John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson. File photo
Free prostate screenings will be offered on Saturday, Sept. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital.
The screening, which will take place in the Fortunato Breast Health Center, will include a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and a digital rectal exam. No fasting is required.
A limited number of screenings are available. Registration is required. To make an appointment, call Mather’s Public Affairs Department, Monday-Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., at (631) 476-2723.
Prostate cancer screenings are recommended for men age 50 and older who have not had a screening in the past 12 months.
John T. Mather Memorial Hospital is located at 75 North Country Road in Port Jefferson.
After the highly publicized discovery of lead in drinking water in Flint, Michigan, Port Jefferson School District decided not to leave the safety of its students and staff to chance.
The district employed Ronkonkoma-based environmental consulting firm Enviroscience Consultants Inc. to conduct a district-wide test for lead in drinking water this summer. The firm released results of the testing in a report dated June 28.
A total of 126 water fixtures were tested across Edna Louise Spear Elementary, Port Jefferson Middle School and Earl L. Vandermeulen High School. Traces of lead large enough to require action were found in nine locations, according to the report.
“We wouldn’t be doing this if there wasn’t a reaction starting essentially with Flint, Michigan. But our response to it is going to be proactive. We have to make sure that there isn’t any danger while [students are] at school.” — Paul Casciano
At the middle school, a first-floor water fountain, two sinks in science labs and a kitchen sink had lead levels exceeding 15 parts per billion. The Environmental Protection Agency’s “action level” threshold for lead in water is 20 parts per billion, as listed in in its 2006 guide entitled “3T’s for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools.” At the high school, sinks in the third-floor faculty bathroom, an athletic coaching office and a science lab, as well as a spigot in an athletic office and a water fountain in a wood shop, showed lead levels higher than 15 parts per billion. All nine fixtures have been removed and either replaced or will be replaced, according to District Facilities Administrator Fred Koelbel.
In water sources like sinks in science labs or bathrooms, school districts are permitted to note with a sign that the water shouldn’t be used for drinking, but Port Jefferson opted to remove such fixtures anyway.
“The district response here is at the top of the curve,” Enviroscience Consultants President Glenn Neuschwender said in an interview to the district’s choice to adhere to stricter standards than those laid out by the EPA, and their decision to opt for removal of the fixtures instead of signs. “This board has taken the highest level of conservatism when it comes to protecting the kids.”
Neuschwender stressed levels found in Port Jefferson are not remotely close to those found in places like Flint and fall below some action-required thresholds other than the EPA. Still, he suggested concerned parents take action.
“You have to have a discussion with your child,” he said. “Do you use that fountain? If they don’t, the discussion is kind of over. If they say ‘yeah, I use it from time to time,’ then the only sure way to find out if your child has been impacted is to have a blood-lead test.”
According to the report, lead can impact every organ of the human body, though it is most harmful for the central nervous system. Low levels can cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems, among other problems. High levels can result in neurological problems or even death.
Koelbel said a comprehensive test on this level had not been conducted in recent years though concerns in 1985 prompted the district to replace fixtures at the elementary school. None of the locations tested at Edna Louise Spear yielded results that required action.
Interim Superintendent of Schools Paul Casciano said he understands parents’ concerns, though the district plans to be upfront and forthright about its findings and subsequent action.
“We feel that we’re being more cautious, replacing sinks as opposed to putting up a sign,” he said. “Obviously all of the lead testing is a reaction so I won’t say we’re proactive. We wouldn’t be doing this if there wasn’t a reaction starting essentially with Flint, Michigan. But our response to it is going to be proactive. We have to make sure that there isn’t any danger while they’re at school.”
Casciano called the replacements an unanticipated but not prohibitive cost.
“Anything that protects the safety of students is worth the expense,” he said.
Koelbel said the district is planning to test the replaced fixtures in the coming weeks, though no plans currently exist for a second comprehensive, districtwide test.
He added that the district is in the process of replacing a few drinking fountains each year with filtered water stations that contain a reservoir to chill water and are designed to make filling bottles easier. Four of the stations already exist in the district.
