Add pistachio nuts to the list of foods that may be contaminated with salmonella.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat any foods containing pistachio nuts after 2 million pounds of the nuts were recalled by one of the nation’s largest processors, Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc, Calif.
“Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold onto those products,” Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety, told the Associated Press. “The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers.”

FDA first learned of the problem on March 24, when it was informed by Kraft Foods that its Back To Nature Trail Mix was found to be contaminated with Salmonella. Kraft had identified the source of the contamination to be pistachios from Setton and conducted a recall.
The “FDA”:http://www.fda.gov/pistachios/ is listing products that should be avoided on its Web Site.

Do your bones ache when it’s about to rain? Asthma acts up on certain days? A new Web site says it offers a warning system that can signal when health conditions might flare up.

The site, MediClim, says that it takes into account “a multitude of weather parameters known to affect health, such as humidity, barometric pressure and temperature.”

The site was started by a Canadian doctor who noticed that he would see more patients with specific conditions on days that had certain types of weather.

The site says it can warn people when it identifies days that the weather will affect specific chronic or recurring diseases including migraine, arthritis, asthma, and cardiovascular disease.

It offers to warn you via email that the weather might be about to trigger your health condition.

It appears to be free, but always read the fine print. Here’s the address:

:http://www.mediclim.com/,

The annual Rockland Nurse Recognition Day will be held May 7 in Stony Point. The event honors registered nurses working in healthcare and licensed practical nurses who are pursuing an RN degree.

The nominations will be reviewed by a committee and the winning registered nurses will be awarded “Excellence in Practice” plaques and the winning licensed practical nurses will be given a recognition award.

To receive a nomination form, nominators may contact Berthilde Dufrene, Chairperson of Nominations for the Nurse Recognition Committee, Phone: 845-680-7618 Fax: 845-680-8419 or 845-680-5583.

Two community health centers in Rockland have been awarded funds from the Economic Recovery Act under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration.

The Community Medical and Dental Care Center of Monsey received $268,523. Refuah Health Center in New Square received $304,032. Hudson River Health Care  in Peekskill, which runs a clinic in Haverstraw, was awarded $916,282.

These awards are the second set of health center grants provided through the Recovery Act.  On March 2, President Obama announced grants worth $155 million to establish 126 new health centers.  Those grants will provide access to health center care for 750,000 people in 39 states and two territories.

More than $19.4 million in federal stimulus money has been allocated for New York’s community health centers, health officials announced today.

The money — part of the total $337 million to health centers nationally — is aimed at helping states provide primary care medical treatment to uninsured and underinsured.

Officials say the funds will create 300 jobs and treat more than 89,000 new patients in the state. The community health center lobby, CHCANYS, issued a statement thanking the federal government for the money but reminding everyone that there are more unemployed and uninsured people who need primary care.

“Our health centers provide quality care regardless of a person’s ability to pay even though many of them often operate with only a couple days of cash on hand. This leaves New York’s health care safety net extremely vulnerable and with the increase we are sure to see in uninsured patients over the next two years that safety net will be all but torn apart,” said Elizabeth Swain, CEO, of the Community Health Care Association of New York State.

In the Lower Hudson Valley, there are several community health centers such as Open Door Medical Centers, Hudson Valley Health Center, (both of which have several sites), Greenburgh Community Health Center and Mount Vernon Community Health Center.

To find a community health center in your neighborhood go to: http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov and type in your zip code.

The Westchester Department of Health has some new features on its Web site. It includes a new senior health page, information about the new Prevention agenda and a new data book.

There is also health information available in Spanish.  Click here to see the new “Department of Health”:http://www.westchestergov.com/health/ site.

Nearly 100 women took part in a workshop Sunday in Upper Nyack about genetics and breast cancer. Half of them qualified to take part in a study of women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent that is looking for genetic mutations that cause women in that population to develop breast and ovarian cancer at a much higher rate than others.

NYU researchers are hoping to enroll 1,000 women in the study. Scientists have also enrolled women in White Plains.

For more information on the study and other locations where researchers will talk about their work, go to “The Breast and Ovarian Cancer Genetic Risk Study at NYU School of Medicine”:http://beyondbrca.med.nyu.edu/.

The center is still hoping to enroll more women in the study.

Click here to read the story in “The Joural News”:http://www.lohud.com/article/2009903140360.

Leaders of several local hospital, trade groups and business leaders met with the Editorial Board at The Journal News today to talk about the potential impact of state budget cuts. The bottom line: it’s not good news.

The Healthcare Association of New York State, a lobbying and advocacy group, has a Web site telling residents how much their local hospitals stand to lose under the proposed state budget and how to contact a legislator to protest. Take a look at “Helpyourhospital”:http://helpyourhospital.org/.

“Reiki Healing Circle” will be offered to women living with cancer on Thursday, April 30 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at the East Fishkill Library, 348 Route 376, Hopewell Junction, NY.

The program is sponsored by Support Connection, a not-for-profit organization that provides free, confidential services and programs to women, their families and friends affected by breast and ovarian cancer.

Paul Narad, Reiki Master, will present an evening of healing and positive energy. Participants will learn about the benefits of Reiki, an ancient, light-touch healing technique that enables the body and mind to accelerate its natural healing ability. Reiki has been known to help reduce stress and tension and leaves participants calm, relaxed and centered. Narad will introduce participants to the principles of Reiki and will offer a mini-treatment to each participant.

Pre-registration for the Reiki circle is required. For information or to register, call Support Connection at 914-962-6402 or 800-532-4290.

Many people in the Lower Hudson Valley go to hospitals in New York City because they think they will get better care than at their local hospitals. But a new report by “New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr.,”:http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/press/2009_releases/pr09-03-060.shtm found that many city hospitals substantially underreport adverse events—otherwise known as mistakes—to the New York State Department of Health.

Thompson’s staff reviewed filings by each hospital in the state for each reporting category for 2004 through 2007.

New York City hospitals reported adverse occurrences at an overall rate 44 percent below upstate hospitals and 39 percent below Long Island hospitals. In 2001, when DOH observed similar disparities between reports in New York City and other parts of the state, the agency indicated that underreporting was the main cause of the city’s lower rate.