The holiday season is a time of gathering and thanks but, during these stressful and uncertain times, it can be difficult to find anything to be thankful for. The exception is pet ownership. One thing I hear over and over is, “I am thankful for my pets.” Now, more than ever, pets provide stress reduction and help to fend off loneliness. They are good for mind and body.
How do we know that interacting with a pet reduces stress? I read about a study where individuals were induced into a stressful state and then offered a rabbit, a turtle, a toy rabbit, or a toy turtle. Those individuals that pet a real rabbit or turtle showed a significant reduction in stress compared to those that pet a toy rabbit or turtle.
More recently, a study comparing pet owners (dogs and cats) to non-pet owners during COVID found that owning a pet reduced the feelings of isolation by having an individual (even if not human) to talk to throughout the day. Some of the participants even relished the fact that they were able to spend more time with their pets during lockdown than before. This is so important in the new era of online meetings, classes, etc.
Pet ownership also benefits physical health. Previous studies both in the United States and abroad have concluded that just owning a pet significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke, reduces the risk of type II diabetes, and lowers cholesterol.
Even before COVID it was known that owning a pet motivates us to exercise more. The national physical activity guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week but a CDC analysis states only about 50% of Americans get that total. In contrast to this data, research shows that dog owners walk an average of 22 minutes more per day. Not only do dog owners exercise more, but also the type of exercise is healthier. The type of exercise is described as at a moderate pace which refers to getting the heart rate up.
A more recent study found that dog owners were more likely to take their dogs for walks during COVID and, as a result, lost more weight than non-dog owners. So let us give thanks to the furry, four-legged members of our family who enrich our lives every day.
I give thanks to all the readers who enjoy this column. I would like to also thank Heidi Sutton, editor of the Arts and Lifestyle section, as well as all the staff at Times Beacon Record News Media for another great year!
Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine.
Rabbi Motti Grossbaum. Photo courtesy of The Stony Brookside Bed & Bike Inn
By Rabbi Motti Grossbaum
As we kindle the Menorah’s lights, we pay tribute to the heroes of long ago. The courage of the Maccabees (the small band of Jewish fighters who led the revolt against the Syrian Greek religious oppressors) and their refusal to surrender in the face of terrible and overwhelming odds blazed a trail for the survival of the Jewish people and the freedom to practice our faith.
As the Chanukah story goes, the Maccabees came into the desecrated Holy Temple but they could not find any pure oil with which to light the menorah. All the oil had been defiled by the Greeks. Miraculously, they found one small jug of pure, holy, undefiled oil, enough to illuminate the temple for one night. But as we all know; a miracle took place. The tiny jug of oil lasted for 8 nights.
Friends — every single one of us is a candle. We all have a jug of oil deep inside, which is our divine soul — a spark of G-d. We may at times feel that our oil is defiled — we are uninspired. But deep down, every one of us has a small jug of untouched pure oil that, when lit, can outshine any darkness inside and out.
So the question is asked, why is it that lighting candles is such a big part of Judaism?
Candles are lit by Jewish women every Friday at sunset for Shabbat, we light candles on every festival, and Chanukah is all about candles. What is the connection between candles and spirituality?
Jewish tradition teaches that there is something about a flame that makes it more spiritual than physical. A physical substance, when spread, becomes thin. Spirituality, when spread, expands and grows. When you use something physical, it is diminished. The more money you spend, the less you have; the more gasoline you use, the emptier your tank becomes; the more food you eat, the more you need to restock your pantry (and unfortunately, the heavier you become).
But spiritual things increase with use. If I use my wisdom to teach, the student learns, and I come out wiser for it; if I share my love with another, I become more loving, not less. When you give a spiritual gift, the recipient gains, and you lose nothing. This is the spiritual property that candles share. When you use one candle to light another, the original candle remains bright. Its light is not diminished by being shared; on the contrary, the two candles together enhance each other’s brightness and increase light.
We sometimes worry that we may stretch ourselves too thin. In matters of spirit, this is never the case. The more goodness we spread,the more goodness we have. By making a new friend you become a better friend to your old friends. By having another child you open a new corridor of love in your heart that your other children benefit from too. By teaching more students, you become wiser.
