Another reason to quit smoking: it might lead to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

That is the conclusion of a new study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The study looked at two groups of pregnant rats. Both plasma nicotine levels in the mothers and reduced birth weight in the pups were comparable to those of moderate to heavy smoking human mothers and the infants born to them.
 
A total of 30 control and 39 cigarette smoke-exposed one-week-old rat pups were randomized to undergo either thermoneutral or hyperthermic exposure to an oxygen-depleted environment. Researchers then analyzed the respiratory responses to the challenges.
 
Overall, just 13 percent of the control animals exhibited gasping, whereas nearly three times that—36 percent—of the cigarette smoke exposed animals did.

None of the control animals exhibited gasping whereas 25 percent of the cigarette smoke exposed animals did. Under hyperthermic conditions, just 29 percent of the control group displayed gasping behavior, compared to nearly half—49 percent—of the cigarette smoke exposed group.

The effects were much more pronounced in pups that head been exposed to cigarette smoked prenatally, researchers found.

Westchester Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology will offer free egg freezing to women newly diagnosed with cancer so that they can still conceive a child using their own egg.

The cost of egg freezing normally averages about $8,000.

According to Westchester Fertility physician Daniel Levine, MD, egg freezing has become an extremely popular option that “will greatly empower women who want to achieve pregnancy, but cannot or choose not to at a given time. For women with cancer, it is the first viable fertility treatment option. We hope many women in the community who have been diagnosed with cancer will take advantage of our offer.”

He added, “We are enthusiastic about providing this great service to the community and its enormous potential by offering complimentary egg freezing to women with cancer.”

Westchester Fertility offers a comprehensive range of services and on-site lab facilities. It is located in a home-like environment in White Plains and offers state-of-the-art testing, diagnosis, and clinical applications associated with infertility treatments. Insurance options are available to help make treatment affordable to anyone regardless of income and health concerns, they said.

Egg freezing is fundamentally different from the commonly employed technique of embryo freezing, although both procedures are done in combination with an In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) cycle. In embryo freezing, an egg that is already fertilized is frozen. With the new egg freezing technique, an unfertilized egg is frozen and then at the chosen time the frozen egg is thawed, fertilized and transplanted to create a pregnancy.

For more information, call (914) 949-6677, or visit www.westchesterfertility.com.

Fellow reporter Ernie Garcia was at the Westchester County Department of Health offices today and witnessed the first fine imposed on a restaurant since the county enacted a ban on trans-fatty cooking oils.

The owner of an Italian restaurant in Yonkers paid $250 for violating health department code.

Read his story by clicking HERE.

Dr. Pasquale Fonzetti, associate director of the memory evaluation and treatment service (METS) at The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, co-authored a research article about treating depression in stroke patients.

The study found that treatment with the drug escitalopram (brand name Lexapro) over the first year following acute stroke decreased the number of post-stroke depression cases. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association yesterday.

For the past six years, Dr. Fonzetti, a neurologist, has focused on trials that test medications and rehabilitation methods for neurological conditions and disorders like stroke.

“This study was undertaken because prevention of post-stroke depression is an important medical goal,” he said. “The annual incidence of stroke is more than 700,000 in the United States, and of those stroke patients, more than half will experience post-stroke depression. The evidence demonstrates that post-stroke depression is associated with impaired recovery of daily living activities and increased mortality.”

The randomized controlled trial was conducted from July 9, 2003 to October 1, 2007 with 176 patients. Read the article HERE.

The state is asking for public comment on a $600 million, 11-year plan to invest in stem cell research.
The Empire State Stem Cell Board’s draft Strategic Plan is available at the New York State Stem Cell Science Website at www.stemcell.ny.gov. Comments will be accepted until June 20.
According to the draft proposed plan, the state will use the funding to support innovative basic, translational and clinical research that builds on the potential of stem cells to detect, treat and cure human diseases.
New York’s legislation creating the stem cell research initiative expressly forbids the use of state funding for human reproductive cloning.
In addition to supporting specific stem cell research projects, the Board’s Strategic Plan identifies four other categories for funding:
•Scientific Training: To ensure a robust, interactive stem cell research community by providing training opportunities for new and established investigators in stem cell research;
•Infrastructure Development: To expand stem cell research capacity by establishing and ensuring access to appropriate infrastructure and resources;
•Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues and Education: To ensure that stem cell research adheres to the highest standards of medical ethics and that the ethical, legal, social and psychological implications of advances in stem cell research are appropriately addressed by engaging diverse communities in research, scholarships and education on these issues; and,
•Administration: To manage the Empire State Stem Cell Trust Fund under the highest standards of accountability on behalf of the people of New York.
•

