Articles From Symposium
Windows of Wellness Levels
An Inside View Presented by The Global Associates for Health Development, Inc.
(April 16, 2011). Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY.
Presiding: Mignon Smith PhD, RN President and Founder
Windows of Wellness Levels
An Inside View Presented by The Global Associates for Health Development, Inc.
(April 16, 2011). Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY.
Presiding: Mignon Smith PhD, RN President and Founder
SLEEP APNEA
Reza Naghavi MD, Internist. Board Member of Global Associates for Health Development, Inc.
Sleep deprivation and disordered breathing is a very complex and intertwined disease that actually is the causative agent
in the background of nearly every major disease known to man.
Just as we see a rise in high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, anxiety and depression, dementia, ADD/ADHD, we are
discovering that more and more Sleep disorder is present amongst these very patients.
After treating thousands of patients with sleep disorders, we have discovered that some 1/3 of the population suffers
from some form of sleep disordered breathing. The other discovery has been that 2/3 of the medical illnesses
in the society are in this one third of the population.
Its been proven that by not recharging at night, by having episodes of pauses in breathing, not getting proper oxygenation,
the blood pressure rises by increasing the tension in the arterial blood vessels, along with the heart beating faster and faster
to deliver this less oxygenated blood to the vital organs more rapidly. Initially this occurs in a normal rhythm, but as the
oxygen level drops, and the heart receives the blood supply from the same pool, the heart starts to beat irregularly,
this occurs first only during sleep but it starts to do the same during the day.
Eventually, high blood pressure is at play, arrhythmia come about, eventually leading to a pacemaker and defibrillator
along with a ton of medication to control the blood pressure, the hearth rate, the side effects of all these medication.
The lack of sleep, and a recharging sleep, the continuous interruptions of the cycles of sleep leads to continuous
Rem deficit, first just causing fatigue, forgetfulness, anxiety, and depression. Rem deficit is a common denominator
in all psychiatric illnesses from a little anxiety, to a full fledge psychosis, from a little forgetfulness all the way to dementia by
repeated hypoxic injury to the brain, leads to brain cell death, and once you have killed enough brain cells, we would be
labeled as demented.
Our bodies recharge and rejuvenate over night, by lack of this enormously important mechanism, our bodies become more fragile, more prone to infections, a lower pain threshold, a lower seizure threshold, all leading to chronic pain sufferers, chronic fatigue, increase in seizure disorders, etc.
Our body is designed to metabolize the energy we take in the form of food, break it down to its nutrients and calorie, utilizing
insulin to store energy as well as release stored energy in response to our bodies need for energy.
Patients with sleep disordered breathing, end up having a much lower body metabolism, void of energy,
and a tendency to retain calories crave for more carbohydrates, become overweight, less energy to be active, higher and
higher levels of insulin, along with the bodies resistance to respond to the release of insulin,
leading to insulin resistance being the first stage of diabetes. This along with the food revolution to feed the masses more and more processed foods and simple sugars, as well as the half a dozen artificial sweetners, that is why we have such an
emergence of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol hearth disease, stroke, difficulty healing from illnesses, and even our
response to treatments including cancer.
So we see how one disease entity is responsible for our entire health epidemic here in the us and the world over.
WHAT A DENTAL VISIT CAN SHOW
Robert Reiss DDS. Board Member of Global Associates for Health Development, inc.
A dental visit is a great opportunity to observe the quality of life that a patient is experiencing. We see oral and personal hygiene, skin color and health, eye color and clarity, deviation from norms in weight, gait, mobility of the body, list of medications being taken, allergies, missing teeth, condition of tissues and existing teeth, presence of swollen glands or muscles.
Dental disease has a common thread running through it. It is always unilateral (one side affected) whereas systemic disease is usually bilateral. Signs of dental disease or systemic disease are redness, swelling, inability to chew food easily, pain, and
mobility of teeth.
Mobility of teeth can be caused by many factors, such as diabetes, lack of proper hygiene, colon cancer, poor genetic background, malnutrition, stress, clenching, smoking, diseases which interfere with the normal bone metabolism. Bone build up, anabolism, is taking place all of the time, while bone break down, catabolism, is also taking place all of the time.
Hopefully, they balance each other 50: 50.
Disease entities such as diabetes, tend to alter the balance in favor of catabolism to a small percent (leading to gradual loss
of bone over years). Another systemic disease called pheochromocytoma causes an alteration in bone metabolism in the mouth, eventually leading to marked bone loss and mobility of the teeth.
This disease is frequently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as premenopausal hypertension due to hormonal imbalances in women of that age. The symptoms are sudden sweating,flushing, headache, weakness, increased blood pressure, fainting, and some occasional dizziness and light headedness. This collection of symptoms is caused by a benign tumor frequently found in the pancreas, adrenals, spleen, or other areas in the upper thorax.
A patient about forty - five years of age (female) presented herself in the office having seen three other dentists. All of her teeth were loose. She had been advised to have them extracted and two full dentures made. The x-rays showed bone loss
of about 50%. I decided that if we splinted her teeth with crowns, even temporary ones, and kept them
meticulously clean; maybe we could avoid dentures, for perhaps ten years. The work was completed and four months later the patient collapsed and ended up in N.Y. Hospital. She was diagnosed with premenopausal hypertension and medicated and kept in the hospital for observation. Her blood pressure continued to have very wide swings from high to low blood pressure.
CAT scans showed a tumor in the pancreas, probably benign. She was operated on and the benign tumor removed and diagnosed as a pheochromocytoma. Her blood pressure returned to normal and after eight months, we found that the mobility of her teeth had decreased by more than 60% and the bone was getting denser. After two years, most of the diminished bone had regrown.
Obviously, this tumor has a very destructive effect on calcium and phosphate metabolism.