My spiritual mentor and teacher, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, taught us that when we kindle the Chanukah flames, we should “listen closely and carefully” to what the candles are telling us. And this is what they are saying: Keep lighting your candles. There is an endless supply of light in your soul. You will never run out of goodness.
The Chanukah story happened so long ago – yet carries a timely message for us, even today.
Science has given us the greatest technologies and conveniences, yet it alone cannot free us from the moral and social challenges of our day. From gun violence and simmering racial tension, to corruption in politics, material pursuits alone do not lead to a happy and meaningful life.
Our children need a better diet than the value-system fed to them by Hollywood, the internet and mass media. They need, no, they want, inspiration, a noble cause to live for, a moral purpose that frames their pursuits and interests with meaning and direction.
Like the flames of the menorah, with a desire to make an impact and illuminate, and an ever-persistent desire to reach higher, we too can do the same, and be a beacon of light to all.
Rabbi Motti Grossbaum is director of programming and development at Village Chabad Center for Jewish Life & Learning in East Setauket.
What better time than the holidays to bake? Usually we’re pressed for time, but this year because so many of us are homebound anyway, it’s a great opportunity to try some new recipes with traditional ingredients. I wish I had room here to give you eight recipes for each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, but I’m afraid it will have to be only four. Instead of the Hanukkah jelly donuts called sufganiyot, how about an old-fashioned jelly roll? In keeping with holiday flavors, there’s a recipe here for honey-orange cake, one for a walnut torte and still another for a chocolate upside down cake. They’re all keepers.
Old-Fashioned Jelly Roll
YIELD: Makes 6 servings
INGREDIENTS:
Butter or Crisco for greasing
1 cup sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/4 cup cold water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
confectioners’ sugar
1 cup raspberry jelly or jam
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a 10″ x 15″ sheet cake pan with waxed paper and grease. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Beating well, add cold water and sugar. Gradually sift in dry ingredients; add vanilla and stir. Turn batter onto prepared pan; bake 12 to 15 minutes, until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Place a clean linen towel on work surface and cover with waxed paper; sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Turn hot cake onto waxed paper and spread with jelly. Holding towel and waxed paper firmly with forefinger and thumb, lift and roll short end to opposite short end. Let cool, then unwrap and re-roll. Serve with hot tea, coffee, or hot chocolate.
Orange-Honey Cake
YIELD: Makes 16 small squares or 8 large squares
INGREDIENTS:
Ingredients for the cake:
1/2 cup solid shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup grated orange zest
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon finely gratedlemon zest
Ingredients for the sauce:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease a 9″ square cake pan. Cream shortening and sugar gradually until light and fluffy; add honey and beat until smooth; beat in egg and orange zest. Sift the dry ingredients together three times. Combine orange juice and lemon zest, then add dry ingredient mixture alternately with orange juice and lemon zest to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry mixture. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan; bake 45 minutes to one hour until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before removing from pan. Meanwhile make the sauce by blending the half cup orange juice with the third cup honey. Serve cake hot or warm with the sauce.
Walnut Torte
YIELD: Makes 10 servings
INGREDIENTS:
8 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup ground walnuts
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored; gradually add sugar and continue beating. Add flour by sifting a small amount at a time and folding in until well blended. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until foamy; sift cream of tartar and salt over them and beat at high speed of mixer until stiff peaks form; add vanilla extract. Fold egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture. Fold in walnuts, then turn batter into a 10-inch tube pan which has been rinsed with cold water. Bake for about an hour and a half, until cake tester inserted in between inside and outside of ring comes out clean. Invert cake for one hour before removing from pan. Serve with whipped cream or chocolate sauce.
Chocolate Upside Down Cake
YIELD: Makes 6 to 8 servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups hot water
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 F; grease a 9″ layer cake pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the cocoa. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in milk, vanilla and nuts. Mix remaining cocoa with brown sugar and sprinkle over surface of cake. Pour hot water carefully over surface of batter; bake 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with milk, hot tea or coffee.
I’ve recently started using za’atar a lot. A Middle Eastern blend of equal amounts of dried culinary herbs, thyme, cumin, coriander, sesame seeds and sumac with a perhaps a little salt or crushed hot red pepper added, za’atar gives an interesting and savory dimension to both ordinary and exotic dishes. Like so many ethnic combinations, it varies from cook to cook and region to region with other additions or substitutions such as fennel or marjoram, for instance.
