Florida Health News - June 2009 issue

THE BEST INFORMATION IN YOUR HANDSNo. 5 • June • 2009 www.floridahealthnews-online.comSERVING PALM BEACH COUNTYAND SURROUNDING AREAS

Let us meet your diagnostic needsat our State of the Art Facility located atThe Palomino Park Professional Park3347 State Rd 441 in Wellington.

• High Field MRI

• 64 Slice CT Scans

• Digital XRay

• Nuclear Medicine

• Cardiac Stress Tests

• MRA

• Ultrasound

...and announcing "The Women's Center at IndependentImaging/Advanced Diagnostic Solutions" offering DigitalMammography,DEXA Bone Density, Breast MRI, andObstetric and Breast Ultrasound in a private and relaxedsetting...

Please call 561.795.5558to schedule an appointment

or speak to one of our associates

Hospitals opposeObama's Medicare,Medicaid cuts

The president suggests trimming federal payments to hospitals by about$200 billion over the next 10 years, saying greater efficiencies andbroader insurance coverage will justify the change. PAGE 13

FFLLOORRIIDDAA HHEEAALLTTHH NNEEWWSSPP..OO.. BBooxx 554422552277

LLaakkee WWoorrtthh,, FFLL 3333445544--22552277

PRSRT STD U S POSTAGEPAID

WEST PALM BCH, FLPERMIT NO. 1340

Top five tips to help manageyour family’s health ..................3

Swine Flu Now a Pandemic:WHO ........................................4

Sedatives and Hypnotics May Increase Risk for Suicide in Elderly Patients ....................5

Skin Care Enjoy the Magic of Fruits! ...................................6

Keep an eye on your visionhealth this summer...................7

Diabetes Mellitus A SilentMalady......................................8

First Annual Palms WestSurgicenter Family Fun Day ................................10

Celine Dion and others showtheir support for the Kids Cancer Foundation of South Florida......................11

If Mom or Dad Is Depressed,Kids Need Help Too ...............12

Obama urges doctors to backhis health care plans..............13

American Cancer Society’s 2009 Diamond Derby Gala ....14

Need a Walking Partner? Try a Dog ...............................15

Also in this issue

FDA says Zicam nasal spray can causeloss of smell. PAGE 14

The Importance Of Water For Health PAGE 8

Couples in Good Relationships SleepBetter. PAGE 4

FLORIDAHEALTHNEWS-ONLINE.COM2 JUNE • 2009

AADDVVEERRTTIISSIINNGG SSAALLEESS

SSeerrggiioo AAgguuiillaarr

PPhhoonnee:: ((556611)) 771166--55005544

ssaalleess@@fflloorriiddaahheeaalltthhnneewwss--oonnlliinnee..ccoomm

PPUUBBLLIICC RREELLAATTIIOONNSS

RRaannjjiittaa SShhaarrmmaa

PPhhoonnee:: ((556611)) 226677--55223322

CCOONNTTAACCTT UUSS

PP..OO.. BBooxx 554422552277

LLaakkee WWoorrtthh,, FFLL 3333445544--22552277

PPhhoonnee:: 556611--771166--55005544

iinnffoo@@fflloorriiddaahheeaalltthhnneewwss--oonnlliinnee..ccoomm

WWEEBB SSIITTEE

wwwwww..fflloorriiddaahheeaalltthhnneewwss--oonnlliinnee..ccoomm

CCOONNTTRRIIBBUUTTIINNGG AARRTTIICCLLEESSU.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

Contexto Latino, ARA Content, Hispanic PR Wire,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

METRO Editorial Services, Family Features,

Florida Health News is a newspaper published every month

in Broward, Palm Beach, and surrounding areas. Copyright

2009, all rights reserved by SEA Publications, Inc. Contents

may not be reproduced in any form without the written

consent of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to

refuse advertising. The publisher accepts not responsibility

for advertisement error beyond the cost of the portion of the

advertisement occupied by the error within the

advertisement itself. The publisher accepts no resposibility

for submitted materials. All submitted materials are subject

to editing.

©© SSEEAA PPUUBBLLIICCAATTIIOONNSS,, IINNCC..

AALLLL RRIIGGHHTTSS RREESSEERRVVEEDD..

Marijuana (Pot) VS Alcohol

Your MessageCould Be Here!

FFlloorriiddaa HHeeaalltthh NNeewwsswill maximize your reach, and will be a vehicle to maximizeyour return on investment bycapturing customers and patients with every advertising dollar youspend.

Call us: (561) 267-5253 • (561) 716-5054

E-mail: [email protected]

By Lauren ArmstrongI know many of you like to drink alcohol but I want to show you how grass can be much greener on the other side. Marijuana is an age old natural plant that came into play ions ago much before alcohol was thought as a consumableitem. The effects of Marijuana are well known all over the world only to those who want to know about it. The proponentsof alcohol in western societies looked down upon the good effects of Marijuana because they had the belief thatMarijuana was a mysterious ancient and dangerous plant that caused devilish mood alterations - and this belief stillstands. I would like to put forward a few points about the effects of Marijuana and alcohol on the human body and mind.Studies have repeatedly shown that Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol.

We have to go beyond the mystery of Marijuana. Is this because western societies have not understood this plant unlikealcohol that is glamorized in advertisements? Drinking alcohol has become fashionable and fun thereby it has beenaccepted by society unlike Marijuana users who are treated as criminals. Marijuana users should not be considered asa threat to society and be treated as criminals. According to the Center of Disease Control between 2001 - 2005 therewere 79,000 deaths annually related to excessive drinking. The short term health effects of Marijuana areinconsequential compared to the long term effects of criminal records of those who consume large amounts of alcohol.One must remember that too much of either will seriously harm an individual. Then again too much of anything ishazardous for your health.

Marijuana VS Alcohol

Marijuana has been safely used over thousands ofyears by millions of people without any known longterm side effects.

I have not heard of withdrawal symptoms fromMarijuana.

There is no such thing as an overdosage of Marijuana.

There has never been a single death from Marijuanaoverdose. Users do not become violent.

Marijuana is not addictive.

Marijuana does not lead to cirrhosis of the liver/liverdamage.

Marijuana users do not become violent.

Marijuana in pain management is much safer.

Alcohol over the past hundreds of years has beendocumented to cause permanent damage to thehuman being both physically and emotionally.

Alcoholics get severe withdrawal symptoms.

Alcohol in excess can cause overdosage.

Thousands of people every year are killed directly orindirectly by alcohol abuse. Spousal abuse is linked toalcohol. Drunken driving is also related to alcohol.

Alcohol is addictive.

It is a well known fact that alcohol causes liverdamage.

Many homicides, family breakups, divorce anddepression are due to alcohol.

Numbing pain with alcohol has side effects.

CommunityBlood Centersof South FloridaWhole blood donations are the mostcommon way of saving lives.

Each whole blood unit can generate upto four components: red cells, platelets,plasma and white cells. All whole donorsmust meet all regular donor criteria. Thedonation procedure is quite simple, andgenerally only takes 30 to 45 minutes.You may donate whole blood every 56days. Bloodmobiles travel throughout thesouth Florida region to schools,businesses, religious organizations, andcivic groups. You may also donate at oneof our 15 convenient donor centers.

Hospital Blood DriveLocations*

June 5, 2009

Good Samaritan MedicalCenter9:30am-7:30pm

June 11, 2009

Palm Beach GardensMedical Center8:00am-8:00pm

June 17, 2009

Boca Raton CommunityHospital7:30am-7:30pm

June 18, 2009

Boca Raton CommunityHospital7:30am-7:30pm

June 18, 2009

Delray Medical Center9:00am-8:00pm

*Dates & times are subject tochange without notice.

Community Blood Centers of SouthFlorida, Inc, (CBCSF) is a non-profit allvoluntary blood collection agency. Eachyear, CBCSF collects over 250,000 pintsof blood and blood products for hospitaland kidney dialysis patients.

The Blood Center operates 15 donorcenters which are conveniently locatedthroughout South Florida in Monroe,Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beachcounties. In addition, 50 bloodmobilestravel throughout the community on ascheduled basis visiting businesses,places of worship, government agenciesand schools.

If you would like to arrange for abloodmobile to visit your organization,please contact our Donor Resourcesdepartment at 504-5550 in Palm Beach;or toll-free at (888) 454-2362 or call at (800)-879-5020.

FLORIDAHEALTHNEWS-ONLINE.COM JUNE • 2009 3

As kids head to summer camp orback to school this fall, momseverywhere will be diggingthrough their files searching forimmunization records and otherhealth information.

Some will find exactly what theyneed with just a few flips throughan organized file cabinet. But manybusy moms will be sifting through

piles, shoe boxes, or drawers full of paperstrying to find the most recent health records.

Managing health information, making ap-pointments, keeping track of medications,and monitoring self-care recommendationsare just a few of the routine tasks of today’sfamily health advocate, a role often playedby mom. In addition to managing their kids’health and their own, many moms are alsoin charge of managing health matters fortheir spouse or partner, and sometimes anelderly parent or other relative.

Taking care of yourself and your family canbe overwhelming at times. Mayo Clinicsuggests five tips for managing your fam-ily’s health:

1Ask yourself a few questions. Take afew minutes to sit down and figure outthe questions you’ll most likely be asked inthe event of an emergency or in commonhealthcare situations. If your child’s schoolnurse called today and asked for his healthhistory, what details would you be able to

provide? If your mother fell in the shower,would you have access to critical informa-tion needed by emergency caregivers?

