Beats this week:

1) A study published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that a $1 increase in the cost of soda (one liter) translated into significant health benefits, including 2.34 pounds in decreased weight and improvement in the risk of heart disease. This study was released just as New York begins a final push for a soda tax.

2) Did you know that today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It is a day to recognize the special risks HIV/AIDS poses for women and girls, and to raise awareness of the disease’s increasing impact on them. In 2007, more than a quarter of HIV those diagnosed with HIV were women.

3) President Obama has continued his push to pass health care reform in the upcoming weeks, keeping to his commitment of March 18. Congress, however, seems to be on a different page than the President, with many contentious issues, such as abortion, still left unresolved.

4) Today in Springfield, Governor Pat Quinn gave a speech on the current state budget crisis and his proposed FY11 budget. In sum, Quinn plans to use five strategies to ease the fiscal crisis: cutting spending, strategic borrowing, maximizing federal assistance, new jobs and increasing revenues. His speech included a plea for a 1% increase in income taxes in order to fund education at the current levels. 

5) Researchers have discovered that the HIV virus can hide in bone marrow cells and eventually turn into blood cells. This research explains why patients need to follow strict medication adherence, even if the virus is absent from their blood cells. Eventually, researchers believe that this finding will allow them to develop better medications to treat the disease in the blood and other parts of the body, including bone marrow.

Aren’t their just some things in life that you wish could be done a lot easier? It’s not like we’re asking for anything outlandish – like a “free money” tree in our backyard or the ability to communicate telepathically – just a few simple things. Like our own secret passageway to get to work during rush hour or the ability to get an extra three hours of sleep, that’s all we are asking.

It is safe to assume a faster way to lose weight would be top on most people’s lists. We’re not exactly looking for the ability to eat pounds of chocolate cake and still stay skinny – although that would be wonderful. We’re just looking for a quick trick we can utilize when we need to shave off a few extra pounds after we’ve had one too many slices of St. Patrick’s Day soda bread. Sure, we’ve seen the diet pills on supermarket shelves that promise to hold the secret to weight loss – but we have to give ourselves credit. It’s going to take a little bit more then fancy packaging and a pretty model on the bottle to fool us.

Enter detox diets. Yes, at first glance, detox diets seem like our ticket to easy street. The creators of detox diets coin their product with fancy names, such as the “Master Cleanse,” “Raw Food Detox Diet,” or a personal favorite – the “Hallelujah Diet.” The proponents of these diets also feed us a lot of information that initially sounds fairly believable. We hear about ‘toxins polluting the body’ and ‘cleansing our internal organs’ and ‘ridding ourselves of pollutants.’ It all sounds really good. Of course, there is also that little part about being able to drop ten pounds in ten days that really drives the point home for most consumers.

The basic premise of detoxification diets, or detox, is that by restricting foods such as meat, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, certain grains and dairy products, while increasing the intake of more fruits and vegetables or, in the cases of some detox diets, only consuming liquids, we’ll be able to rid our body of toxins and pollutants that act as a barrier to our ability to lose weight. The promise is after seven to ten days, dieters will feel lighter, more energetic and focused, as well has having an overall ‘healthier’ feeling.

Unfortunately, like all things that seem too good to be true, detox diets are not what they promise to be. Michael Picco, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic, certainly doesn’t buy it. “There is no evidence that detox diets actually remove toxins from the body,” says Picco “Most ingested toxins are efficiently and effectively removed by the kidneys and liver.”

The weight loss that is often experienced with these diets comes from the severe calorie restriction they require. Some detox diets have their user restricting themselves to 800 calories a day or less. Most of the weight that is lost is water weight anyway – or worse, lean muscle tissue. Any pounds dropped during the detox will quickly pile pack on and then some. Plus, severe calorie restriction will trigger the body to go into ‘starvation mode’ meaning that your metabolism will slow and make future attempts at weight loss difficult.