Moreover, I’ve found that recipes in which it is used often call for additional amounts of one of its elements. Make your own blend or buy it at specialty grocers, then add it to salad dressings, spreads, dips, veggies, meat, poultry or fish, and a whole lot more. Its flavor is subtle; it doesn’t sock it to you, make your eyes water, clear your sinuses or send you sputtering and sprinting for a glass of water. It’s just a nice flavor kick.
Basic Za’atar
YIELD: Makes generous 1/4 cup.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon crushed dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sumac
Generous pinch coarse salt
Generous pinch crushed dried red pepper flakes
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl thoroughly combine ingredients. Store in air tight container or zip top bag.
Cucumber, Tomato and Feta Salad with Za’atar
YIELD: Makes 4 to 6 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, bruised
1 tablespoon za’atar
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small English hothouse cucumber, peeled and diced
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
DIRECTIONS:
In a small skillet over medium high heat, warm oil; add garlic, reduce heat to low and cook until garlic releases its aroma and starts to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add za’atar, stir and remove from heat. Discard garlic, let cool to lukewarm, add salt and pepper and lemon juice. In a salad bowl toss cucumber and tomatoes with warm dressing, then sprinkle feta on top. Serve with toasted pita bread and hummus.
Lemony Za’atar Chicken, Potatoes and Onions
YIELD: Makes 4 to 6 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons za’atar
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and peeled
1/2 cup dry white wine
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes, scrubbed and halved
1 large onion, peeled and cut into small wedges
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, za’atar, garlic, wine, salt and pepper. Transfer to gallon zip top bag, add chicken, seal bag and turn it to be sure chicken is evenly coated. Refrigerate for two hours. Remove chicken from bag, but reserve bag of marinade; place chicken in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. In the bag of reserved liquid place the potatoes and onions; seal bag and tilt to coat them evenly; refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 400 F, place chicken, garlic, potatoes and onions with the marinade in a shallow baking pan. Bake, basting occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Serve hot with a tossed salad.
Za’atar Red Snapper with Israeli Couscous
YIELD: Makes 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Israeli couscous
Four 6-ounce red snapper fillets, skin on
1/4 cup olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons za’atar
DIRECTIONS:
Cook couscous according to package directions. Meanwhile coat the fish fillets on both sides with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and rub each side of the fillets evenly with the za’atar. Heat the remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add the fish fillets, skin side down, and cook until skin is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Carefully turn fish over and cook until flesh is opaque and fish flakes easily. Divide couscous onto 4 plates and top with fish. Serve hot with sautéed greens.
Arkarup Banerjee is coming back home to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This time, instead of working on the olfactory system, the way he did in Associate Professor Dinu Florin Albeanu’s lab from 2010 to 2016, he is studying vocalizations in the Alston’s singing mouse, a Central American rodent.
Banerjee rejoined Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in November after almost four years of post-doctoral work at NYU Langone Medical Center. He hopes to use the study of the way these mice react to songs and the way they formulate them to understand how signals from the brain lead to vocalizations.
Singing Mouse
“The reason I decided to come back to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is not just because I did my PhD here,” said Banerjee, who is an assistant professor. “Neuroscience [at the lab] is amazing. I have fantastic colleagues. I expect to have lots of collaborations.” CSHL is one of his “top choices” in part because of the ability to interact with other researchers and to attend meetings and courses, he said.
To hear Albeanu tell it, CSHL’s colleagues appreciate the skill and determination Banerjee, whom Albeanu described as a “rare catch,” brings to the site.
“There was pretty much unanimous excitement about his vision for his research,” Albeanu said. “Pretty much everyone was in agreement that [hiring Banerjee] is a must.”
Fundamentally, Banerjee is interested in understanding how the brain computes information. In his new lab at CSHL, he wanted to study the natural behaviors that animals produce without having to teach them anything.
“That’s why my fascination arose in singing mice,” he said. “Nobody has to train them to vocalize.” He hopes to understand the neural circuits in the context of a natural behavior.