The only reason we have bone in our jaws is to secure the teeth. If teeth are lost, the jaws atrophy. If this patient’s teeth had
been removed before the tumor was found, there would be zero regrowth of bone since the stimulus for regrowth was the presence of teeth.
CRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE
Zae Kim MD, Urologist. Member of Advisory Council/Global Associates for Health Development, Inc.
Chronic kidney disease is an increasing public health problem that may be ameliorated by greater patient and physician awareness, better and earlier detection, and timely management.
As seen in figure 1, rates of ESRD have been almost doubling each decade.
As kidney disease gets worse, wastes can build to high levels in the blood often leading to various clinically undesirable consequences. Patients often develop complications like high blood pressure, anemia (low blood count), weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Also, kidney disease increases risk of having heart and blood vessel disease. These problems may happen slowly over a long period of time.
Chronic kidney disease may be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders. Early detection and treatment can often keep chronic kidney disease from getting worse. When kidney disease progresses, it may eventually lead to kidney failure,
which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life.
Several therapies have been proven effective over the last 10 years. While not all people with CKD can have their disease process completely halted, significant slowing can be achieved and arrest of the process may be possible in some.
Despite the demonstration of effective therapy, screening of high - risk patients, referral and consultation with
nephrologists, and even provision of therapy after diagnosis is inadequate.
Early identification of CKD by primary care physician (PCP) with allied care approach between
the nephrology team and PCP team is essential to providing optimal care.
Humanitarian Response
Robert Reiss DDS. Board Member of Global Associates for Health Development, inc.
Last week I had to go to Chase Bank on Lexington Avenue and Sixtieth Street to correct an imbalance in my checking account. The manager took care of the problem and we talked his recent loss of his twenty five year old son, in a traffic accident on the Long Island Expressway. I expressed my sadness and found it hard to understand how you deal with the loss of a child.
The conversation made me understand how fragile we are.
I left the bank and got into a taxi to go home. The driver was an Indian man, a Sikh with a turban on his head. He had seen me coming out of the bank and asked if I had business there.
I said that Chase mixed up my professional account with my private one, but now it was taken care of. He asked if I was a doctor, and I said yes, a dentist.
He asked if I could answer some questions he had about his blood pressure and diet.
I told him that I would be glad to. His blood pressure varied a lot, based on the time of day and how much he had eaten, and since he was sitting all of the time, he was overweight.
I gave him some ideas about diet and exercise.
When we reached my home, I realized that I had left my phone and wallet at the bank, on the desk of the manager.
I said, please don’t turn the meter off; I think that I left my phone and wallet at the bank where you picked me up.
He turned the cab around and headed back to the bank.
I asked him how many children he had and what their ages were. He told me about them and then said that I should call the bank.
He told me that I should call the bank and make sure that the had my possessions and that they would still be open,
He handed me his cell phone to call the bank.
They were open and had my wallet and phone. As we approach the area, police action was blocking Lexington Avenue. The driver told me to get out and run the next block and a half, and when the blockage cleared up, he would meet me at the bank.
I returned with my belongings left at the bank, and he was parked outside.
I got in and he asked me where to? I said now let’s go back to where you first took me.
On the final trip home we discussed the relationship between Pakistan and India.
He felt that Pakistani could not be trusted.
I told him of two Pakistani people that I knew to be wonderful people. He corrected his statement by saying that he guessed that all Pakistani people weren’t untrustworthy.
I got home and thanked him for making a negative experience, into a positive one.
He replied that he appreciated our time together, and hoped that we would be able to meet and talk again.
Robert Reiss DDS, Board Member
April 2014
Robert Reiss DDS. Board Member of Global Associates for Health Development, inc.
Last week I had to go to Chase Bank on Lexington Avenue and Sixtieth Street to correct an imbalance in my checking account. The manager took care of the problem and we talked his recent loss of his twenty five year old son, in a traffic accident on the Long Island Expressway. I expressed my sadness and found it hard to understand how you deal with the loss of a child.
The conversation made me understand how fragile we are.
I left the bank and got into a taxi to go home. The driver was an Indian man, a Sikh with a turban on his head. He had seen me coming out of the bank and asked if I had business there.
I said that Chase mixed up my professional account with my private one, but now it was taken care of. He asked if I was a doctor, and I said yes, a dentist.
He asked if I could answer some questions he had about his blood pressure and diet.
I told him that I would be glad to. His blood pressure varied a lot, based on the time of day and how much he had eaten, and since he was sitting all of the time, he was overweight.
I gave him some ideas about diet and exercise.
When we reached my home, I realized that I had left my phone and wallet at the bank, on the desk of the manager.
I said, please don’t turn the meter off; I think that I left my phone and wallet at the bank where you picked me up.
He turned the cab around and headed back to the bank.
I asked him how many children he had and what their ages were. He told me about them and then said that I should call the bank.
He told me that I should call the bank and make sure that the had my possessions and that they would still be open,
He handed me his cell phone to call the bank.
They were open and had my wallet and phone. As we approach the area, police action was blocking Lexington Avenue. The driver told me to get out and run the next block and a half, and when the blockage cleared up, he would meet me at the bank.
I returned with my belongings left at the bank, and he was parked outside.
I got in and he asked me where to? I said now let’s go back to where you first took me.
On the final trip home we discussed the relationship between Pakistan and India.
He felt that Pakistani could not be trusted.
I told him of two Pakistani people that I knew to be wonderful people. He corrected his statement by saying that he guessed that all Pakistani people weren’t untrustworthy.
I got home and thanked him for making a negative experience, into a positive one.
He replied that he appreciated our time together, and hoped that we would be able to meet and talk again.
Robert Reiss DDS, Board Member
April 2014