This version was updated to correct the EPA’s action-level threshold for lead in water.
A woman Nicole sits on the grass in Port Jefferson remembering those who were lost to and those who survived heroin addiction during the third annual Lights of Hope event on Aug. 31. Photo by Nora Milligan
Rebecca Anzel
When Daniel Scofield died in 2011 from a heroin overdose, his mother Dori decided to do something.
“I wasn’t going to keep [his death] under the carpet,” she said. “I just said, ‘I’ve got to bring this out into the world. My son was my life and I’m not going to bury his addiction with him. I have to help others. I have to bring awareness.’”
In April 2014, the founder of Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue and Adoption Center started Dan’s Foundation for Recovery, a not-for-profit organization that provides assistance to those suffering from alcohol or substance abuse. The group uses its donations to help an addict get help — it assists addicts in covering insurance copayments, treatment and travel costs to recovery centers in other states.
Scofield co-hosted Lights of Hope on Aug. 31 at Memorial Park in Port Jefferson. The event, which is in its third year, brought together families and friends to remember those who died from a drug overdose and to support those who are recovering from drug addiction.
Lit luminaires light up the night during the third annual Lights of Hope event in Port Jefferson on Aug. 31. Photo by Nora Milligan
The event’s other co-host was Public Relations Director Debbie Gross Longo of the New York Chapter of Magnolia New Beginnings, an advocacy, education, support and addiction resource group.
“Each year, unfortunately the crowd gets bigger,” Longo said. “We lose about 129 kids a day throughout the United States. This is something that is an epidemic. It has gotten out of control and there’s no reason for it.”
Longo’s son was a soccer player at Ward Melville High School. He was so talented, she said, he was being scouted by colleges. That was before he tore his quadricep.
The doctors at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson prescribed him oxycodone, and he became addicted. The price per pill of oxycodone is expensive — about $45 each, Longo said. So he switched to heroin, a much less expensive but more potent drug. Before long, his personality began to change.
“The changes happened pretty quickly until I couldn’t ignore it any longer, and that’s when he went to rehab,” she said. “It didn’t work the first time, it didn’t work the second time and it didn’t work the third time.”
Longo said her son is now living in a sober community in Florida helping other addicts get into recovery.
According to a 2015 New York State Opioid Poisoning, Overdose and Prevention report, there were 337 heroin-related deaths in Suffolk County between 2009 and 2013 — more than any other county in the state during that period.
“We come together to celebrate the lives they lived, we’re celebrating the recovery and we’re celebrating the people who are still struggling. We will never give up hope. Where there is life, there is hope.”
—Tracey Budd
In a brief speech at the Lights for Hope event, Scofield stressed the importance of helping those addicted to the drug get into recovery. Earlier that day, she said, she helped a young girl who lost her mother get into the Long Island Center for Recovery in Hampton Bays as well as three other young people get into a rehabilitation facility in Arizona.
In starting Dan’s Foundation, Scofield “wanted mostly to help kids that sought treatment now — not 10 days from now,” she said. “In 20 minutes, they’re gone. You have a small window of opportunity to help them and you’ve got to do it when you can do it.”
Scofield’s son David, 28, went through heroin recovery. His mom said her sons were best friends and they did everything together, including using heroin.
“I struggled with this disease for a long time,” he said to those who attended the Lights for Hope event. “I found a way to live sober. I found a different way to live my life.”
Event attendees decorated white paper bags with the name of a loved one who died from heroin or who recovered from it, and a message. Toward the end of the evening, a candle was placed inside each bag, and they were arranged in a large circle around the cannon in the park.
“We come together to celebrate the lives they lived, we’re celebrating the recovery and we’re celebrating the people who are still struggling,” Tracey Budd, a Rocky Point resident and founder of North Shore Drug Awareness Advocates, said. “We will never give up hope. Where there is life, there is hope.”
Budd’s son Kevin died in September 2012 from a heroin overdose. Her daughter Breanna has been drug-free since May 2014.
She said the stigma of addiction has changed dramatically since 2008 at the height of her son’s struggle with heroin. There is now a community of families that support each other through a child’s struggle with addiction or an addict’s death.
