoption process with their first son Evan in 2009 and Evan arrived from South Korea on Christmas Eve that same year. Jerry and Laura struggled with infertility for four years before they decided to adopt. It felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders, he said.

“After going through years of treatments and the peaks and valleys of hope and despair, it really wears on you and you start evaluating where you are in life,” he said. “Is your point to become pregnant or to be parents?

For us, we really wanted to be parents.

It wasn’t necessarily important for us to be pregnant. We knew we wanted children in our lives and we felt this was the best way to build our family.”

Evan will be 3 years old in July.

This summer, the couple is expecting their second son, Dillon, also from South Korea. Knowing how hard it was emotionally and financially to adopt, Jerry said, he was eager to help other couples in the same position.

“The key theme of the organization is that the main prerequisite for having a family is a loving home, not tens of thousands in the bank account,” he said. “Knowing what we’ve been through and being able to help someone else go through it is so powerful.”

Parenthood for Me seeks more than funding. The organization’s goal is to Page 12

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break down the stigmas surrounding infertility and adoption. Infertility issues and complications with pregnancies are not acknowledged enough in

From the Blog Having a family should not be based on financial capabilities. The grief and emotional burden of not being able to conceive a child is exacerbated by the strain and stress of finding money to become parents. It is a reality for those of us in this predicament, but I want to ease some of that stress. I cannot help everybody, but I want to offer hope that there is somewhere to turn to realize someone’s dreams of parenthood. Excerpt from Erica Walther Schlaefer’s blog, parenthoodforme. blogspot.com.

society, Erica said.

“There’s no societal rules about the funeral or how to mourn a baby you’ve lost,” she said. “Those are things we don’t talk about enough, and I think if we did there would be a lot more empathy. There’s a lot more to it.”

Having children is a normal next step for couples after they get married, and often loved ones and friends begin asking questions about having a baby soon after the couple returns from thehoneymoon, she wrote in her blog.

“When a couple cannot conceive a child and are constantly being bombarded with questions about having a baby, it makes the situation all the more unbearable,” she wrote. “When friends and family members start their own families, there is a huge void and one often feels extremely alone and out of the loop. As a woman I feel like I will never be able to catch up in the circle of conversations that revolve around becoming a mom.”

Infertility is not something you just get over, Erica said. It’s been a long, emotional road, Erica said, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I wouldn’t change a thing, because the child we have as our son, if I had been able to get pregnant, I wouldn’t have him,” she said. “People say that our child is so lucky to have us, but we’re lucky to have him. Believe me.”

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

he president of Rochester Fertility Care, Dr. Rosalind Hayes, said infertility is a life crisis involving high levels of anxiety and distress for couples wanting to start or grow a family.

“It takes a lot of motivation to end up in my office,” she said. “These are people who are missing work, who have done a lot of research, talked to other doctors and talked to other people.”

Hayes said couples who haven’t been able to get pregnant for over a year, a woman who never gets a period, or any woman 35 and older who don’t conceive within six months are signs that one or both of the partners could be facing fertility issues.

Hayes For females, the common cause of infertility is ovulation problems; either the woman doesn’t ovulate at all or she ovulates sporadically or with poor hormonal quality. Another problem is the quality of ovulation declines with age.

In the case of men, Hayes said, about one-half of fertility issues are associated with what is called male factor, which is a general term for anything that could be wrong with the sperm, such as the sperm count, the shape of the sperm, or absence of sperm.

“We’ve seen all different male factor conditions, and certainly sometimes men are their own worst enemy,” she said. “Sometimes they cause toxic situations from drinking, smoking or steroid abuse.”

A series of tests are run to help determine the cause of the reproduction complications, Hayes said. Treatments can include ovulation induction, insemination, surgery that can help reduce pelvic scar tissue, or in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process by which egg cells are fertilized by sperm outside the body. In vitro fertilization costs about $7,500 per treatment and it can sometimes take several attempts to result in a successful pregnancy, said Hayes.

Couples consider adoption for many reasons.

“Some people can say they never have to have their own child and they want to adopt,” she said. “Some may decide the medical treatments aren’t desirable for them, and some may choose that if they find there’s a low probability of success given their set of circumstances.”

Hayes said what Erica WaltherSchlaefer has done with Parenthood for Me is amazing.

“I think there’s education and awareness that is very valuable, and I think the financial contributions that Erica makes to people are truly helpful and greatly appreciated.”

Annual Estimated Cost of U.S. Crash-Related Deaths: $41 Billion More than half of all costs are in 10 states, including New York

Universal motorcycle helmet laws, which require riders of all ages to wear helmets. Helmet use can reduce the risk of death in a motorcycle crash by

more than one-third and reduce the risk of brain injury by 69 percent.

States with the highest medical and work loss costs

California ............... $4.16 billion Texas........................ $3.50 billion Florida..................... $3.16 billion Georgia ................... $1.55 billion Pennsylvania ......... $1.52 billion North Carolina ...... $1.50 billion New York................ $1.33 billion Illinois ..................... $1.32 billion Ohio ........................ $1.23 billion Tennessee................ $1.15 billion

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

M

otor vehicle crash-related deaths in the United States resulted in an estimated $41 billion in medical and work loss costs in a year, according to state-based estimates released in May by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Half of this cost ($20.4 billion) was in 10 states, the report says.

These cost findings are based on 2005 data, which is the most recent year for which comprehensive data on costs associated with crash deaths is available. The study was not configured to develop an explanation for the variation in state costs.

“Deaths from motor vehicle crashes are preventable,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden. “Seat belts, graduated driver’s license programs, child safety seats, and helmet use save lives and reduce health care costs.”

CDC is releasing new fact sheets highlighting state-based costs of crash deaths, to coincide with the May 11 launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2011 to 2020 the Decade of Action for Road Safety, a period of enhanced focus on protecting lives on the world’s roads.

CDC also found the cost related to crash deaths among children and teenagers from birth to 19 years old was nearly $856 million. The highest percentage of costs related to children and teen crash deaths was seen in Vermont (34 percent, $25 million), and the lowest was in Nevada (17 percent, $66 million). Despite the higher percentage in Vermont, its cost is lower due to the much lower total cost of injury.

“It’s tragic to hear that anyone dies on our nation’s roads. But it’s especially so when the person who loses his or her life is a child or teenager,” said Linda Degutis director at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Child passenger safety laws and comprehensive graduated driver licensing laws are proven to protect young lives. We encourage states to strengthen and enforce these laws to help keep more of our young people safe.”

To prevent crash-related deaths and reduce medical and work loss costs, CDC’s Injury Center recommends that states consider the following strategies: Primary seat belt laws, which allow motorists to be stopped and cited for not wearing seat belts. Seat belts reduce the risk of death to those riding in the front seat by about half.

Strong child passenger safety policies, which require children to be placed in age- and size-appropriate child safety and booster seats while riding in vehicles.

Comprehensive graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems, which are proven to reduce teen crashes. GDL systems help new drivers gain experience under lower-risk conditions by granting driving privileges in stages.

The most comprehensive GDL systems have been associated with up to 40 percent decreases in crashes among 16year-old drivers.

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 13

Tea: Why is White Better Than Green or Black?

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

cup of tea can do much more than warm you up on a cold night. It can also improve your health. Several studies indicate that tea contains cancer-fighting antioxidant properties. A buzzword in natural and nutrition health, foods from blueber-

ries to broccoli are said to have antioxidants.

What’s the “best” tea — white, green or black? All come from the same plant, camellia sinensis. But the experts say that white tea is tops.

White tea was the choice of the

royal court in China’s Ming Dynasty and for good reason. Made from the white buds of the plant, it’s rare and hard to harvest.

“They can be picked only in spring,” said Marusia Marrapese, wellness consultant at Lori’s Natural

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

Foods Center in Rochester. “They are steamed and slowly dried. It’s the least processed tea.

“All of that combined together helps protect the body from free radicals,” she added. “Clinical studies show benefits to patients. Free radicals damage DNA. Antioxidants neutralize them and white tea is loaded with these.

Flavanoids can help slow the growth of cancer cells and prevent the growth of new ones.”

Green tea is made from the leaves of the same plant, but is not roasted or fermented. The leaves are dried.

Black tea is made from the leaves and is processed differently.

“If you purchase Tetley, Lipton or any commercial black tea, it’s the leaf of this plant,” said Sonam Targee, herbalist with Ancient Universal Medicine in Rochester. “Black tea is roasted and sometimes fermented. It’s more concentrated pound for pound its caffeine goes up.”

Because it is the most processed of the three varieties, black tea’s antioxidant properties are the least.

“Studies do indicate antioxidant and cancer preventative effects in humans,” Giardenelli said of tea. “Some recent statements indicate that white tea may have stronger antioxidant effects than both green and black teas and suggest that this may be due to the minimal processing of white tea retaining more antioxidant constituents.”

Swigging cup after cup of white tea may seem like an easy way to ingest more antioxidants; however, Marrapese advises otherwise.

“Two cups a day is very reasonable,” she said. “Too much of anything isn’t good; use moderation in all things.”

