May 10, 2012

World No Tobacco Day

Pat Folan, RN

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated each year on May 31st to increase awareness about health problems caused by tobacco use.  This year, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “tobacco industry interference” theme highlights the tobacco industry’s efforts to thwart tobacco control policies around the world and reminds organizations and governments of their responsibility to be vigilant against the tobacco industry  and help control the global tobacco epidemic. 

Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of preventable death and disease in the world, killing nearly six million people each year. Through advertising and marketing, tobacco companies glamorize smoking in order to entice children and young adults to initiate smoking. To combat tobacco industry strategies, effective tobacco control policies have been implemented. These include: indoor and outdoor smoking bans, restrictions on sales of tobacco to youth, and increased tobacco taxes. In addition, anti-tobacco commercials and graphic labels on tobacco products prevent thousands of children and young adults from becoming the next generation of smokers and motivate many adult smokers to quit.

While the U.S. has made major progress against tobacco use, there’s a long way to go.  Tobacco use still costs the U.S. more than $96 billion in health care expenditures and $97 billion in lost productivity each year. One in five Americans still smokes and about 4,000 children try their first cigarette each day.  We can do better.

At North Shore-LIJ, people who use tobacco can quit through the comprehensive services of the Center for Tobacco Control. For more information about this program, please call 516-466-1980 or visit the website at www.northshorelij.com/stopsmoking. To contact the NYS Smokers’ Quitline, please call 1-866-8487.
 

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April 30, 2012

Protect Your Eyes From Summer Sun

Carolyn Shih, MD

Summer is approaching quickly- do you know all there is to know about summertime eye safety?  We all know the dangers of UV rays to our skin but it is also important to protect your eyes.  Aside from the pleasing esthetics, wearing sunglasses with 100% UV A and UVB protection help protect your eyes from harmful rays and harsh sunlight.  The sun does not need to be shinning bright for you to be effected by the sun’s rays- UV rays are strong and can pass through the cloudy overcast. 

Benefit of wearing sunglasses:

  • Prevents early formation of cataracts from UV damage
  • Protects sensitive skin around the eyes from the development of tumors from free radicals
  • Relieves dry eye syndrome by blocking wind
  • Reduces glare via polarized lenses
  • May help to prevent macular degeneration as you age
  • Protects your eyes from debris and sand

Maintaining a healthy diet does more than keeps you looking fit; eating right may protect you from cataracts, macular degeneration, and other eye diseases.  As the grills come out this summer, try replacing your chicken with salmon.  Salmon is rich in omega-3 and other essential vitamins that are important for maintaining overall eye health.  Make your salads using dark, leafy greens including spinach and kale.  And don’t forget the guacamole!  Avocados are nutrient dense providing lutein, vitamins A, E, C, and B6.  Baby carrots are perfect for dipping into fresh guacamole.  
Start using these tips in May during Healthy Vision Month to get a head start on protecting your eyes!To make an appointment for your eye exam, call 516-470-2020 today!
 

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March 19, 2012

Anti-Tobacco Ads Show Painful Effects of Smoking

Pat Folan, RN

The painful reality of illness and damage suffered by real people because of smoking is the focus of a new anti-tobacco ad campaign. Launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the ads show the toll of illnesses caused by smoking and secondhand smoke.

The “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign features ex-smokers with tobacco-related diseases and disabilities. The ads focus on lung and throat cancer, heart attack, stroke, Buerger’s disease and asthma. Former smokers give tips on how they quit successfully.
The real, painful consequences of smoking are hard to watch, but such ads often persuade smokers to make quit attempts, discourage children from initiating smoking and encourage ex-smokers to stay away from cigarettes. Yet despite the known dangers of smoking, approximately 20 percent of the nation continues to smoke and every day more than 1,000 adolescents become daily smokers.
The campaign will cost the federal government $54 million; the tobacco industry spends the same amount for marketing and promotion every two days.
The North Shore-LIJ Center for Tobacco Control offers quit-smoking help. Call us at 516-466-1980.
For telephone counseling, call the New York State Smokers’ Quitline at 1-866-NY-QUITS. The national quitline number is 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
Visit our main Web site to find a hospital in New York close to you or visit our Find a Physican tool to find a doctor best suited to your needs.
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March 09, 2012

Nicotine During Pregnancy Increases the Risk of Colic

Dan Jacobsen, NP

Babies are more likely to have colic when their mothers smoked or used nicotine replacement therapy during pregnancy, according to research just published in the journal Pediatrics. A significantly increased risk of infantile colic--ranging from 30 percent to 60 percent--was associated with prenatal nicotine exposure in the study of more than 63,000 mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

As difficult as a bout of colic can be, tobacco’s effects on a fetus are worse. Smoking during pregnancy is associated with babies of low birth weight, which can affect lifetime growth and development. Smoking is also associated with spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and sudden infant death syndrome.
 
Obstetricians in the United States don't usually prescribe nicotine replacement therapy (like patches or gum) for pregnant women. The Center for Tobacco Control can help expectant mothers overcome nicotine addiction with counseling, behavioral therapy or hypnosis.
 
Visit our main Web site to find a hospital in New York close to you or visit our Find a Physican tool to find a doctor best suited to your needs.
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February 29, 2012

Lead in Lipstick Should Worry the FDA--and You, Too

Ken Spaeth, MD

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a report that it found lead in hundreds of shades of popular brands of lipstick found everywhere from drugstores to department stores. 

The agency said that the lead levels it found pose no health risk. However, this claim flies in the face of scientific consensus that there is no such thing as a safe level of lead.
 
In fact, two populations are at heightened risk of harm from lead--particularly from lipstick:
  • pregnant women, because lead exposure during fetal development can cause neurological and cognitive defects; and
  • young girls, because their smaller stature and lack of fully developed blood/brain barriers leave them vulnerable.  
This development is another example of the need for adequate health and safety testing of consumer products. From a public health policy perspective, there should be a zero tolerance policy for lead in consumer products--particularly those used by pregnant women and children.
 
Visit our main Web site to find a hospital in New York close to you or visit our Find a Physican tool to find a doctor best suited to your needs.
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