Tracey Budd, a Rocky Point resident and founder of North Shore Drug Awareness Advocates, displays her luminaire in memory of her son Kevin during the third annual Lights of Hope event in Port Jefferson on Aug. 31. Photo by Nora Milligan
“It’s sad to say, but when you feel the hug of another mother who’s lost a child, even if you’ve never met, no words need to be spoken,” Budd said. “It’s a connection that we wish we didn’t have, but we do, and it’s actually pretty amazing.”
Middle Island resident Hugh Rhodus said the worst part of the heroin problem on Long Island is going to a funeral for a young person. He recently attended the funeral of a friend’s 24-year-old nephew.
“Going to a kid’s funeral is the hardest thing, but unfortunately we do it all the time,” he said. “It’s so hard to do. Kids that age laying in a casket is awful.”
Rhodus and his wife helped their daughter Amanda through her 13-year struggle with heroin. He said when they first tried to get her help, they took her to Mather Hospital, where they waited for a couple of hours after speaking with a nurse in a “room in the back.” Eventually, they were told to go to a hospital in Nassau County because Mather Hospital was unable to help Amanda.
“It’s your daughter, she’s sick, she’s a drug addict and that’s how we found out how powerful the stigma was,” Rhodus said. “We fought for years to get her in and out of treatment — it was tough. It was really tough.”
Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) praised families and recovering addicts for not giving up.
“We can’t give up,” she said. “Everybody has to be engaged and participate because it is our lives and our children’s lives and our loved ones lives that’s on the line.”
Algae built up on a lake where birds and other marina life inhabit. File photo
By Rebecca Anzel
Long Island’s economic prosperity and quality of life are at risk from an unlikely source, but both the Suffolk County and Town of Brookhaven governments are taking steps to combat the issue.
Bodies of water in the county face nitrogen pollution, which leads to harmful algae blooms and a decrease in shellfish population, among other environmental defects. Critically, nitrogen seeps into the Island’s groundwater, which is the region’s only source of drinking water.
Fishing, tourism and boating are billion-dollar industries in Suffolk County — approximately 60 percent of the Island’s economy is reliant on clean water. County property values are also tied to water clarity, according to a Stony Brook University report.
Nitrogen enters ground and surface water from various sources of runoff, such as landscaping, agriculture and pet waste. But the largest contributor of nitrogen pollution is failing septic systems, which County Executive Steve Bellone (D) designated as “public water enemy No. 1.”
Elected officials and environmental advocates gathered at the home of Jim and Donna Minei, recipients of a Innovative and Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems through the Suffolk County Septic Demonstration Pilot Program. Photo from Steve Bellone’s office
Which is why Bellone signed into law last month a resolution that amended Suffolk County’s sanitary code to help protect the county’s aquifer and surface water by improving wastewater treatment technologies to combat nitrogen pollution as part of the county’s Reclaim Our Water initiative.
“It doesn’t help our tourism industry, our quality of life or our ecosystems,” county Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) said of issues with the Island’s water. “Tackling the nitrogen problem, while not a sexy issue, is a very important one.” Hahn is chairwoman of the county’s Environment, Planning & Agriculture Committee.
Town and county officials are tackling the problem by utilizing what Hahn called a “multipronged approach.” Brookhaven is working to track any issues with outfalls, where drains and sewers empty into local waters, and Suffolk County is employing alternative septic systems.
Municipalities like Brookhaven are required by New York State to inspect each point where waste systems empty into a body of water and create a map of their location. It is part of a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit because, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, storm sewers collect pollutants like bacteria, motor oil, fertilizer, heavy metals and litter, and deposit them directly into bodies of water.
In addition to conducting the inspections of outfalls necessary to comply with the MS4 permit, the Town of Brookhaven conducts a DNA analysis of any outfall that has indications of impacting water quality. Since 2007, Brookhaven has spent more than $880,000 on this state requirement, Veronica King, the town’s stormwater manager, said.
“You want to put your resources where it makes the most sense,” she said. “Instead of dumping millions of dollars into structural retrofits that don’t address the true problem, the DNA analysis helps us to prioritize and make educated and cost-effective decisions.”
Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) said Brookhaven contracts with Cornell Cooperative Extension because it maintains a DNA “library” of Long Island wildlife, which it uses to identify the source of any pathogens in collected stormwater. For instance, if the DNA tests conclude they came from pets, Brookhaven might conduct an educational campaign to remind residents to clean up after their furry friends. If the pathogens come from a human source, there might be an issue with a septic system.
“This type of analysis could prove of great importance because any patterns identified as a result of this study can help determine what next steps can be taken to improve water quality where necessary,” Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) said.
Brookhaven has applied for a state grant to help pay for these DNA tests and outfall inspections for the first time this year, because, King said, this is the first time New York State has offered a grant to cover the work.
The DNA tests are important, Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said, because they help to identify ways to decrease the amount of nitrogen seeping into groundwater.
“The amount of nitrogen in the Magothy aquifer layer has increased over 200 percent in 13 years,” he said of one of the sub-layers that is most commonly tapped into in Suffolk, although not the deepest in the aquifer. “Cleaning up our waterways is not going to be done overnight — this is going to take a long time — but the waterways did not become polluted overnight.”
Suffolk County launched its Septic Demonstration Program to install cesspool alternative systems in 2014, called Innovative and Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (known as I/A OWTS), on the property of participants. Manufacturers of the technology donated the systems and installed them at no cost to the homeowner.
The county’s goal in testing these alternative systems is to lower the levels of nitrogen seeping into groundwater. According to a June 2016 Stony Brook University report, “the approximately 360,000 septic tank/leaching systems and cesspools that serve 74 percent of homes across Suffolk County have caused the concentrations of nitrogen in groundwater to rise by 50 percent since 1985.”
More than 10,000 of the nitrogen-reducing systems are installed in New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — all areas with similar environmental concerns to Suffolk County — according to the county executive’s office. County employees met with officials from these states to help shape its program.
“Tackling the nitrogen problem, while not a sexy issue, is a very important one.”
—Kara Hahn
The I/A OWTS installations worked out so well during a demonstration program that on July 26, the county passed a resolution to allow the Department of Health Services to regulate their use.
Typical cesspools are estimated to cost between $5,000 and $7,000 to install. The low nitrogen systems cost between $12,000 and $20,000, Hahn said. She added that as more areas facing similar environmental concerns require lower nitrogen standards and, as the technology improves, the cost of cesspool alternatives will go down.
Until then, Hahn said county officials have been discussing the possibility of subsidizing the cost of installing the I/A OWTS. It might begin requiring new homes to install low-nitrogen systems instead of traditional cesspools. Or, upon an old system’s failure, it might require an I/A OWTS be installed.
“We hope to eventually be able to help in some way,” she said.
County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) said she hopes local businesses begin producing the alternative systems that the county determines best work for the area since it would “keep the economic dollar here” and provide jobs.
In January, Brookhaven will be the first town, Romaine said, that will begin mandating new constructions within 500 feet of any waterway to install an alternative wastewater treatment system.
“I think alternative systems work,” he said. “In many ways, even though we’re a local government, we are on the cutting edge of clean water technologies.”
Both the initiatives by Brookhaven and Suffolk County “go hand and glove,” George Hoffman, of the Setauket Harbor Task Force, said. Many of Suffolk’s harbors and bays are struggling due to stormwater and nitrogen pollution, including Great South Bay, Lake Ronkonkoma, Northport Harbor, Forge River, Port Jefferson Harbor, Mount Sinai Harbor and Peconic River/Peconic Bay.
“Living on an island on top of our water supply and with thousands of homes along the shores of our harbors and bays, it never made sense to allow cesspools to proliferate,” he said.
The success of the initiatives, though, depends on residents.
“The public needs to be always recognizing that whatever we do on land here on Long Island and in Suffolk County affects not only the drinking water beneath us but the quality of our bays and waterways, streams and rivers all around us,” Hahn said. “It’s critically important that folks have that understanding. Everything we do on land affects our water here on the Island.”