Some natural health experts, including Marrapese, are concerned about people consuming fluoride because of toxicity arising from the levels of naturally-occurring fluoride in tea adding to the amount ingested from drinking municipal water, most of which is treated with fluoride.

For optimal flavor, Marrapese recommends brewing tea by heating water to near boiling and steeping tea 30 to 60 seconds. Any shorter and it’s too weak, and if it steeps too long, tea becomes bitter.

Does tea have any anti-cancer benefits?

So how does tea impart anti-cancer benefits? Sarah Giardenelli, naturopathic doctor and licensed acupuncturist with Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic Integrative Medicine Center explains: “Camellia sinensis contains high levels of constituents known as polyphenols and catechins, which seem to be responsible for the many health benefits of both green and white tea. While the exact mechanism is unknown, the most frequently cited mechanism for the cancer protective effects is antioxidant activity, in which the polyphenols protect the cells from damage. Research suggests that the polyphenols in tea appear to have anti-mutagenic effects and may protect DNA, a cancer protective effect. However, the anti-cancer effect of the polyphenols may also be due to increased activity of enzymes. This increased enzyme activity may function to detoxify the body from cell damaging free radicals and may also inhibit certain signaling pathways that function to transform healthy cells to cancer cells.”

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ike so many folks whose memory isn’t what it used to be, I do what I can to stave off brain drain. I exercise, get a good night’s sleep, do crossword puzzles, see friends, and eat foods linked to keeping the mind sharp, either by reducing inflammation or by increasing blood flow to the brain.

While blueberries, walnuts and salmon have always topped my brainbooster list, I have now added beets to the mix. A recent study at Wake Forest University has discovered that the natural nitrates in beets can increase blood flow to the brain. More blood means more oxygen, and more oxygen means improved mental performance.

Mensa high-IQ society, here I come!

More food for thought: Beets are also good for your heart. Extensive research, conducted by scientists at London’s Queen Mary University, has not only linked the nitrates in beets to lowered blood pressure, but it has also attributed the betaine in beets to reduced blood concentration of homocysteine, an amino acid linked to heart disease and stroke.

Apart from its head and heart benefits, beets are low in calories (58 per cup), high in fiber, and teeming with folate (critical for developing babies), potassium (good for maintaining proper blood pressure) and manganese (a workhorse micronutrient tied to digestion and healthy bones).

But what about a beet’s high sugar content? Indeed, it’s higher than your average vegetable, clocking in at about 16 grams of carbohydrates per cup.

That said, if carbs are something you monitor, you’ll want to keep this in mind.

Helpful tips Purchase beets that are firm and smooth, with greens attached. The edible greens, rich in vitamin A, are delicious raw or lightly cooked. Fresh beets last about a week in the refrigerator. To store: Trim off leaves (leaving an

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In small bowl, whisk together the garlic, mustard, vinegar, oil, rosemary and salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine.

Anne Palumbo is a lifestyle columnist, food guru, and seasoned cook, who has perfected the art of preparing nutritious, calorie-conscious dishes.

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Page 15

6 Lesser-known Vitamins and Minerals You Need to Know About

By Sheila Livadas

B

etween the unfamiliar contents and the string of daily-value percentages, reading the back label on a bottle of multi-vitamins can spark more questions than answers. So In Good Health—Rochester’s Healthcare Newspaper turned to local registered dietitians for explanations on six lesserknown vitamins and minerals often found in dietary supplements.

But, first, a caveat. Registered dietitians prefer that people rely on food — not dietary supplements — for optimum nutrition.

“That doesn’t mean there’s not a need for vitamins and minerals,” says Janel Welch, clinical nutrition manager at Unity Health System in Rochester. “But we try to encourage everybody to try to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables…whole grains, nuts and so forth.”

Though many health-conscious consumers know about the benefits and deficiency Deborah Kelly, risks of vitamins A clinical nutrition through E, standard manager at multi-vitamins conRochester tain dozens of other General ingredients. Here Health System, are some examples: recommends that people try to get 1. Biotin vitamins and Also known as minerals through vitamin B7, biotin is necessary for food, not dietary glucose metabolism, supplements, “but we only need whenever it in such small possible.

amounts that we can typically get it through food,” Welch says. Foods that are high in it include eggs, whole grains, soybeans and mushrooms.

Biotin deficiency may cause brittle nails, hair loss and scaly facial and body rashes. Some research shows the vitamin’s ability to lower blood glucose levels in humans, but there is not yet enough evidence to support introducing it to the diets of Unity’s diabetic patients, Welch says. The vitamin is not known to be toxic.

Biotin’s recommended dietary allowance, or the intake level that the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board expects, will satisfy nearly all healthy individuals’ requirements, is 30 micrograms per day for adults. The metric unit “microgram” often appears as mcg on multi-vitamin labels.

2. Iodine

Essential for life but not produced by the human body, iodine helps the thyroid make hormones. Foods high in this trace element include iodized salt, seafood and dairy products.

A lack of iodine can lead to weight gain, fatigue and depression, Welch says. In more extreme cases, it causes goiters, infertility and preventable mental retardation. An iodine overdose produces similar symptoms brought on by its deficiency.

Iodine’s daily recommended dietary allowance for adults is 150 micrograms.

3. Lysine

An essential amino acid not

produced by the human body, lysine promotes growth and prevents muscle breakdown. Athletes sometimes take supplements of it to curb muscle fatigue or recover from grueling exercise.

Foods high in it include lentils, soybeans, beef, chicken and Parmesan cheese.

Lysine deficiency may lead to osteoporosis. Since it stays in the body longer than water-soluble vitamins, it can damage the kidneys if taken in large amounts, Welch says.

The Institute of Medicine has not set a recommended dietary allowance for lysine.

4. Vitamin K

Consumable and sometimes used topically, vitamin K helps the body make proteins needed for normal blood clotting and producing bone proteins, says Deborah Kelly, clinical nutrition manager at Rochester General Health System.

“Most people do get enough” through a wellbalanced diet that includes broccoli, lettuce, kale, turnip greens or other vegetables and fruits, she adds.

Alcoholics, those with cystic fibrosis and others may suffer from vitamin K deficiency. It is not known to be toxic, though patients taking anticoagulants should monitor its use.

Vitamin K’s daily recommended

dietary allowance is 90 micrograms for adult women and 120 for adult men.

Cosmetics and prescription creams sometimes contain vitamin K to reduce darkness and post-operative bruising from elective surgery.

5. Zinc

An essential trace element, zinc helps with growth, immunity, reproduction and neurological function. Beef, pork, lamb, peanut butter and beans have high levels of zinc, and unbalanced vegetarian diets tend to be low in it, Kelly says.

Zinc deficiency can slow weight gain in children and compromise immunity in people of all ages. Excessive zinc intake interferes with copper absorption in the body.

Zinc’s daily recommended dietary allowance is 8 milligrams for adult women and 11 milligrams for adult men.

6. Copper

As another essential trace element, copper helps with the formation of red blood cells and benefits the immune system, Kelly says. Oysters, leafy green vegetables and beans have high amounts of it.

Copper deficiency is rare, but it could lead to anemia and osteoporosis, Kelly says. “In large amounts, it is poisonous, which can cause… kidney problems (and) brain disorders, she adds.

Copper’s daily recommended dietary allowance is 900 micrograms for adults.

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Vitamins & Supplements: Before You Dive In What Are Dietary Supplements and How Are They Regulated?

V

itamins, herbs and other dietary supplements are sold as natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals and many people turn to them in an attempt to improve their health.

Others seek supplements to lose weight or after hearing that they can help with serious medical conditions.

These products are now used at least monthly by more than half of all Americans—and their production, marketing and sales have become a $23.7 billion industry, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

Bob Stewart, 89, a retired podiatrist and senior Olympian, credits his use of supplements for his healthy aging.

Writer Betsy McMillan, a mother of two now-adult children, however, nearly suffered permanent liver damage due to a supplement that contained potentially fatal levels of niacin.

Unlike pharmaceuticals— which must be FDA-approved as safe and effective before they can be marketed—supplements are considered foods by regulators and assumed to be safe until proven otherwise.

Although pharmaceutical manufacturers face inspections to ensure that the right dose is in the right pill without dangerous contaminants, supplements do not undergo such intense government scrutiny.

Despite many reports of health problems, only one supplement has ever been pulled from the market: the stimulant ephedra, which was banned in 2004 following reports of deaths.

With such little regulation and oversight, safe supplement use requires that consumers be cautious and savvy.

“Supplement is a broad term that includes vitamins, minerals, herbs and botanicals,” says Carol Haggans, a registered dietitian and science and health communication consultant for the Office of Dietary Supplements of the National Institutes of Health. Herbs and botanicals are derived from plants, while other supplements may include animal sources. Vitamins are essential nutrients made up of organic compounds, while minerals is an imprecise term for certain chemical elements necessary to life, like calcium.

“They’re regulated under the umbrella of foods and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, cure or prevent disease. If something claims to do that, then it becomes a drug under FDA regulation,” Haggans says.

