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Yearly Archives: 2016

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Danny Bonilla Zavala, 19, of Selden, was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death. Photo from SCPD

Suffolk County Police have arrested 19-year-old Danny Bonilla Zavala for driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene after a man was killed in a Port Jefferson Station motor vehicle crash on Aug. 21.

Bob Hidalgo was driving a 2011 Toyota Corolla southbound on Route 112 near Sagamore Hills Drive when his vehicle was struck by a 1995 Nissan Maxima traveling southbound on Route 112 at 5:10 p.m. Bonilla Zavala, the driver of the Maxima, of Selden, fled on foot and was apprehended a short time later by Sixth Precinct Police Officer Matthew Cameron.

Hidalgo, 31, of Coram, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician’s assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. His wife, Taisha Hidalgo, 30, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Bonilla Zavala was transported to John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson for treatment of minor injuries he sustained in the crash. Major Case Unit detectives charged Bonilla Zavala with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death. Bonilla Zavala was held at the Sixth Precinct and is scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip today.

The vehicles were impounded for safety checks and the investigation is continuing. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to contact Major Case Unit detectives at 631-852-6555.

This version correctly identifies Danny Bonilla Zavala, who was arrested and charged with a DWI and leaving the scene of an accident. He initially misidentified himself to police. Additional charges are pending.

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The new trail will move from Port Jefferson Station to Wading River, passing through where old Miller Place railroad tracks used to be. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Every project has its perks, and in the case of one large North Shore endeavor, the possibilities are endless.

U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), along with other local officials, recently announced a 2018 completion year for the Port Jefferson Station to Wading River Rails to Trails project  — that has been more than 30 years in the making. With the plan, which involves paving a bike path where old railways existed to be used for cyclists, potential is everywhere.

While the project will provide a safe space for biking enthusiasts, skateboarders, roller-bladers and even those just looking to take a scenic stroll, there is also a huge chance for economic growth, with the path connecting so many Town of Brookhaven hamlets. Bikers, hikers and anyone in-between could stop at kiosks along the path to grab a bottle of water or an ice cream cone, or groups may stop in any hamlet along their travels to grab dinner or go shopping. The trail could also be a way to connect locals, and tourists too, to local beaches, museums and other landmarks.

It’s also just a great opportunity to explore the wonders of the North Shore. The plan helps preserve even more open space while stringing together breathtaking views that tend to get lost in all of the development on Long Island.

Further, the trails should serve as inspiration for cars to be left at home occasionally, which can only have a positive impact on the environment around us.

This project is attractive on multiple levels and across multiple layers of government. We applaud officials for being able to work together and across party lines to achieve a common goal with so many benefits.

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A drone carrying medicine and lab samples lands in a village in Madagascar. Photo courtesy of SBU

By Daniel Dunaief

Stony Brook University is taking to the skies to help people on the ground in Madagascar. Through its Global Health Institute, SBU plans to bring drones to the island nation off the southwest coast of Africa that will carry medical samples from hard-to-reach villages to its state-of-the-art research facility, Centre ValBio.

Late last month, Peter Small, the founding director at GHI, brought a drone to Madagascar, where it flew from the research station to a nearby village. The drones can fly like an airplane over 40 miles of terrain, while they take off and land like a helicopter, enabling a smooth ride to protect the samples inside the cargo area.

“Our challenge is to align the most pressing challenges that are amenable to supply chain and specimen transport and intervention,” Small said. Madagascar is dealing with “high rates of tuberculosis” among other health challenges, he said, adding that a university like Stony Brook can take complicated problems and find solutions in the real world.

The drones can provide two important functions for Madagascar: monitoring the outbreak of any unknown and potentially dangerous disease and offering health care for people who live in areas that are inaccessible by road, Small said.

A view of Madagascar from the SBU drone. Photo courtesy of SBU
A view of Madagascar from the SBU drone. Photo courtesy of SBU

“Diseases like Ebola and Zika frequently pop up in remote areas,” said Small, a medical doctor who worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation prior to joining Stony Brook University in 2015. Having sites where drones can land and collect specimens will allow village health workers to send off specimens for analysis, providing greater clarity on the incidence of specific diseases throughout the country.