In a unique type of collaboration, Stony Brook Medicine and Mount Sinai Health System have entered into a formal affiliation agreement that combines the strengths of both organizations to create positive change in biomedicine, the delivery of care to our communities and the education of the next generation of health care professionals.
The affiliation of Stony Brook Medicine and Mount Sinai Health System is based on our common values, as well as a reverence for translating basic biomedical science into new cures for human disease and a commitment to providing health care professionals of the future the most advanced approaches to both didactic and experiential learning.
We also share the commitment to using robust clinical evidence to determine the very best medical practices that improve the quality of care delivered to our patients. Both institutions seek to apply our understanding of human health and disease to the entire population we serve, through our leadership positions in the New York State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Program and other avenues, so that all will benefit from our efforts.
Often, when people hear the word “affiliation,” it is thought that there is a merger or acquisition; however, this is not the case — Mount Sinai is not buying Stony Brook or vice versa. It is an agreement that allows collaborative efforts to flourish and heighten academic, research and clinical care synergies.
This means boundless opportunities on a number of fronts. For example, the Stony Brook University School of Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will develop joint graduate and medical educational programs, maximizing the strengths of existing master’s and doctoral programs at each institution. Students will have the opportunity to take classes on both campuses, allowing them to learn new techniques and expand their exposure.
In addition, the combining of two research powerhouses has immense promise to influence both institution’s abilities to make major breakthroughs by moving discoveries made at the very basic level and bringing them to the bedside faster — all to improve diagnostics and treatments. We believe that the joint efforts will yield greater discoveries than would arise from either institution alone. Mount Sinai and Stony Brook have already taken steps in this direction by investing a combined total of $500,000 to introduce new research programs, with the intent of receiving collaborative external funding.
The areas of focus include biomedical engineering and computer science; drug discovery and medicinal chemistry sciences; neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry; basic biology and novel therapeutics; and public health and health systems. The alliance will capitalize on Mount Sinai’s strengths in biomedical and clinical research and health policy and outcomes and Stony Brook’s expertise not only in the School of Medicine but also in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences and in departments such as mathematics, high-performance computing, imaging and the physical and chemical sciences.
It is a momentous time for academic medicine, health care, our respective students, faculty and staff and for the communities we serve across the Island and into Manhattan. The partnership allows both institutions to look at new ways to be innovative and bring the benefits of our shared transformation to our patients.
Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky is senior vice president of Health Sciences and dean of Stony Brook University School of Medicine.
An ambulatory surgery center in Port Jefferson Station will allow Mather Hospital to open up space for patients in need of extended stays. File photo from Mather Hospital
North Shore residents in need of a surgical procedure will soon have a new, more convenient option that eliminates the need for extended hospital stays, long searches for parking and unnecessary treks through vast buildings.
The New York State Department of Health approved plans for the Port Jefferson Ambulatory Surgery Center to be located on Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station at a meeting of the State’s Public Health and Health Planning Council Aug. 4. The project, which is estimated to cost nearly $10.6 million, will establish a freestanding outpatient facility for surgical procedures with six operating rooms. John T. Mather Memorial Hospital will own about a quarter of the center, with 19 individual physicians making up 70 percent of the ownership structure.
Doctors involved in the plans, which goas far back as five years, are excited for the possibilities the center will bring.
“There’s a massive need because it’s more comfortable for the patients, they’re less expensive to run [than full hospitals] and it’s less expensive for the hospital,” Port Jefferson-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Fracchia said in a phone interview. He called the center a “win-win-win” because of the benefits it will create for patients, insurance companies and Mather Hospital. Sending patients with ailments treatable at another site out of the hospital will also allow Mather more space for those who require a hospital stay.
Fracchia is serving as a treasurer for the project as well.
The Port Jefferson Station center will handle procedures in ophthalmology, orthopedics, pain management, general surgery, neurosurgery and otolaryngology.
“It’s a more comfortable, homey type of facility,” orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brian McGinley said in an interview. McGinley is the president of the Port Jefferson Station project. Both McGinley and Fracchia stressed the improvement the facility will make in convenience and cost savings for patients. McGinley added that the center will be held to the same high standards that are associated with Mather Hospital. He said the centers tend to be cleaner than hospitals with a far lower risk of infections like MRSA.