In the longer term, Banerjee is interested in contributing to the field of human communication. While numerous other creatures, such as birds, interact with each other vocally, singing from trees as they establish territorial dominance and soliciting mates through their songs, mice, which have cerebral cortexes, have brain architecture that is more similar to humans.
The Alston’s singing mice, which is found in the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama, is also different from numerous other species of mice. Many rodents produce vocalizations in the ultrasonic range. These animals can hear calls that are outside the range of human capacity to pick up such sounds.
The singing mice Banerjee is studying produces a stereotyped song that is audible to people. “These mice seem to specialize in this behavior,” he said. In neuroscience, scientists seek animals that are specialists with the hope that understanding that species will reveal how they work, he said.
Audible communications are important for male mice in attracting mates and in guarding their locations against other males. These lower-frequency sounds travel across greater distances.
Specifically, Banerjee would like to know the anatomical differences between the brains of typical rodents and the singing mice. He plans to probe “what kind of changes does it require for a new behavior to emerge during evolution.”
The songs have some value to the males who sing them. Females prefer males who sing more notes per unit time in a 10-second period.
In his experiments, Banerjee has demonstrated that the conventional view about one of the differences between humans and other vocalizing animals may not be accurate. Scientists had previously believed that other animals didn’t use their cortex to produce songs. Banerjee, however, showed that the motor cortex was important for vocal behaviors. Specifically, animals with temporarily inactivated cortexes could not participate in vocal interactions.
As a long term goal, Banerjee is also interested in the genetic sequence that makes the development of any anatomical or behavioral feature different in these singing mice. By using the gene editing tool CRISPR, which CSHL scientists employ regularly, Banerjee hopes to find specific genetic regions that lead to these unique behaviors.
Arkarup Banerjee with Honggoo Chae, a post-doctoral fellow at CSHL, from a Society of Neuroscience Meeting in 2018.
An extension of this research could apply to people with various communication challenges. Through studies of mice with different genetic sequences, Banerjee and other researchers can try to find genes that are necessary for more typical vocalizations. By figuring out the genetic differences, the CSHL scientist may one day discover what researchers could do to minimize these differences.
A resident of Mineola, Banerjee lives with his wife Sanchari Ghosh, who works at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory press for the preprint service bioRxiv. The couple, who met in India, spend considerable time discussing their shared interest in neuroscience. Banerjee said his wife is a “much better writer” than he and has helped edit his manuscripts.
Banerjee is passionate about teaching and hopes he has a chance to educate more students once the pandemic recedes. Outside the lab, Banerjee shares an important quality with the mice he studies: he sings. He trained as a vocalist when he was growing up in India, and listens to a range of music.
Albeanu, who was teaching a course in Bangalore, India in 2009 when he met Banerjee, said it is a “pleasure to listen to [Banerjee] singing.”
Albeanu recalls how Banerjee stood out for many reasons when he first met him, including developing a way to modify a microscope.
As for his work, Banerjee hopes to understand behaviors like vocalizations from numerous perspectives. “We can seek explanations for all of these levels,” he said.
A neuroscientist by training, Banerjee would like to determine the connection between neural circuitry and the behavior it produces. “The understanding would be incomplete if I didn’t understand why this behavior is being generated.”
Medical professionals (including me!) often press you to exercise. This sage advice seems simple enough; however, the type, intensity level and frequency of exercise may not be well-defined. For instance, any type of walking is beneficial, right? Well, as one study that quantifies walking pace notes that some types of walking are better than others.
We know exercise is beneficial for prevention and treatment of chronic disease. But another very important aspect of exercise is the impact it has on specific diseases, such as diabetes and osteoarthritis. Also, certain supplements and drugs may decrease the beneficial effects of exercise. They are not necessarily the ones you think. They include resveratrol and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen). Let’s look at the evidence.
Walk with a spring in your step
While pedometers give a sense of how many steps you take on a daily basis, this number isn’t all that’s important. Intensity, rather than quantity or distance, may be the primary indicator of walking’s benefit.
