Choosing an Accessible Vehicle
Having mobility issues can be challenging in many ways, from obtaining a proper wheelchair to navigating your environment. One of the biggest challenges is getting from origin to destination. Whether you have your own vehicle or need to rely on public transportation, you need to do research on what is the most appropriate accommodation.
Shaare Zedek Celebrates 200th PGD-IVF Birth
"Be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28) says God in his first command to humanity. Thanks to the vision and donations of Rabbi David and Anita Fuld, Shaarei Tzedek is the world leader in helping families who would otherwise never even dream of having healthy children.
Caregiver Conflict: Did We Always Fight Like This?
Now that Pesach and Shavuos have come and gone, we can reflect and review some of the changes we saw in our elderly parents over the past Yom Tov. Siblings who came from a distance might have observed changes that daily, primary caregivers often don’t notice. At the same time, if you are the primary caregiver, Yom Tov may have stirred up some personal questions and feelings.
Bipolar – Not A Life Sentence
Chaim* was admired in yeshiva for his incredible diligence. His days were consumed with learning and he could be found in the Beis Midrash almost 24/7. For him, sleep was a waste of time. Great things were forecast for his future until neighbors found him lying in the middle of the street in Geula, hallucinating that he was Moshiach. Medications stopped his racing mind but made him feel like a zombie. He became depressed and shell of his former self. His parents thought they were acting responsibly when they had him hospitalized and then put in a hostel.
Debunking Myths in Women’s Health Update
Earlier this year, the American Cancer Society came out with new guidelines concerning Pap smears, which screen for cervical cancer. Conventional wisdom had long held that women should receive annual Pap smears, but in March, doctors announced the new guidelines suggesting that women receive a Pap smear once every three years.
Visiting Disney World with a Special Needs Child
Traveling to Disney World with your kids? If you are a typical Jewish family, there are concerns about the availability of kosher food, events that take place on Shabbos that you may have to schedule around, and the availability of a minyan. Traveling with a special needs child creates an added level of complexity.
Lubavitcher Chassid Sues New York Over Conversion Therapy Ban
He further notes that some of his patients have succeeded in reducing or eliminating their unwanted attractions, while some have not or have chosen not to continue the process.
Israeli Doctor: Over-the-Counter Drugs Could Raise Blood Pressure
Chemical components in anti-inflammatory pain relievers, antibiotics, contraceptives and anti-depressants may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, according to Dr. Ehud Grossman...
The New DSM-5 Definition Of Autism And Its Impact On Services
The newest addition of the DSM-5 manual is scheduled for publication in May 2013. The DSM is used by clinicians to determine whether a client or patient meets or does not meet the criteria for a particular diagnosis.
Important Conversations about Health Care
Articles in the media are recommending a certain kind of “conversation." In an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2010, Michael Vitez describes in detail how a palliative care team brought a family into a comfortable living room for repeated discussions about their mother who had been hospitalized for confusion and falling. Over and over again, they were offered the choice of discontinuing her “aggressive" medical care, but the family held out. They continued her medical treatment.
Twins Are Multiplying
Having twins used to be a novelty. Now, if you think that you are seeing double everywhere you go, it is not your imagination. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), published a study last month noting the sharp increase in twin births over the past three decades.
Diabetes – The Silent Killer
The worldwide diabetes epidemic and its related precursor, obesity, are the fastest growing public health menaces of the 21st century.
A Life with Autism
Between 1997 and 2008, the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) increased almost fourfold, according to the National Health Interview survey. The 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health indicated that 1.1 percent of all children born in this country are on the autism spectrum.
The Challenges and Benefits of Living Gluten-Free
One of today’s fastest growing new dietary trends is the proliferation of foods labeled “gluten free” on the shelves of supermarkets across the country.
Mir Rosh Yeshiva Recovery Just the Beginning of Israel’s Stem Cell Miracles
A generation of students at the Mir Yeshiva give thanks for the miraculous recovery of their Rosh Yeshiva from ALS, courtesy Israeli technology.