So how about those ‘feel good’ vibes detox dieters get when they initially begin their fast? Don’t be fooled – severe calorie restriction promotes heightened psychological feelings of well-being. If detoxing is continued or repeated over an extended period of time, dieters will begin to experience anemia, hair loss, low blood sugar, irregular heartbeats and dizziness. The bottom line: we already have all the equipment we need to rid our body of pollutants and toxins. By eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and white meat, limiting saturated fats, sugars, and alcohol, getting regular exercise and practicing stress reduction techniques, we’ll keep our kidneys and liver in top form. If weight loss is what we seek, then we again need to healthfully reduce our calorie intake to no less than 1500 calories a day while also making sure to stick to a daily exercise routine that includes cardio.

So, all in all, the only way to effectively and efficiently drop pounds is to eat right and exercise regularly. There really is no easy trick or quick fix to becoming thin and trim. I guess we can’t say we’re surprised. At least we can still hope for that money tree.

Look for more information on nutrition and exercise in the next edition of Erie Health Tips!

For the last week most of us have heard the word ‘reconciliation’ more than we thought possible – it is quickly becoming the ‘hanging chad’ of 2010. As the days go on, some believe it is more and more likely that the Senate will pass health care reform legislation using reconciliation. But how many of us around the country are looking at one another and asking: What on earth is reconciliation? Well, search no more because Beats Per Minute is going to try to provide some answers! Over the last week, we have done some research in order to understand this process better. While we are certainly not experts, here is our best attempt to break down this very complicated process. And please chime in if you have something to add!

The History

Reconciliation evolved from the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Twenty-two bills have been approved using reconciliation since 1980, 16 by a Republican controlled Senate and 6 by Democrats. There are many well-known pieces of legislation that were passed recently using reconciliation, including Bush tax cuts and Clinton welfare reform.  Read more about the history of reconciliation here.

The Basics

Reconciliation is a legislative process of the Senate that allows for bills to be passed by a simple majority of 51 votes. Reconciliation is only permitted for legislation related to budget items. Specifically for health care, the Democrats do not have a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes and as such would be unable to move reform legislation through the Senate without a filibuster from Republicans.  In order to avoid that lengthy delay, Democrats can agree to consider the bill under reconciliation. This would allow the Senate to debate the issue for 20 hours before a vote is ordered. At that time, the Senate would vote on the pieces of legislation that relate to the budget in order to make changes to the bill. Then the House would pass the completed, identical bill. Finally, the bill would make its way to President Obama for his signature.

The Complications

Obviously, passing health care reform using reconciliation is not simple. First, politically it is a very risky move for the Democrats and President Obama. Many people are not thrilled at the idea of putting health care reform on the fast track or, as some have called it, ‘ramming it through’ in Congress. Using reconciliation will likely create a volatile environment for Democrats come November. Also, many are claiming that using reconciliation on this particular piece of legislation is unconstitutional. This is a very sticky area, one that will be decided by a referee of sorts, Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin. Frumin will be charged with the responsibility of deciding what aspects of the health care reform bill can and cannot be passed using reconciliation. Finally, despite all the politically-risky moves from Democrats, there is still the possibility that reconciliation won’t work. With the abortion issue coming back into play, anti-abortion Democrats in the House could kill the bill after it gets out of the Senate. All of the efforts of the President and Senate Democrats could end with the House voting down the bill anyway.

At the end of the day, the merit of using reconciliation is a murky situation – muddled with valid opinions on both sides of the aisle. What is an absolute is that 30 million uninsured Americans need reform now. With the unemployment rate huddling near 10%, it is evident that even more Americans do and will need access to affordable health care. This reform cannot wait. The American people cannot wait.

Levenfeld Pearlstein Announces 2010 Grants as Part of Ongoing Commitment to Chicago Community Organizations

February 5, 2010- Levenfeld Pearlstein is pleased to announce that, for the third consecutive year, it has awarded charitable grants totaling $50,000 to two worthy Chicago community organizations.  The firm made a grant to the Erie Family Health Center and a grant to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, as part of its Corporate Contributions Program.  Launched in 2007, the Corporate Contributions Program is part of a broader civic and social responsibility initiative that Levenfeld Pearlstein has undertaken since its founding in 1999.