In the National Walkers’ Health Study, results showed that those who walk with more pace are more likely to decrease their mortality from all causes and to increase their longevity (1). This is one of the first studies to quantify specific speed and its impact. In the study, there were four groups. The fastest group was almost jogging, walking at a mean pace of less than 13.5 minutes per mile, while the slowest group was walking at a pace of 17 minutes or more per mile.
The slowest walkers had a higher probability of dying, especially from dementia and heart disease. Those in the slowest group stratified even further: those whose pace equaled 24-minute miles or greater had twice the risk of death, compared to those who walked with greater speed.
However, the most intriguing aspect of the study was that there were big differences in mortality reduction in the second slowest category compared to the slowest, which might only be separated by a minute-per-mile pace. So, don’t fret: you don’t have to be a speedwalker to realize significant benefit.
Align your mind and body
The mind also plays a significant role in exercise. The results of one study note that a positive mindset while exercising makes a big difference in the exercise’s impact (2). Researchers created two groups. The first was told to find four positive phrases, chosen by the participants, to motivate them while on a stationary bike and repeat these phrases consistently for the next two weeks while exercising.
Members of the group who repeated these motivating phrases consistently throughout each workout were able to increase their stamina for intensive exercise after only two weeks, while the same could not be said for the control group, which did not use reinforcing phrases.
‘Longevity’ supplement may negate exercise benefits
Resveratrol is a substance that is thought to provide increased longevity through proteins called Sirtuin 1. So how could it negate some benefit from exercise? Well it turns out that we need acute inflammation to achieve some exercise benefits, and resveratrol has anti-inflammatory effects. Acute inflammation is short-term inflammation and is different from chronic inflammation, the basis for many diseases.
In a small randomized controlled study, treatment group participants were given 250 mg supplements of resveratrol and saw significantly less benefit from aerobic exercise over an eight-week period, compared to those who were in the control group (3). Participants in the control group had improvements in both cholesterol and blood pressure that were not seen in the treatment group. This was a small study of short duration, although it was well-designed.
Impact on diabetes complications
The majority of Type 2 diabetes patients suffer from cardiovascular disease. The good news is that exercise may improve outcomes. In a prospective (forward-looking) observational study, results show that diabetes patients who exercise less frequently, once or twice a week for 30 minutes, are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and almost a 70 percent greater risk of dying from it than those who exercised at least three times a week for 30 minutes each session. In addition, those who exercised only twice a week had an almost 50 percent increased risk of all-cause mortality (4).
The study followed more than 15,000 men and women with a mean age of 60 for five years. The authors stressed the importance of exercise and its role in reducing diabetes complications.
Calculate your fitness age
You can calculate your fitness age without the use of a treadmill, according to the HUNT study (5). An online calculator utilizes basic parameters – age, gender, height, weight, waist circumference and frequency and intensity of exercise – to help you judge where you stand with exercise health. This calculator can be found at www.ntnu.edu/cerg/vo2max. Your results may surprise you.
Even in winter, you can walk and talk yourself to improved health by increasing your intensity while repeating positive phrases that help you overcome premature exhaustion. Exercise can also have a significant impact on complications of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and resulting death with diabetes. As a bonus, getting outside during the day may also help you avoid the effects of the “winter blues.”
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.
Lily Bergh stands behind the counter at Little Switzerland Toys & Dolls. Photo by Lina Weingarten
Amazon is not going to go the extra mile and wrap your Christmas presents with professional flair. Amazon is not going to sponsor your local baseball or soccer team. Amazon does not know the names of customers’ family members or shops in the same supermarket that we do.
At the same time, Amazon is still raking in profits. The retail giant moved its annual Prime Day to October this year, essentially setting up an earlier holiday rush than usual. Amazon and other online retailers are anticipated to make $189 billion in revenue this season, up 33% from 2019. Meanwhile many of our local mom-and-pop brick and mortar remain without a hint of additional federal stimulus, praying they do well enough in the next few weeks to stay open in 2021. While Cyber Monday sales are expected to grow this year, American Express, which promotes Small Business Saturday, has reported that in a survey of owners 62% said they need to see spending return to pre-COVID levels to survive 2020.
Though that’s not to say the community isn’t getting involved. Many shop owners we spoke to praised their customers, the ones who have sought out their stores to see how they were doing, buy items or even gift cards.