2Get organized. It seems that health in-formation is never where you need it,when you need it. An online tool like theMayo Clinic Health Manager gives you theopportunity to store and update personalhealth records and those of your familymembers. This free and secure online appli-cation gives you a place to store medical in-formation and receive real-time individual-ized health guidance and recommendationsbased on the expertise of the Mayo Clinic.You can give access to family members oryour doctor and use the tool no matterwhere you receive medical care. The MayoClinic Health Manager isn’t just a place tostore and organize your health information,

it helps you become more active and en-gaged in your healthcare.

3Make doctor visits more efficient. Thetime you spend with your doctor is typ-ically brief, but valuable. Take advantage ofyour time by arriving to the appointmentprepared. Before you go, write down anyquestions you have so you don’t forget toask them. Bring a list of any medications,vitamins and supplements you’re taking.

“I truly appreciate when my patients are ac-tively engaged and informed about theirhealth,” says Dr. Sidna Tulledge-Scheitel, aprimary care physician. “The Mayo ClinicHealth Manager can help patients share in-formation more easily with their doctorsand manage their own health better betweenoffice visits.”

4Know and use your history to be moreproactive. Use the Mayo Clinic HealthManager to track wellness visits and immu-nizations for you and your family, as well asto gain control of medication schedules andchronic condition symptoms. Sharing thisinformation with your doctor could help de-termine future treatment.

2Build your health assets. Finances, re-tirement savings and home equity areall viewed as long-term personal manage-ment projects, but people don’t often seetheir health the same way. Look at yourhealth as a long-term investment and takesteps to quickly address any issues whilemaintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Top five tips to help manageyour family’s health

How to keepsummer foodsfresh and safe

Summer is the season to be outdoorswith friends and family at picnics,barbecues and many other events.But the warm weather also brings

an increase in foodborne illnesses whenfood sits out in hot, humid conditions. Makesure your summer party is memorable forreasons other than food poisoning by takingsteps to keep food fresh and safe.

Dr. Claudia Fajardo-Lira, spokesperson forthe Institute of Food Technologists, saysmost foodborne bacteria thrive in summer’ssteamy conditions. “It’s critical to protectyourself and your family from foodborneillness like E. coli and salmonella,” shesays. “Always remember to wash yourhands and, if you don’t have running water,bring along a water jug, some soap and pa-per towels; or use hand sanitizer.”

Fajardo-Lira suggests following food safetysteps recommended by the U.S. Food andDrug Administration:

Get food safely to its destination * Keep cold food cold and stored at 40 F orbelow to prevent the growth of bacteria.Use a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs

and limit the number of times you open thecooler. * Pack beverages and perishable foods inseparate coolers. * Keep raw meat, seafood and poultrywrapped securely to keep juices from con-taminating other foods. * Rinse all fresh fruits and vegetables underrunning water before packing and eating.

Grill to perfection * Never marinate foods outdoors or on akitchen counter. Always marinate in the re-frigerator. Do not reuse marinade that hastouched raw meat. * Cook food thoroughly and use a foodthermometer to ensure proper temperature.Steaks and fish should reach 145 F, pork160 F and poultry and hamburgers 165 F.Shellfish should be closed tightly before

cooking and cooked until their shells open. * Keep hot food hot by moving finishedmeats to the side of the grill rack, awayfrom the coals. * Do not reuse platters or utensils that havetouched raw meat, poultry or seafood.

Keep food out of the “dangerzone” * Never let your picnic food sit outside intemperatures between 40 F and 90 F formore than two hours. When temperaturesare above 90 F, food should not sit out formore than one hour. Discard any food thathas been left out for a longer time. * Perishable foods can be placed on ice orin a shallow container set in a deep panfilled with ice. * Wrap hot food well and place in an insu-lated container until serving.


Swine Flu Now a Pandemic: WHOThe World Health Organization onThursday declared the first flupandemic since 1968, triggered bythe rapid spread of the H1N1 virusacross North America, Australia,South America, Europe andregions beyond.

WHO director Dr. MargaretChan made the much-antici-pated announcement imme-diately after an emergency

teleconference with flu experts from a num-ber of countries."The world is moving into the early days ofits first influenza pandemic in the 21st cen-tury," Chan said in Geneva, according to theAssociated Press. "The [swine flu] virus isnow unstoppable."The declaration pushes the WHO alert sta-tus on the outbreak from phase 5, where ithad remained for weeks, to the highest level,phase 6, as the number of swine flu cases hitclose to 30,000 in the United States, Europe,South America and Australia.The rapid spread of cases in Australia,where they rose by more than 1,000 onMonday, appeared to fit a key criteria for

declaring a global pandemic -- if at least tworegions of the world are hit.WHO said 74 countries have now reported28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144deaths, the AP reported.U.S. health officials on Thursday were notsurprised by the pandemic announcement."It's based on the data," CDC director Dr.Thomas R. Frieden said during an afternoonpress conference.But, he added, "this does not mean there isany difference in the severity of the flu.There has been no change in the virus.""Here in the United States, we have been re-sponding as if it were a pandemic already,"Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC'sNational Center for Immunization and Res-piratory Disease, added.What the pandemic declaration means, shesaid, is that "for countries that were not see-ing the flu we have seen here, they need todust off their pandemic plans."According to WHO statistics, the last pan-demic -- the Hong Kong flu of 1968 -- killedabout 1 million people. By comparison, or-dinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000people each year.Other experts also cautioned that the newdeclaration does not mean that the swine fluhas gotten more severe.

"A World Health Organization level 6,which in effect states that H1N1 infectionsare now worldwide in distribution, is simplya declaration of the extent of geographicspread, and not a statement of severity of theclinical disease," Dr. Pascal James Imperato,a former New York City health commis-sioner and dean of public health at the StateUniversity of New York's Downstate Med-ical Center, said in a statement. "The diseaseremains relatively mild in most people. A

positive consequence of this declaration isthat it empowers countries to move forwardwith vaccine production."Chan on Thursday also characterized theH1N virus as "moderate," and WHO offi-cials said they would be now urging fluvaccine makers to start producing swine fluvaccine.Since the outbreak started in April, healthofficials in the United States have also saidthat infections have been mild for the mostpart, and most people recover fairly quickly.Testing has found that the H1N1 virus re-mains susceptible to two common antiviraldrugs, Tamiflu and Relenza.During the next few months, CDC scientistswill be looking to see if the swine flu virusmutates or becomes resistant to antiviralmedications or is more easily spread amongpeople.U.S. health officials have said there's noway to tell now if the H1N1 virus will bemore virulent when -- and if -- it returns tothe Northern Hemisphere with the approachof winter.A vaccine for the swine flu virus could beready by October, if research and testingproceed on pace this summer. Candidateviruses have been shipped to vaccine man-ufacturers, agency officials said.

Electronic Micrograph of the H1N1 Virus.Photo: U.S. Centers for Disease Control andPrevention.

Couples in Good RelationshipsSleep Better 'Don't go to bed angry' may be age-old

advice, but it's true, study says.

Happy at home and sleeping well?New research shows thatrelationship satisfaction andsleep quality might be linked.

The study included 29 heterosexualcouples who didn't have children.Each partner completed sleep di-aries for seven days and also

recorded interactions with their partner sixtimes a day.

Among men, a good night's sleep waslinked with positive ratings of relationshipquality the next day, the researchers found.Among women, negative daytime interac-tions with their partner resulted in poorsleep quality that night for both them andtheir partner.

"When we look at the data on a day-by-daybasis, there seems to be a vicious cycle inwhich sleep affects next-day relationshipfunctioning, and relationship functioning

affects the subsequent night's sleep," princi-pal investigator Brant Hasler, a clinical psy-chology doctoral candidate at the Universityof Arizona, said in a news release from theAmerican Academy of Sleep Medicine. "Inthis cycle, conflict with one's partner duringthe day leads to worse sleep that night,which leads to more conflict the followingday," Hasler said. "Although these resultsare preliminary due to the relatively smallsample size and a subjective measure ofsleep quality, the woman's perception of therelationship seems particularly important asit impacts both her own and her partner'ssubjective sleep quality that night."

Hasler suggested that it's best if disputescan be resolved before going to bed, addingthat difficult discussions should be post-poned until both parties have had a goodnight's sleep.

The findings were to be presented in Seattleat the annual meeting of the Associated Pro-fessional Sleep Societies.

Laughter Can BoostHeart HealthResearch finds it improves blood flow and may helpward off high blood pressure.

New research lends weight to the oldadage that laughter can be powerfulmedicine, particularly when it comes toyour heart.

Two studies presented at the AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine's annualmeeting in Seattle found that laughternot only can reduce stress, which candamage the heart, it can lead to im-proved blood flow, which can help wardoff high blood pressure.

The first study included a small group ofhealthy adults who were asked to watcheither a comedy or documentary film.They were then checked for activity ofthe carotid arteries -- the main arteries inthe neck that bring blood to the brainand face -- during the films.

People who watched the comedy dis-played improved "arterial compliance"-- the amount of blood that movesthrough the arteries at a given time. De-creased arterial compliance is oftenlinked with high blood pressure andheart disease, according to an AmericanCollege of Sports Medicine news re-lease.

"Arterial compliance was improved fora full 24 hours after subjects watched afunny movie," said lead researcher JunSugawara. "Laughing is likely not thecomplete solution to a healthy heart, butit appears to contribute to positive ef-fects."

The second study focused on vascularfunction and the dilation of blood ves-sels. When a second group of adultswatched either a comedy or a serious

documentary, there was more dilation ofblood vessels during the comedy. Con-stricted blood vessels can be a cause ofhigh blood pressure, the news releasesaid.