At Levenfeld Pearlstein, we believe that doing right and doing well are inseparable and that it is our obligation to help others.  Our commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability is serious and reflects our values and culture as a firm.  Not-for-profit organizations have been particularly hard hit by the challenging economy, and the firm felt that it was extremely import to continue our Corporate Contributions Program, regardless of economic conditions. The commitment to bettering the communities in which we work and live is tightly woven into the fabric of Levenfeld Pearlstein, and to halt our program would go against the principles on which our firm was founded.

Levenfeld Pearlstein’s grant to the Erie Family Health Center represents the firm’s third year of support for Erie’s school-based clinic at Ryerson Elementary School, which serves some of Chicago’s lowest-income communities.  The grant will fully fund the continuation of integrated mental health services, community, and education programs, providing students with direct access to mental health services.  This will include an on-site licensed clinical social worker to provide behavioral services, teacher and staff training, and outreach to parents and the community.  Erie Family Health Center seeks to address the immediate needs of children, give them the tools they need to address their challenges, and provide enhanced intervention to improve the quality of their lives.

Levenfeld Pearlstein’s grant to the Greater Chicago Food Depository represents an expansion of the support that the firm has provided to GCFD for the past eight years as a sponsor of the organization’s Commercial Real Estate Awards Dinner.  Our grant specifically provides funding to the Food Depository’s Chicago’s Community Kitchens (CKK) program, which provides job-training programs in the food service industry for unemployed, under-employed and welfare-to-work adults.  The program has already graduated more than 600 students.  Additionally, the students in the program prepare meals for more that 2,500 children per day as part of GCFD’s Kids Café program.  CKK is fully funded by grants and individual contributions – it receives no state or other governmental funding.

More information about Erie Family Health Center is available at http://www.eriefamilyhealth.org/, and for more information on the Greater Chicago Food Depository visit www.chicagosfoodbank.org.

Beats this week:

1) This week President Obama released the final details on the health care reform bill and urged Congress to give an up or down vote on the legislation. In remarks to a group of medical professionals, President Obama asked Congress to put aside politics and take action on behalf of the American people.

2) Politico confirmed from Senator Tom Harkin that Senate Dems have decided to use reconciliation as a means to pass health care reform.

3) Meanwhile, at the local level, big Chicago hospitals saw huge profit gains in 2009 while smaller hospitals continued to struggle.

4) Recent research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that certain segments of the U.S. population have a higher prevalence of HIV than exists in parts of Africa. For example: “More than 1 in 30 adults in Washington, D.C., are HIV-infected—a prevalence higher than that reported in Ethiopia, Nigeria, or Rwanda.”

5) Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report this month that provides a breakdown by state of the federal dollars spent on public health. The report found that spending for public health has been flat and steady for the last five years and that the Midwest received the least amount of funding for disease prevention.

March-April 2010

In This Issue

• Green Events
• Recycling A-Z
• Chicago’s Solar Future
• Go Green: Growing Veggies on Your Balcony

GREEN EVENTS AROUND CHICAGO

Alfred Caldwell: Dynamics Between Landscape, Architecture, and People-March 1^st. How does one incorporate architecture, landscape, and the needs of those who live and experience the landscape? Joel Baldin, ASLA, Hitchcock Design Group, discusses selected Alfred Caldwell designs and their dynamic restorations. Click here for more information.

Transition Roger’s Park Film Series: No Impact Man- March 10^th. Tells the story of Colin Beavan after his decision to eliminate his impact on the environment for one year. Click here for more information.

Chicago Earth Day Kayak- Sunday, April 18^th. Join Chicago Kayak as they help clean up the trash in/around the Skokie Lagoons. www.chicagokayak.com

Earth Day 5k Chicago- Saturday, April 24^th. Celebrate Earth Day’s 40^th anniversary to celebrate “the intersection of health, the mainstream green movement and diverse community engagement” in Humboldt Park/Logan Square. Check out http://www.earthday5kchicago.com/ for more information.

RECYLING A-Z:

Each Go Green newsletter will give you tips on how to recycle common items in your home and office.

