Beats this week:

1)  Today, the Chicago Tribune covered health care reform and its potential impact on low-income individuals in Chicago. Erie Family Health Center and other community health agencies were featured in the story by Judith Graham.

2) Four community health centers in Milwaukee received $1 million from GE to increase primary care services to uninsured and underinsured individuals. This is the second city to receive GE Developing Health funding – a three-year program providing funding to health centers.

3) According to a new report, one in four Californians under the age of 65 are without health insurance.  In the last two years, the state’s number of uninsured individuals has increased by nearly 2 million. Despite these alarming statistics, California does not actually have the highest rate of uninsured but follows closely behind Texas.

4) The story of health care reform continues to unfold. Currently, the Obama administration is putting the pressure on for House Democrats to give the green light on health care. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is the most recent Democrat to ‘flip’ their vote from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’

5) Public Health Officials in Lake County (northern Illinois) have partnered with local churches to make a final push for H1N1 vaccination. Read Beats Per Minute’s coverage on why it is still important to get vaccinated this late in the flu season.

For many, it feels like the flu has gone away. Away from the headlines on TV, the web, radio.  Away from the ERs and health clinics.  After H1N1 influenza ravished an unprepared America in the late spring 2009, and again in the fall and early winter, it has basically disappeared.  But should we let down our guard and stop worrying?

It’s true that most areas of the country are reporting either no or only sporadic (Illinois) flu activity. The most activity is in the South and in Maine.  All of it is well below epidemic levels and it’s all H1N1, not other strains of flu virus that we sometimes call the “seasonal flu.”

Despite the media’s doomsday reporting around H1N1, it caused relatively mild illness for most people.  Although this mild-mannered virus caused the deaths of thousands, which is significant, it could have been much worse.  The pandemic H1N1 of 1918 killed almost 500,000 in the US and at least 50 million world-wide.  This past year saw a much more tame H1N1 statistics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “from August 30, 2009 to March 6, 2010, 2,042 laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated deaths were reported to CDC,” including 277 children. Estimates say that up to 14,000 actually died since not all patients had lab confirmed tests.   By contrast, the seasonal flu normally kills some 36,000 Americans annually. 

Even though the impact of H1N1 could have been much worse, we still need to be prepared. H1N1 could come back, either soon, or next flu season. Young adults, children, pregnant women, as well as those with chronic illnesses are at a higher risk for more severe flu symptoms.

That’s why the expert panel that makes recommendations to the CDC has decided to include the H1N1 virus in next year’s seasonal flu vaccine.  This year, we all faced the task of receiving two vaccinations: H1N1 and the seasonal flu vaccine. Next year the vaccination will be a single seasonal flu shot, with a mixture of several different flu strains. 

Erie Family Health Center was a leader in providing H1N1 vaccinations this flu season, providing over 5,000 vaccines to children, more than 850 to pregnant women and over 700 to chronically ill adults. Erie opened its doors and made it easy for patients, relatives and others to walk in and receive a vaccination.

Haven’t yet gotten an H1N1 shot?  Should you still get one?  Yes.

The CDC is now encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.  This could give you a head start even if the flu season is over for this spring, since H1N1 may come back before the 2010-2011 seasonal vaccine is available next fall.  Supplies of H1N1 vaccine are still readily available – so it is not too late!

Flu prevention business is a tricky one.  Every year, we are reminded to wash our hands and cover our cough, while public health experts try to outguess Mother Nature and predict the best vaccine.  We know that the TV weatherperson has a difficult time telling us if it is going to rain, snow or be sunny tomorrow—and predicting the patterns of a virus is even more complex.  H1N1 is still smoldering in certain parts of the country.  We should be worried and prepared for the flu if and when it decides to return. 

For weekly updates on the flu, visit flu.gov.

Erie Family Health Center would like to thank everyone who came out to Paint the Town Red on February 24, 2010. The event was a huge success, raising over $50,000 for Erie’s HIV/AIDS program, Lending Hands for Life. A special thank you to all of our sponsors and Erie’s Junior Board.

For all who supported Erie in this event, this video is dedicated to you! Thank you!

Paint the Town Red ‘Thank You’ Video from Erie Family Health Center on Vimeo.

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)