"Not only did comedies improve vascu-lar dilation, but watching a documentaryabout a depressing subject was actuallyharmful to the blood vessels," saidTakashi Tarumi, lead researcher on thesecond study. "These documentariesconstricted blood vessels by about 18percent."

In both studies, the beneficial effects oflaughter lasted for 24 hours, the re-searchers said.


Sedatives and Hypnotics May Increase Riskfor Suicide in Elderly PatientsLaurie Barclay, MD

Sedatives and hypnotics mayincrease the risk for suicide inelderly patients, according to theresults of a case-control studyreported online in the June issueof BMC Geriatrics.

"While antidepressant-induced suicidalityis a concern in younger age groups, there ismounting evidence that these drugs may re-duce suicidality in the elderly," write AndersCarlsten and Margda Waern, from Gothen-burg University in Gothenburg, Sweden."Regarding a possible association betweenother types of psychoactive drugs and sui-cide, results are inconclusive. Sedatives andhypnotics are widely prescribed to elderlypersons with symptoms of depression, an-xiety, and sleep disturbance."

The aim of this study was to evaluate the as-sociation of specific types of psychoactivedrugs with suicide risk in late life, after con-trolling for appropriate indications. InGothenburg and 2 adjacent counties, the in-vestigators performed a case-control studyof 85 patients 65 years or older who hadcommitted suicide matched with 153 con-

trol subjects from a population-based com-parison group. Of the 85 suicide cases, 46were men and 39 were women; mean agewas 75 years. A psychiatrist interviewedclose informants for the patients who hadcommitted suicide, and control subjectswere also interviewed face-to-face. Primarycare and psychiatric records were also re-viewed for case patients and control sub-jects, and analysis of all available data al-lowed diagnosis of past-month mentaldisorders based on Diagnostic and Statisti-cal Manual of Mental Disorders, FourthEdition, criteria.

Unadjusted analysis showed that use of an-tidepressant, antipsychotic, sedative, andhypnotic drugs were all associated with anincreased risk for suicide, but adjusting for

affective and anxiety disorders abolishedthis association for antidepressants in gen-eral and for selective serotonin-reuptake in-hibitors. Adjustment for psychotic disordersabolished the association of antipsychoticuse.

In the unadjusted analyses, use of sedativeswas associated with nearly a 14-fold in-crease of suicide risk, and this persisted asan independent risk factor for suicide evenafter adjusting for any disorder based oncriteria from the Diagnostic and StatisticalManual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edi-tion. In the adjusted model, having a currentprescription for a hypnotic was associatedwith a 4-fold increase in suicide risk. Lim-itations of this study include inability to de-termine causality or the contribution ofavailability of suicide means on suicide risk,small sample size, and diagnoses of the pa-tients who had committed suicide based ondata obtained by proxy interviews.

"Sedatives and hypnotics were both associ-ated with increased risk for suicide afteradjustment for appropriate indications," thestudy authors write. "Given the extremelyhigh prescription rates, a careful evaluationof the suicide risk should always precedeprescribing a sedative or hypnotic to an el-derly individual."

By Karen Jacobs

ATLANTA (Reuters) Global airlines, still reeling from the recent flu-virus scare,have stepped up efforts to protect passen-gers from health risks on internationalflights.

In Asia, carriers spooked by the memory ofSARS have stepped up cabin cleaning, ins-talled state-of-the-art air filters and allowedin-flight staff to wear face masks. For exam-ple, Cathay Pacific now replaces used pil-lows, blankets, headset covers and headrestcovers, spokeswoman Carolyn Leung said.China Southern Airlines has been disinfect-ing the cabins of all aircraft. China EasternAirlines flight attendants are required towear disposable facial masks, gloves andhats and even disposable overcoats duringflights to select destinations. Mexicana Air-lines uses high-efficiency filters that cantrap small particles that would normally re-circulate back into the air, spokesmanAdolfo Crespo said.

The H1N1 flu virus has been confirmed in20,000 people in 68 countries, killing atleast 126, according to the World HealthOrganization. Although it appears mild, ex-perts worry that the disease, which formerlywas called "swine flu," could change into amore dangerous form. In the wake of thespread, some countries have intensifiedhealth precautions.

Singapore saw its first case of the H1N1 fluin late May, after a native student flew fromNew York to the city-state on a SingaporeAirlines flight. Singapore has been thermal-screening everyone coming into the country.The method, which identifies travelers witha fever, did not help authorities spot the sickstudent, as she had not yet developed a fever.

The government quarantined the passengerand about 60 other people on the same flight

who were sitting within three rows. "Thiswon't be the last case in Singapore unlesswe could stop people from traveling," Sin-gapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wansaid. Singapore Airlines Ltd , the world'sbiggest by market value, is giving passen-gers traveling to the United States healthkits that include a thermometer, masks andantiseptic towels. Its cabin and flight crewsare getting mandatory temperature checksbefore flights.

U.S. STANDARDSIn contrast to the measures taken by Asianairlines, U.S. carriers have simply continuedsafety standards already in place, relyingon the advice of authorities such as the Cen-ters for Disease Control and Prevention.Atlanta-based CDC has not recommendedthat airline crews wear face masks or dis-posable overcoats. "The issue with H1N1and airlines is an issue of translocation, notnecessarily on-board transmission," ShellySikes Diaz, a CDC spokeswoman, said in anemail. She added that people were no morelikely to catch the flu on a two-hour planeflight than they were sitting next to someonefor a two-hour movie.

"Therefore, at this time, recommended on-board infection control measures would besimilar to community infection controlmeasures" such as frequent hand-washing,Diaz added. David Castelveter, a spokesmanwith the Air Transport Association tradegroup, said U.S. airlines for the most part

have made no major changes in the wake ofswine flu, but continued standing practicesthat include looking for passengers withsymptoms of flu, measles or other infec-tions. He added that in-flight air filters en-sure that aircraft are sanitized.

"We take our guidance from the profession-als (such as the CDC) who tell us the pre-cautions that are needed to prevent thespread," Castelveter said. "We're not takingthe type of precautions that are unneces-sary." While Castelveter said media cover-age of the flu has boosted awareness of air-line safety procedures, Mexicana's Crespostressed that carriers still have work to do tochange public perceptions that air quality onplanes is bad.

"Inside, our aircraft is cleaner than in a hos-pital," Crespo said. Julian Tang, a consultantfor the microbiology division at NationalUniversity Hospital in Singapore, also saidhygiene practices such as covering the noseand mouth when sneezing or coughing inconfined areas may be the best way to limitinfection. He said safety measures such ascostly air filters may be of limited use forcarriers.

"This is because most of the transmissionbetween passengers probably mostly occursjust after the sneeze/cough in the immediatevicinity of the passenger rather than after itflows through the ventilation/circulationsystem and back out again," he said.

Metformin May Help Make VaccinesWork BetterBy Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) A commondiabetes pill may help trick the body intomaking more powerful immune systemcells that could help make vaccines andcancer treatments work better, U.S. andCanadian researchers said.When they gave the drug metformin tomice, they made more of a type ofimmune system memory cell that canrecognize infections or respond tovaccinations.

"Our findings were unanticipated, butare potentially extremely important andcould revolutionize current strategies forboth therapeutic and protectivevaccines," Yongwon Choi of theUniversity of Pennsylvania, whose studyappears in the journal Nature, said in astatement.

Choi and colleagues said they may beable to use the drug in non-diabetics toboost the body's response to vaccinesor new cancer treatments that rely onthe immune system to fight tumors.In diabetics, metformin works bystimulating AMP-activated proteinkinase or AMPK, a master circuit forenergy metabolism in the body."What happens in diabetics is this circuitis broken," Russell Jones of McGillUniversity in Canada, who worked onthe study, said in a telephone interview.

Jones said metformin works in part bytricking the body into thinking it isstarving, activating the AMPK circuit.The team wanted to see how this sameenergy metabolism circuit affects whiteblood cells of the immune systemknown as memory T-cells.Jones describes them as a specialgroup of sentinels left behind after thearmy has left a battle."It's like the guys guarding the fort.They've seen the enemy and they knowwhat is is," Jones said.

Jones said when they body makesmemory-T cells, it uses some of thesame energy metabolism circuits."This is where metformin comes in,"Jones said.The team gave the drug to mice thatlacked a gene needed to make memoryT-cells.

"To our surprise, we completely rescuedthe memory cell defect in these mice,"Jones said. And when they gavemetformin to normal mice, they actuallymade more memory T-cells."When we give metformin, it's like givingthe T-cell response a boost," he said.

Jones said the findings would need tobe studied in humans, but he thinks itmay be possible to use metformin tohelp routine vaccines work better, and itmay even help strengthen the immunesystem's response to vaccines beingdeveloped to fight cancer.Metformin is used to treat type 2diabetes, which linked to a poor dietand lack of exercise and accounts forabout 90 percent of all diabetes cases.

The International Diabetes Federationestimates more than 380 million peoplewill have a form of diabetes by 2025.

Global Airlines Move to ReduceInfection Risks


GENEVA (Reuters) Giving away freeglasses is a cheap way ofboosting the global economy withbillions of dollars lost every yeardue to visual impairments, theWorld Health Organisation (WHO)said.

An estimated 153 million peopleworldwide have impaired visiondue to untreated eye conditionssuch as near or farsightedness

that can cause blurred vision, researchersfrom around the world reported in the WHOBulletin journal.

"Eyeglasses are a low-cost inter-vention," the researcherssaid, calculating a totaldirect cost of $26billion to give vi-sion tests andglasses to thosewho lack themworldwide, plus ad-ditional costs related toboosting ophthalmological services.