K and L Recycling:

Keys and nail clippers: For many recycling centers, any metal that isn’t a can is considered scrap metal and can be recycled

Leather Shoes: Donate shoes in decent condition to solesforsouls.org, a nonprofit that collects used footwear and distributes it to communities in need.

Click here for more information about how to recycle A-Z.

CHICAGO’S SOLAR FUTURE

Illinois has a very aggressive plan for renewable energy. While developments over the past several years in solar system technology in Illinois have been lacking, it appears that Chicago is prime for solar power success. Several factors have come together to create an ideal environment for solar energy development.

Funding from the stimulus package, reduced panel costs, and readily available labor all could lead to solar energy potential. One example of this convergence of factors is the 10 MW Exelon solar facility in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood. Set to start operating in 2010, it will be the largest urban solar plant in the country.

Additionally, Illinois gives strong tax credits for solar. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has a solar energy rebate program which provides tax rebates of up to 30% of a project’s cost (with a maximum of $50,000).  When joined with similar federal tax credits, solar systems have a formidable economic value.

Lastly, Illinois’s renewable energy standard requires that a small portion of Illinois’s renewable energy must come from solar, starting in 2015.  Illinois also allows for limited “net metering” – meaning that your electric meter runs backwards for excess solar power fed back onto the grid.

All of these factors seem to have set the stage for solar power’s success in Chicago. Learn more about Chicago’s solar future at http://www.illinoissolar.org/.

(Source: Afreshsqueeze.com)

GO GREEN: GROWING VEGGIES ON YOUR BALCONY

With Spring right around the corner, it’s a perfect time to start planning what vegetables you will be growing yourself this year. A few veggies are easier for the city resident—those which require less space and either intense sun or little/no sun. Check out the suggestions below for a successful summer crop of your own vegetables!

1. Lettuce and Other Greens: Lettuce, spinach, mesclun, and many other dark leafy greens are ideal crops for fire-escape gardens. Greens are easy to grow (although they do need constant watering) and don’t mind a fair amount of shade.
2. Beets: Surprisingly, beets are great in containers and also like a fair amount of shade. Try ‘Detroit Dark Red,’ ‘Bull’s Blood,’ or ‘Chiogga,’
3. Beans: Pole beans are great for people who are extremely tight on space. Beans grow vertically, up a trellis, rather than using horizontal space. There are many different varieties, so try a few different types to add diversity to your garden.
4. Herbs: Mint, lavender and chives will all hold up great against the strong winds off Lake Michigan. Almost all herbs are excellent choices for container gardening.
5. Chile Peppers: Like beans, there are several varieties of chile pepper plants. Chiles are great container plants if you are overloaded in sun. Try Serrano, Thai chilies, or Chile de Arbol.

Seeds for your garden are available (often for free!) from Craig’s List and Freecycle. Local gardening groups will often help inexperienced gardeners get started with seeds and helpful tips. Good luck!

(Sources: Treehugger.com; Chicago Garden Blog)

In this issue:

• Erie Patient and Community Programs
  • Oral Health Education
  • Teen Pregnancy Prevention
  • La Vida Sana, La Vida Feliz- Healthy Life, Happy Life
• 31 Days to a Healthier Diet
• 12- Week Beginner Walking Program

Erie Patient and Community Programs

Are you familiar with all of the resources that Erie provides to patients and community members?  For the next few months the Erie Wellness Update will feature some of these health promotion programs- including where to get more information and how to refer patients.

Oral Health Education

Dan Magness, Erie’s Oral Health Educator, has been very busy since starting at Erie in August.  Since that time he has conducted 69 educational presentations at Chicago schools and community agencies reaching 1,844 children and adults!