Additionally, people in remote areas can send samples back to a lab to test for medical conditions, such as tuberculosis. After medical technicians run tests, the drones can return not only with drugs that can treat the condition but also with instructions on how to treat patients.

The drones can carry a special box to record whether a pill bottle is opened. The box also can carry a sound recorder that can recognize and count coughs, Small said. When the drone returns with another supply of medication, the previous medicine can make the return trip to the lab, where doctors can determine whether the cough is getting better and can see how much medicine the patient took.

Medicine is delivered to villages in Madagascar by way of drones. Photo courtesy of SBU
Medicine is delivered to villages in Madagascar by way of drones. Photo courtesy of SBU

Ideally, the drones will not require any specialized knowledge to fly. Once people in rural villages have a signal, they can request a drone, which can transport samples to a lab or bring medicine back to the village.

“We want to put these drones in the hands of the village health workers and the local health system,” said Small. He said those working with this project hoped people in the village would welcome this medical service but were unsure how it would be received. “We had no idea how people would respond to these” drones, Small said. The initial run, however, was successful. GHI plans to bring two more drones to Madagascar in the next few months.

A company in Michigan called Vayu manufactures the drones, which weigh 35 pounds, are about the size of a picnic table and can carry up to a 5-pound payload, said Daniel Pepper, the company’s chief executive officer. Using an electric, rechargeable battery, the drones can travel up to 40 miles. In the near future, Pepper hopes to increase that distance to as many as 65 miles.

Vayu has manufactured dozens of these drones. The recent Madagascar test was the first time they had used the unit in an international setting. Pepper is “speaking to partners and potential customers in over a dozen countries,” including the United States, where drones might offer a connection between medical centers in urban areas and harder-to-reach rural communities.

Pepper said the drone was the only one on the market that’s electric powered and can carry this payload over this range. “It takes off automatically and lands vertically,” he said and described the landing as “soft.”

According to Small, Madagascar could benefit from these drones, particularly in diagnosing the myriad health challenges of the area. “Madagascar is a remarkable area to start addressing some of these problems and bringing innovation,” he said.

In some villages, as many as 90 percent of people have intestinal parasites, which contributes to malnutrition and stunts growth, Small said. Small and Patricia Wright, the founder and executive director of Centre ValBio who has been working in the area for 30 years, are hoping to broaden and deepen the connection between Stony Brook and Madagascar.

The dental school has coordinated dental missions to treat hundreds of patients a day. Small said the dean of the dental school, Mary Truhlar, recently visited Madagascar to go beyond medical missions to “engage in improving the quality and training, care and health system issues.”

Small is excited with the way computational science and high-end mathematics are coming in to describe the complexities of health problems to the government of Madagascar. This will assist the government in generating medical priorities. Small has set some large goals for his role: “If life is not palpably better in five, 10 or 15 years” in Madagascar, “I will have failed at my job.”

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Lavender has long been used for its strong scent. Photo by Ellen Barcel

By Ellen Barcel

Every garden is a reflection of the tastes of the gardener: a children’s play area, fresh veggies, grapes for homemade wine or jam, a place to read and relax in the extensive greenery, privacy around a swimming pool, etc.

While some plants have little or no scent, or an unappealing one, many have a sweet or pleasing scent. Depending on your preference, you may want a very fragrant garden; or, if you’re allergic to sweet scents, you may want to know which plants to avoid. Here’s a rundown of some very fragrant, sweetly scented plants that will perfume your garden and your home.

Lilacs are known for their beautiful scent. Unfortunately, most only produce flowers in spring. Depending on your other choices, you may want to plant them as part of a whole plan — a number of fragrant plants blooming throughout the growing season. There are some varieties that are billed as rebloomers. The second bloom is usually not as lush as the first.

Roses should be selected by reading the tags or catalog descriptions carefully. Some roses have been cultivated to be beautiful but have little scent. Research your selections carefully so that you get exactly what you want. ‘Double Delight’ has a fruity or spicy scent, while ‘Julia Child’ has the scent of licorice and ‘Fragrant Cloud’ has a sweet perfume.