She adds, “The FDA has instituted ‘good manufacturing practices’ (GMP) that manufacturers must follow to ensure the identity and quality of supplements and they can take enforcement action if it’s unsafe or unfit for human consumption, but they do not routinely

test products.” Once manufacturers implement these practices, they can display a seal on their packaging, noting their compliance.

But Bob Linden, a general practitioner and author who has used supplements but has also seen problems with them in patients, says he’s rarely seen the GMP seal in stores where he lives in Connecticut, despite the agency’s plan to complete most of the implementation by last year.

Looking for Safer Products

So how can consumers protect themselves and find high-quality products? Haggans says that several independent organizations test products and offer their seal of approval only to those that pass. “Those can give some assurance that the product is properly manufactured, contains the ingredients listed on the label and doesn’t contain harmful levels of contaminants,” she says.

Consumer Reports Health also regularly reviews supplements but may require a subscription for full access to information.

“I think people use them primarily because they think they’re natural [and from] plants,” Linden says. “They also think they’re safe because you don’t need a prescription.” He has taken supplements himself for arthritis. But he also had one patient who suffered liver damage after taking a supplement containing Chinese skullcap, which is known to be dangerous to the liver but is still on the market.

“They can’t label them as treating disease, on the bottle, they say it’s ‘promoting health,’” Linden says. “But people do take them specifically for [diseases], such as St. John’s wort for depression.”

Managing Interactions and Dosing

Like drugs, supplements can combine with other medications in unhealthy ways. “Dietary supplements can interact with both over-the-counter and prescription medication,” Haggans says. “That’s one reason we tell people to talk with their doctors about all the supplements that they’re taking.” For example, the anticoagulant medicine warfarin (Coumadin) can interact with gingko biloba and with garlic and cause bleeding. St. John’s wort, which is often used to treat depression, can weaken the effects of birth control pills and other medications. Vitamins C and E can also potentially interfere with chemotherapy used to treat cancer.

Doctors might not know about interactions between supplements and prescriptions and since supplement labels don’t list warnings, patients need to do their own research: Look for guidance from the sites listed in the resource section and talk to a nutritionist or check with reliable sources at

“health food” stores or reputable “wellness” centers. This is a situation where watching carefully for side effects is especially important and consumers are mostly on their own to be vigilant.

Some supplements can be monitored by testing blood levels. This can be expensive but it might also reduce problems related to potential toxicity or unusual individual reactions. Check with your doctor to see if blood tests might be suitable for you.

Researching Appropriate Supplements

The scientific evidence supporting the use of supplements is often weaker than that available for drugs because of the lack of legal requirements to prove safety and efficacy. “You can get a lot of conflicting evidence depending on where you look,” Haggans says.

The Office of Dietary Supplements, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center all keep regularly updated fact sheets on the most commonly used herbs, supplements and vitamins. (See sidebar.)

Beyond that, there are several important principles to keep in mind if you take supplements. First, “Natural is not always safe,” Haggans says. Both arsenic and poisonous mushrooms are completely natural but deadly to eat.

Second, never rely on a single study or personal story to provide definitive evidence.

In contrast, review articles—particularly those done under the rigorous standards of the Cochrane Collaboration—can be a high quality source of evidence. “Review articles like Cochrane Reviews look at the totality of the evidence in different populations,” Haggans says, which is especially important since studies of nutrition often have conflicting results.

For example, beta-carotene was once thought to be a universal cancer fighter—but long-term studies found that smokers and other people at high risk for lung cancer who took it actually increased their risk of contracting the disease and their risk of early death from other causes.

June 2011 •

Avoiding Overdose

Dose is also a critical consideration.

“Many nutrients have an upper limit,” Haggans says. “More is not better and above certain amounts, they can be toxic.” She notes that iron is one mineral that is dangerous in high doses.

Niacin—as McMillan unfortunately found out—is another.

The use of supplements—like much of American life—is highly susceptible to fashion. The “in” supplements of the 1980s and 90s like gingko biloba and ginseng were followed by an antioxidant fad for vitamins A, C and E in the 2000s. The 1994 study on beta-carotene and smoking and a 2005 finding that high-dose vitamin E may do harm took some steam out of those trends. Currently, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D are the headline makers. Overall, the supplement industry has grown dramatically, continuing to increase sales despite the recession.

Given this—and given the fact that some risky supplements like the Chinese skullcap that harmed Dr. Linden’s patient remain on the market—it’s important that people considering them “do their homework,” as Haggans puts it. “Go to a trusted source like your doctor for information.” At the least, your doctor can help you weigh the evidence.

Narrowing Your Choices

Linden suggests closely following directions on products’ bottles. He adds, “Stay away from supplements [advertised for] weight loss—you don’t know what you’re getting and it’s looking for trouble.” Some weightloss supplements and some sold as sexual aids have been found to contain prescription medications that were illegally manufactured.

Stewart’s advice is to stick to supplements that are essentially unaltered whole foods, like flaxseed and vinegar. “The type of food we have now in grocery stores is terrible,” he says, echoing the complaints of nutrition experts about over-processed and chemical-laden foods.

Supplements can be helpful in some cases but they are less well regulated than drugs and have many of the same side effects, drug interactions and toxicities at high doses seen with pharmaceuticals. Consequently, they should be used with care and with guidance from a doctor.

Article provided by Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for Advancing Health, based in Washington, D.C.

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

•

Page 17

Men’sHealth ADD in Adult Men The condition may be indicated by disorganization, risky behavior, lack of focus on goals, problems with keeping employment, relationships

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

ttention deficit disorder isn’t a condition just affecting children.

The Attention Deficit Disorder Association (www.add.org) estimates that 4.4 percent of adults in U.S. have ADD but only a fraction of them (11 percent) received specialized treatment.

ADD can cause problems for adults with slightly different symptoms than children. It also manifests differently between the genders.

“It shows itself differently in males than females, especially when you consider ADD is diagnosed more readily in younger males, children in lower grades in school,” said Katherine M Pawlaczyk, licensed clinical social worker operating a solo practice in Rochester. “It’s harder to diagnose in females.”

Teachers frazzled by disruptive, fidgety, impulsive and out-of-control boys are more likely to focus their attention on those students than the ADD girls who quietly daydream and doodle at their desks and have low motivation or, at worst, chatter with classmates.

Carol R. Zimmerman, licensed mental health counselor in private practice in Rochester, has hosted a support group for adults with ADD. Eight out of 10 were males.

Once the boys with ADD have grown up, their condition may be indicated by disorganization, risky behavior, lack of focus on goals, problems with keeping employment, relationship difficulties, and, largely stemming from their frustration over being misunderstood, anger.

“A partner or spouse may make a request for him to go to the store to pick up an item or two and the person would get to the store and not remember,” Pawlaczyk said. “A lot of times, not knowing why this is happening, he would buy something different and have some confrontation when he got

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home.” People with ADD are usually of average or greater intelligence and many create means of coping that help them compensate for their tendency to be scatter-brained. Those who have never been diagnosed as children may not realize why they are different.

They may notice ADD first when they struggle to stay employed or maintain healthy relationships.

“I had one man who noticed he had a small attention span but he really noticed when he was promoted to a position where he had to keep track of a lot of different things,” said Karen Gould, licensed mental health counselor who operates KSG Mental Health Counseling Services in Rochester.

Workplace tardiness, blowing off assignments, missing deadlines or Zimmerman skipping over details can make it tough to keep employed.

It’s hard for men with ADD to keep the “big picture” in mind or complete many steps toward a long-term goal.

“As far as employment goes, they can hyper-focus on one small thing,” Zimmerman said. “We often comment that the arts seem to be a place where people with cognitive pathways can function well.”

Other types of employment where ADD men thrive include working outdoors or in other active type of employment such as farming, construction, logging, fire fighting or fishing.

If a man sees ADD symptoms in himself, he should seek help instead of trying to get by with coping mechanisms or treating it himself.

“Sometimes what happens is be-

cause of all these difficulties, there may be a desire for or history of drug abuse to self medicate,” Pawlaczyk said.

“People may use a lot of caffeine and not even be conscious of it.”

Any mental health care professional with experience in treating ADD would be able to help. A typical first visit could include screening, recording their medical history and school history.

“A lot of times, they are having problems in elementary school or middle school history when you look back,” Pawlaczyk said. “You see the same concerns by teachers. A lot of these people who are fallen through the cracks are usually ones who have not failed in school but have struggled.

These clients are typically very, very intelligent and creative. They struggle with going to school, staying employed and try to find ways to cope, but they find it very, very hard.”

The psychologist or psychiatrist may refer them for consultation for a prescription such as Ritalin. The drug works quickly and the patient will soon Gould find he’s able to focus better and stay better organized.

Several other medications are available that gradually release into the system, enabling the patient to take it only daily instead of twice a day like Ritalin.

“It’s on a continuum,” Gould said.

“There are varying degrees of it. Not everyone will need medication. It’s on a case-by-case basis.”

The mental health provider can also help the patient with strategies to stay focused and organized and if needed, learn how to control anger.

