Latest news with #Hadassah
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
After October 7, 2023: Israel's smoking rates rise, worsening COPD risks
Smoking rates are growing among young Israelis, said Fridlender, an internationally renowned researcher of neutrophil white blood cells of the immune system, especially their role in lung cancer. A quarter to a third of all smokers suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – also known as emphysema – which is an incurable lung disease causing restricted airflow and breathing problems that can make sufferers feel like they are trying to breathe underwater. But few COPD patients have ever heard of it, according to Prof. Zvi Fridlender, founding director and senior physician of the internal medicine department at the Lung Institute of Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem. He is also chairman of the Israel Association of Pulmonology. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, responsible for almost four million annually, or 5% of the total. Tobacco smoking and second- and third-hand smoking (exposure to other's smoke or toxins on rugs, curtains, and furniture) accounts for over 70% of COPD cases in high-income countries, with symptoms including coughing, sometimes with phlegm, difficulty breathing, wheezing, and tiredness. Many sufferers can't even walk a hundred meters and have to be constantly attached to oxygen tanks. Patients are at higher risk of other health problems such as lung cancer, lung infections, heart problems, weak muscles, brittle bones, and depression and anxiety. 'We have plenty of laws. Anyone who is caught smoking in public places should be getting a NIS 1,000 fine, but they aren't caught,' Fridlender told The Jerusalem Post. 'The laws aren't enforced by the authorities – the police and the municipalities. There are few effective information campaigns, and taxes on tobacco – cigarettes, rolling tobacco, and electronic cigarettes – must be very high to deter young smokers,' he said. 'While in other countries like the UK, once a law is passed, it is usually honored. Here it is more like a recommendation that is very often ignored.' ANTI-SMOKING activists are furious at Sharon Kedmi, chairman of the Israel Aviation Authority, for canceling the prohibition of smoking rooms in the airports. This violated the authority's commitment to a court in a class action suit filed by Amos Hausner, lead lawyer for the Israel Association for the Prevention of Smoking. The longtime anti-tobacco attorney is currently demanding that the courts prohibit smoking on balconies of apartment buildings or other locations that exposes non-smokers to their neighbors' smoke. In California, 101 local authorities have already completely banned smoking in multi-unit homes, and since 2018, it has been totally prohibited in all federal multi-unit buildings. Smoking rates are growing among young Israelis, said Fridlender, an internationally renowned researcher of neutrophil white blood cells of the immune system, especially their role in lung cancer. He has also been a member of the international body that sets guidelines for the treatment of COPD. 'While smoking rates have significantly declined in the US, Europe, and elsewhere, it has increased in Israel since the Iron Swords War began on October 7, 2023,' he said. Prof. Neville Berkman, who heads the lung institute at Hadassah, added that it's not only smokers who are at health risk. 'People who themselves don't light up think they're safe, but many of them are exposed to lethal tobacco smoke by inhaling it from smokers in the family, at work, and in public spaces,' he said. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) also cause lung cancer, which is the main cause of death from cancers in Israel, Berkman said, adding that people who start smoking them, especially young people, tend to move on to smoking regular cigarettes. 'There is behavioral addiction, not just a physical one. They are used to having something in their mouths. Younger smokers may do it to show off, to show they are grown up,' he said. 'Smoking should be recognized by society as an unacceptable practice. Religious Jews who don't smoke on Shabbat (although some use nicotine patches then) prove that it's also behavioral, because they can stop one day a week,' the lung institute's head said. 'The rabbis must tell them that smoking – causing harm to your own body and the health of others – is forbidden according to Jewish law.' SMOKERS WHO cough or have other symptoms can ask for a low-radiation-dose CT scan every year, said Berkman. 'It's in the basket of health services provided by the public health funds, which recognize the fact that treating their members for lung cancer and COPD is more expensive.' The last decade has seen significant improvement in treatment of lung cancer, he continued. 'There are biological therapies – pills and injections – that increase survival rates, but these are not pleasant to undergo, as they have side effects,' he stressed. Biological therapies for lung cancer, also known as targeted therapies and immunotherapies, are treatments that use substances produced by living organisms or are designed to target and destroy cancer cells. Immunotherapy works by boosting the immune system's ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells, either by directly attacking them or by helping other immune cells do so. Drugs that alter the immune system can also be effective. These therapies aim to enhance the body's natural defenses against cancer, block cancer growth, or prevent the spread of cancer. 