The researchers found that "even under themost conservative assumptions, the globalprovision of eyeglasses would result in con-siderable savings per case treated and in anet benefit to the global economy." Most

"Many less economically developed coun-tries still lack basic infrastructurefor distribution and training andhave insufficient equipment andpersonnel to provide eyeglasses to

those in need," it said.

The WHO has previously estimated that 87percent of the world's visually impairedpeople live in poorer countries, with olderpeople and women most heavily affected.The Western Pacific, including Australia,China, Vietnam and the Philippines, wasestimated to have the highest cost becauseof untreated eye conditions, worth almost1 percent of the region's gross domesticproduct.

More Eyeglasses Could Help Global Economy - WHO

sufferers are in developing countries andabout 8 million of the total are blind, theWHO said in its report, estimating re-pairable eyesight problems cost the globaleconomy hundreds of billions of dollars ayear in lost productivity.

Enjoy the Magic of Fruits!By Michael Russell

Natural fruits have been found useful for healthy and beautiful skin.Since this is essential, we compiled the list of some effectivenatural aids for your skin right from your kitchen, fridge and garden.

Some healthy fruits for your skin:

Apple juice - is an effective home remedy for healing wrinkles,itching and inflammation, they can also be used as conditionerand toner. For many centuries, apples have been used inskin-healing. When taking a bath, remember to add a cupof apple juice and that will helps to cleanse and soften yourskin. After each time you shampooing your hair, don't for-get to put a final rise with apple juice, because its powercan prevent dandruff.

Fresh apricot juice - has been known good for sunburn, itch-ing and eczema.

Avocado - is an effective facial mask.

Banana - another inexpensive but effective facial mask.

Cucumber - can prevent pimples, wrinkles, black-heads and dryness of the face.

Guava boiled leaves - used as natural antiseptic.

Lemons - are the most popular home beauty ingredient. People pre-ferred using lemons to cleanse and freshen the skin and hair. A fewlemon slices to soften rough skin spots such as elbows and heels.Lemons can be a very powerful deodorizer, just simply mix a few tea-

spoons of lemon juice in your bath and you will feel fresh the whole day.Lemon juice can be added to your favorite cleanser or shampoo to refresh and tone yourscalp, as well as prevent dandruff.

Lime Juice - is a natural aid for beautiful skin. Frequent drink of lime juicewill help you to look young and beautiful. It will also help cure acne. It isalso known to help in controlling oily skin, improve a dull and greasy com-

plexion, improve rough and dry skin, relieve tired eyes and remove freckles

Mango leaves - known to be boiled and be used as antiseptic.

Orange juice - effective remedy for pimples and acne, and can also beused for scar and blemish removal.

Orange and green papaya - is used to remove whiteheads,boils and spots. It also contains the papain enzyme, which iseffective in skin whitening.

Peach skin - It can be made good anti-wrinkle cream.

Pineapple - are good skin softeners which cleanse and rejuve-nate dull and dry skin.

Tangerine - If you want to enjoy a naturally glowing complexion, tryadding tangerine to your daily skin care ritual! Just squeeze enough juicefrom a tangerine and apply it liberally on your face and neck. Do this reg-ularly and soon enough, you’ll have a skin that can be the envy of your

friends!

Watermelon - To effectively remove those unsightly blemishes on your skin,try applying fresh watermelon juice. Simply extract enough juice froma small slice of watermelon and apply it over your face and neck.Leave it on for about fifteen minutes to get the best results. Rinsethe juice off your face and neck using warm water. Splash your faceand neck with cold water afterwards to close your pores.


If you’ve ever come in from a daysailing, picnicking or lying on thebeach and your eyes felt tired,sore and gritty, you likelyexperienced ultraviolet radiation(UVR) overexposure. It’s critical toprotect your eyes from the sun’sdamaging rays to decrease yourrisk of developing serious visionissues such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, theleading causes of blindness.

Maintaining vision health canbe especially important forwomen. In fact, a report fromthe National Women’s Health

Resource Center (NWHRC), “Women andHealthy Vision,” shows that women are athigher risk than men of having vision prob-lems.

“Studies show women tend to live longerthan men, putting them at a higher risk for de-veloping eye issues that become prevalentwith age,” says Elizabeth Battaglino Cahill,a registered nurse and executive director ofthe NWHRC. “It is important for women tounderstand the facts when it comes to sun ex-posure and eye health so that they can betterprevent unnecessary sun-related damage.”

Understanding ultraviolet radiation There are three ranges of UVR: UV-C, UV-B and UV-A. The most damaging form isUV-C, but luckily it’s absorbed by theEarth’s atmosphere and doesn’t reach youreyes.

The second kind of UVR is UV-B rays. Ex-posure to these rays is closely linked withphotokeratitis (a kind of sunburn of thecornea and iris), cataracts, pterygium (awhite or creamy growth attached to thecornea) and even a form of eye cancer calledsquamous cell cancer. The third type of UVRis UV-A. Although laboratory studies find itcan damage the retina (the light-sensitivemembrane that covers the back of the eye),very little UV-A reaches your retina becausemost is absorbed by other parts of the eye.Still, some researchers suspect it may con-tribute to cataract development.

How to protect your eyes Think sun exposure and eyes and you prob-ably think sunglasses. While wearing sun-glasses is definitely a good idea when itcomes to eye protection, not all sunglassesare created equal. Look for sunglasses thattransmit no more than 1 percent UV-B and1 percent UV-A rays. Sometimes the infor-mation on the glasses will say they block atleast 99 percent of the UVR.

Other things to look for whenselecting a pair of sunglassesinclude:

� Lenses large enough to completely coverthe eye and prevent as much light as possi-ble from entering through the edges of theglasses. Wrap-around sunglasses are best.

� Gray lenses, because they provide thegreatest protection.

� Darker lenses, particularly if you spend alot of time exposed to UVR.

If you wear contact lenses, don’t toss thesunglasses. The best way to protect youreyes from the sun is a combination of qual-ity sunglasses, contact lenses (if you wearthem) and a wide-brimmed hat.

Protecting children’s eyes Just as significant exposure to the sun inchildhood is a leading risk factor for skincancer in adulthood, so, too, is it a risk fac-tor for later eye damage. In fact, researchersestimate we receive 80 percent of our life-time exposure to UVR rays before age 18.

Additionally, children’s eyes transmit moreUVR rays to the retina than adults’, increas-ing their exposure and risk of later eye dam-age. That’s why it’s so important to protectchildren’s eyes. While sports glasses offerimportant safety benefits, they’re designedto protect a child’s eyes from injuries, notfrom the sun.

It is best to teach children to wear a hat thatshades their eyes as well as a pair of sun-glasses. Use the stroller hood and try not towalk directly into the sun, pick the shadedside of the street if you can and while at thepark, pool, or beach, try to keep little onesin a shaded area.

Want to Stop Cancer? You Can, Experts Say

Although some believe thatcertain people are destined toget cancer and nothing can bedone to change their fate,that's just not the case, experts say.

Even people who have genes thatpredispose them to certaintypes of cancer might be able toreduce their risk by living a

healthy lifestyle, they say."Between 27 and 49 percent of peoplethink preventing cancer is impossible orhighly unlikely," said Karen Collins, aregistered dietitian and a nutrition adviserfor the American Institute for Cancer Re-search.But, she said, the institute has identifiedthree steps people could take to dramat-ically affect the chances of developingcancer:� Eat a mostly plant-based diet.� Maintain a healthy weight.� Exercise regularly.

"The data is pretty clear that we canmake a significant drop in the cancerrate with these three changes," Collinssaid. "We can prevent about one-third ofcancers with these changes. And if youadd tobacco prevention, which reducesabout 30 percent of cancers, over half oftoday's cancers could be prevented."Dr. Virginia Kaklamani, an oncologistwho specializes in breast cancer atNorthwestern Memorial Hospital in

Chicago, added that "increased weightincreases the risk of cancer, and physicalactivity, regardless of weight, decreasesbreast cancer risk."The institute joined with the World Can-cer Research Fund to release a report,Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity andthe Prevention of Cancer: A Global Per-spective, that was prepared by a team ofinternational researchers who reviewedmore than 7,000 studies on cancer.

Their recommendations included:� Weight: Maintain a body mass index(BMI) between 21 and 23 and avoidgaining weight during adulthood. Al-though a BMI of up to 24.9 is considerednormal, the lower end of normal is betterfor cancer prevention, the report said.

� Exercise: Participate in moderate ac-tivity -- brisk walking or somethingequivalent -- for at least 30 minutes aday. Ideally, though, people are advisedto work up to 60 minutes of moderateexercise daily, or 30 minutes of vigorousexercise. The report also advised limit-ing sedentary activities, such as TV-watching.

� Diet: Eat healthily. That means a dietthat consists of mostly plant-based foods,such as fruits, vegetables and wholegrains. The experts recommended avoid-ing sugary, processed foods and fastfoods as much as possible and limitingred meat consumption to no more than18 ounces a week. Salt consumptionshould also be restricted to no more than2.4 grams of salt daily. And, the reportadvised, limit alcohol consumption toone drink a day for women and twodrinks a day for men.

� Supplements: Don't rely on them.The cancer-preventing benefits derivedfrom nutrients are believed to come fromfoods, not from individual supplements.Authors of the report advised againsttaking supplements.

Scientists already knew that drink-ing red wine in moderation isgood for your health; now theyare figuring out why.