On January 27^th, 2010 Erie conducted the first Sharing Smiles Roundtable at Wright Community College.  30 community health workers attended this great event.  The Sharing Smiles Roundtable focused on oral health disparities experienced by low- income, minority populations in Chicago.  Program participants learned about the link between oral health and HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, and diabetes.  Dr. Souri led a tour of Erie’s Humboldt Park Dental Center.  Congratulations to everyone who made this event such a success!  For more information on Erie’s oral health education program please contact Tiosha Goss at

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

In the past 6 months Erie’s team of health educators have conducted 48 Teen Pregnancy Prevention presentations in Chicago schools reaching 365 students! These presentations cover Self Esteem, Dating and Health Relationships, Communication Skills, Anatomy and Reproduction, Contraceptives, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases.  The program also offers a parent component called “Parents, Speak Up!”. For more information on this program please contact Lauren Muskovitz at .

La Vida Sana, La Vida Feliz- Healthy Life, Happy Life

La Vida Sana, La Vida Feliz is a wellness program for women focusing on nutrition, physical activity and stress management. The program meets twice a month over a four-month period (8 sessions in total) for two hours a session and is offered in both English and Spanish. Materials, childcare and transit cards are provided at no cost.

Since the start of the program in March 2007 Erie has offered 21 La Vida Sana groups.  783 women have joined the program and 275 have graduated!  Currently there are 3 ongoing groups with a total of 91 participants.  Program staff have conducted 134 community presentations reaching 1429 people and 523 women have participated in the weekly aerobics class at Erie Humboldt Park.

*99% of graduates reported that their clothes fit better and 97% stated that they had more energy and felt better about themselves.

*95% of graduates report eating more fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.

*85% of graduates lost at least one inch from their waists and 81% of women lost weight.

*71% of graduates met cholesterol guidelines

This program is currently offered at Erie Humboldt Park and Ryerson Elementary School.  The program is open to Erie patients and community members.  For more information please click here or contact Erica Plaisier at

31 Days to a Healthier Diet

How are you doing on those New Year’s Resolutions?  If you need something to help you get back on track check out this March Calendar- it’s filled with great tips to help you reach your nutrition goals.

When choosing food from a restaurant or store, keep these key words in the back of your mind:

Words to Avoid: battered, breaded, friend, creamy, crispy, smothered, cheesy

Words to Enjoy: grilled, fresh, reduced, multigrain, steamed, poached

12 – Week Beginner Walking Program

Believe it or not, the snow will start to melt soon.  Start thinking about adding more physical activity to your routine this spring!  Walking is one of the simplest and most effective forms of exercise.  Get started using these tips and following this 12- week program.

Beginner Walking Program

Source: Exercise and Your Heart, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/American Heart Association, NIH

Sharing Smiles
Chicago community health workers gathered to address the lack of oral health care facing their clientele. The Sharing Smiles Roundtable discussed the lack of preventative care and financing for oral health with organizations including Advocate Health Care, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago and Community Health.

The average child at Erie Family Dental Centers has five to six cavities on their visits, according to Dr. Lee Francis, president and CEO of Erie Family Health Center, which hosted the seminar and has several locations in Chicago. And those who live in poverty, both children and adults, suffer more than twice the amount of tooth decay.Francis called oral health “one of the biggest challenges in public health that exists today.” While oral health care reform may not be at the forefront of the health care debate, problems of access and affordability plague many people with little or no dental insurance. Children are 2.6 times more likely to lack dental insurance than health insurance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Roundtable gave community workers a chance to learn about good oral health practices, as well as places where their community members could get help. Dr. Ghassan Souri, Vice President of Oral Health Services at Erie Family Health Center spoke of the importance of early tooth decay prevention, especially tooth decay related to nursing bottles. “It requires a tremendous amount of treatment, and very aggressive, comprehensive treatments,” Souri said. “If babies wake up at night, only give them water. No juice, no milk.” Oral health care can also affect a person’s overall health. Diabetes, heart disease and low birth weight are all linked to poor oral health. “When we work on someone’s mouth, we make the rest of them healthy,” said Francis.

Some of the participants at the Roundtable shared personal experiences with problems accessing affordable oral health care. “I have dental insurance, but it doesn’t cover enough. I end up spending too much money, so I still avoid going to the dentist,” said Janece Simmons, a Roundtable participant from the West Humboldt Park Development Council.