Living with an Adult with ADD What’s it like to live with someone with ADD? Carol R. Zimmerman, licensed mental health counselor in private practice in Rochester, is married to a man with ADD. “It certainly affects relationships, but with education on ADD, they stabilize quickly once people know what to expect and have adopted behavioral adaptations.

ADD runs in my own family.

“I’ve found that I should look at my spouse’s behavior taking ADD into account, as opposed to thinking his actions were volitional or he’s lazy.

“My husband would be lost as an accountant or doing anything with paperwork. I work with a group of lawyers who practice collaborative law and I’ve helped them understand that if they get a client who can’t finish paperwork I have them ask if they’ve had trouble in school or have ADD. “My husband is rather defiant because he was so misunderstood all through school. He got blamed for things that were out of his control and got very defiant about school. Reading comprehension is hard for him.

“He would go in the front door and the only day he’d go is orchestra practice. He’s now a musician.”

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

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Men’sHealth Vasectomy Reversal Offers Hope for Fathering Again Success rate for those undergoing procedure can be as high as 95 percent

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

man seeks a vasectomy reversal for many reasons. Perhaps he wants to have additional children after remarriage. Or after the loss of a child, he longs to have another.

Financial changes in his life may make fatherhood feasible.

John Valvo, chief of urology at Rochester General Hospital, receives about 20 to 30 requests annually for vasectomy reversal.

“In this economy, since vas reversal is a cashonly procedure, requests are not as frequent as before,” he said. The cost of the procedure starts at about $6,000.

Whatever the reason, the chances Valvo are good that those having the surgery will become a dad again. The success rate of vasectomy reversal can be as high as 95 percent.

Jeanne O’Brien, associate professor of urology and male infertility at the University of Rochester Medical Center, is a regionally known expert in vasectomy reversal.

O’Brien explained that many fac-

tors play into the procedure’s success.

If it has been less than 10 years since an uncomplicated vasectomy, 75 to 95 percent of men have a successful reversal and their wives’ pregnancy rate is between 30 to 75 percent.

Of course, the woman’s fertility influences the chances of pregnancy, too.

“If you have a couple that has had one or two children and decide they want another child and the woman’s 40, vasectomy reversal may not be the best choice for them,” O’Brien said. “It could take up to a year for the sperm to return to the ejaculate.

“If someone has a new partner, advanced age and she’s never had a child, that wants a reversal, they may have a low chance of success.”

Typically, a reversal is more involved than a vasectomy. General anesthesia is required because the delicate nature of this three-hour microsurgery.

“The sutures are so thin you can’t see it with the naked eye,” O’Brien said.

The type of reversal a surgeon performs depends upon what is found upon performing the surgery. The basic vasectomy reversal is the vasovasostomy, which involves stitching together the severed ends of the vas deferens, the tubes that carry sperm.

“I do a microscopic exam of the fluids before I make a connection,” O’Brien said. “I can know if it will be a good connection.”

If the surgeon finds a blockage or it appears that a vasovasostomy won’t work because of a low sperm count in the fluid, a vasoepididymostomy is the likely type of surgery. The surgeon will attach the vas deferens to the epididymis, a tube at the back of the testicle. Either type of surgery will be done that day. The patient won’t need to return.

Men may return home after surgery.

They may not do any heavy lifting for a week or engage in OBrien sex for three weeks.

“For most men, they either say it’s the equivalent to having a vasectomy or a little less,” O’Brien said. “They’re sore two to three days.”

Rest, hydration and applying ice packs help soothe the pain and promote healing.

Valvo listed bleeding, infection, late stenosis (narrowing) of the reversal in

about six to nine months as possible complications.

Six weeks after surgery, patients submit a semen sample. If it has a low sperm count, they may have to re-submit for up to a year to test the success of the connection.

If neither of the surgeries works or the patient isn’t a good candidate, O’Brien has other options to offer, including sperm retrieval. Using local anesthesia in the office, a doctor can make a small incision to retrieve sperm to be used for in vitro fertilization.

Upon finding sperm during the reversal, some doctors will also extract and freeze it in case the reversal does not work.

In some cases, intracytoplasmic sperm injection may be an option, since it involves directly injecting sperm into an egg.

If you’re seeking a vasectomy reversal surgeon, ask about the option of sperm retrieval during the surgery.

Valvo also suggested that men “look for a track record. How many reversals has a surgeon performed and what are the success rates? Acceptable success rates would be 80 percent within a 10 to 15 year time from the vasectomy.”

What to Do When a Daily Shave is a Real Pain Tips for men who have problems shaving

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

lthough hirsute male faces are in vogue, many men still want a smooth-shaven face. Blade shaving results in the closest shave, but can result in a bevy of problems: bumps, sores and rashes. Men with sensitive skin or wiry hair (or worse still, both) may find that the daily shave is a real pain. Here’s how to lower the risks of shaving.

Most of the time, the little bumps or rash-like appearance that crops up after shaving is caused by hair curling back into the skin. The body perceives the hair as a foreign object and Shulman becomes inflamed and red because it’s trying to get the object out of the skin.

“It looks like acne, but it’s really the skin’s foreign body reaction,” said Brett Shulman, lead physician of Roch-

ester General Medical Group Center for Dermatology.

Men with wiry or curly beard hair have the greatest trouble with this problem.

“If you can see where the hair turned over, and lift it out, not pull it, that can help,” Shulman said.

Tricia Mikolou, stylist with The Men’s Room in Rochester, said that one of the biggest mistakes is using the wrong products and techniques.

“Some men, surprisingly, don’t use anything but water,” she said. “They don’t use balms or they use soap from shower.”

Instead, she recommends a good shaving cream. One of her favorites to use on clients is the Truefitt & Hill line.

Shulman added that guys should shave right after a shower using a brush and a shaving product with a high concentration of glycerin in to “make hair stand up.”

A dull blade can cause irritation, as can shaving against the direction of the hair growth and stretching the skin June 2011 •

during shaving.

The razor itself makes a difference as well. Many razor brands offer features such as vibrating heads, self-lubrication and double, triple, quadruple or even quintuple blades. But all that technology won’t serve you well if you have skin problems.

“You’re more likely to develop skin problems because of it,” said Dr. Elaine S. Gilmore, assistant professor of Dermatology, University of Rochester Medical Center. “We recommend they use a single blade razor that leaves a little stubble behind or use an electric razor without pushing it right up against the skin.” Mikolou advises clients to use an aftershave or aftershave balm once shaving is done.

“Put a cold towel on your face to close the pores,” she added.

For some patients, U of R’s Gilmore has recommended depilatory cream, which causes hair to break off at the surface of the skin and leaves a blunt tip. Shaving leaves behind a sharp tip, which can puncture skin.

“Use these creams maybe every other or every third day,” Gilmore said.

Laser treatments and prescriptions like Vaniqa slows hair growth. Retinoid creams can get rid of dead skin cells to release ingrown hairs and help diminish irritation.

“Some problems require a dermatologist to get a prescription,” Shulman said. “You may be able to avoid scarring that way.”

Some men experience a bacterial infection because of shaving, folliculitis. Look for pink or skin colored bumps or a pustule at the follicle. Topical or oral antibiotics can help the body clear up these infections more quickly.

Tinea barbae is a type of folliculitis is cause by a fungus in the hair follicle.

Topical or oral antifungal prescriptions can treat it.

“These are very common and it can be because the emphasis in stores are these razors with all these blades to get a closer and closer shave, but it puts those sharp tips below the surface,” Gilmore said.

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 19

PETS

Allergy: When the Problem is Your Pet

Man’s Best Friend for D Fitness and Health O

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

wning a dog can be good for your health, and reduce your risk for obesity and heart dis-

ease.

New research shows that owning a dog can be good for your health, and reduce your risk for obesity and heart disease. According to a new study, dog owners are about 34 percent more likely to get the recommended minimum amount of exercise each week, thanks to their pets.

“Dogs can be a great motivator for physical activity. People who walk their dogs, walk more.

People who walk their dogs walk about an hour longer each week,” said study author Mathew Reeves, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Michigan State University in East Lansing.

Reeves, who is also a veterinarian, added that the public health problem of obesity affects both humans and pets, and said there are “just as many health benefits from walking for the pet as for the owner.” So, Reeves suggested, even if you can’t seem to get moving to improve your own health, maybe keeping your canine healthy will be the motivator you need.

The findings are published in the March issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health.

For their analysis, the researchers reviewed data from the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey that included responses from almost 6,000 people.

Forty-one percent of the respondents owned a dog. Of those, almost two-thirds reported walking their dog for at least 10 minutes at a time. The remaining one-third didn’t regularly

walk their dogs.

Overall, dog owners were 69 percent more likely to get any leisure-time physical activity than non-dog owners, and they were 34 percent more likely to meet the U.S. government-recommended physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week.

Dogs can be a great motivator for physical activity.

“When you look at dog walkers, only 27 percent get the 150 minutes of activity benchmarks, so dog walkers could probably be walking more often and can walk longer,” said Reeves. “And, for the almost 40% of dog owners who didn’t walk at all, they really should be walking their dogs. Every dog should have the opportunity to get out and walk.”