New research is uncovering the disease-prevention secrets of a polyphenol calledresveratrol, one of compounds in redwine that seems to improve health. Al-though the benefits have been touted foryears, researchers weren't sure howpolyphenols, and resveratrol in particular,worked in the body."The breadth of benefits is remarkable -- cancer prevention, protection of theheart and brain from damage, reducingage-related diseases, such as inflamma-tion, reversing diabetes and obesity, andmany more," said Lindsay Brown, an as-sociate professor of the School of Bio-medical Sciences at the University ofQueensland in Australia and co-authorof a study that will appear in the Septem-ber issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Ex-perimental Research.Brown said scientists are beginning tounderstand how resveratrol does itswork. Possible mechanisms include:

High doses of the compound may preventcancer by increasing the process of apop-tosis (programmed cell death).Low doses improve cardiac health by in-creasing cellular protection and reducingdamage.Resveratrol may help remove very reac-tive oxidants in the body and improveblood supply to cells.Scientists are also studying how the bodyabsorbs resveratrol into the blood stream,since the compound is largely inactivatedin the gut and liver.

Health Secrets of Red Wine Uncovered


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

Diabetes Mellitussugar level. Persons with diabetes usuallypresent themselves to a physician feelinggood, with no symptoms. Sometimes theindividual may say that they have blurryvision, numbness of the extremity, andfeeling weak and fatigued. Studies haveshown that complications of DiabetesMellitus, especially microvascular disease(which means blood vessel disease) has adirect correlation with control of one’sblood sugar. Cardiovascular disease alsoremains a leading cause of death inDiabetes Mellitus Type II individuals.Other risk factors like hypertension,(which means blood pressure) highcholesterol, and obesity in DiabetesMellitus should be taken intoconsideration in coordination with goodcontrol of one’s blood sugar. Individuals with impaired fasting bloodsugar are at high risk for the developmentof diabetes and arterial disease.Approximately one third of patients with

you can also control your diabetes. Eatingthe right foods and avoiding foods such ashigh carbohydrate/starch, diet and sweetswith a high sugar content is important.Reduction of saturated fat intake and theaddition of high fiber in one’s diet havebecome critically important. Exercise hasbeen shown to be beneficial in theprevention of the onset of DiabetesMellitus Type II. The added benefits ofexercise is lowering of one’s bloodpressure, improving cardiac performanceand raising the good cholesterol calledHDL in the blood. If blood sugars are stillhigh despite diet and exercise, I wouldrecommend a continuation of a diet andexercise program along with pharmacotherapy. There are various ways oftreating Diabetes Mellitus with eithertablets or with insulin and blood sugarscan definitely be contained.We all need to be aware that there is somuch more to this disease that is notDiabetes Mellitus can be defined

as a disease where anindividual’s overnight fastingblood sugar is more than 125

mg. Impaired blood sugar is defined asblood sugar levels between 110 mg. and125 mg. A diabetic can only be diagnosedby the checking of blood sugars. DiabetesMellitus is definitely a silent disease thatcan hurt an individual without theirknowledge. In fact, one could be totallyunaware that one has it most of the time. Itis a condition that could become worse ifleft undiagnosed, untreated, andmishandled. How does one get DiabetesMellitus? One of the reasons is impairmentof insulin secretion from a group of cells inthe pancreas called the ‘islets oflangerhans’. One of the most common symptoms ofDiabetes Mellitus is polyuria which meansfrequent urination on a daily basis. Othersymptoms are excessive hunger calledpolyphagia and excessive thirstpolydypsia when one drinks a lot of water. Failure to diagnose Diabetes Mellitus canbe due to various reasons such as:individuals not seeking medical attention,or the physician not doing a simple blood

Ask Dr. Sharma:Q: I am a 28 year old female who

has a urinary infection. I wastreated with an antibiotic and I stilldon’t feel better. Days have gone byand I still quite don’t feel completelywell. Please explain this, doctor.Sharon in West Palm Beach

A: Dear Sharon, First of all, Irecommend you contact your

physician to see whether he has done aurine analysis and culture before youstarted taking the antibiotic since youcould be having a resistant strain of abacteria causing your UTI (urinary tractinfection) which you may not be awareof. This is why the antibiotic you aretaking may not be the right one, if thebacteria is resistant to the antibiotic. Ifthe culture and sensitivity is known, Iwould recommend going along with theantibiotic that the results dictate. If nourine analysis and culture have beenordered than I would suggest animmediate urine analysis and culture bedone since this would help thephysician decide which antibiotic tochoose for the treatment of yourcondition.

Q: I am a 62 year old male thatloves sex.However,I suffer from

the embarrassment of not being ableto perform sexually.I do have heartdisease. Is there something that canbe done doctor?Larry from Boynton Beach.

A: There are different reasons whyone has your kind of problem which

I presume is erectile dysfunction.One ofthem is the side effects of medicationsthat you may be on.The other could beemotional.You could also have lowtestesterone levels in your blood.All theabove needs to be addressed by yourphysician.One of the common causes ofED(erectile dysfunction) is diabetesmellitus.There are certain medicationsthat you can take for ED as long as youdiscuss it with your physician.Youshould make sure you are not onnitrates since you mentioned heartdisease.This is because medicationssuch as Viagra,Cialis etc could cause asevere drop in blood pressureespecially if you are on nitrates.

Questions to Dr. Sharma can be mailed toP.O. Box 542527

Lake Worth, FL 33454-2527or by email:

[email protected]

impaired blood sugar develop full blownDiabetes Mellitus.Diabetes Mellitus also runs in familiesand family history is an importantindicator of this disease. Complications ofDiabetes Mellitus are strokes, heartattacks, kidney disease, peripheral arterialdisease, especially of the lowerextremities and retinopathy of the eyeswhich can lead to blindness if leftuntreated. Treatment for Diabetes Mellitusis first of all DIET CONTROL -controlling what you eat. This way you can not only lose weight but

understood by the lay person. This iswhere the physician who is well versedand experienced in the disease steps inand this can be beneficial to anyindividual with Diabetes Mellitus.Dr. Sharma is Board Certified inInternal Medicine and has been inpractice for 19 years in the Westerncommunities. His office is located at3347 State Rd. 7 (2 miles south of theWellington Green Mall in the PalominoPark Center) Suite 200, Wellington,Florida. Please contact his office at 561-795-9087 for an appointment.

The Importance Of Water For Healthsuffering from a wide range of illnesses including asthma,headaches, depression, colitis and hypertension, just bygetting them to drink more water.

Don't avoid water in order to reduce water retention. If youdo that, your body will think a drought is coming and hangon to all the water it can!

A recent study by Dr David Lewis sponsored by Brita, thewater filter company, shows that water plays a vital role inour immune system's ability to fight infection, makingthose who drink sufficient less likely to suffer from flu andcolds. This study also showed that those who drank enoughwater were less likely to suffer from the winter blues and re-covered from stress more easily.

Athletes know that, if they wait till they are thirsty beforedrinking, they are probably already dehydrated, and thatmeans that their performance will be affected. So, what's anadequate amount of water? For a normal adult it is abouteight glasses a day. It should be drunk as water (not as tea,coffee, cola, beer, etc.). To begin with you may find this dif-ficult. It seems that the body damps down the thirst reflexwhen it goes unanswered for so many years. Initially youmay find you need to go to the toilet more, but graduallyyour system gets used to the extra intake.

Water is critical to our health: we cansurvive much longer without food than wecan without water. Water is a coolant, alubricant and a solvent. A large part of whatI call 'me' is simply water.

If we do not drink enough water, the body will dovarious things to conserve water. These conserva-tion strategies can lead to various unpleasant symp-toms, but from the bodys viewpoint these are less

harmful than being depleted further of water.

For example, simply drinking more water can relievemany cases of constipation. If the body is short of water,it will extract water from the faeces, making them hardand difficult to pass. The end result is constipation. Anabundant intake of water can quickly solve this problemfor many people. For many years top models have beenfanatical about drinking water to maintain a clear skin.

If you want to lose weight, try drinking a large glass ofwater whenever you feel peckish. Wait ten minutes,and then decide if you still need that food. Dr F Bat-manghelidj in his excellent book Your Bodys ManyCries For Water documents how he has helped people

by Jane Thurnell-Read

PALM BEACH PRIMARYCARE ASSOCIATES, INC.

3347 State Road 7 Suite 200 Wellington, FL 33449Tel: (561) 795-9087Fax: (561) 753-8730

425 SE 2nd Street, Belle Glade, FL 33430Tel: (561) 996-7742Fax: (561) 753-8730

State of the Art Office Building with Imaging Center, Sleep Lab Coming Up

ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS

MEDICARE AND MOST MAJOR INSURANCES ACCEPTED

SPECIALIZING IN:• Diagnosis of Complex Illnesses

• Cholesterol Management • Diabetes • Cardiac Care • EKG/24 Hour Heart

Monitoring/Spirometry • Hypertension • Geriatric Concerns • Osteoporosis

9 AM - 5 PM MONDAY - FRIDAYSAME DAY APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE

24 HOUR SERVICE AVAILABLE

On Staff: At Palms West Hospital,Wellington Regional Medical Center

Forest Hill Blvd.

Lake Worth Rd.

Stat

e Ro

ad 7

(441

)

Flor

ida’

s Tur

npke

Southern Blvd.

The Mall at Wellington

Green

PALM BEACH PRIMARY CARE

ASSOCIATES

N


First Annual Palms West SurgicenterFamily Fun Day

On Saturday May 30th Palm West Surgicentercelebrated their first Annual Family Fun Day, on thecampus of Palms West Hospital. Families stopped

by to enjoy a spectacular barbeque. The kids participated inactivities like Bounce House and Face Painting and the FireDepartment was at hand for a live demonstration.

