1,000th recipient of Chiari brain surgery thanks LIJ

What is CHF? Learn at Mercy Medical Center

Mercy Medical Center will hold an education session on one of the most commonly misunderstood conditions in the medical field, congestive heart failure (CHF) June 1 at 4 p.m. at the CHS Management center on the Mercy campus at 992 N. Village Ave. in Rockville Centre.  Congestive heart failure is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to the body's other organs. Five million patients in this country have been diagnosed with heart failure, 500,000 diagnosed for the first time. CHF is primarily a disease of the elderly, with statistics showing that six to 10 percent of people older than 65 years of age face heart failure. Symptoms may include shortness of breath, fatigue (which may limit exercise/walking) and fluid retention. It is easy to be confused about CHF.  Medical leaders at Mercy Medical Center, which will include the director of medicine, a nurse practitioner, a registered nurse, a cardiac rehabilitation specialist and a nutritional counselor, will lead this education session. Learn from these professionals what congestive heart failure is, why you may be on so many medications, why you may be short of breath, ways to avoid repeated hospital admissions and learn about dietary assistance.

Immunotherapy spells relief at Winthrop

When allergies strike, tissues or over-the-counter (OTC) medications are often not enough to treat irritating symptoms. Immunotherapy may be the answer for such severe allergy sufferers, which include those who are highly symptomatic for more than three months out of the year. For the past two years, Heiddy Lackner has sought relief through weekly immunotherapy shots administered by Dr. Luz Fonacier, of Winthrop-University Hospital. "There's a group of patients who are poorly responsive to OTC medications are unable or unwilling to take medications, or take medicine but develop side effects," said Fonacier. "Immunotherapy is suitable for those individuals." Immunotherapy involves the stimulation of the immune system via injections containing low doses of substances the patient is allergic to. By increasing the doses, immunotherapy decreases the allergic response to help lessen future bouts. Depending on the patient's immune system susceptibility, it may take up to a year for the weekly shots to become effective. Thereafter, monthly maintenance shots are required for three to five years. "The only downside is that immunotherapy is time consuming," said Fonacier.