Some owners managed to take some of their business online during the height of the pandemic in spring, but many did not have the resourcesto go further. Over the year, we’ve talked to other small business owners who said the additional stresses caused by the pandemic were simply too much to bear and have already closed up shop.
Yet the beast only grows bigger and hungrier. Amazon is planning for a total of three last-mile warehouses on Long Island, with the latest one announced to be in Shirley.
In the Nov. 26 issue of TBR newspapers, we shared the very real and very legitimate concerns of local pharmacists over Amazon’s new pill delivery service, which is rolling out at the end of this year. Amazon won’t know patients’ family history. Amazon won’t be able to look at a person at their counter and tell if there may be something else wrong healthwise.
All the emphasis on staying at home has led to the ballooning of mail-in delivery services for everything from packages, to food and even alcohol. Some of these delivery businesses, like Door Dash have been a minor boon to brick and mortar who were not allowed to open their doors. Others, such as Amazon Pharmacy, have been taking away larger and larger slices of the economic pie. Will there be a time when your local pharmacy or corner store can no longer compete with a national brand? Maybe, but we’re not there quite yet.
All our local shops were impacted by the ongoing pandemic, and though some industries have managed to compete better than others, the tell-tale signs of anxiety are there in each one. As New York City and Long Island witness increases in COVID-19 infection rates, all eyes are on Albany to see if there will be more restrictions. Experts have already said trends are worrying and have suggested stricter measures.
In that way, we ask people to be considerate not only of business owners but also to your neighbors as well. It may be smart to call ahead before visiting a local shop for a Christmas gift, so as not to spend as much time indoors, potentially with strangers. It’s better to get shopping done early, especially to avoid any kind of gathering crowds on the horizon.
But we have to see the end of 2020, we all crave the end to 2020, but we do not want to see the end to small business on the North Shore and all of Long Island. This holiday season, let’s keep our local mom-and-pops in mind.
My five-year-old neighbor Jack keeps me and his parents on our toes, and for that, I am grateful.
In this strange and challenging year, Jack offers a refreshing, clear-eyed and honest assessment of everything he sees. He speaks directly, asks questions and expects people to treat him the way his kind, caring and supportive parents do.
During the spring, at the start of longer walks around the neighborhood with my dog, I started the pattern of wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts during cooler weather. After all, with nowhere else to go, I didn’t feel compelled to put on a collared shirt, to change my outerwear or to put on my dress shoes. Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve even looked for my shoes in months. The search for those shoes, and the black socks at the bottom of a drawer somewhere, will be a welcome return to a more normal routine some day.
Anyway, back in the first stages of an endless homebound existence, Jack saw me one morning, greeted my dog , who is 30 pounds heavier than he, and asked me one of the many five-year-old questions that he shares.
“Why are you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?” he asked, as if I were somehow on a walk of shame after an evening that stretched into morning in a college dorm.
“Oh, honey, he’s just wearing the same sweatshirt as yesterday. You do that, too,” his mother gently offered.
Then again, Jack was right. I was wearing the same sweatshirt and sweatpants.
Later, when a nephew who tested negative for the virus came to visit and took a walk with me, Jack listened to his mother chat with us. As we were walking away, Jack watched my nephew and me head to my house.
“Dan,” he shouted, “Don’t forget about six feet.”
Again, Jack was right. Comfortable as I was, even outside with my nephew, Jack learned the rules and was encouraging me to follow them.
Recently, Jack delved into the minefield of politics. Without any hesitation, he asked my wife and daughter about their votes for the presidential election.
His mother, once again, tried to provide a filter, suggesting that such a conversation might not be necessary or comfortable.
Our daughter, who has had extensive experience babysitting children of all ages, had no trouble answering the question in a way that wouldn’t upset Jack, regardless of his or, more likely, his parents’ thoughts on the subject.
Cliche as it seems, it occurred to me, listening to my wife recount this conversation, that Jack, and the need to meet his earnestness and honesty, offered a reminder about public discourse.
Five-year-olds may not know everything, but they know when an adult is being condescending or is belittling them. They need the same kind of honesty they give.
At the same time, they need answers that don’t insult them. Even if they, or their parents, have different views, they need to know that others respect them.