Numerous reasons were cited for not walking dogs, but the most common excuse for not walking dogs was that the dog self-exercised or was an outside dog.

Some dog owners said they had no time or interest in walking the dog; other dog owners reported their dog was too ill-behaved for them to walk; others said either the dog or they themselves were too old to walk.

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•

iscovering that a member of the household has a pet allergy can be discouraging for a pet lover; however, it doesn’t always mean giving away the family dog or cat. There are ways to help those with pet allergies keep pets as part of their lives.

“It would be a rare occasion that someone must rid themselves of a pet,” said Beth Hopkins, nurse practitioner with Finger Lakes Allergy Clinic and nationally certified in otolaryngology and extensively trained in allergy.

One once in her 17 years of working in the field has Hopkins encountered a case where the family had to give away a pet because of pet allergies.

“It was a new child in the home who was having ER visits from wheezing,” she said.

Other pet allergy symptoms can include difficulty in breathing, hives, allergic rhinitis (commonly known as a stuffy or runny nose with itchy, watery eyes and Arreaza nasal congestion), and dermatitis (inflamed skin) when touching the pet.

Removing the pet from the household is the most severe form of what allergists call “environmental controls” which help limit the exposure the patient has to the pet. This is the allergist’s first strategy in helping clients. Most suggest barring the pets from the patient’s bedroom.

“What you’re trying to do for anyone with allergies is find a safe zone,” Hopkins said. “We focus on the bedroom to get the longest number of hours in the pet-free zone.”

Kliener Combined with time at work or in the classroom (providing no service animals are present), an allergy patient could have 15 hours of each day without pet dander near him. It’s the dander that is the real cause of the problem, not the pet’s hair. That’s why air purifiers can help minimize pet allergies.

“Pet allergens are airborne,” said Eduardo Arreaza, allergist with Rochester General Hospital. “They’re in the air. You don’t have to have physical contact with the pet. An air cleaner with a HEPA filter in the bedroom will help.”

Because pet dander is the actual culprit and not hair, “hypoallergenic pets” aren’t for real.

“In general, this concept of having a hypoallergenic dog is something that’s perpetuated by dog breeders,” said Anatole Kleiner, board certified in immunology and allergy and rheumatology and allergist at Allergy, Asthma,

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

Immunology of Rochester. “The thing that most people are allergic to is the pet dander or skin flakes. In that sense, it doesn’t make much difference whether it’s a pet that sheds or not. The thing that causes the problem is the dander itself.”

Some people stick say that they do not have allergic reactions to specific breeds such as poodles, saying that their fur does not readily shed and that helps keep their skin flakes under control better.

For those whose allergies are mild, choosing the right dog can make a difference, however.

“It is true that people tend to do better with some dogs than others,” Kleiner said. “A smaller dog doesn’t produce as much dander. Ultimately, it’s very hard to extrapolate from individual anecdotes. If you have a pet in the home all the time, you may be allergic to it but you may not have the same symptoms as someone who is only occasionally exposed. They won’t be able to judge if their symptoms are getting worse or better.”

If environmental controls aren’t effective in controlling symptoms, medication may be the next step. It’s usually inhaled nasal steroids to redcue inflammation in the nose and sinuses and antihistamines to reduce sneezing, itchy eyes, and running nose.

Allergy shots can help reduce symptoms by helping the patient’s body become acclimated to trace amounts of the allergen and then gradually increasing the amount to develop a greater tolerance.

“When you compare head to head with medications, allergy shots tend to be more effective,” Kleiner said.

“Statistically, shots work very well for between 80 and 90 percent of individuals.

“People should notice a significant decrease in symptoms and need for medications. It will depend how inherently allergic the person is. If you have severe problems around dogs and have allergic asthma, your response to the shots may be different than someone who has primarily nasal symptoms.

Shots may allow someone to tolerate a dog for several hours but they may not make it so symptoms are completely gone. There won’t be anything better than avoidance.”

Diabetes Prevention: Know Your Risks Many not aware of the risk factors

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

lthough it can be controlled with medication and lifestyle changes, complications from type 2 diabetes can result in serious health problems: heart disease, neuropathy, kidney disease, blindness and loss of limbs.

The American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org) lists diabetes as “leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20 to 74 years” and that “more than 60 percent of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations occur in people with diabetes.”

“Diabetes typically is not taken seriously,” said Pat Cochrane, a registered nurse and certified diabetes educator with Finger Lakes Health.

“Even after being told they have prediabetes, many people do not take the diagnosis seriously…[and] feel there is no problem because they generally do not feel ill.

“The damage to blood vessels begins in the early diabetes or pre-diabetes stage and approximately 50 percent of the pancreas’ function is lost when diabetes is first detected.”

The American Diabetes Association estimates that “25.8 million children and adults in the United States—8.3 percent of the population—have diabetes.” The organization further states that 7 million cases remain undiagnosed and another 79 million are “prediabetic,” which means their fasting glucose levels are higher than they should be.

“Many in that group don’t know they have it,” said Jane Patterson, nurse practitioner and certified diabetes educator with Rochester General Hospital.

“I don’t think people are aware of the risk factors.”

Working in diabetes education since 1990, she has observed that events that offer diabetes risk screening are often poorly attended compared with other screenings.

Fortunately, anybody can determine his diabetes risk and even pre-diabetics (those with several risk factors) can take steps to reduce their risk.

“You absolutely can avoid it,” said Stephen Hammes, chief of endocrinology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

“We have patients who have started out with diabetes and end up off the medication because of making these changes.”

Hammes said that patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes aren’t curing it but controlling it with lifestyle changes. But for those who are not presently diabetic, they can decrease their chances by understanding and decreasing the risk factors involved by making lifestyle changes.

Some of the risks are genetic; there’s nothing you can do about them.

If any of your first-degree relatives have diabetes or your mother had gestational diabetes while carrying you, you’re more at risk for becoming diabetic, as are most people of non-European descent. The rest of the factors you can influence, such as obesity, the leading risk factor.

“As the size goes up, the risk goes up,” Hammes said. “Losing weight is the No. 1 thing you can do.”

You may not be obese, but if you

see the number on the scale creeping upward or your clothing feels snug, it’s time to take control. The worst thing you can do is give up and let pounds pile on. Although some medications, medical conditions and the slowing metabolism of middle and older age make weight gain easier, working hard to keep excess weight off can make a huge difference.

“Do your best to control your weight or at least don’t gain any more weight if you are already overweight,” said Amy Stacy, certified diabetes education with Lakeside Health System in Brockport.

Decrease your caloric intake. A few simple ways to do this could include switching to non-caloric beverages, eating only a half portion of desserts or switching a few products you regularly consume to “light” versions.

Measure your food servings and compare to the guidelines on the Food Guide Pyramid (www.mypyramid. gov). You may be surprised to find your servings are larger than what they should be. If you’re not sure how many calories you should eat, talk with your doctor or dietitian who can advise you.

If you’re 40 and you eat the same way as you did in high school, you’re probably eating too much.

Sedentary lifestyle contributes to obesity and is also a risk factor for becoming diabetic. Since the Industrial Revolution and the more recent “Computer Age,” people have become less and less active during their working hours. To compensate, we must exercise.

“The less you exercise, the less muscle on your body, the more likely you will have problems with high blood sugar,” Stacy said. “Think of exercise as medicine for your body!”

Patterson recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day as a starting point. Wearing a pedometer to track how many steps you take daily will help you both measure and motivate.

“With 5 to 10 percent weight loss, 58 percent of cases of type 2 can be prevented,” she said. “Patients do better reducing their risk with diet and exercise than medication. People want a pill for everything.”

Consistently poor diet also raises your risk of diabetes. Cochrane listed “high carbohydrate foods, convenience foods, skipped or missed meals” dietary factors.

Women who have had gestational diabetes while pregnant or whose babies weighed nine pounds or more at birth are at much higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

“We warn women to keep that in mind and keep their weight under control, eat well and exercise,” Hammes said.

Anyone with risk factors for diabetes should adopt the above healthful habits and keep close tabs on their health.

“Visit your doctor,” Stacy said.

“Ignorance is not bliss. If you keep up with regular check-ups your doctor can help you identify potential issues with your blood sugar and alert you if you need to become more aggressive about preventing diabetes.”

What They Want You to Know:

Allergists

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

ccording to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, “an allergist is trained to find the source of your symptoms, treat it and help you feel healthy. After earning a medical degree, the doctor must complete a three-year residency-training program in either internal medicine or pediatrics. Then, an allergist completes two or three more years of study in the field of asthma, allergy and immunology.” In this column we are also including comments from a nurse practitioner from a local allergy office.

• “The biggest thing we run into is there’s a variety of ways of testing for allergy. Not all of them have been validated in the scientific community.

Sometimes we have people who’ve been tested in a non-standardized way and it doesn’t make sense. They make a lot of adjustments in their life based upon inaccurate tests. One of the things that’s important is that when people are considering going to someone for diagnosis or treatment of their allergies is that they do some background research or look into that type of tests and see if there’s research that supports their accuracy.”

