THE TRIBUNE
Tuesday, July 19, 2016, PAGE 9
B O DY A N D M I N D
SMB Care screens “The Revenant” to raise funds for colon cancer awareness and education By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net WITH colon cancer being the third deadliest form of cancer in the Bahamas, members of the SMB Care Foundation said they recognise that efforts to raise more awareness and educate the public on the disease must be heightened and remain ongoing. As part of these efforts, SMB Care will tonight screen the Academy Award-winning film “The Revenant” at 7pm at The Island House Cinema. Tickets are available for a donation of $75 and include complimentary wine and selections from a gourmet platter prepared by Chef Gerald Rolle. “The Revenant” is a 2015 American epic survival western film directed, coproduced, and co-written by Alejandro G Iñárritu, and based in part on Michael Punke’s novel of the same name, inspired by the experiences of frontiersman Hugh Glass in 1823, in what is now Montana and South Dakota. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Glass, and co-stars Tom Hardy (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Domhnall Gleeson (“Star Wars - The Force Awakens”) and Will Poulter. While exploring the uncharted wilderness in 1823, frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) sustains life-threatening injuries from a brutal bear attack. When a member (Tom Hardy) of his hunting team kills his half-Pawnee son
LEONARDO DiCaprio won his first Oscar for his work in “The Revenant”. Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) and leaves him for dead, Glass must utilise his survival skills to find a way back to civilisation. Grief-stricken and fuelled by vengeance, the legendary fur trapper treks through the snowy terrain to track down the man who betrayed him. The screening of “The Revenant” is the second instalment of the foundation’s SMB Flicks, a film fundraising initiative. One hundred per cent of the proceeds raised from SMB Flicks will help to underwrite the cost of colonoscopies for high-
TICKETS for SMB Flicks include complimentary wine and selections from a gourmet platter.
risk individuals in need. SMB Care, established in honour of the late Dr Sharon M Bascom-Bruney who passed away from colon cancer in 2013, has increased its community centered initiatives over the past three years to ensure that all Bahamians know about the deadly yet preventable disease. “Generally when you are talking about colon cancer, US guidelines state screenings should start at 50 years,” said Corey Bruney, managing director of SMB Care and son of the late Dr Bascom-Bruney. “However, there was some research done in the Bahamas that concluded that for our population screening should be done at age 45. Colonocopies are an expensive procedure publicly and privately. There are a lot of individuals that are at risked but cannot afford to get screening. We are aiming to give between four and six people colonoscopies.” The SMB Care Foundation has formed a relationship with the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) and a network of physicians to identify individuals in need of colonoscopies and to provide the financial assistance to enable them to receive the procedure. A colonoscopy typically costs hundreds of dollars in the public system and thousands if conducted by a private physician. To learn more about the SMB Care Foundation, visit smbcare.org or contact info@smbcare.org.
Sweet treats for a good cause ON July 28, Dairy Queen Bahamas will host its third annual Miracle Treat Day. Two dollars for every blizzard sold will be donated to help children and families affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). All four DQ locations in New Providence will participate – Southwest Plaza, Cable Beach, Harbour Bay and The Mall at Marathon. Patrons can participate in Miracle Treat Day in three ways: by purchasing a special pre-sold blizzard coupon that can be redeemed any time before August 28; by pre-ordering blizzards that can be collected on Miracle Treat Day, or simply by visiting any DQ store on Miracle Treat Day and purchase blizzards. Small or large donations in cash or by cheque can also be made at all stores. This is the third year that DQ Bahamas is participating in Miracle Treat Day, which has been celebrated for more than 30 years across the United States and Canada, raising more than $100 million for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. “Miracle Treat Day is a celebration of life and hope, as well as a fundraiser that draws support from families, friends, strangers and businesses, all eager to help
Dairy Queen supports autism advocacy group children who need it most,” said DQ’s Derek Osborne. “We are proud that through this event we can help make miracles for children and families in our community.” In 2014 and 2015, DQ Bahamas sold more than 7,000 blizzards on Miracle Treat Day and raised $14,930 for children with cancer and diabetes. This year, DQ hopes to sell 3,500 blizzards on Miracle Treat Day plus 1,500 blizzard coupons and raise $10,000 for those affected by ASD. REACH Bahamas will receive 75 per cent of the funds raised with the remaining 25 per cent benefiting other programmes that support families with autistic children. ASD remains the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the Bahamas, according to REACH. And according to the US Centres for Disease Control one in every 68 children is diagnosed with autism. REACH has been in the trenches for 17 years as a non-profit pro-