The Vaccination Controversy – A Parent’s Dilemma
American society as a whole has accepted the view of the medical establishment that childhood vaccinations are both safe and necessary to protect the health of our children. But there are parents who accept the views disseminated over the Internet and social media by a small but vocal minority of doctors and researchers who claim that current vaccines, and the way in which they are administered, present significant risks to the health of very young children.
The Montessori Method
We are born to learn, in whatever capacity we are able. We study the world with our senses, and try to understand it. Our special children have more of a challenge, but they are just as interested in knowing what is going on around them. We know that because we observe their keen interest in everything we do and say. We need to nurture this interest, to encourage it.
Are Working Mothers Happier and Healthier Than Stay-at-Home Mothers?
The old debate over who has it ‘harder,’ stay–a- home mothers or working mothers, has never been clearly resolved. Some studies claim that stay-at-home mothers are more satisfied while working mothers are plagued with guilt, while other studies suggest the opposite.
American-Israeli Startup Creates First Smartphone Breathalzyer Test
A joint American-Israeli startup has developed the world’s first breathalyzer attachment for smartphones, in order to prevent drunk driving.
Adult Children Caring For Parents (Part 2): When is it time to bring...
As you explore possibilities to care for your aging parents, and review all the different options, you may decide that having them live with you is the best option. There are certainly challenges to this arrangement, but many people have found that living in a multigenerational house can be an enriching experience for the whole family. However, no matter how close your family relationships are, adding another person to the household changes things. There are many things to take into account when considering this option.
The Long Road of Stroke Recovery
What does an elected official in his fifties have in common with a young Chassidic father, a young mother who works as a freelance copy editor, and a 21-month old infant? All four individuals, from very different backgrounds and walks of life, suffered a stroke which robbed them of some of their previous abilities, and prompted an individualized recovery process which is likely to last for the rest of their lives.
Revolutionary Israeli Co Signs $8 Million Packaging Deal with Pepsi
Oplon Pure Science, a Rehovot-based developer of anti-bacterial polymer sheets for packaging, has signed an $8 million contract with the Pepsi Corporation to supply...
Who’s Been Eating Gluten-free? You have.
More often in recent years, people are gluten-intolerant or are choosing to eat a gluten-free diet. This may feel like a challenge to a hostess, but if you know in advance there are some simple ways to accommodate your guests' special needs.
The Staggering Costs of a Special Needs Child
The spectrum of special-needs children ranges from mental to physical to psychological and sometimes all three. A 2008 study by the United States Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 14 percent of children in this country fit into this category, and about 20 percent of families have at least one special-needs child. The definition of a special-needs child can range from one who is diagnosed with a mild learning disability to one who has a life-threatening condition, such as cystic fibrosis. This article will focus on the more severe categories.
Lawyers Deny Rumor that Controversial Pathologist Yehuda Hiss Was Fired
Attorneys for Pathologist Yehuda Hiss, considered the man who knows "where all the bodies are buried" (including the questionable circumstances of the assassination of a prime minister some seventeen years ago) are saying the rumors about his being fired by Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman s on Monday are premature.
Pomegranates Saving Lives
An interview with Professor Michael Aviram from Rambam Hospital and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Israel.
Riding the Teenage Roller Coaster: Understanding Terminated Relationships
The life of a typical adolescent may often combine difficulties and complexities. Adolescents are often faced with issues related to peer pressure, academic stress, and potential family difficulties. Friendships and relationships often serve as outlets for adolescents during times of difficulty and turmoil.
Outing a Silent Killer: Screening and Beating Lung Cancer
Did you know that lung cancer kills more people each year than colon, prostate, and breast cancer combined? In 2012, this number represented over 160,000 men and women who died from lung cancer, over 25% of all cancer deaths in the United States. Yet this is a treatable disease.
$1 Million Israeli BRAIN Prize To Be Awarded in 2013
A $1 million dollar prize has been announced which will go to the individual or team with the highest potential for helping people around the world by the non-profit organization Israel Brain Technologies.
Making the Multi-Generational Household Work
As Rabbi Meyer Waxman discusses elsewhere in this issue, more elderly parents are being forced, by circumstances, to move in with their adult children, as are more young adults who find themselves compelled to move back into their parents’ home. More adults have become part of the sandwich generation, as members of the six million American households today that span three or even four generations.