Pinnacle III, a company based in Colorado that specializes in establishing ambulatory surgery centers nationwide, has assisted in developing more than 40 centers across the United States and will play a role in creating the Port Jefferson Station site. It will be the first Pinnacle III center in New York, and according to Pinnacle III President and CEO Robert Carrera, New York is one of the states with the greatest need for more surgery centers. Lisa Austin, the company’s vice president, estimated that the cost of procedures at surgery centers is about 33 percent less than at traditional hospitals.
Carrera, Austin, Fracchia and McGinley all speculated that ambulatory surgery centers could be a wave of the future in health care, especially in New York.
“Things have changed — you don’t see anyone building new hospitals,” Fracchia said. New York currently has 116 ambulatory surgery centers, though plans for more are popping up in addition to the Port Jefferson Station location.
Fracchia said he anticipates ground being broken on the site within the next week or so, and the goal is for the doors to open by the winter of 2017.
Daniel Stratton (center) speaks at a press conference about a resolution to ban smoking at athletic fields with Legislator William Spencer, (left) and Councilman Mark Cuthbertson (right). Photo from Jennifer Mish
By Wenhao Ma
It’s official: You can no longer smoke on any athletic field in the Town of Huntington.
The town board unanimously passed legislation at an Aug. 16 meeting to prohibit smoking on athletic fields across Huntington.
Councilman Mark Cuthbertson (D) originally brought up the resolution in June and was supported by Suffolk County Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport).
“I am pleased that we have passed a common-sense measure to limit exposure to secondhand smoke at our athletic fields,” Cuthbertson said in an email.
Smoking in town parks and beaches has been banned for years — but athletic fields have not been specifically addressed in town laws. The new legislation, according to Spencer’s office, is a response to residents who have expressed concerns about being exposed to secondhand smoke at sporting events.
“Our youth, parents and coaches all deserve to breathe air free from secondhand smoke when visiting local sports fields,” Spencer said in an email. “This is critical to protecting the health of our residents and I applaud Councilman Cuthbertson and the rest of the town board for moving quickly to close this apparent loophole in the smoking policy.”
According to the legislation, no person shall smoke a tobacco product, herbal product, marijuana, cigarette, electronic cigarette, pipe, cigar, vapors, e-liquids or other legal marijuana derivatives in an outdoor playground or athletic field that is town-owned property.
Facts from the American Lung Association show how secondhand smoke affects children’s health.
Spencer thanked Cuthbertson for drafting the new legislation, which he called “a bold step” in helping to reduce the rate of smoking among the youth and ensuring clean air for all who visit the town’s sports fields.
“Everything counts,” Spencer said in a statement. “Even a child becoming conditioned to see cigarettes out in public or out at a ball field has an impact. [The legislation] is something that in the long term will save lives.”
Daniel Stratton was one of the concerned residents, and he said he brought the proposed code amendment to Cuthbertson’s attention.
“I noticed some of my children’s coaches leaving the dugout to smoke a cigarette just outside the fence of the field,” Stratton said in an email. “Aside from this being an obviously unhealthy behavior to model for the children, it seemed very counterintuitive when we are trying to get our children outside to be active and healthy.”
Stratton, who is a former health teacher, said he started researching laws and regulations for smoking at athletic fields and that is how he got involved with Cuthbertson.
“I discovered [there] was already a ban at Huntington beaches and playgrounds and I saw that this was spearheaded by Councilman Cuthbertson. So I contacted him to find out if there was already a law that encompassed [athletic fields] and if not, how I could pursue a resolution to this situation,” Stratton said.
“This new regulation extends my no-smoking legislation to include playgrounds, beaches and athletic fields,” Cuthbertson confirmed.
Two people embrace at a lights of Hope event two years ago. File photo by Heather Khalifa
In honor of Overdose Awareness and National Recovery Month, Lights of Hope is returning to Port Jefferson.
