More than a dozen of the area’s top chefs are donating their culinary skills to benefit Cerebral Palsy of Westchester on Oct. 27th at 6:30 p.m. The food and wine tasting event will be held at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel.

All proceeds from the event will go towards the William “Bill” Hallenbeck Pavilion that houses CPW’s summer camp. Over the past 46 years the camp has enabled thousands of children with special needs to enjoy summers filled with adventure, fun and friendship.

Tickets are $125 per person, $100 if you buy four or more.

For more information about Cerebral Palsy of Westchester, visit our web site at www.cpwestchester.org.

For more information or to participate in the event please contact: Lauren Borek, Development and Public Relations Coordinator, 914-937-3800 ext. 353.

E-mail is Lauren.Borek @cpwestchester.org

The Rockland Office for the Aging is seeking volunteers to become members of its Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.
Ombudsmen visit nursing and adult homes to assist residents with problems or concerns. Other duties include monitoring the quality of care, helping to protect residents’ rights, working to ensure dignified and respectful treatment of residents, and encouraging participation in resident councils. Volunteers will complete a 36-hour training course as required for certification by the New York State Office for the Aging.
The next training program will begin in October. For an application or more information about the program, please call Michael Fober, Ombudsman Coordinator, at 845-364-2109. Completed applications must be submitted to the Office for the Aging by Oct. 6.

By now, you probably know your family history and your lifestyle choices play a huge role in how health you are. But did you ever think your race or your income does as well? What about your level of education?

A community forum to be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 18th at the Yonkers RiverFront Library intends to explore the impact of these social factors on public health. The event, “Color of Health” is being presented by the WESPAC Foundation.

The forum will include several speakers and a showing of PBS documentary “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” A light dinner will be served.

Health and social professionals, as well as community advocates are welcome to attend. Participation is free for those who register before Sept. 16th; for more information call 914-449-6783 or e-mail antiracistalliance@gmail.com.

Children who are enrolled in a daycare center as infants are less likely than other kids to develop asthma symptoms by age 5, according to new research.
The study published in the September issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that all children enrolled in daycare were 35 percent less likely to develop asthma symptoms, but the greatest protective effect was observed among those enrolled between age 6 months and 12 months – with a 75 percent reduction in risk.
The findings add evidence in support of the hygiene hypothesis, which proposes that decreased exposure to infections and germs early in life is responsible for recent drastic increases in asthma and allergies, especially in the developed world. Exposing young children to the pathogens in a daycare environment may help boost immune defenses against allergic diseases.
The study followed more than 900 children from birth through age 5. Among other variables, researchers compared the children’s historic childcare arrangements to rates of current wheeze at age 5 – considered a symptom of, or precursor to, asthma.
The study also examined the children’s number of siblings and position in sibship, but found no correlation with asthma risk.
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology asthma is the most common chronic disease among children, affecting as many as 9 million in the United States. The condition is responsible for an estimated 15 million missed school days each year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today launched a national campaign to teach parents how to keep their children safe from skin infections caused by the potentially dangerous bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

MRSA, a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics, has been in the news because it can cause severe infections in health care settings, but can also cause severe skin infections in children and health people if not treated early enough.

The MRSA initiative will reach out to parents and health care providers through Web sites, fact sheets, brochures, posters, radio and print public service announcements, web banners, mom blogging sites, and mainstream media interviews. Information will also be shared through
community and school groups including parent-teacher associations, faith-based organizations, professional organizations and national conferences on health.

Most staph skin infections, including those caused by MRSA, appear as a bump or infected area on the skin that may be red, swollen, painful, warm to the touch or containing pus or other drainage. These signs may also be accompanied by a fever.

It’s especially important to contact a doctor if anyone in your family has a skin infection and a fever.

The campaign was developed with support from the CDC Foundation through an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. For more information, please call 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit www.cdc.gov/MRSA.