Dr. Anatole Kleiner, Allergy, Asthma, Immunology of Rochester • “Approximately 50 million Americans suffer from some form of allergic disease, making it the fifth most common chronic condition among Americans of all ages.

• The disease burden translates to an estimated annual impact of $8 billion per year, through costs associated with medical treatment and lost work productivity.

• “Conditions treated by allergists range from life threatening immune deficiencies to rashes to asthma and allergic rhinitis.

• “Regardless of the condition, allergists are able to consult with patients and develop a plan to ensure the best quality of life possible.”

Dr. S. Shahzad Mustafa, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Rochester General Medical Group • “People associate allergies with allergy shots. That’s not all that we do. Shots can be effective in selective patients, but about half my patients don’t get shots. We can treat them with environmental controls and medication many times.

June 2011 •

• “It’s important to evaluate all allergies. If you’re allergic to cats and pollen, exposure to the cat will make your allergy to pollen worse. You need comprehensive treatment.

• It’s important to note that allergies can interfere with quality of life. It’s not a good idea to tough out symptoms.

• “Patients who come to us are usually severe patients. They may not be as responsive. Some need environmental controls, medications and shots.

The good thing about the shots is that it can modify the natural history of the condition. Even after you complete and finish the shots, you may have lasting improvement after you stop taking them.”

Dr. Eduardo Arreaza, Rochester General Hospital • “Bring all the information you can about what’s been going on with your health throughout your lifetime.

• “Don’t expect one big answer or pill that will make it all go away. If you have allergies, you’ll have them for a lifetime. Treating it is a lifestyle change.

• “You have to work as a team.

I see a lot of children with asthma. It won’t be just me and the child but it involves the child and caretakers who are involved to improve their health to make changes that will help their health improve.

• “If we could get everyone to quit smoking around these children, I would give $1 million for that. Any child who has wheezing should see an allergist.”

Beth Hopkins, nurse practitioner at Finger Lakes Allergy Clinic in Geneva, nationally certified in otolaryngology and member of American of Academy of Otolaryngology with extensive training in allergy.

Deborah Jeanne Sergeant is a writer with In Good Health. “What Your Doctor Wants You to Know” is an ongoing column that appears monthly to give our area’s healthcare professionals an opportunity to share how patients can improve their care by helping their providers and by helping themselves.

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 21

The Social Ask Security Office Column provided by the local Social Security Office

Elisa Martin

Financial Adviser with Terzioglu Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

E

lisa Martin is a financial adviser with the Terziolgu Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

The group focuses on providing active communication and active management in the area of financial planning for people of all ages.

“Though it may be more time consuming to assist in all aspects of their life phases, I believe it is the only way to provide advice.” Martin says.

She has been with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney for two years and received a double Bachelors of Science in business administration, and health planning and management from Alfred University in 1994. She currently holds government licensing in brokerage as well as a NYS life, accident, and health license. She is Martin currently registered in 23 states.

“I love watching the markets. I am fascinated by the intricate nature of how government, environment, and economic cycles affect the markets.”

Martin’s passion, however, lies in helping people put their goals into action in the most comfortable and effective way possible.

“I have met so many people who work hard for their money yet spend no time making sure that their money is working for them. I believe it’s because planning something that may not happen until the distant future is overwhelming. However, nowadays my group has tools that make it much easier to watch the plan unfold and to see how assets will both grow and distribute over time based on the individuals/businesses own risk, objectives, and time horizon. “ It’s a challenge”: says Martin, “ in my opinion, to get people to take action today. However, there is nothing more rewarding than helping someone to achieve peace of mind about their goals, retirement income, or estate plan.

She states: “In my opinion, since 2008 more individuals recognize that they don’t have the time to watch the markets and figure out where there are risks or opportunities. They seem to accept and ask for advice more than before. I think more people are recog-

nizing that it is not just about growing your assets through buying and selling stocks. Taking into account all phases of life, taxes, and estate needs is becoming the norm for providing solid comprehensive planning.”

Elisa Martin is a financial advisor with the Global Wealth Management Division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Rochester.

The information contained in this article is not a solicitation to purchase or sell investments. Any information presented is general in nature and not intended to provide individually tailored investment advice.

The strategies and/or investments referenced may not be suitable for all investors as the appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives. Investing involves risks and there is always the potential of losing money when you invest. The views expressed herein are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Member SIPC, or its affiliates.

Elisa Martin, financial adviser with Terzioglu Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. She is based at 300 Linden Oaks, 1st floor, Rochester, NY 14625. Contact her at 585-389-2292 or www.fa.smithbarney. com/elisamartin The information contained in this article is not a solicitation to purchase or sell investments. Any information presented is general in nature and not intended to provide individually tailored investment advice. The strategies and/or investments referenced may not be suitable for all investors as the appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives. Investing involves risks and there is always the potential of losing money when you invest. The views expressed herein are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, Member SIPC, or its affiliates.

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Page 22

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Make Sure You Get the Right Amount

A

t Social Security, the goal is to make sure you are paid the correct amount, on time, every month. Some things have made that job easier over more than 70 years of paying benefits, such as direct deposit and electronic application systems. But some of the factors that determine your payment amount still depend on good old-fashioned human intervention.

And in some cases, getting the correct payment amount depends on you.

You certainly don’t want to be paid less than you’re entitled to receive. But what can be even more difficult, in the long run, is to be overpaid — in which case you’ll probably have to pay us back, cutting your payment down each month until the debt is repaid.

What can cause an overpayment?

Sometimes an overpayment (or even an underpayment) occurs because the person receiving benefits did not report a change to us.

For example, if you receive Social Security retirement or survivors benefits and are under your full retirement age and working, we usually ask you to estimate your earnings for the year.

If you realize your earnings will be higher or lower than you estimated, let us know as soon as possible so we can adjust your benefits.

If you receive Social Security disability benefits, you should tell us if you take a job or become self-employed, no matter how little you earn.

You also need to report if you begin receiving or have a change in any

Q&A Q: Is it true I must now receive my benefits through direct deposit?

A: Anyone applying for benefits on or after May 1, will be required to receive their payments electronically, while those already receiving paper checks will need to switch by March 1, 2013. Paper checks will no longer be an option for most people. If you don’t have a bank account, you can get your benefits through the Direct Express debit Mastercard. Switching from checks to electronic payments is fast, easy, and free at www.godirect. org. You also can call the U.S. Treasury Processing Center’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-333-1795 or speak with a bank or credit union representative or contact Social Security for help.

Q: How do I know when it’s the right time for me to begin getting retirement benefits?

A: If you use our online Retirement Estimator, you can get estimates of your benefit at various ages from age 62, the earliest eligibility age, to age 70, the age when you can take full advantage of delayed retirement credits. It al-

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

worker’s compensation or other public disability benefits — or if your disabling condition improves.

If you receive SSI, you need to report any changes that can increase or reduce the amount of your benefit, such as changes in address (even if you get electronic payments), changes in living arrangements, income, or increased savings that inch over the resource limit ($2,000 for an individual, $3,000 for a couple). Any changes in your living arrangements, income, or resources could change your SSI payment amount.

• Learn more about the kinds of things you need to report when you receive Social Security retirement and survivors benefits by reading our online publication: www.socialsecurity. gov/pubs/10077.html • Read about reporting responsibilities for people receiving Social Security disability benefits here: www. socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10153.html • Learn all about the sorts of things to report when you receive SSI by reading over this online publication: www. socialsecurity.gov/pubs/11011.html If you’re underpaid in any given month, once we verify the information that caused you to be underpaid, we will send you any money you are due.

• If you’re overpaid, read our online fact sheet to learn what happens next: www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10098. html With your help and by diligently reporting any applicable changes, we’ll achieve a goal we can all agree on: paying you the right amount, on time, every month.

lows you to key in a multiple scenarios so you can get an instant, personalized estimate of your future retirement benefits. It’s the best way to begin planning for your retirement. You can find the online Retirement Estimator at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.

Q: I’m applying for disability benefits. Do I automatically receive Medicare benefits if I’m approved for disability benefits?

A: You will receive Medicare after you receive disability benefits for 24 months. When you become eligible for disability benefits, we will automatically enroll you in Medicare. We start counting the 24 months from the month you were entitled to receive disability, not the month when you received your first payment. Special rules apply to people with permanent kidney failure and those with “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Learn more about Social Security disability benefits by reading our publication at www.socialsecurity. gov/pubs/10029.html.

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Gravesite Care When You Can’t Get There Dear Savvy Senior, Do you know of any services or organizations that provide gravesite care and decorating? My 82-year-old mother cannot take care of dad’s grave anymore, and I don’t live nearby to do it either.

Need Help Dear Need, Depending on where your dad is buried, there’s actually a hodgepodge of places you can turn to for gravesite grooming, decorating and special care when you can’t get there.

Here’s what you should know.

Gravesite Care As a general rule, most cemeteries only provide basic grounds maintenance like mowing the grass and trash pickup. Special gravesite care is almost always up to the family. But for elderly seniors who have trouble getting around, or for families who live a distance from their loved one’s burial place and can’t get back very often, what options are available? Here are several to check into.