Fire Department conducting a demonstration. Children lined up for face painting with flowers and fun shapes.

Families stopped by to enjoy a spectacular barbeque and the kids participated in the BounceHouse.


Celine Dion and others show their support for the Kids Cancer Foundation of South Florida

On May 9th, 2009, local and inter-national celebrities turned out tosupport the Kids Cancer Founda-tion to help local children bat-

tling cancer at the 3rd Annual Jenna Mc-Cann Golf Tournament and Gala. Thegolfers teed off in the morning followed bya night of dining and dancing at Jenna’sGala at Binks Forest Golf Club in Welling-ton, FL.

Rene Angelil, husband of Celine Dion,spent his morning on the beautiful greens atBinks Forest Golf Club along with almost100 other golfers. Also, hitting the greenswere Steve Walsh, starting quarterback forthe 1987 National Championship Universityof Miami football team and head coach atCardinal Newman High School, as well asColonel Mike Gauger of the Palm BeachSheriff’s Office.

Celine Dion and husband, Rene Angelil,showed their support for the Kids CancerFoundation by making a donation in honorof their son, Rene Charles, in the amount of$10,000.

Morgan Hayes, a senior at Pope John PaulII High School, already a veteran performerand winner of Radio Disney's 2004 national"Sing like a Star" competition, amazedthose in attendance with her powerful vo-cals making it a night to remember.

The Jenna McCann Memorial Golf Tourna-ment and Gala is named in memory of a lo-cal 4 year old Loxahatchee girl who lost herbattle with cancer 3 years ago. Her familybelieves it is their way to help her memorylive on by helping current and future chil-dren who battle or will battle cancer.During Jenna’s time in treatment hermother, Kaye McCann, had to take her up toDuke University in Durham, NC to receivethe treatments Jenna desperately needed;forcing Kaye to leave behind her 5 year olddaughter, Tara, and 3 month old son, Jacob,with her husband and other family membersto care for them.

She was not able to be there for Tara’s firstday of school or for Jacob’s first steps andso many other first’s. It is their wish that fu-ture families will not have to leave the area,much less the state, to get the treatmentstheir child needs to save their life.

The Kids Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)(3)foundation that supports local children bat-tling cancer and their families by providingsupportive care and connecting the familieswith other agencies who offer support in ourcommunity. It is their ultimate goal to pro-cure funding to build an outpatient cancertreatment center right here in Palm BeachCounty. For more information on the KidsCancer Foundation you can visit their web-site www.kidscancersf.org

David Albright and Carlos Alvarez.

Mitch Diamant, Dr. Ronald Ackerman, Dr. Shekhar Sharma and Ranjita Sharma.

María Alejandra and David Ghiragossian.

Ramya and Krishna Tripuraneni, M.D., M.B.A.David and Staci Martin, Ranjita Sharma.

Anne Harris, Julia Ryborich, Suzanne Schirmsh and Monique Simpson.

Joslyn Davis enjoying her toy that was gifted at the Gala and Michelle, O’Boyle, president ofKids Cancer Foundation of South Florida. Debra Mackles, Dr. Harold and Kathy Bafitis.

RenéeRonnie and Jennifer List.

Seema Dass, Dr. Kishore Dass and MitchDiamant.

Kids Cancer Foundation Staff: Sandy Erb, Treasurer, Jenna McCann (picture), Steven PliskowMD, and Michelle O’Boyle, President .


If Mom or Dad Is Depressed,Kids Need Help TooCoordinated assessment and care for all familymembers is warranted: report.

When parents are depressed,their children can suffer too.A new report from the Na-tional Research Council and

the Institute of Medicine calls for healthand social service professionals to paygreater attention to the impact of parentaldepression on their children.Rather than treating only the depressedadult, health-care and mental-health profes-sionals should evaluate the fallout of thedepression on the entire family, particularlychildren, and design treatment programswith everyone in mind, according to the re-port that was to be released Wednesday.Since most depression counseling and treat-ment programs are designed to deal onlywith the depressed individual, federal andstate agencies, nonprofit organizations andprivate-sector providers should work to findnontraditional ways of helping the wholefamily, the report says."To break the vicious circle of depression,we need to refocus our view of this illnessthrough a broader lens that sees the wholefamily, not just the individual with depres-sion," said committee chair and psychiatristMary Jane England, president of Regis Col-lege in Weston, Mass. "Our report describesa new vision for depression care that wouldprovide comprehensive services not just toadults, but to their children as well. It willtake significant policy changes to make thisvision a reality, but the benefits warrant theeffort."About one in five U.S. parents experiencedepression annually. About 15.6 millionchildren under 18 live with an adult who hashad major depression in the past year, the re-port noted.While depressed parents don't necessarilyharm their children -- deliberately or inad-vertently -- studies have shown parental de-pression can increase the chances of chil-dren having health, emotional andbehavioral problems.Yet, even if health-care professionals comeup with creative ways to include all familymembers in the treatment plan, obstaclesremain. Only one-third of adult sufferersseek treatment for their depression, whichmeans their children probably won't gettreatment either.Removing barriers to coordinating careacross agencies and service providers, ask-

ing patients with depression if they havechildren and if their depression affects fami-ly members and requiring health plans tocover a greater range of mental-health serv-ices would help put the focus on the family,according to the report.In addition, making affordable depressiontreatment available outside of traditionaldoctor's offices may encourage people tomake use of the services. Suggested loca-tions include Head Start facilities, schools,prisons, other community locations and peo-ple's homes.The report also called on states to revise reg-ulations that prohibit services from being of-fered outside of clinical settings, and urgedfederal agencies to establish a national pro-gram to improve the ability of primary-careproviders, mental-health and substance-abuse professionals to treat depression andlessen its effects on children.To help protect children from the negativeimpact of parental depression, the reportsuggested that Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services (CMS) extend Medicaidservices for new mothers to two years afterbirth, a critical period of development.CMS could reimburse primary-careproviders for mental-health services andcover preventive services for children atrisk of developing problems, rather thancover treatment only after problems occur.The study was sponsored by the RobertWood Johnson Foundation, Annie E. CaseyFoundation, California Endowment, U.S.Health Resources and Services Administra-tion and Substance Abuse and MentalHealth Services Administration.

Computers Causing Injuriesin the Home Falling monitors, dangerous wires a growing

risk, especially for kids, study shows.

Computers are everywhere in thehome these days -- the office, thekid's room, maybe even on thekitchen table.

And that, according to new research, has ledto more people showing up in emergencyrooms with computer-related injuries.That increase has not been slight: From1994 to 2006, injuries caused by peopletripping over computer wires or getting hitby falling equipment rose from about 1,300a year to 9,300 a year, an increase of 732percent nationwide.Children under the age of 5 had the highestinjury rate. The leading cause of injury forsmall children, and for adults over 60, wastripping or falling over computer equip-ment.But while most injuries were to the extrem-ities such as the arms or legs, young chil-dren were five times more likely than otherage groups to sustain a head injury."It's a pretty significant problem, given thatcomputers are in most homes these daysand many homes have more than one," saidstudy author Lara McKenzie, an assistantprofessor of pediatrics at Nationwide Chil-dren's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.The study will be published in the June 9online issue of the American Journal of Pre-ventive Medicine.From 1989 to 2003, the number of U.S.households with a computer increased from15 percent to 62 percent, according to themost recent statistics available from theU.S. Census Bureau. Nearly one-third ofthose had at least two computers.

"There are a lot of safety recommenda-tions for all areas of the home -- the bath-room, kitchen, bedrooms, but computersare not mentioned in the literature of thesafety world," McKenzie said. "Yet kidsare spending a lot of time on computers,and people are spending a lot of time ontheir computers or in their home offices."McKenzie and her colleagues looked atinjury data collected by the U.S. Con-sumer Product Safety Commission's Na-tional Electronic Injury SurveillanceSystem. Over a 13-year period, about78,000 people sustained computer-re-lated injuries.The annual rate peaked in about 2003,when about 10,000 were injured by com-puters. The number has since droppedoff, possibly because lighter, LCDscreens have become more prevalent.For all ages, the most common acutecomputer-related injuries were lacera-tions (39 percent) and contusions andabrasions (23 percent).Computers aren't the only dangerousitems in the home. A recent study also byNationwide Children's Hospital foundabout 15,000 children a year are treatedin hospital emergency departments forinjuries caused by furniture tipping.And since the early 1990s, the number ofchildren injured by falling TVs, shelvesand dressers has risen 41 percent.Recently, former heavyweight boxingchampion Mike Tyson's 4-year-olddaughter was accidentally strangled by atreadmill cord.

Daytime Nap Has Benefits Beyond Rest for Kids

Children's nap time is not only beneficial to caregivers who may need a break.For children aged 4 to 5 years, taking a nap during the day may help reducehyperactivity, anxiety and depression, new study findings show.In the study of 62 children categorized as either napping (77 percent) or non-

napping (23 percent), researchers found that those who didn't take daytime naps hadhigher levels of anxiety, hyperactivity and depression.The study findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Associated ProfessionalSleep Societies, in Seattle.Children who took naps did so an average of 3.4 days a week, the researchers found. Thestudy data was based on the parents' or caregivers' reporting of the children's typicalweekday and weekend bedtime/wake time and napping patterns. Family demographicsand behavioral assessments of the children were also included in the analysis."There is a lot of individual variability in [the age] when children are ready to give upnaps. I would encourage parents to include a quiet 'rest' time in their daily schedule thatwould allow children to nap if necessary," lead author Brian Crosby, a postdoctoral fellowof psychology at Pennsylvania State University, said in a news release from the AmericanAcademy of Sleep Medicine.An optimal age for children to stop napping hasn't yet been determined, Crosby noted.