Therein, it occurred to me, lies the lesson. We don’t need to avoid conversations with each other about topics on which we disagree. We are guaranteed the freedom to disagree with everyone, from our siblings, to our parents, to the president.
We also might do well to think of others who are speaking to us as Jack. We don’t need to picture others as five-year-olds. We can, and will, engage in more satisfying discourse if we follow some of the same principles when speaking with anyone. With so many challenges ahead, we will accomplish more together, and respectfully, than if we take each other down.
Thanksgiving Day would have been my sister’s 78th birthday. But my parents were told at her birth that she would not live long because she had Down syndrome, a genetic disorder. In fact, one of the physicians at the hospital commented, “Best to just throw her in the garbage.” My mother, who was deeply religious, advised the doctor that he was not God, told him in no uncertain terms where he could go, and together with my father, brought my sister Maxine to our loving and supportive home.
That was 1942, when no one ever saw a Down syndrome child, with the characteristic physical markings of a round face, almond-shaped and up-slanting eyes and short stature, on the streets of New York. As a result, she was the object of stares when we were in public. Fortunately, she was a happy and social child, and when she saw people staring, she would wave at them, smile and say, “Hello.” If they stopped, she would continue with, “How are you?” and even, “How old are you?” She would then advise them that they looked much older and thus make them laugh.
Even as late as 1960, the life expectancy of people with Down syndrome was considered to be 10. But by 2007, on average and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, persons born with Down would live to be about 47 years old. My sister made it to 65.
Why the dramatic difference within one lifetime? The easiest answer is the change in attitudes about children with Down syndrome. When Maxine was born, such children were routinely institutionalized, where they received notoriously poor treatment and lived in horrible conditions. Journalist and lawyer Geraldo Rivera, in 1972, exposed the neglect and abuse in Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School. It broke people’s hearts and was a change agent, and such facilities began to disappear.
Since the 1970s, a Down syndrome child is to be given a free and appropriate education like any other child in the United States by law. When my sister was six, my mother brought her to the neighborhood elementary school to register her for first grade. That was the first of many times she and Maxine were turned away. With great patience, my mother taught Maxine how to read “Dick, Jane and Baby,” to write her name and address between the lines, and to do arithmetic on a second-grade level. Ultimately Maxine attended a Catholic school in Brooklyn for children with special needs. My sister also had a natural gift for music, often spending many minutes playing familiar melodies by ear on the household piano.
I was reminded of all this by December’s Atlantic monthly magazine’s cover story, “The Last Children of Down Syndrome.” The article, by Sarah Zhang, focuses on prenatal genetic testing, the impact it’s having on the number of children born with special needs, and its effects on world-wide population as it becomes easier and more widespread. Her report is centered in Denmark, which in 2004 became one of the first countries to offer free genetic Down syndrome screening to every pregnant woman. She writes that since universal screening was offered, the number of parents who chose to continue a pregnancy after a Down diagnosis, in 2019 for example, was seven. What does the universal introduction of choice indicate about the future of humanity as genetic testing gets more sophisticated? she asks.
What is the value of a human life? The article poses the question, as well as dealing with the terrible pressures of choice. My mother was 36 when she gave birth to my sister. Age 35 and older is considered higher risk for the birthing of a Down syndrome child. There wasn’t the choice of amniocentesis then, certainly not other genetic testing, but had there been, I know how my parents would have reacted. They would have carried on in the same way.
The body’s savior in its battle against disease, immune cells respond to a collection of signals which tell them to dial up or down their patrolling efforts.
Scientists and doctors are constantly trying to determine what combination of beneficial or detrimental signals can lead to different outcomes.
Recently, Assistant Professor Tobias Janowitz and Professor Douglas Fearon of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, working with Duncan Jodrell at the University of Cambridge Cancer Research Institute, used an inhibitor developed and tested for the treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, in patients with colorectal and pancreatic cancer for a week.
Douglas Fearon. Photo from CSHL
The study was done on 24 patients and is a phase 0 effort, in which scientists and doctors test the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the treatment.
In the study, which was published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the researchers showed that the treatment got into the blood, that the patients tolerated it, and that it enabled immune treatments to reach the tumors.