Honeysuckle is very sweetly scented, but note that some varieties are on the Do Not Sell List because of their invasive nature. Honeysuckle is native to the northern hemisphere, including North America, Europe and Asia. The plant is particularly popular for its intensely fragrant white flowers.

Mints are herbaceous perennials with a strong aroma. They can be used in cooking (jams, jellies, iced tea, etc.) or just enjoyed in the garden. Brush against the leaves and you release the wonderful scent. Lavender is in the mint family. Lavender is not native to the Americas but has been grown here since colonial times. It has been used as an insect repellent, to freshen clothes, to flavor foods and to scent cosmetics and soaps.

Lily of the Valley is a woodland plant that is very sweetly scented. Another benefit is that it does well in shady areas. But, be careful here, as the plant is toxic. As with all plants you are considering adding to your garden, make sure that no little children or pets can ingest it.

Bee balm is also a member of the mint family. A native of North America, it has even been used to make a tea. Flower colors range from red to purple.

Gardenias are extremely fragrant, but must be grown as a house plant on Long Island — they are cold tolerant only to zone 8. Yes, they can be moved to the outdoors in the summer and they will certainly add to the fragrance.

Jasmine is so strongly scented that some people avoid it as a result. Jasmine does well in zones 6 through 10 and requires full sun. Blossoms can be used to scent water in indoor arrangements and can also be used to scent tea.

Viburnum is a woody shrub that can easily reach 10 or more feet tall. Some species have flowers that are strongly scented. The white flowers are followed by bright red berries.

Mock orange is a woody shrub that does well in zones 4 to 7. It blooms in summer with lovely white flowers and an orangey aroma.

Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana) has sweetly scented, tube-shaped flowers available in a variety of colors: pink, white, red. It is usually grown as an annual but don’t be surprised if it survives a mild winter.

Hyacinths are spring blooming bulbs with a very strong sweet scent. Plant them in autumn before the ground has frozen. Like all spring flowering bulbs, after the flowers have died down, allow the green leaves to continue growing to provide food for the bulbs for next year. By summer those leaves will have disappeared.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

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The “Culper Spy Adventure,” a special presentation by TBR News Media, is an immersive digital attraction that will allow locals and tourists alike to be recruited into the ranks of General Washington’s secret Setauket spy ring. Accessed by scanning a special QR code on a panel of the Three Village map or visiting www.TBRNewsMedia.com/Culper, you will begin an interactive 45-minute journey that puts you into the starring role of your very own secret spy adventure!

Become a time traveler as you arrive in the year 1780, crossing paths with legends and heroes: Abraham Woodhull, Anna Smith Strong, Caleb Brewster, George Washington himself! Enjoy interactive games between each episode that are filled to the brim with intrigue, action and fun! Created with the whole family in mind, the “Culper Spy Adventure” is great for all ages.

Jonathan Trumbull captures a member of Tallmadge’s dragoons in excerpt from painting.
Jonathan Trumbull captures a member of Tallmadge’s dragoons in excerpt from painting.

Lemuel Cook, one of the last surviving veterans of the American Revolution, died at 106 years old in 1866. He served under the command of Lt. Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, a Setauket native, Culper spy and member of the House of Representatives. He was born in the British Colony of Connecticut in 1759, just two or three years apart from Alexander Hamilton and died in the State of New York as a citizen of the United States of America.

Cook was a cavalryman who rode alongside the 2nd Light Continental Dragoons. He enlisted when he was just 16 years old. His military career took him from the Battle of Brandywine to the war’s end at Yorktown. He was witness to the surrender of General Cornwallis and given an honorable discharge by General George Washington. At the time of his enlistment in 1775, there were just 13 British colonies. By the time of his death there were 36 American states. This centenarian saw his national flag change many times and watched our founders’ dream of American democracy come to fruition.

Lemuel Cook, American Revolutionary War veteran. Photo from Michael Tessler
Lemuel Cook, American Revolutionary War veteran. Photo from Michael Tessler

He lived through the War of 1812, a conflict his generation called “the Second American Revolution.” He saw his countrymen settle westward achieving new frontiers, and in 1861 he saw our young republic descend into a brutal civil war. By that time he was one of five remaining veterans of the War for Independence. He died five years later but lived to see the Civil War’s conclusion. He lived to see the abolishment of slavery, and we can only hope with it he experienced a great comfort that our American experiment would endure.

Seeing Cook for the first time was an overwhelming experience. In all of my research and love for history, I’ve never seen a real photograph of someone who lived through that extraordinary time in our national story. His eyes look tired but tell such an important story. They witnessed so much: watched as Benjamin Tallmadge led charges against British soldiers, watched as Caleb Brewster carried secret messages to camp, watched the sword of General Cornwallis be offered to George Washington. He was the last direct connection to Setauket’s secret revolutionary history and perhaps to our nation’s first commander-in-chief.

In our textbooks we often forget about men like Cook. His name, like so many others, has fallen into obscurity. His story near forgotten. Yet his bravery and sacrifice remain just as profound and real as they were some 240 years ago. We should not forget them, those brave Continentals and militiamen who risked everything for a dream of a nation that did not yet exist. They epitomized what it means to be American, heck, they defined it.

My greatest honor in life has been paying homage to them by telling their stories some two and a half centuries later. Honor their sacrifice by witnessing it first-hand. See Cook’s unit come to life in our recently released “Culper Spy Adventure” series now available for free at: www.TBRNewsMedia.com/Culper.

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‘Catching the Tune,’ 1866, oil on canvas by William Sidney Mount. Image courtesy of Long Island Museum

By Ellen Barcel

The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook revealed its newest exhibit, Drawn from Life: Objects and Stories from William Sidney Mount’s Paintings Aug. 12. Mount was an early 19th-century genre artist who lived from 1807 to 1868. Born in Setauket, Mount spent much of his career in Stony Brook. He is buried in the Setauket Presbyterian Church’s Cemetery.

'Mount House' 1854, oil on canvas, by William Sidney Mount
‘Mount House’ 1854, oil on canvas, by William Sidney Mount

Julie Diamond, director of communications at the museum, noted that the William Sidney Mount house, located on the corner of Route 25A and Stony Brook Road in Stony Brook, is preserved to this day. Mount had his studio in the third-floor attic of the house, which was built in 1725 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

The Long Island Museum has the largest collection of Mount’s work and memorabilia in the world. His paintings show ordinary people doing ordinary things: washing laundry, dancing to the music of a violin, fishing, trapping, etc. He was a contemporary of the Hudson River School of painting.

The exhibit is curated by museum assistant curator Jonathan Olly. New to the LIM since February, he earned a doctorate in American studies just a few years ago from Brown University. Although this is his first major exhibit at the LIM, he knew he wanted to become a museum curator back when he was a summer intern in Washington, D.C., at the National Museum of American History. “I’ve been working in museums since 2001,” he said.

One of the really unique paintings on view is the portrait of Robert Morris Russell. According to Olly, Mount painted it in 1832 along with a portrait of Russell’s wife and mother. The painting has not been on display “in over 40 years.” It needed conservation, which was provided through a Greater Hudson Heritage grant.

Russell “died that year, a victim of the cholera epidemic in New York.” Olly continued, “He was a merchant in New York [City]. His wife, Ruth Amelia Smith Russell moved the family back to Long Island after he died.” Since both his and his wife’s portraits are on display, this “is the first time they are reunited in public since the 1970s.”

Olly noted that in assembling the exhibit “we also drew on our textile collection to outfit mannequins.” An 1830s black dress and a man’s black waistcoat are paired with these two portraits.

While some of the objects paired with each particular painting are of the period, a few are actually the items Mount painted. One of Mount’s original easels is on display, along with one of his violins. The 1857 instrument, one of the Cradle of Harmony violins he designed, was unique in that it had a concave, instead of a usual convex, back in order to “create a larger sound in a crowded room,” at a time when there was no electricity — no amplifiers. “He used and played the violin himself, but there was never any interest in manufacturing it,” said Olly. The violin is paired with “Catching the Tune,” showing a fiddler holding that actual instrument.

In the portrait of Mount’s sister Ruth, she is shown with her child, Charles. The original dress that the baby is wearing in the painting is on display as well.

‘Dancing: Children’s summer programs, 2006,’ photo by Julie Diamond
‘Dancing: Children’s summer programs, 2006,’ photo by Julie Diamond

Six paintings are paired with current photos of the same locations. Most of these were taken by Olly, including that of Patriot’s Rock in Setauket. The photo of the barn, shown above, was taken several years ago by Diamond. “The doorway of the barn frames the image that Julie took of three kids, in programs,” held at the museum. The barn is the Williamson barn, believed to be the one Mount painted in “Dancing on the Barn Floor,” below, which was moved to the LIM property for preservation. Olly added, “it’s amazing that these places still do survive,” after more than 150 years.

‘Dancing on the Barn Floor,’ 1831, oil on canvas by William Sidney Mount
‘Dancing on the Barn Floor,’ 1831, oil on canvas by William Sidney Mount

Seniors age 62 and over are invited to visit the museum (free admission) on a normally closed day, Sept. 13, to take a self-guided tour of the exhibit from 10 a.m. to noon as part of the museum’s Senior Tuesday program.

The new Mount exhibit will be used in the museum’s children’s programs as well, including Meet the Museum: A World Without Cars (with a focus on carriages), Meet the Museum: Through an Artist’s Eyes (with a focus on art) and The New Nation: The World of William Sidney Mount (focusing on business and transportation). Detailed teacher’s information is available for download on the museum’s website.

The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook will present Drawn from Life: Objects and Stories from William Sidney Mount’s Paintings through Dec. 31 in the Art Museum on the hill. The museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. For further information, call 631-751-0066 or visit www.longislandmuseum.org.

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Savory Black Grape Sorbet

Dessert and summer are a match made in heaven. Sweltering summer afternoons might not be comfortable, but any discomfort can be quickly washed away with a refreshing dessert, such as the following recipe for Kiwi Fruit Sorbet from Lou Seibert Pappas’ “Ice Creams & Sorbets” (Chronicle Books) or Savory Black Grape Sorbet from Family Features.

Kiwi Fruit Sorbet

Kiwi Fruit Sorbet
Kiwi Fruit Sorbet

YIELD: Makes about 1 quart

INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons grated lime or lemon zest

3⁄4 cup sugar, divided

3⁄4 cup water

2 pounds kiwi fruit (about 8 kiwi fruit), peeled and quartered

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice

2 limes, quartered

DIRECTIONS: In a small bowl, mash the zest with 1 teaspoon of the sugar to release the oils. Combine the remaining sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook until the syrup is clear. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. In a food processor or blender, purée the kiwi fruit with the juice, syrup and sugared zest. Transfer to a container, cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 3 hours. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Or, to freeze without an ice cream maker, pour the mixture into a 9-inch nonreactive square pan. Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and freeze just until solid, 2 to 3 hours. Scrape out into an electric mixer or food processor and process briefly until light and fluffy. Serve at once or transfer to a container, cover and freeze until firm, about 2 hours. At serving time, garnish with a lime wedge to squeeze over each serving.

Savory Black Grape Sorbet

Savory Black Grape Sorbet
Savory Black Grape Sorbet

YIELD: Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds (4 cups) black California seedless grapes, washed and stemmed

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vodka

2 tablespoons lemon juice

8 large basil leaves

pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS: In a food processor or blender, puree grapes and sugar until smooth. Pour into small saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until mixture has reduced by about one-third, about 15 minutes. Stir in vodka, lemon juice, basil and salt then let cool to room temperature. Pour mixture into shallow pan and freeze until hard, 3-4 hours. Transfer to food processor or blender and process until smooth and creamy and lightened in color. Serve immediately.

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By Linda Toga

The Facts: My father died last year and I was issued letters testamentary by the Surrogate’s Court. When going through my father’s desk, I found a bank statement dated June, 1999, for a savings account I did not know existed. The balance in the account in 1999 was nearly $5,000. Unfortunately, the bank that held the account no longer exists.

The Question: How can I find out if my father removed the money from the account prior to his death?

The Answer: If the statement you found had been dated within the last five (5) years, you could likely find out which bank took over the assets of your father’s bank and contact them to see if the account still exists. However, in New York State, if a bank account is dormant for an extended period of time, after five years, the bank can hand over all of the money in the account to the State Comptroller’s Office.

In other words, after the requisite waiting period, the account will escheat to the state. While bank accounts escheat to the state after five (5) years, other types of assets and property such as insurance policies escheat after only three (3) years and checks issued by the state escheat after only one (1) year.

If you believe the money in your father’s account was escheated to the state, you can obtain information by calling the New York State Comptroller’s Office, which oversees the New York Office of Unclaimed Funds. You can also go online to www.osc.state.ny.us/ouf/ and search under your father’s name and address for any of his property that may have escheated to the state.

If your father ever lived outside New York, you may also want to search on the sites maintained by the offices of unclaimed funds in other states to be sure you don’t miss anything.

While you are searching for assets belonging to your father that may have escheated to the state, you should also search on your own name and address. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that a rent or utility deposit you forgot you even made or dividends on stocks that you once owned have escheated to the state and are available to you. There is no statute of limitations on unclaimed property, and online searches are free, so you have nothing to lose.

While it is highly unlikely that you will find you are entitled $6.1 million like the largest unclaimed property recipient but, you never know!

If you are lucky enough to find that the balance in your father’s account did, in fact, escheat to the state, you can request that the funds be sent to you. To do so, you must file a claim and provide sufficient information to establish your entitlement to the funds. Since you are the executrix of your father’s estate, you will be asked to provide your letters testamentary as well as documents establishing that your father was, in fact, the person named on the account. Any unclaimed funds that you collect as executrix should be considered as part of your father’s probate estate and distributed in accordance with the provisions in his will.

The process of recouping unclaimed property can be very frustrating because it takes quite some time. It is not unusual to be asked to resubmit paperwork previously provided or to provide documents that were not initially requested. However, being able to get your hands on “found” money is exciting and usually worth the effort.

Linda M. Toga, Esq. provides legal services in the areas of estate administration and planning, real estate and litigation from her East Setauket office.

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Trump's diet has been brought to the forefront during this election year.

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Donald Trump could learn a thing or two from Bill Clinton. No, we are not talking about politics; we are talking about health. Trump is a public persona, and his diet has been brought to the forefront. As was Clinton’s when he was the United States’ 42nd president. An Aug. 8 New York Times article discussed Trump’s love for fast food and his ironic obsession with cleanliness (1).

Trump’s approach to diet seems to be eerily similar to the standard American diet — with the added detriment of fast food. Though he likes the cleanliness of fast food chains, his arteries may not like the “dirtying” effect of atherosclerosis, or arterial plaques.

Admittedly, I don’t know anything about his family history, including whether or not cardiovascular disease is an issue; nor his blood chemistries, such as cholesterol levels; nor whether or not he has high blood pressure. However, one thing is clear: He is overweight with a significant amount of visceral fat, or belly fat. This type of body fat is considered the most dangerous because it surrounds the internal organs such as the heart (2). This promotes potential cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

For a long time, Bill Clinton also had a love for fast food and the standard American diet. However, this resulted in atherosclerosis, which caused significant blockage of coronary arteries and resulted in coronary artery bypass surgery involving four arteries in 2004. Since then, he has been on a mission to reform his diet. Through the influence of physicians like Drs. Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn, both advocates of plant-based diets, Clinton has done much better and lost significant weight, as well.

Thus, this is more about the standard American diet, with its high saturated fat, high sugar, refined grains, processed meats and elevated salt versus the nutrient-dense, more likely plant-based, approach with fruits, vegetables and whole grains and their respective effects on cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis and even mortality.

These type of plant-based diets include the Mediterranean-type diet, the DASH diet, the Ornish diet and the Esselstyn diet.

If we look solely at the differences between saturated fats and unsaturated fats, a recent study involving over 120,000 participants showed that when just 5 percent of pure saturated fats in the diet were replaced with unsaturated fats, this resulted in a significant reduction in all-cause mortality of up to 27 percent over 32 years (3). For more details on this study analysis, see my recent article, “Let the dietary fat wars begin,” which can be found online at www.tbrnewsmedia.com.

I am a firm believer in leading by example. I think it is a powerful way to get patients to follow through with lifestyle changes, especially diet and exercise. That is why the dietary changes I ask my patients to make, I also have been following for years.

Data on cardiovascular disease

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data about cardiovascular disease that is downright depressing. From 2000 to 2010, the risk of dying from this disease was decreasing by almost 4 percent a year in both men and women (4). However, from 2010 to 2014, this decrease slowed precipitously to 0.23 percent in men and 1.17 percent in women. The reason for this slowdown is that we may have reached a ceiling in the effectiveness of traditional medical interventions. The suggestions are that we concentrate more efforts on lifestyle modifications, specifically diet, physical activity and not smoking.

At the same time, 2011-2012 NHANES data showed a significant increase in obesity and diabetes (5). The bad news is we have not changed our lifestyles enough, especially diet. The good news is that there is a large upside for change and progress!

Reversing heart disease

This research includes both Ornish and Esselstyn. Both physicians have shown it is possible, through a plant-based approach, to have a significant impact on cardiovascular disease, reversing atherosclerosis and preventing a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack.

Esselstyn’s research includes a small study with 24 of his own patients (6). Of these, 18 patients completed the five-year study. These 18 patients had experienced 49 cardiovascular events in the previous eight years. Results show that with a plant-based diet, none of the 18 had a cardiovascular event. Eleven patients chose to have angiographic analysis to determine stenosis, or blockage. None of the 11 progressed; in fact, eight showed regression in atherosclerosis.

Though this was a small study with no control group, the duration, the reversal of atherosclerosis at the study end point and the severity of cardiovascular disease prior to the study make these results intriguing and impressive.

This study was extended to 12 years with similar results and only one additional patient dropping out. Interestingly, those who discontinued the study had a subsequent total of 13 cardiovascular events. One of the key study markers was keeping total cholesterol to lower than 150 mg/dL. The diet emphasized fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes and whole grains.

Then, Esselstyn’s group looked at 198 patients with cardiovascular disease (7). The results were similar to the smaller initial study, with those in the adherent group following a nutrient-dense, plant-based diet experiencing a most astonishing cardiovascular event rate of only 0.6 percent, while the 21 who were nonadherent (the unbeknownst control group, per se) experienced an event rate of 62 percent over 3.7 years.

What about Ornish’s research? Not surprisingly, the results were very similar to Esselstyn’s. In the Ornish study, results showed a reversal in atherosclerosis of 7.9 percent in the treatment group compared to baseline, whereas those in the control arm over the same period showed a 27.7 percent increase in atherosclerosis or plaques in the arteries (8). Also, the control group experienced more than two times as many cardiovascular events as seen in the treatment group. The patients in the treatment group were on a plant-based diet.

There were 48 patients with moderate to severe cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study, with 28 patients in the treatment group and 20 assigned to the control arm. Of these patients about 75 percent in each group completed the study. The duration of the study was five years. Again, these results are intriguing, and each study reinforces the others.

A clinical example

In my practice, I recently had a 69-year-old white male patient with cardiovascular disease and an extensive family history of the disease, who went to the cardiologist prior to working with me. The initial carotid Doppler (sonogram of the neck arteries) showed a 16 to 50 percent blockage in both carotid arteries. After a year, the carotid Doppler results had been reduced to between 1 and 15 percent blockages in both carotid arteries. The patient’s total cholesterol had dropped to 146 mg/dL, and this result included discontinuing his cholesterol medication, though it was not a statin. Of course, this is anecdotal, but it is consistent with the results mentioned in the studies above.

In conclusion, now you see why Bill Clinton followed the advice of at least two very wise physicians after his quadruple bypass surgery. Lifestyle with a nutrient-dense, plant-based diet not only can prevent cardiovascular disease but may be able to arrest and even reverse plaques in the arteries. Trump would be wise to follow suit and focus on cleanliness of his arteries rather than just cleanliness of the restaurant, as we all would.

References: (1) NYTimes.com. (2) Crit Pathw Cardiol. 2007;6(2):51-59. (3) JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(8):1134-1145. (4) JAMA Cardiol. online June 29, 2016. (5) cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes. (6) J Fam Pract. 1995;41(6):560-568. (7) J Fam Pract. 2014;63(7):356-364b. (8) JAMA. 1998;280(23):2001-2007.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.

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