Support for Soldiers and Veterans You Gotta Have Heart The Joy of ...

Kids Give Tobacco the Kiss-Off
Youngsters from the Cross Island YMCA in Bellerose learned about the dangers of smoking at an educational workshop led by Nancy Copperman, RD, director of public
health initiatives at North Shore-LIJ. The event was part of National Kick Butts Day, which focuses attention on community activism by boys and girls to take a stand
against tobacco. The children created posters with antismoking messages and performed a short rap song pledging not to smoke. The Y also announced its new
smoke-free outdoor air policy to protect children and the community from the hazards of smoking and second-hand smoke. The project was funded by a grant from
the Queens Smoke-Free Partnership, with help from the North Shore-LIJ Health System. Back row, from left: Deanna Bitetti, chief of staff for Assemblyman David
Weprin, Jamé Krauter of the Cross Island YMCA, Ms. Copperman, and Tina Stinson-Lewis, also of the Cross Island Y.
North Shore-LIJ Epilepsy Center Is First on LI
to Offer New Device to Stimulate Vagus Nerve
The Comprehensive
Epilepsy Care Center at
North Shore-LIJ’s Cushing
Neuroscience Institute (CNI)
is the first center on Long
Island to offer the new version
of vagus nerve stimulation
(VNS) therapy, implanting an
AspireHC generator into
a 23-year-old female patient
from Hicksville with refractory
epilepsy this spring.
Asesh Mehta, MD, director
of epilepsy surgery at the
Comprehensive Epilepsy Care
Center, said, “VNS Therapy
is an effective, safe option for
epilepsy patients who are not
achieving satisfactory seizure
control from medications.
Because this newest model
of the vagus nerve stimulator
has the longest battery life
of any VNS therapy device,
replacement of the generator
can take place less frequently
for patients who are on
higher doses of stimulation.
In addition, the AspireHC,
which is about the size of a
small pocket watch, will provide
improved quality of life benefits
for VNS therapy patients.”
Dr. Mehta explained that
implantation is a short outpatient
procedure lasting one
to two hours. The stimulator
is implanted in the patient’s
left chest area, where a thin
flexible wire (lead) sends mild
stimulation to the left vagus
nerve in the neck automatically
at regular intervals.
The Comprehensive
Epilepsy Care Center is a truly
integrated and multidisciplinary
endeavor, with epilepsy
doctors, nurses, pharmacists,
neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists,
social workers, technical
staff and an administrative
team all working together
to provide care and support
for both adult and pediatric
epilepsy patients. It is the largest
and most comprehensive
program on Long Island for
the evaluation and medical and
surgical treatment of epilepsy
in children and adults.
The New Standard 71