A good starting point is to call a friend or family member in the area, or contact your parent’s church or religious affiliation to see if they would be willing to help you. If that’s not a possibility, contact some local funeral homes or the cemetery staff where your dad is buried to see if they offer any gravesite services or know of anyone who does.

If you don’t have any luck there, another option is to hire a gravesite care company. These are small individually-owned businesses that provide services like plot maintenance, including grass trimming and weeding, headstone cleaning and restoration, flower and wreath deliveries and more.

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many companies will take pictures of the gravesite and email or mail them to you.

There are literally dozens of small businesses that provides gravesite care services in communities or regions across the U.S. To find them, try contacting your nearby memorial society or local funeral consumer alliance program (see www.funerals.org/affiliates-directory or call 802-865-8300 for contact information). These are volunteer groups that offer a wide range of information on local funeral and cremation providers, cemeteries and more. They may be able to refer you to a local service — if one exists. You can also do a search online. To do this, go to any Internet search engine and type in “grave care services” plus your city or state.

If you can’t find a local service to help you, check into some national companies like Grave Groomers (gravegroomers.com), which has 22 different businesses in 12 states. Or Gravesite Masters (gravesitemasters. com, 877-476-6687), which provides a wide array of services nationwide through its nearly 200 subcontractors around the U.S. The cost for most gravesite care services can range from $30 to $50 for flower and wreath deliveries, $20 to $60 for plot grooming, and $40 to $150 for headstone cleaning and memorial restoration. Special discounts for multiple gravesite services and visits may also exist.

Savvy Tip If you’re looking to decorate your dad’s grave with fresh cut flowers or live plants, another option is to call a local florist to see if they can make a delivery directly to his grave site. Many florists will accommodate this request if you provide them the cemetery location and plot number, but you probably won’t get a photo verifying the delivery.

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June 2011 •

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 23

H ealth News Leonard Redon elected board chairman at FLHSA Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency announced the election of board officers and new appointments to its board of directors.

Leonard E. Redon was elected to serve as chairman of the board of directors. Redon also chairs FLHSA’s 2020 Performance Commission and serves on the Lifetime Healthcare Inc. board of directors.

Recently retired as vice president of Area West Operations at Paychex Inc., Redon resides in Pittsford.

Michael Nazar, vice president of primary care services at Redon Unity Health System, will serve as chairman-elect. In addition, George Roets, Schuyler County’s director of public health, was re-elected to serve as secretary, and Kathleen Parrinello, chief operating officer at Strong Health, was re-elected as treasurer.

New FLHSA board members are: • Brendan Brady of Canandaigua, chief of surgery at the Canandaigua Medical Group PC.; • Marilyn L. Dollinger, a family nurse practitioner of Rochester and associate dean of academics, Wegmans School of Nursing at St. John Fisher College.

• Augustin Melendez of Rochester, chief diversity and community affairs officer and director, VP-HR Worldwide GCG Businesses, Eastman Kodak Co. • James H. Norman of Webster, president and chief executive officer of

Action for a Better Community.

• Sandra A. Parker of Webster, president and chief executive officer of the Rochester Business Alliance.

Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency (www.flhsa.org) is an independent, regional health planning organization working to improve health care in Rochester and the Finger Lakes region.

The agency analyzes community needs, brings together organizations to solve health problems, and measures results.

FLHSA serves the nine counties of Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Yates.

Bob Russell named Gilda’s executive director Gilda’s Club Rochester announced the hiring of Bob Russell as executive director. Russell was most recently employed as development director at Gilda’s Club Rochester. A Rochester native, Russell has been a guiding force in many stalwart, local organizations — including Rochester Raging Rhinos Soccer Club (vice president of operations), Geva Theatre Center (director of marketing) and The Little Theatre Film Society (executive director), where he led the organization to the Russell 2009 Organization of the Year Award from the Arts Council of Greater Rochester.

“It’s truly an honor to be chosen to

Hospital Week at RGH

lead such an amazing organization as Gilda’s Club Rochester, one that offers immeasurable support for all of those in our community whose lives have been touched by cancer,” said Russell.

“The children, teens, men and women whom we serve are our inspiration every day and their strength fuels the passion of our dedicated staff to work and ensure that no one has to face cancer alone.”

“Bob brings a potent and unique profile to the position, with over a decade of not-for-profit experience and many years in professional sports,” said Gilda’s Club Rochester Board of Directors President Will Rumbold.

“He’s been a dedicated professional everywhere he’s been, and in his short time with Gilda’s Club as development director, he’s made an obvious and positive impact.”

Russell replaces Beverly Brooks, who retired in January.

ACM Medical Laboratory announces promotion ACM Medical Laboratory announced the promotion of Lorrie D. Divers, former director of quality assurance, clinical trials, to executive director, global quality assurance and compliance.

Divers will be responsible for developing and maintaining a global quality system, policies and procedures for all ACM departments and sites worldwide, as well as developing appropriate quality standards for laboraDivers tory partners around the world. She is also responsible for managing an effective regulatory and safety compliance program for ACM. She has more than 10 years of experience in quality assurance, regulatory compliance, process development and process improvement, with considerable experience in clinical research and clinical trials management. Divers has been with ACM since 2008.

HCR Home Care moves Into new Batavia offices

Rochester General Health System president and CEO Mark Clement speaks during the dedication of hospital week in April at the hospital’s Polisseni Pavilion.

The event counted with several dignitaries, including Rochester Mayor Tom Richards and Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard.

Rochester is home to thousands of residents who work in healthcare-related fields. Rochester General Health System, for example, is the fourth largest employer in the Rochester area.

“The celebration of National Hospital Week, National Nurses Week and, National Nursing Home Week [all in May] helps us pay tribute to the men and women who dedicate themselves to the care of others,” said CEO Clement.

Page 24

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HCR Home Care, an award-winning certified home health care agency serving patients in Genesee, Orleans, and Monroe counties, has completed the relocation of its Batavia office to new space in United Memorial Medical Center’s Cary Building, located at 211 East Main St. After several months of planning and preparation, the move was finally completed in April. HCR’s personnel now have much-needed room for expansion, faster-than-ever access to the agency’s electronic medical record system, and improved accessibility to the community.

HCR, which has provided in-home nursing, therapy, and home health aide services for residents of the Rochester area for more than 30 years, acquired Genesee County’s own county-owned and operated home care agency when

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

the county put it up for sale in 2009.

Prior to the recent move, HCR had been temporarily leasing the county agency’s old space at County Office Building #2.

“We’re thrilled to be in our new offices,” said HCR’s director of branch operations for Genesee and Orleans counties, Alice Pena. “The new location provides wonderful accessibility to the Medical Center, to physicians, and to our patients.”

HCR’s commitment to providing quality care to its patients has been recognized nationally by Home Care Elite, which named HCR a Top 500 agency in each of the five years since the award’s inception. HCR is one of just 42 certified home care agencies that have earned this distinction, out of nearly 10,000 nationwide.

In addition, HCR was named a Top Performing Agency in New York and IPRO’s Quality Award winner for two consecutive years, as well as being presented with the Rochester Area Business Ethics Foundation Award in 2006.

Dr. Gary Tebor joins Greater Rochester Orthopaedics Gary Tebor, a physician with the longest tenure as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in the Rochester area, has joined the staff of Greater Rochester Orthopaedics.

An orthopedic surgeon in Rochester since 1981, Tebor has been affiliated with Strong Memorial, Rochester General, Highland and Unity hospitals.

In addition, he is on the consulting faculty of Schriners Hospital for Children in Erie, Pa. Prior to joining GRO in 2011, he was on the pediatric orthopedics faculty at the University of Rochester.

Tebor treats all forms of congenital and developmental pediatric orthopedic Tebor problems of arms, spine and legs. He is also well known for the treatment of children with orthopedic trauma and neuromuscular disease.

Tebor is a graduate of the Albany College of Medicine/Union University.

He served an internship in general surgery at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital (Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons) and a residency in orthopedic surgery at Albany Medical Center. He completed at fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard University Medical School).

Formed in 1991, Greater Rochester Orthopaedics is an alliance of seven board-certified orthopedic surgeons who provide general and specialty orthopedic and musculoskeletal care.

Thompson Guild recognized by HANYS The Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) recently awarded

H ealth News the 2010 Auxiliary Advocacy Recognition to Thompson Guild. This recognition is given to auxiliaries who commit significant time and effort to serving as an advocate for their facility and community.

Thompson Guild’s fundraising efforts support Thompson Health in numerous ways. A few of the guild’s contributions in 2010 included a handicapped-accessible, air-conditioned bus for residents of the M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center and The Brighter Day; a high definition television for educational activities at F.F. Thompson Hospital; two VeinViewer Vision Imaging Systems, which are used to make blood draws and IV insertions more comfortable for patients; a $350,000 donation to upgrade the urgent care center; an underwater aquatic treadmill for rehabilitation services; and a sevenyear pledge to Project Excel, Thompson Health’s expansion/renovation project.