On Aug. 31 at Memorial Park on the Harbor in Port Jefferson Village, Dan’s Foundation for Recovery, a 501(c)3 non-profit based in Stony Brook that is dedicated to helping substance abuse addicts find a new direction, and Magnolia New Beginnings, a Massachusettes-based organization that advocated for those affected by addiction, are inviting those near and far to a candle lighting.
The event, which will begin at 7 p.m., marks a day to remember those lost to drug overdose, and support those who are struggling or are still in recovery. Guest speakers will be present, as well as live acoustic music during the lighting of lumières.
All proceeds generated from a raffle will help someone who is struggling to get into and pay for rehab.
John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson has plans for more robotics-assisted surgeries following a successful total knee replacement done using the technology. Photo from Blue Belt Technologies
By Joseph Wolkin
North Shore natives in need of a total knee replacement can now get a revolutionary surgery right in their own backyard. In July, John T. Mather Memorial Hospital became one of the first in the United States to conduct a robotic-assisted total knee replacement surgery.
Laurie Mullens, a patient at the hospital, hopes she is on her way to being pain-free, following a groundbreaking surgery she received at John T. Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson in late July. She said she has dealt with painful arthritis in her knees for more than a decade.
The 63-year-old Farmingdale resident thought she tried everything to alleviate her knee pain. Mullens was frustrated, as the pain was not allowing her to walk properly. She lived with what she described as severe and sharp pains in her knees, and when treatments failed to reduce her pain, Mullens opted to have knee replacement surgery.
On March 17, Mullens had her first knee replacement surgery at Mather. While recovery time after the surgery usually takes six months to a year, after four months she said she wasn’t feeling positive about her improvement. When the pain continued, she went back to Mather.
Dr. Brian McGinley, who graduated from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, did something different with Mullens. Instead of performing the surgery with only human hands, he opted to have a robot assist in the operation. While the hospital has used robot assistance in partial replacement procedures for about a year, no one had used one for a total knee replacement yet.
“I control the data put in the computer, and I set the parameters of which I want to cut the ends of the bone. The robot allows me to match those parameters by one millimeter of my plan because it is so specific.”
—Brian McGinley
“It’s robotic-assisted surgery, so the robot is controlled by a computer,” McGinley said. “I control the data put in the computer, and I set the parameters of which I want to cut the ends of the bone. The robot allows me to match those parameters by one millimeter of my plan because it is so specific. When I’m cutting the surface of the bone, it turns off if I go more than one millimeter outside where I set it on the computer.”
McGinley opted to use the robot for the entire surgery, as opposed to the partial usage common at Mather.
“They didn’t really tell me anything other than it was there to assist them in doing the surgery,” Mullens said. “It’s just assisting him, so I didn’t have to worry it wasn’t done by a surgeon.”
The surgery featured the Navio Surgical System, which utilizes hand-held robotics. When done with the system, the procedure is meant to produce precise results for knee replacements.
“We’ve been working on this project for two years, and we’ve been using computer-assisted surgery at Mather for many years,” McGinley said. “Now, we have the next-step technology to have surgery that’s robot-assisted. It’s completely safe because we’re still in control, performing the function with the assistance of the robot. There are no real major errors that can be placed in the system. If the power fails, we still have our traditional instruments that we can use.”
According to Blue Belt Technologies, creators of the Navio Surgical System, the robotic devices have led to reports of improved accuracy and repeatability of implant placement.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 757,000 knee replacement surgeries in the United States in 2011.
While the end goal is to make the surgery quicker, Mullens’ surgery took 15 minutes longer than Dr. McGinley would have liked.
“It’s a little slower right now because we’re still trying to figure out the methodology during the procedure,” McGinley said. “I’m expecting to get that time down in the operating room.”
Since her July 20 surgery, Mullens said she has experienced aches and pains similar to the aftermath of her first operation.
“It’s to be expected because I had both knees done,” she said. “It’s very swollen and it’s an uncomfortable recovery. That’s the way it goes. But I’m recovering very quickly — as quickly as to be expected.”
The technology is currently being studied to see what can be improved in order to make it more efficient and eventually more widely used. According to McGinley, the doctors who are using the robot are coming together to see if it is a valid treatment option for patients.
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.
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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