Two people and one organization will be honored when the Mental Health Association of Rockland holds its annual gala Sept. 14 in Piermont.
The Joseph Bernstein Award will be given to Joan Raynor, coordinator of the BOCES Family Resource Center and Glenn and Dorothy Patterson.
The MHA cited Raynor’s focus on helping people help themselves in her roll as coordinator of the Family Resource Center, which provides support for children and their families.
Glenn Patterson, a retired physician who had a medical practice in Rockland for 37 years and his wife, Dorothy, a nurse and social worker, are being recognized for their long time role as community health activists and volunteers.
This year the agency’s Partnership Award will be presented to the Tappan Zee Thrift Shop. The shop has been open since 1965 and each year all funds from the sales of clothing have gone to support local not-for-profit agencies, including the MHA.
For more information on the Mental Health Association of Rockland County, or the gala, contact the association at 845-267-2172, ext. 322

Flu season will start soon and this year people who want to get a flu shot to protect themselves might have a new option. Gov. David Paterson has signed legislation to let pharmacists administer flu and pneumonia shots, a change expected to boost the number of adults getting vaccinated statewide.
New York pharmacists who complete state training and certification will be permitted to give the shots with a prescription from a physician or nurse practitioner starting Dec. 4.
Assembly sponsors said every other state except Maine already allows the vaccinations, and studies show adult immunization rates for annual flu shots improve dramatically after such a change. In New York City alone, some health experts said the measure could increase the number of seniors who get the shots by 50,000 or more.

The Rockland Department of Health is looking for volunteers and professionals from community agencies and organizations to take aclass that will teach them to help people with chronic diseases. The Chronic Disease Self-Management program is designed to help people develop confidence in their ability to manage their conditions.The RocklandDepartment of Health will provide training for program leaders.
To become trained as a program leader, an individual does not need any healthcare experience,but should have a chronic condition. The training, which is being co-sponsored by Rockland Jewish Family Service, will be held from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m Sept. 16, 17, 23, 24 at the Jewish Community Center in West Nyack.
The Chronic Disease Self-Management program consists of workshops given for two-and-a-half hours, once a week for six weeks. People with any chronic condition such as diabetes, Parkinsons and heart disease or their caregivers can attend the workshop.
Topics covered in the program include:

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among New Yorkers, second only to heart disease, according to the New York state Department of Health. Among New York women, breast, lung and colorectal cancers are the three most common cancers after skin cancer. Among New York men, prostate, lung and colorectal cancers are the most common cancers after skin cancer.
According to the New York State Cancer Registry, between 2001 and 2005 nearly 52,000 men and women were newly diagnosed with these cancers alone each year, and approximately 18,500 deaths were reported annually.

I’ve heard a few funny answers to that question, mostly from men, that go something like “because they drive us to the grave!”

(I’m assuming “they” means their wives or perhaps women in general).

But seriously, a program at White Plains Hospital on Sept. 17 aims to offer a more scientific explanation to why men die first.

The program, sponsored by the Westchester medical and psychiatric societies, will focus on the deteriorating physical, mental and emotional status of men, their shorter life spans, unmet gender specific psychological and medical needs will take place

Marianne J. Legato, M.D. and Lionel Tiger, Ph.D.  are the guest speakers.

Dr. Legatto, an internationally known academic physician, medical educator, author, lecturer and specialist in women’s health is Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, Founder and Director of the Partnership for Women’s Health at Columbia University, founder and director of the Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine. Her just published book “Why Men Die First” examines the reasons men are more susceptible to serious illnesses and what they can to live longer.

Dr. Tiger, who developed the concept of male bonding, is Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University. He is the author of The Decline of Males” which tells how men are being relegated to secondary positions socially and economically and the consequences of such developments.

The program designed for health care professionals is open to the general public and will be held from 7 PM to 9 PM at the William and Sylvia Silberstein Auditorium, White Plains Hospital, 42 East Post Road, White Plains.

Since seating is limited, members of the public interested in attending should RSVP to Edward M. Stephens, M.D., 914-686-9075; e-mail, ems3mdmsn.com or Larry Grolnick, M.D., 914-948-7416; e-mail lawrence.grolnickgmail.com.