Nappers have less hyperactivity, depression and anxiety,research suggests.


Hospitals oppose Obama'sMedicare, Medicaid cutsWASHINGTON – President BarackObama said he wants to help payfor his health care overhaul byslowing Medicare and Medicaidspending, but hospitals, medicaltechnicians and others areresisting.

The high-stakes struggle over medicalcare is heating up as Obama de-clares the status quo unacceptable.The president suggests trimming

federal payments to hospitals by about $200billion over the next 10 years, saying greaterefficiencies and broader insurance coveragewill justify the change. Hospitals, especiallythose with many poor patients, say the pro-posed cuts are unfair and will harm the sickand elderly.Congress ultimately will shape the newlaws. Obama is urging lawmakers to be boldand to resist powerful lobbies trying tomaintain their clout and profits."Americans are being priced out of the carethey need," Obama said in radio and Inter-net address.Obama said high health care costs hurt theentire economy and contribute to the nearly50 million people who lack coverage. Hisaddress focused on payments to Medicareand Medicaid, which cover millions of eld-erly and low-income people and involvethousands of doctors, hospitals, nursinghomes and other institutions.He proposed cutting $313 billion from theprograms over 10 years. That's in addition tothe $635 billion "down payment" in tax in-creases and spending cuts in the health caresystem that he announced earlier.

Together, Obama's plans would provide$948 billion over a decade in savings and/ortax increases to help insure practicallyeveryone and to slow the rate of soaringhealth care costs.The president wants to cut $106 billion over10 years from payments that help hospitalstreat uninsured people. Spending onMedicare prescription drugs would fall by$75 billion over a decade.And slowing projected increases inMedicare payments to hospitals and otherproviders — but not doctors — would save$110 billion over 10 years, the presidentsaid.Obama called them "commonsensechanges," although he acknowledged thatmany details must be resolved. Some pow-erful industry groups called the proposalsunwise and unfair."Payment cuts are not reform," Rich Umb-denstock, president of the American Hospi-tal Association, said even before Obama'splan was announced. His group is urginghospitals with large proportions of low-in-

come patients "to push back on proposedcuts."The pharmaceutical industry is wary ofObama's plan to extract $75 billion over 10years from Medicare prescription drugspending. The White House said "there area variety of ways to achieve this goal." Forinstance, it said, drug reimbursements mightbe reduced for people who receive bothMedicare and Medicaid.The drug manufacturers' chief trade groupissued a cautious statement Saturday, sayingpharmaceutical companies support healthcare changes, but that much work remains tobe done.An industry group that which representsmakers and users of medical imaging de-vices, such as MRI and CT equipment, wasmore hostile.Obama wants to reduce government pay-ments for such services. He said the devicesare used so frequently and efficiently thatproviders can spread their costs over manypatients, requiring less government reim-bursement.The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition,a trade group, disagreed. It said the presi-dent's plan would "impair access to diagnos-tic imaging services and result in patients'delaying or forgoing life- and cost-savingsimaging procedures." The group saidObama's efficiency estimates were basedon a flawed survey.Even if Obama and Congress could hit theoverall goal of $948 billion in health caresavings over 10 years, it still might not beenough to cover all the nation's uninsured.Outside experts say the 10-year cost couldrange from $1.2 trillion to $1.8 trillion, de-pending on factors such as how generousfederal subsidies turn out to be.

Obama urges doctors to back his health care plansWASHINGTON - President Barack Obama,continuing to barnstorm for his health careproposals, will urge doctors gathered inChicago to support wider insurance cover-age and targeted federal spending cuts.Obama planned to tell the American Med-ical Association's annual meeting in hishometown that overhaul cannot wait andthat bringing down costs is the most impor-tant thing he can do to ensure the country'slong-term fiscal health, a senior administra-tion official said.The official spoke on the condition ofanonymity to discuss the president's re-marks before they were delivered.The nation's doctors, like many othergroups, are divided over the president's pro-posals to reshape the health care deliverysystem. The White House anticipates heavyspending to cover the almost 50 millionAmericans who lack health insurance andhas taken steps in recent days to outline justwhere that money could be found.For instance, Obama wants to cut federalpayments to hospitals by about $200 billionand cut $313 billion from Medicare andMedicaid over 10 years. He also is propos-ing a $635 billion "down payment" in taxincreases and spending cuts in the healthcare system.To an audience of doctors Obama plans tosay the United States spends too much onhealth care and gets too little in return. Hesays the health industry is crushing busi-nesses and families and is leading to mil-lions of Americans losing coverage, the ad-ministration official said.Obama's turn before the 250,000-physiciangroup in his latest effort to persuade skeptics

that his goal to provide health care to allAmericans is worth the $1 trillion price tagit is expected to run during its first decade.The president plans to acknowledge thecosts. But he also will tell the doctors it isnot acceptable for the nation to leave somany without insurance, the official said.Unified Republicans and some fiscally con-servative Democrats on Capitol Hill havesaid they are nervous about how the admin-istration plans to pay for Obama's ideas.There have been indications Obama hasbeen quietly making a case for reducingmalpractice lawsuits to help control costs,long a goal of the AMA and Republicans.Obama has not endorsed capping juryawards

nances, said much of the unnecessary an-nual health care cost can be attributed todoctors ordering extra tests and taking extraprecautions to make sure "they aren't sued."Obama has been speaking privately withlawmakers about his ideas and publicly withaudiences, such as a town hall style meetinglast week in Green Bay, Wis. Obama and hisadministration officials have blanketed thenation in support of his broad ideas, andVice President Joe Biden on Sunday said it'sup to Congress to pin down the details onhow to pay for them."They're either going to have to agree withus, come up with an alternative or we're notgoing to have health care," Biden toldNBC's "Meet the Press.""And we're going to get health care."In Chicago, the president's remarks arelikely to focus on how his ideas might affectthe medical profession.His proposed cuts in federal paymentswould hit hospitals more directly than doc-tors, but physicians will be affected by vir-tually every change that Congress eventu-ally agrees to. Many medical professionalsare not yet convinced Obama's overhaul isthe best for their care or their pocketbooks.Broadly, the AMA supports a health care"reform" -- a term that changes its definitionbased on who is speaking -- although thespecifics remain unclear.In a statement welcoming Obama, AMApresident Dr. Nancy Nielsen said the me-dical profession wants to "reduce unneces-sary costs by focusing on quality improve-ments, such as developing best practicesfor care and improving medication reconcil-iation."

PROMISES, PROMISES:American Indian

health care's victimsCROW AGENCY, Mont. – Ta'Shon RainLittle Light, a happy little girl who loved todance and dress up in traditionalAmerican Indian clothes, had stoppedeating and walking. She complainedconstantly to her mother that her stomachhurt.When Stephanie Little Light took herdaughter to the Indian Health Serviceclinic in this wind-swept and remotecorner of Montana, they told her the 5-year-old was depressed.Ta'Shon's pain rapidly worsened and shevisited the clinic about 10 more times overseveral months before her lung collapsedand she was airlifted to a children'shospital in Denver. There she wasdiagnosed with terminal cancer,confirming the suspicions of familymembers.A few weeks later, a charity sent thewhole family to Disney World so Ta'Shoncould see Cinderella's Castle, her biggestdream. She never got to see the castle,though. She died in her hotel bed soonafter the family arrived in Florida."Maybe it would have been treatable,"says her great-aunt, Ada White, as shestoically recounts the last few months ofTa'Shon's short life. Stephanie Little Lightcries as she recalls how she once forcedher daughter to walk when she was inpain because the doctors told her it wasall in the little girl's head.Ta'Shon's story is not unique in the IndianHealth Service system, which servesalmost 2 million American Indians in 35states.On some reservations, the oft-quotedrefrain is "don't get sick after June," whenthe federal dollars run out. It's a sick joke,and a sad one, because it's sometimestrue, especially on the poorestreservations where residents cannotafford health insurance. Officials say theyhave about half of what they need tooperate, and patients know they must bedying or about to lose a limb to get seriouscare.Wealthier tribes can supplement thefederal health service budget with theirown money. But poorer tribes, often thoseon the most remote reservations, faraway from city hospitals, are stuck withgrossly substandard care. The agencyitself describes a "rationed health caresystem."The U.S. has an obligation, based on a1787 agreement between tribes and thegovernment, to provide American Indianswith free health care on reservations. Butthat promise has not been kept. Aboutone-third more is spent per capita onhealth care for felons in federal prison,according to 2005 data from the healthservice."She was a gift, so bright and comforting,"says Ada White of her niece, whom shecalls her granddaughter according toCrow tradition. "I figure she was broughthere for a reason."

AP – This July 2005 photo provided bythe Little Light Family shows Ta'shonRain Little Light in Crow Agency.

Former Senate Majority Leader TomDaschle, D-S.D., said Monday that control-ling the cost of malpractice insurance wouldhave to be a part of the Obama administra-tion's overhaul of the health care system.Daschle, whose nomination for secretaryof health and human resources was derailedbecause of questions about his personal fi-

President Barack Obama addresses theAmerican Medical Association during theirannual meeting in Chicago.

President Barack Obama said high healthcare costs hurt the entire economy.