REACH members enjoy a blue cookie dough blizzard: (l-r) Denair Rolle, Tyrina Neely, Jonathan Watkins and his mother Aisha Watkins, and Patrice Greene of Dairy Queen. Photo/Malique Fernander for Fusion IMC moting awareness of autism and providing resources to parents and their children with ASD. Those with ASD struggle daily to fit into a society where their perception of the world and the way that they communicate differ vastly from their peers. The parents of children with ASD bear the burden of searching for intervention and treatment methods that will help their children “fit in” and function in a society that is still very much in the dark on this disorder. In February, REACH relocat-
ed to a larger facility on Village Road. REACH hopes that funds raised from the Miracle Treat Day campaign will help establish a functioning therapy room at their new location to provide children with ASD access to much needed speech and occupational therapy on a consistent basis. “There are four speech therapists on the island and private sessions are virtually out of financial reach for most of the families participating in our organization,” said Marcia Newball, REACH executive director. “Vocational,
behavioural and occupational therapy are also very expensive. We now have a location that can accommodate sessions and with community and corporate support we hope to facilitate training programs to assist families and children with ASD who need it so desperately. Miracle Treat Day is a way to build community while having fun and helping others.” For more information on REACH or to receive a Miracle Treat Day pre-order form, call 328-4123 or 698-7744.
The dental needs of little people
develop from the age of four and continue every six months. The fluoride treatment hardens tooth enamel and makes teeth resistant to rotting. The second essential service is the placement of dental sealants in all the back teeth. A dental sealant is a hard plastic coat placed in the grooves of the biting surface of the back teeth. Dental sealants block the caries process (rotting) from attacking the back teeth. With these essential dental services completed in August, parents can be reasonably assured that the school term will not be interrupted with dental concerns. No dental health article about school children would be complete without mentioning food and drink. Refined sugar is a huge culprit in the food and drinks of school children. Almost every drink is full of high fructose corn
syrup as a sweetener. Parents need to choose carefully what a child consumes at home and monitor what they are consuming at school, especially their snacks. “Junk foods” and drinks are tasty but never good for a developing child. In this regard, parents need to be in control of what their child can acquire at school. This is a hard task when most school vendors sell junk foods and drinks, and the child can acquire these items when they are away from their parents. This is a difficult problem to solve, and since sugar consumption is likely to occur, parents then need to protect their children’s teeth in other ways. Having said all this, there is no easy path to controlling all these factors. However, parents can give their children the ultimate coverage by seeing to their regular professional dental examinations.
ARE you a parent with school children? If so, you already know that the summer months usher in the back-to-school mode. In many households there is the usual summer checklist with last-minute vacations, new uniforms, and new classroom utensils. What is usually missing from this checklist is the child’s (before school) medical and dental visits. Although I am an advocate for total health, I will leave the medical matters for the physicians to comment on. I am a long-time believer that although well-meaning, an uninformed parent/guardian is the greatest threat to a child’s dental health. Long gone are the days when a parent could easily say,
Dr Sparkman Ferguson Registrar of the Bahamas Dental Council “I just did not know.” We now live in the information age” and
there is the expectation that if you are raising children in a modern world that you should also know how to care for them. What does every school age child need in terms of dental care? Answer: Two important things. Every school age child needs a parent/guardian that is knowledgeable of a child’s dental needs. After all, a child does not make health decisions. This parent then needs to be aware of the current dental health trends for children and be willing to seek essential services for the child. The first essential service is the dental prophylaxis (called dental cleaning) with fluoride treatment. This is an important routine to