Erie Health Tips: How to Get Michelle Obama Arms

The groundhog may have seen his shadow; piles of soot covered snow may still cover the streets and sidewalks; and our wardrobes may still consist of bulky sweaters and wool socks, but it is still coming – spring is on its way.  Signs of an end to this blustery weather are peeking out all over the place.   Unfortunately, those signs aren’t blossoming tulips on Michigan Avenue or rising temperatures outside.  Instead, signs of spring are seen in the plethora of swim suits, tank tops and shorts currently invading clothing stores around the city.  It is a haunting little reminder that we cannot hide under our down winter coats forever and it might be time to start our New Year’s resolution to “get fit.”

If the thought of trying on spring/summer clothing doesn’t make you sick to your stomach, seeing women who already are toned and fit and in prime shape to sport their warm weather wear just might. First Lady Michelle Obama has made women all over America green with envy with her toned biceps. Lately, even despite the frigid weather, she has been sporting sleeveless assembles everywhere from the cover of high profile magazines to joint sessions of Congress.

If the First Lady can fit workouts in between redecorating the White House, mothering to a family of four and backseat driving the nation, there is no reason we all can’t sculpt our arms into being worthy enough to be shown off in a tank top. Although we tend to lack personal trainers, nutritionists and a personal chef, shedding our arms of flabby skin is still possible – we just need to be a little creative.

The main concept women who desire arms like the First Lady need to remember is that cardio is essential in a fitness routine to burn the fat and see muscle definition. “You can’t spot reduce and just eliminate fat from the arms,” says Rylan Duggan, a personal trainer who runs Go Sleeveless, a blog that offers women information about how to tight and tone their arms.  Running and walking are probably the most common ways to get cardio into a workout. It is recommended to do a cardio workout 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes. If you’re not up to braving the cold weather invest in a jump rope or mini trampoline you can use indoors.

Also, making sure you tone your entire body – not only your arms – is extremely important.  “If you fail to strengthen the entire body, it limits lean mass. When we strength train, we are building lean body mass and decreasing body fat,” says Jessica Matthews, an education coordinator for the American Council on Exercise.

More importantly, you cannot shy away from strength training. Women tend to run for miles or go for hours on the elliptical machine, but never touch weights or participate in strength training for fear of bulking up. “Women don’t have the hormones to develop huge muscles by strength training, unless they’re working out to an extreme or taking steroids,” says Jessica with the American Council on Exercise. Therefore, it’s important to do various strength training exercises to target muscles in the arm- such as tricep kickbacks, bicep curls and lateral raises. Starting with five pound hand weights would be best.  If you don’t want to spend the cash for weights you can raid your cupboard for small soup cans and slowly use heavier ones as you become stronger. For details on how to perform these types of exercises as well as many others, visit the American Council on Exercise Library.

It’s important to be consistent in your exercise routine, but remember to take it slow and not get discouraged when results don’t occur right away.  Everybody’s body is different and develops muscle at different rates. If you stay with it though, you will see results.  Most importantly though, building muscle and staying active will lead to a healthier and longer life.  Duggan sees the First Lady as a perfect example of a woman who still stays on top of her health – “”As the first lady of the United States, at 44 years old, and with two young children, Mrs. Obama has shown the world that you are never too busy to take care of yourself.”

Erie Family Health Center celebrated the 20th anniversary of our award winning HIV/AIDS program at Paint the Town Red held on Wednesday, February 24 at Martini Park. The evening included cocktails, a silent auction (including tickets to see Oprah, a weekend stay with spa treatments at The Trump International Hotel, a behind the scenes private tour at the Field Museum), a raffle for a trip to Mexico, live entertainment with the band Hey Jimmy, appetizers and a good time for all! Erie would like to thank everyone who helped make Paint the Town Red 2010 an incredible success! Due to the partnership of our Junior Board, sponsors, vendors, guests, entertainers, staff and volunteers – this year’s event raised nearly $50,000 to support Erie’s Lending Hands for Life program to provide even more care to those living with AIDS/HIV in Chicago.

View the video premiered at the event to learn more about Erie’s HIV/AIDS program:

Check out pictures from the evening: