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By Matthew Kearns, DVM

Dr. Matthew Kearns

I just returned from a veterinary conference and I thought it wise to attend some lectures on periodontal disease in dogs and cats just to update myself with the latest information. One of the lectures focused on home care to prevent periodontal disease. Studies have shown that 85% of pets have some degree of periodontal disease by age three. 

Periodontal disease refers to pathology of the structures around the tooth: gingiva (gums), the periodontal ligament, perialveolar bone. Periodontal disease begins with plaque. It has been proven that even within 24 hours of a professional cleaning, a thin film of bacteria, saliva, and food (also known as plaque) accumulates on the enamel of the tooth. Plaque that is not removed mineralizes within 10 days into tartar or a calculus. 

Once tartar takes hold a shift develops from aerobic bacteria (bacteria that need oxygen to survive) to nasty anaerobic bacteria (those that need little or no oxygen to survive). Anaerobic bacteria secrete toxins that inflame the gums and lead to small abscesses or pockets under the gums. Bacteria start to destroy the support structures around the tooth which is very painful. If not treated then the tooth will need to be removed. 

Brushing is still the most effective way to prevent the development of plaque and tartar. There are a variety of toothbrushes available for pets. Make sure the toothpaste is veterinary approved. Swallowing human toothpaste is harmful because it has too much sodium, fluoride, and sweetened with saccharin. 

Pet safe toothpaste comes variety of flavors that pets will like (chicken, beef, fish, etc). When you first begin just to put a little toothpaste on the end of the brush and let your pet investigate. Hopefully they sniff, lick, or even just chew on the brush. Start by gently just brushing the front teeth. Once they tolerate that, start to work towards the back teeth. 

If this makes you groan, you are not alone. I myself do not have time to brush my own pet’s teeth every 24 hours and, even if I did, they would not let me. There are other options. Certain prescription diets (Hill’s t/d®, and Purina Pro Plan DH®) literally clean the teeth as your pet eats. There are also treats that do the same. Look for the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) seal on the packaging. These insure the product is safe and effective. If you can’t find a VOHC approved treat, remember this slogan: “if you wouldn’t want to get hit in the knee with this dental treat/chew, don’t let your pet chew on it.” That means if it is too hard your pet runs the risk of damaging their teeth. 

Rinses are the least effective because there is no abrasive component to remove plaque. Look for the VOHC seal of approval. The safest and most effective rinses contain chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine is most effective against the development of plaque and chlorhexidine-based rinses are considered the gold standard of veterinary oral rinses. Rinses containing xylitol, or fluoride should be avoided in my opinion because of their potential for toxicity.

This is not a complete list of dental home care products so, as always, please consult with your own veterinarian for a more in-depth conversation. In addition, I can’t guarantee that even if you follow through with all these recommendations that your dog or cat will not need professional dental care (including extractions), but it certainly helps.  

Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine. 

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The focus is on absorption and blood levels

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Dr. David Dunaief

With the recent storms, the cold temperatures and the not-quite-so-short, but still short days, it’s likely you’re not spending a lot of time outside in the sunshine with your skin exposed these days.

Here in the Northeast, this is the time of year when many reach for vitamin D supplements to compensate for a lack of vitamin D from the sun. Let’s explore what we know about vitamin D supplementation.

There is no question that, if you have low levels of vitamin D, replacing it is important. Previous studies have shown that it may be effective in a wide swath of chronic diseases, both in prevention and as part of a treatment paradigm. However, many questions remain.

At the 70th annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting in 2012, Dr. Richard Gallo, who was involved with the Institute of Medicine recommendations, shook things up by noting that, in most geographic locations, sun exposure will not correct vitamin D deficiencies. Interestingly, he emphasized getting more vitamin D from nutrition. Dietary sources include cold-water fatty fish, beef liver, and egg yolks. Most of us receive food-sourced vitamin D from fortified packaged foods, where vitamin D has been added.

We know its importance for bone health, but as of yet, we only have encouraging — but not yet definitive — data for other diseases. These include cardiovascular, autoimmune and skin diseases and cancer.

There is no consensus on the ideal blood level for vitamin D. For adults, the Institute of Medicine recommends between 20 and 50 ng/ml, and The Endocrine Society recommends at least 30 ng/ml.

Cardiovascular mixed results

Stock photo

Several observational studies have shown benefits of vitamin D supplements with cardiovascular disease. For example, the Framingham Offspring Study showed that those patients with deficient levels were at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (1).

However, a small randomized controlled trial (RCT) called the cardioprotective effects of vitamin D into question (2). This study of postmenopausal women, using biomarkers such as endothelial function, inflammation or vascular stiffness, showed no difference between vitamin D treatment and placebo. The authors concluded there is no reason to give vitamin D for prevention of cardiovascular disease.

The vitamin D dose given to the treatment group was 2,500 IUs. Thus, one couldn’t argue that this dose was too low. Some of the weaknesses of the study were a very short duration of four months, its size — 114 participants — and the fact that cardiovascular events or deaths were not used as study end points.

Most trials relating to vitamin D are observational, which provides associations, but not links. However, the VITAL study was a large, five-year RCT looking at the effects of vitamin D and omega-3s on cardiovascular disease and cancer (3). Study results were disappointing, finding that daily vitamin D3 supplementation at 2000 IUs did not reduce the incidence of cancers (prostate, breast or colorectal) or of major cardiovascular events.

Mortality decreased

In a meta-analysis of a group of eight studies, vitamin D with calcium reduced the mortality rate in the elderly, whereas vitamin D alone did not (5). The difference between the groups was statistically important, but clinically small: nine percent reduction with vitamin D plus calcium and seven percent with vitamin D alone.

One of the weaknesses of this analysis was that vitamin D in two of the studies was given in large amounts of 300,000 to 500,000 IUs once a year, rather than taken daily. This has different effects.

Weight benefit

There is good news, but not great news, on the weight front. It appears that vitamin D plays a role in reducing the amount of weight gain in women 65 years and older whose blood levels are more than 30 ng/ml, compared to those below this level, in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (4).

This association held true at baseline and after 4.5 years of observation. If the women dropped below 30 ng/ml in this time period, they were more likely to gain more weight, and they gained less if they kept levels above the target. There were 4,659 participants in the study. Unfortunately, vitamin D did not show statistical significance with weight loss.

USPSTF recommendations

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends against giving “healthy” postmenopausal women vitamin D, calcium or the combination of vitamin D 400 IUs plus calcium 1,000 mg to prevent fractures, and it found inadequate evidence of fracture prevention at higher levels (6). The supplement combination does not seem to reduce fractures, but does increase the risk of kidney stones. There is also not enough data to recommend for or against vitamin D with or without calcium for cancer prevention.

When to supplement?

It is important to supplement to optimal levels, especially since most of us living in the Northeast have insufficient to deficient levels. While vitamin D may not be a cure-all, it might play an integral role with many disorders. But it is also important not to raise the levels too high. The range that I tell my patients is between 32 and 50 ng/ml, depending on their health circumstances.

References: 

(1) Circulation. 2008 Jan 29;117(4):503-511. (2) PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e36617. (3) NEJM. 2018 published online Nov. 10, 2018. (4) J Women’s Health (Larchmt). 2012 Jun 25. (5) J Clin Endocrinol Metabol. online May 17, 2012. (6) JAMA. 2018;319(15):1592-1599.

Dr. David 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. 

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Above, Town of Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro with Holtsville Hal and Holtsville Hal’s handler, Greg Drossel.
Holtsville Hal 2022
Above, Town of Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro with Holtsville Hal’s handler, Greg Drossel, revealing Hal’s 2022 prognostication.
Holtsville Hal 2022

Following the blizzard that battered Brookhaven Town this past weekend, Holtsville Hal’s 2022 prognostication was welcome news for many. After awaking from his slumber, Hal brushed the snow aside to emerge from his burrow and did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring for the Town of Brookhaven. The virtual event was livestreamed on the Holtsville Ecology Site’s Facebook page on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2.

According to tradition, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, there will be six more weeks of winter weather; if not, spring should arrive early.

“After this weekend’s blizzard, I’m sure we are all looking forward to spring arriving on time and keeping our fingers crossed that our resident weatherman maintains his accuracy,” said Superintendent of Highways Daniel Losquadro. 

“Regardless, the Brookhaven Highway Department remains ready to handle whatever else Mother Nature sends our way during these remaining few weeks of winter.”

Above, Town of Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro with Holtsville Hal’s handler, Greg Drossel, revealing Hal’s 2022 prognostication.