While this is an encouraging step, Janowitz cautioned that any such studies are far from a potentially viable treatment for either type of cancer. Indeed, the Food and Drug Administration requires a lengthy and rigorous scientific process for any possible therapy, in part because numerous promising efforts haven’t led to viable therapies for a host of reasons.
Still, this study offers a promising beginning for a potential approach to treating various forms of cancer.
Janowitz said patients “tolerated the treatment by and large very well,” and that “no new toxicities were observed compared to the ones that were known.” Some people developed slight disturbances in their sleep, which were immediately resolved after they discontinued using the treatment.
The history of the possible treatment for HIV showed similar side effects years ago. “We anticipated it would have a favorable toxicity profile,” said Janowitz.
The link between this early candidate for HIV treatment and cancer came from an analysis of the receptor that is expressed on immune cells, called CXCR4.
This receptor is targeted by the drug plerixafor. Most of the work linking the inhibited receptor to potential cancer treatment came from Fearon’s lab, Janowitz explained.
Fearon found that blocking the receptor enabled immune cells to migrate to cancer in a mouse study. Along with Janowitz and CSHL Cancer Director David Tuveson, he published a paper on the preclinical study in a mouse model in PNAS in 2013.
This inhibitor also has been used to release stem cells from bone marrow that can be used in a hematological context for treatment and transplantation. During their cancer study, the scientists found these stem cells circulating in the blood. It’s unclear from this first study how the combination of cancer therapy and releasing stem cells from bone marrow affects patients.
“We are not able to say that that has a relevancy to the cancer patient,” Janowitz said.
While some drug treatments work for a period of time until a cancer returns, immunotherapy may have a longer term benefit than chemotherapeutics, as some studies suggest.
“By giving this drug, our hope is that we enable an influx of immune cells into the tumor and have an across the board integrated immune response,” Janowitz said.
Down the road, Janowitz said the group hopes that this treatment will be a part of a combination of treatments that treat cancer.
By enabling immune cells to access cancer where the mutation rate is lower, these treatments could provide a sustained treatment.
The researchers chose pancreatic and colorectal cancer because those cancers don’t respond to current immunotherapy. “It’s really important to uncover why that is,” said Janowitz. The scientists had evidence from pre-clinical models that the pathway and the biochemistry that this drug activates can be effective.
In his lab, Janowitz performed some of the mechanistic work to understand why this drug might function. A medical doctor who is awaiting his license to practice in New York, Janowitz was also involved in the trial management group and in analyzing the multiplicity of data that came together.
The researchers in this study came from fields including bioinformatics, clinical medicine, pharmacology, and immunology. Fearon explained in an email that Jodrell wrote the grant to Stand Up to Cancer, or SU2C, in 2014 to obtain funding for the trial. Jodrell oversaw the clinical trial and Fearon directed the evaluation of the immunology findings.
Janowitz had a “major role in putting together the clinical data for the write-up,” and Daniele Biasci, a computational biologist at Cambridge, developed the analysis of the transcriptional data of the tumor biopsies, said Fearon.
As for the next stages in this work, physicians at Johns Hopkins Medicine International and Dana Farber Cancer Institute will soon start a phase 2 trial that is already registered and that combines this inhibitor with anti-PD-1.
Fearon said his continued pre-clinical research has shown that this immune suppressive pathway may be relevant to multiple human carcinomas, and has identified new potential targets for more effective immunotherapy.
Janowitz, meanwhile, will explore the systemic immune competence of the body as he continues to take a top down, broad-based approach to cancer.
He would like to know the degree to which the body can mount an effective immune response, while also exploring the factors that diminish that ability.
Separately, with three young children at home, Janowitz and his wife Clary, who is a radiation oncologist, have been balancing between their busy careers and the demands of parenting during the pandemic. Their extended families are both in Europe.
“We can’t visit them and they can’t visit us,” he said adding that he appreciated the way CSHL has offered day care to young children on campus.
As for this study, Janowitz said he’s encouraged by the early results.
The holiday season is a time of gathering and thanks but, during these stressful and uncertain times, it can be difficult to find anything to be thankful for. The exception is pet ownership. One thing I hear over and over is, “I am thankful for my pets.” Now, more than ever, pets provide stress reduction and help to fend off loneliness. They are good for mind and body.
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