Thompson Guild’s gifts were made possible by events such as the Fall Fashion Show, Basket Raffle, Gigantic Garage Sale and others.

St. Ann’s elects board members St. Ann’s of Greater Rochester Inc. has announced the election of two new members of its board of directors.

Laurel Ann Pfeil is a fellowship trained geriatrician, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Rochester, and attending physician at Monroe Community Hospital. According to St. Ann, Pfeil brings a wealth of knowledge in the area of geriatrics, hospice and skilled nursing facility care.

She began her career as a registered nurse, and is now a physician Pfeil certified in internal medicine, geriatrics, hospice and palliative care and is a certified medical director.

Joseph Stankaitis is the chief medical officer at Monroe Plan for Medical Care. He is a fellow of the American College of Physician and the American College of Physician ExecStankaitis utives. He is a clinical associate professor of family medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He is an active reviewer and past chairman of the review oversight committee for the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and is the president of American Diabetes Association Rochester Volunteer Leadership board.

Tom Riley and his wife donate $500,000 to Unity Unity Health System has received a major gift for the expansion and modernization of Unity Hospital. Thomas P. Riley and Barbara M. Kelley have

donated $500,000 toward the project that will add much-needed beds and enhance patient care by renovating existing patient rooms and other areas of the Hospital.

“This hospital has been part of my life for 45 years” said Riley. “Barbara and I are so proud of the role it plays in the quality of life we enjoy in our region. It proves that when an organization has a plan, and stays focused on its mission, great results can be achieved.”

In recognition of their generous gift, the new boardroom in the renovated hospital will be named in Riley’s honor. The cost of the modernization and expansion of Unity Hospital is $159 million. The multi-year project is expected to be completed in 2014.

Riley’s service to Unity began in 1966. He was a board member of the Park Avenue Hospital and his efforts, along with work from Northwest Hospital committee members, led to the rebuilding of the hospital in the Town of Greece, which was named Park Ridge Hospital (renamed Unity Hospital in 2006). Riley also served as vice chairman and later chairman of Park Ridge Hospital’s board of directors from 1976 – 1981, among other functions at the organization.

“We are extremely grateful for Tom Riley and Barbara Kelley’s ongoing dedication to Unity and their generous gift,” said Warren Hern, president and CEO of Unity Health System. “The strength of our organization relies on the people like them who support our mission and help us deliver health care how it should be.”

Unity Health to expand its ‘Village at Unity’ In response to a community need for more senior housing and specialized care, Unity Health System has recently broken grounds on a major expansion of The Villages at Unity. Located on the Unity Park Ridge campus, The Villages at Unity complex includes independent and assisted living apartments. The project involves building a new assisted living community, opening a memory care unit, redeveloping common space between the communities, and building climate-controlled connectors between all buildings.

“Retirement and assisted living communities in the Rochester area are in high demand,” said Sandra MacWilliam, executive vice president of Center for Aging & Continuing Care at Unity Health System. “We are responding to that need, and the fact that seniors want and deserve residential options, social opportunities, and access to such things as exercise, dining, and computers.” The multi-phase project will add a 40-apartment enriched living community, convert the Hamlet, the existing enriched living community, to an 20-apartment memory care center, and build a climate-controlled connector between all parts of The Villages at Unity, among other changes.

Currently, there are 352 senior housing units on the Unity Park Ridge Campus. The redevelopment project will add 30 units to the complex. Construction is expected to be complete in 2013.

VA Honors Nurses

During the National Nursing Week, May 6–12, the Canandaigua Medical Center and the Rochester VA Outpatient Clinic honored four of its nurses with the Nursing Staff of the Year award. They are Rose Curtis, registered nurse and diabetic educator for Canandaigua and the Rochester VA Outpatient Clinic. Heather Vanee, registered nurse in the patient aligned care team at Canandaigua. Brenda Kunego, licensed practical nurse in the patient aligned care team at Rochester. Kate Mitchell, nursing assistant at Gladwin Hall A Community Living Center.

CP Rochester’s employee honored by Nazareth CP Rochester employee Julie Babish Johnson has recently been awarded with the Mary F. Hannick Award for Excellence in Field Instruction from the Nazareth College of Social Work.

“This accolade reflects the high regard that her colleagues also have for her work ethic and professionalism,” said CP Rochester spokesperson, Kate Proctor.

CP Rochester was founded as United Babish Cerebral Palsy Association in 1946 by a small group of parents whose children had cerebral palsy.

Since then the organization has grown its supports and services, now offering a wide array of alternatives to over 2,000 children and adults with a broad range of physical and developmental disabilities. Our primary goal is to enable the greatest degree of independence and connection to community for those we serve.

Pluta recognized by largest oncology society in the U S Pluta Cancer Center has been recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) Certification Program, an affiliate of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The QOPI Certification Program provides a three-year certification for outpatient hematology-oncology practices that meet the highest standards

June 2011 •

for quality cancer care.

Oncologists can achieve this recognition by demonstrating practice consistent with the highest standards of care. The certification designates those practices that not only score high on the key QOPI quality measures, but meet rigorous safety measures established by ASCO and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS).

“We are extremely proud to receive this certification,” said Pluta Cancer Center President and CEO Kelly McCormick-Sullivan. “It underscores the leading-edge, compassionate, personalized care Pluta Cancer Center provides.”

“Cancer patients and their families should expect nothing less than accountability and the highest standards from their cancer care providers,” said Dr. Allen S. Lichter, president of the QOPI Certification Program. “QOPI participation reflects a commitment to quality of care that leads to fundamental changes in the clinical practice of oncology. Oncology practices that commit to quality and safety are those that provide the most optimal cancer care.

The certification program helps practices determine whether they are providing the best treatment and care possible to their patients, and demonstrates a commitment to excellence and ongoing quality improvement in the hematology-oncology outpatient practice.”

To become certified, practices have to submit to an evaluation of their entire practice and documentation standards and meet core standards in all areas of treatment, including treatment planning, staff training and education, chemotherapy orders and drug preparation, patient consent and education, safe chemotherapy administration and monitoring and assessment of patient well-being.

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 25

42 New Generic Medicines in 2011-2012 to Hit the Market Excellus’ report says Upstate New York can save nearly $900 million annually

U

pstate New York could see nearly $900 million in annualized savings as a result of 42 brand-name prescription drugs becoming available in their generic form during 2011 and 2012, led by Lipitor, Plavix, and Singulair, according to a report issued May 18 by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

“Consumers will see major savings from the generics in the form of lower copays, and those paying the larger tab of health insurance coverage will see lower prescription cost assumptions built into future premium rates,” said Joel Owerbach, vice president and chief pharmacy officer, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Prescription drug spending represents about 15 percent to 17 percent of health coverage premiums.

According to the Excellus BCBS analysis of prescription patterns in 39 counties of Upstate New York, 18 brandname medicines were identified as becoming available as generics this year. They are used to treat conditions ranging from cholesterol to acne and have average wholesale prices that produce an estimated annual spend of $340 million.

Once those medicines become available as generics, the health plan’s projections show a potential annualized savings of $272 million.

In the report, “The Facts About Opportunities for Generic Savings in 2011 and 2012,”brands that become available as generics are listed by the conditions they treat in the order of the estimated month that the generic becomes available. The report is available by going toexcellusbcbs. com/factsheets.

Most drug manufacturers are granted an exclusive patent to produce the brand-name drug for a fixed period of time. “Once the patent expires, multiple companies can produce a generic version, resulting in lower costs for consumers,” said Owerbach. “On average, the cost of a generic drug could be 50 percent, 75 percent, and even 90 percent less than the brand-name version.”

In 2011, the largest potential long-term savings will come from Lipitor, which has 154,000 users in Upstate New York. In 2012, the largest potential long-term savings will come from Plavix with its 80,000 Upstate New York users and Singulair with 102,000 users. Once their generics become widely available, potential annual savings could total $376 million from these three drugs alone.

Other drugs with patents scheduled to expire in 2011 and 2012 include Xalatan, Nasacort AQ, Levaquin, Lexapro, Actos, Avalide, Avapro, Diovan and Diovan HCT. Since October 2005, measurable increases in the use of generic drugs as alternatives to higher-priced brand-name drugs have resulted in savings of more than $1 billion for upstate New Yorkers, according to analyses by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

Page 26

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011

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D R A W A Congratulations to Healthy Hero Iris Zimmermann-Nowak.

A world champion fencer, Iris earned this award from Greater Rochester Health Foundation for introducing the physically active art of fencing to children. Fencing is a great sport for kids who want to be physically active and like to compete but may not enjoy team sports.

To nominate a Healthy Hero visit

June 2011 •

IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper

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Page 27

We do more than treat breast cancer.

We outsmart it.

BREAST CANCER IS THOUGHTLESS. Conquering it takes a higher level of intelligence and expertise. We bring every essential discipline together to give patients a comprehensive and personalized course of treatment and support. It’s a new way to think about breast cancer care.

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IN GOOD HEALTH – Rochester / Genesee Valley Healthcare Newspaper • June 2011