Photos courtesy of Town of Brookhaven

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Kevin A. Reed. Photo from Stony Brook University
As climate events continue to cause substantial widespread loss, damage, and financial costs that fall heavier on developing nations, a new commentary in the inaugural issue of PLOS Climate by two researchers, including Stony Brook University’s Professor Kevin A. Reed, calls for developed nations to direct resources toward operationalizing extreme weather events and impact attribution. While this kind of attribution technology is commonplace in the research community, if used by governments it could play a vital role in improving the global response to climate change by making that response more equitable and effective.

Authors Reed and Michael F. Wehner at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, point out the costs of extreme weather over the past 50 years are unevenly distributed across the world. Generally, the most financially expensive weather events have been hurricanes in the U.S., but the deadliest events are droughts and floods in developing nations.

“Our idea is to help guide and push operational centers and governments to use attribution technology to better quantify losses and damage due to climate change, so that the developed world can be better responsive to losses and damages in the developing world,” says Reed, Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Research at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS).

The authors urge that extreme weather event attribution – science that quantifies the influence of anthropogenic climate change on specific individual events – can indeed play a significant role in quantifying loss and damage. They cite two examples in Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and a series of global heat waves over more than 25 years.

“While there has been much discussion about operationalizing extreme weather event attribution, none such exists today,” they write. “Rather attribution statements are performed by a myriad of academic-minded groups, mostly as research projects.”

They add that the credibility of extreme weather event attribution statements has been demonstrated for a wide variety of impactful events, and that observational, computational and statistical tools are readily available.

“Thus, we call on the funding agencies of developed nations to direct resources to their weather forecast services to begin to operationalize extreme weather event and impact attribution.”

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Michael Michaud Design Fern Earring
Michael Michaud Design Irish Thorn Brooch
Michael Vincent Michaud Mosaic Pendant

During February, The Reboli Center for Art & History in Stony Brook is proud to display the stunning botanical and cast glass jewelry created by Michael Michaud Design, as well as by his son Michael Vincent Michaud. According to Four Seasons Design Group, which represents the two companies, “The cast glass processes very much like the lost wax process of casting metal into jewelry. The glass is melted into a mold and then cooled and cleaned reproducing the shapes and colors to be placed into the metal bezels. During the process some air may be trapped in with the solidifying of the glass. It is those bubbles inside that make each piece unique and one of a kind.”

The Michael Michaud Design collection reflects his exceptional knowledge of jewelry making and his love of nature. He started as an apprentice mold cutter in 1973 and worked his way towards being a master precious metal caster and moldmaker. While a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Craftsmen, he learned many of the techniques that he still uses today to create his designs of nature in metal. Michaud worked for some of American’s leading jewelry designers before starting his own company.

Michael Vincent Michaud, the son of renowned jewelry designer Michael Michaud, studied with some of the finest glass artists at various institutions including the prestigious Corning and Urban glass programs. He was inspired by his father’s high craftsmanship and love of “art glass.” He was fortunate to begin his career at his father’s studio and collaborated with him to create glass elements for jewelry collections licensed by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. This experience enabled him and his brother Shane, who handles the business side, to create their own company, Michael Vincent Michaud, in 2011.

Their jewelry collection consists of pendants, necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, brooches and table art such as serving pieces, utensils, trivets and napkin rings.

“For the first time, The Reboli Center is delighted to showcase artisans who are a father and son.  Our Design Shop features some of the jewelry created by Michael Michaud Design, as well as by his son, Michael Vincent Michaud. Their jewelry is exquisitely detailed and so luminous when it catches the light,” said Lois Reboli, a founder and president of the Reboli Center.

The Reboli Center is located at 64 Main Street in Stony Brook, and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and for more information, please call 631-751-7707.

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The staff at the LIM

The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook will be on hiatus through March 3 to change over its exhibitions. When it reopens the new season of exhibitions will include:

Two Centuries of Long Island Women Artists, 1800-2000.

On view March 3, 2022- September 4, 2022, this exhibition aims to provide a survey of the history of women artists on Long Island, exploring and emphasizing their significance, which has reverberated far beyond this region. By focusing an exhibition entirely on women’s contributions to art history in this region, from Brooklyn to Montauk, over 200 years, this project provides an enormous opportunity to provide a new fuller, richer accounting of women’s prolific and ever-changing impacts.

The LIM’s 23rd Annual Colors of Long Island student art exhibition returns! On view in the History Museum from March 3 – April 3, 2022, the exhibition will feature art from dozens of talented K-12 students from across Long Island.

Atoms to Cosmos: The Story of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Originally scheduled to open in March, 2020, this ambitious exhibition will run from April 22, 2022- October 16, 2022 and will invite audiences to explore the social, scientific, and technological history of one of Long Island’s most important and internationally-influential modern institutions since 1947, Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Lab operates as a United States Department of Energy national laboratory at the forefront of crucial scientific research and development. As one of Suffolk County’s leading employers and a vital economic and cultural center with a long, complex, often misunderstood, and sometimes controversial past, BNL’s story will have enormous audience appeal. In partnership with the Lab, LIM will tell the important BNL story to our visitors through a combination of more than 150 artifacts, historic photographs, film, and interactive components.

For more information, call 631-751-0066 or visit www.longislandmuseum.org.

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The Town of Smithtown Horizons Counseling & Education Center, Youth Bureau, and Smithtown Youth and Community Alliance are pleased to present a communication workshop for families with children in middle school or high school. This free event will take place in the Hauppauge High School Library, located at 500 Lincoln Blvd in Hauppauge, on Wednesday, February 9th, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In today’s technology driven world, face to face communication is not practiced enough. The workshop is a great opportunity for families to come together in an interactive setting to discuss ways they can strengthen their communication skills and overall relationships with one another.

“Effective communication skills need to be consistently practiced and reinforced, particularly within families. This workshop will give participants the chance to do that in a constructive way.” Janine Marc-Anthony, Smithtown Youth Bureau Youth Services Coordinator

The workshop will focus on communication through body language, active listening, tone of voice, “I” centered messages, and open-ended messages. Participants will have an opportunity to take part in hands-on activities that will help reinforce strategies they are learning throughout the event.

Registration is required in order to attend. Anyone interested can register on the Town of Smithtown website on the Horizons, Youth Bureau, and Youth and Community Alliance pages. Space is limited. Community service certificates will be given to students who attend.

 

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Kristin Hannah's 'The Four Winds' was the most requested eBook and audiobook among Suffolk County library patrons in 2021.

Libraries continue to provide a vital service to their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Readers around the world discovered or rediscovered a love of reading thanks to library digital lending of eBooks and audiobooks, which allowed them to safely seek and enjoy books from home. 

Live-brary, consisting of 56 libraries in Suffolk County, recently announced it surpassed two million digital checkouts in 2021. The Public Libraries of Suffolk County have been providing readers 24/7 access to eBooks and audiobooks for several years through OverDrive and its award-winning Libby reading app. Reader interest has grown every year.

The top five eBook titles borrowed through Live-brary’s digital collection in 2021 were:

1. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah 

2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 

3. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave 

4. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett 

5. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 

The top five audiobook titles borrowed through Live-brary’s digital collection in 2021 were:

1. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah 

2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

3. A Promised Land by Barack Obama 

4. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett 

5. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The top five Young Adult eBooks Suffolk County borrowed in 2021 were:

1. Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards 

2. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 

3. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyers 

4. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah 

    J. Maas 

5. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

The top children’s eBooks that Suffolk County patrons borrowed in 2021 were:

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End 

    by  Jeff Kinney

2. Dog Man Mothering Heights by Dav

    Pilkey

3. Guts by Raina Telgemeier 

4. Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey

5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

   by J.K. Rowling

Residents in Suffolk County just need a valid library card to access digital books from Live-brary’s OverDrive-powered digital collection. 

Readers can use any major device, including Apple®, Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle® (U.S. only). Visit livebrary.overdrive.com or download the Libby app to get started and borrow eBooks and audiobooks anytime, anywhere.◆

This article first appeared in Prime Times – a special supplement by TBR News Media.

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The Art League of Long Island’s 15th annual “Go APE” Advanced Placement Student Exhibition features 2-D and 3-D works by 135 AP and IB Art Students from 42 Long Island High Schools.  High School art teachers selected artworks from among their talented students for exhibition in the spacious Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery. The exhibit is on view in the Art League of Long Island’s Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery January 29 through February 12.

Exhibition Juror Margaret Minardi has selected Awards of Excellence and Honorable Mentions.  The following 16 students have been singled out for special recognition:

Awards of Excellence: Zavier Foster, “Outside the Box”, posca marker, Baldwin High School; Natalie Hayes, “Swamped”, painting, East Rockaway High School; Sofia Innamorato, “Untitled”, ceramics on wood base, Syosset High School; Gagandeep Kaur, “Stop & Shop” acrylic paint and graphite on gesso paper, Floral Park Memorial High School; Isabel Mongiello, “Portrait Study”, painting, Syosset High School; Jean Park, “Untitled”, mixed media, Sewanhaka High School; Tierra Thomas, “Untitled”, digital art, Elmont High School; Alisha Zhou, “Growing Mushrooms”, color pencil, Manhasset High School.

Honorable Mentions: Nick Bennett, “Self Portrait”, colored pencil, Northport High School; Hannah Briggs, “Abandoned Spiral”, charcoal, Oyster Bay High School; Shirley Chen, “Self Portrait”, acrylic, New Hyde Park Memorial; Abby Garten, “Untitled”, photography, Jericho High School; Polina Kalmatckaia, “Nebesa”, digital illustration, Commack High School; Katie McMahon,“Silver Spoons”, painting, East Rockaway High School; Khadija Abdul Musawwir, “Blue Flannel”, acrylic painting, Westbury High School; Sarah Sorbi, “Superflat Love”, digital painting, Half Hollow Hills HS West.

About the Juror: Margaret Minardi taught Studio Art, Drawing and Painting and Advanced Placement Art from 1988-2017 in the Northport School District.  She has shown in over 60 exhibitions that include solo, group, local, national and international venues.  Her work continues to win top awards, including Best in Show in many of them.   She currently teaches Teen Portfolio classes at the Art League of Long Island.

Established in 1955, the Art League of Long Island is not-for-profit visual arts center whose mission is to provide a forum and showcase for artists of all ages and ability levels, whether through art education in the studios or promoting their work through exhibitions and art fairs. The Art League is located at 107 East Deer Park Road, in Dix Hills. Gallery hours:  Tuesdays & Thursdays 10am-8pm, Fridays & Saturdays 10am-3pm. For more information visit www.artleagueli.org

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Photo from Northwell Health

Northwell Health announced Jan. 31 that it has begun listing patients who need a lung transplant through the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the final steps toward opening the first lung transplant program serving Long Island and Queens residents.

As the number of New Yorkers requiring a lung transplant have tripled over the last decade, the Northwell Health Transplant Center at North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) launched its program to fill an urgent need. With the addition of lung, NSUH now offers world-class solid organ transplantation services for adult heart, kidney liver and lung. Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park also performs pediatric kidney transplants. There are currently just 73 lung transplant centers in the United States.

Lung transplantation was already expected to grow before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic left in its wake an entire cohort of survivors whose lungs have been permanently scarred, damaged or otherwise compromised. About 7 percent of lung transplants performed in 2021 were COVID-related. That’s in addition to the fact that Northwell physicians saw a 23 percent increase in patients experiencing lung failure between 2017-19.

“Half of all lung transplant recipients at New York City hospitals traveled from Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn or Staten Island,” said Zachary Kon, MD, surgical director of advanced lung failure and lung transplantation services at Northwell. “It’s important for patients to receive care in the communities where they live. That’s why Northwell being able to offer lung transplantation opens up options for the region and improves quality of life for their entire network of supporters on this life-saving health journey. One expedition is enough.”

The lung transplant program, which has received all necessary regulatory approvals, is the latest addition to an ongoing clinical and capital investment into North Shore University Hospital. The Petrocelli Advanced Surgical Pavilion, a seven-story, 280,000-square-foot building meant to transform the capabilities of the Level I trauma center and teaching hospital, is expected to open in 2023. NSUH is also home to the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital, the Katz Women’s Hospital, neurosurgery, multi-organ transplant services and one of the busiest emergency departments in the New York Metropolitan area.

“Lung transplant is the latest life-changing specialty we’re proud to offer to the communities we serve, and like everything we do at North Shore University Hospital, it will be performed with sophistication and best-in-class care,” said Jon Sendach, executive director of NSUH. “Our reputation already makes us a destination for complex medical procedures and that coordination of care as part of an integrated health system sets us apart.”

NSUH performed Long Island’s first heart transplant in February 2018 and followed up by completing Long Island’s first liver transplant in December 2019.

UNOS is a nonprofit which serves as the nation’s transplant system, overseeing the network of transplant hospitals, organ procurement organizations and thousands of volunteers who are dedicated to honoring the gifts of life entrusted to us and to making lifesaving transplants possible for patients in need.

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