The Strategic Plan was developed over a period of six months through a process that involved members of the Empire State Stem Cell Board’s Funding and Ethics Committees as well as external experts and State Health Department staff, who administer the NYSTEM program. Comments can be sent via e-mail to www.stemcell.ny.gov/plan_comment_form.php?form_request=yes or via regular mail to Judy Doesschate, director, of Board Operations ,Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Box 509 Albany, NY 12208-0509.

The Xi Lambda Lambda chapter of Omega Psi Phi will host a blood and bone marrow drive from 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. June 7 in the Raso Room at the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack. The historically black fraternity is making a special effort to reach out the the black and Latino community to get new donors.

The blood drive is being run by New York Blood Center and is open to the public.

The Lyme Disease Practice of New York Medical College at Westchester Medical Center will open its walk-in center June 2nd for people who need evaluation and treatment. During June, July and August, the center will be open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Lyme Disease Practice is located in room 149 of the Munger Pavilion on the Valhalla campus. The center is open for adults seeking treatment for Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis (anaplasmosis), babesiosis or tick bites.

For more information, call 914-493-8425.

Rye residents Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman have given $25 million to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University for stem cell research and other programs.
Here’s how the money will be used, according to the university: $15 million will establish the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research.
Another $7 million will fund The Center for Epigenomics, to be headed by Einstein researcher Dr. John Greally.
The remaining $3 million will be used to create The Ruth L. Gottesman Clinical Skills Facility.
The $25 million gift isn’t the first time the couple have made a large donation to the institution.
In 2002, the couple endowed a professorial chair at Einstein’s Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center in connection with Dr. Gottesman’s life-long interest in helping people with learning disabilities.
David Gottesman is the founder and senior managing director of the First Manhattan Company, an investment advisory firm. He was chairman of the Board of Yeshiva University from 1990 to 1998.

Most diseases are easily diagnosed, but for people who have illnesses that continue to puzzle doctors, a new resource is available.
The National Institutes of Health has started a new clinical research program that will try to provide answers to patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis. The new Undiagnosed Diseases Program, will focus on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation.  
To be considered for this NIH pilot program, a patient must be referred by a physician and provide all medical records and diagnostic test results requested by NIH.
Patients who meet the program’s criteria — as many as 100 each year — will then be asked to undergo additional evaluation during a visit to the NIH Clinical Center that may take up to a week.
To evaluate each patient enrolled in the new program, NIH will use more than 25 of its senior attending physicians, whose specialties include endocrinology, immunology, oncology, dermatology, dentistry, cardiology and genetics.
For more information about the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, go to: http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/Undiagnosed. Physicians and patients with specific inquiries may call the NIH Clinical Center clinical information research line, at 1-866-444-8806.

White Plains Hospital will celebrate its 115th anniversary and the opening of its new cardiac cath lab with a community-wide health event.

Wellness Week will run from May 30 to June 8.

The event will feature celebrity health professionals such as the heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet C. Oz of New York-Presbyterian Hospital (he’s a regular on Oprah; interventional cardiologist Dr. Jeffrey W. Moses of Columbia University Medical Center and nutrition expert and “Today” show contributor, Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.

The wellness-themed events will be held throughout White Plains, Scarsdale and Rye Brook, the communities the hospital serves.

In addition, physicians affiliated with White Plains Hospital Center will provide free lectures on current health issues: Seth Lerner, M.D. and Charles Glassman, M.D., urological surgeons, will present “What You Need to Know about Prostate Health in the 21st Century” and Amy Newburger, M.D., dermatologist, will present “Everything You Need to Know About Aesthetic Treatments But Were Afraid to Ask.”

“Wellness Week gives us the opportunity to highlight in a concentrated way the important roles that preventive measures and lifestyle changes play in lowering the risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer,” said Jon B. Schandler, the hospital’s president and CEO. Your health can be improved by being physically active every day, eating a nutritious diet, getting preventive screenings and making healthy lifestyle choices.”