American Cancer Society’s 2009 Diamond Derby Gala

WASHINGTON – Consumersshould stop using ZicamCold Remedy nasal gel andrelated products because

they can permanently damage the sense ofsmell, federal health regulators said.The over-the-counter products contain zinc,an ingredient scientists say may damagenerves in the nose needed for smell. Theother products affected by the Food andDrug Administration's announcement areadult and kid-size Zicam Cold RemedyNasal Swabs.The FDA says about 130 consumers havereported a loss of smell after using MatrixxInitiatives' Zicam products since 1999.Shares of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based com-pany plunged to a 52-week low after theFDA announcement, losing more than halftheir value."Loss of the sense of smell is potentially lifethreatening and may be permanent," saidDr. Charles Lee, of FDA's compliance divi-sion. "People without the sense of smellmay not be able to detect dangerous lifesituations, such as gas leaks or something

burning in the house."Matrixx defended the safety of its products,but said it may remove them from the market.The FDA said Zicam Cold Remedy wasnever formally approved because it is part ofa small group of remedies that are not re-quired to undergo federal review beforelaunching. Known as homeopathic prod-ucts, the formulations often contain herbs,minerals and flowers.A warning letter issued to Matrixx on Tues-day asked the company to stop marketing itszinc-based products, but the agency did notissue a formal recall. Instead, regulatorssaid Matrixx would have to submit safetyand effectiveness data on the drug."The next step, if they wish to continuemarketing Zicam intranasal zinc products, isfor them to come in and seek FDA ap-proval," said Deborah Autor, director ofFDA's drug compliance division.The agency is requiring formal approvalnow because of the product's safety issues,she added."It won't bring my smell back, but at least I

feel like there's some justice that's starting totake place," said David Richardson, ofGreensboro, N.C., who lost his sense ofsmell after taking Zicam for a cold in 2005.He said he hopes the product will be for-

mally banned.Medical records appear to support Richard-son's claim that his lost sense of smell waslinked to using Zicam.The global market for homeopathic drugs isabout $200 million per year, according tothe American Association of HomeopathicPharmacists. The group's members includecompanies like Nutraceutical InternationalCorp. and Natural Health Supply.Matrixx has settled hundreds of lawsuitsconnected with Zicam in recent years, butsays on its Web site: "No plaintiff has everwon a court case, because there is no knowncausal link between the use of Zicam ColdRemedy nasal gel and impairment of smell."The company said in a statement Tuesdaythat the safety of Zicam Cold Remedy is"supported by the cumulative science andhas been confirmed by a multidisciplinarypanel of scientists."But government scientists say they are un-aware of any data supporting Zicam's label-ing, which claims the drug reduces coldsymptoms, including "sore throat, stuffynose, sneezing, coughing and congestion."

FDA says Zicam nasal spray can cause loss of smell

The Food and Drug Administration saidconsumers should stop using Zicam ColdRemedy nasal gel and related productsbecause they can permanently damage thesense of smell.

On Friday May 29th, 2009 theAmerican Cancer Society heldtheir Diamond Derby Gala at theBreakers West Country Club in

West Palm Beach Florida. Event chairs wereDr. Colette Graham-Brown, M.D. F.A.C.O.G.,and Dr Daxa Patel, M.D. F.A.C.O.G. AuctionChairs Jamie Caste-llanos, Fran Friedman andSuzette Burger made the live and silent auc-tions a great success. Sponsorship chairs HopeBarron and Rocky Goins as well as PublicityChair Lisa Gardi worked toward the successof this gala.

The auctions raised money for the AmericanCancer Society’s Reaching Out to CancerKids Programs such as Families R.O.C.K.Weekend, R.O.C.K. Camp, and CollegeScholarship Programs. These programs helpchildren who have had the disease as well asthose who are winning the battle.

For additional information about the Ame-rican Cancer Society's services or how youcan help, contact the American Cancer So-ciety Florida Division, at 1.800.ACS.2345or visit the website at cancer.org

The Event Chairs Colette K. Graham-Brown, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. and Daxa Patel, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.

Several items were on display at the silentauction.

Guests enjoy the entertainment and dining atthe Diamond Derby Gala.

Men should look for ways to make healthy choices in their dailylives, including physical activity, eating, and alcohol and tobaccouse.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, males make up 49.3% ofthe United States population. CDC’s Behavioral Risk FactorSurveillance System (BRFSS) recently released 2008 data onU.S. adult health risks and behaviors. Self-reported healthpractices and behaviors for U.S. men shows compelling healthgaps when compared with the values reported for their femalecounterparts.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, males make up 49.3% ofthe United States population. CDC’s Behavioral Risk FactorSurveillance System (BRFSS) recently released 2008 data onU.S. adult health risks and behaviors. Self-reported healthpractices and behaviors for U.S. men shows compelling healthgaps when compared with the values reported for their femalecounterparts.

Data Source: 2008 BRFSS Prevalence and Trends.

More U.S. Men Report Negative HealthBehaviors than U.S. Women


Advertise with us!Florida Health News

has the audience you want.

Call us: 561-716-5054E-mail: [email protected]

By MaryAnn MottHealthDay Reporter

Forget about joining a gym. If youwant to get into shape, all youneed is a four-legged pal.

Dr. Robert Kushner, a human obe-sity expert and professor of med-icine at Northwestern Univer-sity's Feinberg School of

Medicine, said that dogs make great work-out partners in winning the battle of thebulge."They are natural exercise machines on aleash," he said.Research has shown that it's easier to bephysically active and stick with an exerciseprogram when you team up with a workoutbuddy, Kushner said. But unlike humanpartners, who might make excuses for notwanting to go for a walk or run, a dog neverwill. They will generally be the first ones atthe door, ready to go, rain or shine.Deborah Wood, an animal shelter managerin Portland, Ore., lost 140 pounds in twoyears after enrolling in a national weightloss program and going for three-mile dailywalks with her three papillons -- pushing thetwo oldest in a doggie stroller."I always liked walking my dogs," Woodsaid, "but I just made it a priority andworked on going farther and faster."Finding the right walking speed to reaphealth benefits is easy, said Dr. Dawn Mar-cus, a professor in the anesthesiology de-partment at the University of PittsburghMedical Center. "If you're so winded, youcan't talk with someone, then you're proba-bly walking at too hard of a pace," she said."On the other hand, if you're walking soslowly that you can easily sing, you're prob-

ably not walking fast enough."If your dog tends to saunter down the street,she said, you can intensify the workout bytaking a hillier route or by stepping on andoff curbs.Marcus said that one of her most valued"colleagues" in the hospital is Wheatie, herwheaten terrier and a trained hospital ther-apy dog. "I've found that Wheatie motivatespatients to open up, try new things and gethealthier," she said.But enthusiasm for exercise is just one ofthe healthy behaviors humans can learnfrom dogs, said Marcus, who last year wroteFit as Fido: Follow Your Dog to BetterHealth. Dogs instinctively get enough sleepand maintain good hydration -- traits thathave, for instance, been linked with weightloss in people."A lot of times as humans, we mistake thatdrive for water with a drive to get morefood," Marcus said.Currently, an estimated two out of threeadults in the United States are overweight.

And being overweight, Kushner stressed,has been associated with significant medicalproblems, including heart disease, diabetes,high blood pressure, cancer and stroke.A few years ago, Kushner co-authored astudy to see if pets and people could helpeach other lose weight. It compared theweight lost by 36 overweight people whowere paired with an obese dog with theweight lost by 56 overweight people whoparticipated alone.Pets were fed a calorie-controlled diet.When their ideal body weight was reached,based on their breed and age, the animalswere put on a maintenance diet. People par-ticipating in the study were given dietarycounseling and encouraged to walk at leastthree times a week for 30 minutes.Published in the journal Obesity, the studyfound that people with dogs were slightlymore active than those without dogs andthat, after a year, they had lost an average of11 pounds, or 4.7 percent of their bodyweight.Pudgy pooches benefited from the buddysystem, too. They slimmed down an averageof 12 pounds, or 15 percent of their bodyweight.Kushner said that pets really do motivatepeople to stick with a diet and exercise planuntil the pounds come off and stay off. Peo-ple in the study reported that their dogs notonly gave them incentive to work out butmade the experience more enjoyable -- twopredictors of sustaining an exercise programlong term, he said.For Wood, taking long treks with her dogshas paid off. She's now half the woman sheused to be, dropping in dress size from a 3Xto an 8."Walking a dog is absolutely fun," Woodsaid. "It's good for the dog; it's good for thehuman."

Mary Beth Bollinger, an associateprofessor of pediatrics and interim chiefof the pediatric pulmonology and allergydivision, said in news release from theAmerican Osteopathic Association,suggested that anyone thinking aboutgetting a pet:

� Consider different kinds of animalsand breeds and select the one that's bestfor your home and your family's needs.Carefully assess your family's routine ofwork, school, social activities and traveland choose a pet and breed that can livecomfortably in your home andneighborhood.

� Understand how to properly interactwith your pet. Different kinds of animalsand breeds have different traits andtemperaments and need to be handledand cared for appropriately.

� Realize that there are no trulyhypoallergenic furred pets. Even single-coated or hairless dogs promoted asbeing hypoallergenic produce allergens -- allergy-triggering proteins found in theanimal's dander, saliva and urine.

� Reptiles can carry salmonella andother potential infections and shouldn'tbe in homes with children younger than 5years old or children with weakenedimmune systems.

� Buy pets only from reputable breedersor shelters. This helps ensure that youget a healthy animal that's had all itsrecommended shots.

Once a pet has joined the family,remember that annual checkups with aveterinarian reduce the risk of fleas,parasites and infections that can spreadin your home.

Need a Walking Partner? Try a Dog

Documents

Florida Health News - June 2009 issue