'The earlier the stage of the disease, the better. If the cancer is advanced, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other treatments are available, but if they also have COPD, most can't undergo surgery to remove the tumor,' Berkman said. The most important thing is prevention – by not starting to smoke in the first place, he said, adding that if they do start, there are free cessation courses from their health fund, behavioral therapy, phone apps, and drugs that reduce the urge to smoke – 'and the Health Ministry offers a telephone support system.' THE 2024 report on smoking issued by the Health Ministry found that one in five adult Israelis smokes, and the Israeli rate is significantly higher than the global average, and said that E-cigs are a leading smoking product among youth. Quitting smoking here is occurring at a rate 50% lower than the OECD average. Although the ministry has finally approved regulations for putting graphic health warnings on smoking products and barring tax-free status for tobacco at airports – two decades after Israel committed itself to doing so under the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – it is giving companies a year or two to implement them. An in-depth survey conducted with youth for the ministry shows that the electronic cigarette is the first product tried by about 53% of all those experimenting with products. It was also found that very high numbers of youth use smoking products with added flavors – 88% for hookahs, 82% for electronic cigarettes, and 45% for regular cigarettes and rolling tobacco. The first survey of its kind, conducted among young people in haredi (ultra-Orthodox) society, shows high rates of experimenting with smoking products: 54% in their yeshivot for teens and 80% among haredi teenagers who drop out of religious studies. The latest Smoking Report shows that during the past year, 82 local and regional authorities and councils also reported on activity under the Smoking Prevention Law in Public Places – but more than 65% of local authorities don't report to the ministry or enforce the law, and no government action is taking against them. Sign up for the Health & Wellness newsletter >>
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Towering over Jerusalem: Shaare Zedek to double its capacity with new expansion
Shaare Zedek Medical Center gets permission to double its capacity with a new facility and integration with Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center. The competition for patients and prestige between Hadassah-University Medical Centers and Shaare Zedek Medical Center has been an ongoing rivalry for decades. But the race is no longer really necessary, as both medical facilities are brimming with patients as the surrounding population grows. To meet the burgeoning health demands, the government has decided to expand the existing medical centers and dismissed plans to construct any new general hospitals in the capital. To that end, Shaare Zedek has received permission from the state to double its capacity, with a 20-story tower to be built over its existing outdoor parking lot; Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem has been busily refurbishing its original round building. On its two campuses, Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus, Hadassah's medical centers have more than 1,300 beds, 31 operating rooms, and nine special intensive care units, in addition to the five schools for medical professions. Shaare Zedek is the largest multidisciplinary medical center in the city, offering advanced services in a wide array of specialties, treating over a million patients annually in its 30 inpatient departments and 70 outpatient clinics and units. Its obstetrics department delivers 21,000 babies annually, making it the busiest in the world. 'You can't fit a pin in all the hospitals,' said Prof. Jonathan Halevy, Shaare Zedek's president, implying that these medical institutions are running at full capacity. 'The new building will cover 120,000 square meters and will cost about NIS 2.5 billion,' added Halevy, who served as Shaare Zedek's director-general from 1988, when there were 300 beds, to over 1,000 in 2019. 'We are working hard to raise money from donations, but the government has committed itself to match funds, perhaps close to 50% of what we raise.' In addition, it was decided that Shaare Zedek would integrate the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center into its facilities. The public psychiatric hospital was established in 1951 between the Givat Shaul and Har Nof neighborhoods, on the grounds of the former Deir Yassin Arab village. Kfar Shaul could have been taken over by the nearby Herzog Medical Center, a psychiatric, chronic care, and rehabilitation facility. Dr. Ya'alov Haviv, director-general of Herzog, commented that he would have been happy to have incorporated Kfar Shaul into his medical institution. However, the government now has a policy of integrating psychiatric institutions with general hospitals. THE SHAARE ZEDEK tower, which will not obstruct Bayit Vagan residents' view, will be built in two phases. The first will open in about six and a half years, with the lowest nine stories functional. The facade of the whole tower will be built, and the 11 upper floors will function several years later. A helicopter pad on the roof will receive emergency patients. Halevy noted that the current departments, which already offer all medical services, will be expanded and upgraded with the new tower. 'We will have an entirely new emergency department with all the newest equipment. We expect we will deliver 30,000 babies a year when the building is complete,' he predicted. 'Shaare Zedek will be one of the three largest medical centers in Israel – quite a long way for the 20-bed hospital that opened at the western entrance to the city in 1902.' Although there is currently a significant shortage of physicians and nurses in Israel, Halevy said they will be replaced as new physicians will graduate and specialize. The decision to allow colleges, and not just universities, to open nursing schools will also increase the pool of nurses. Halevy is in a position to know: He was the chairman of the team of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education, which examined the readiness of three new medical schools: Reichman University, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the University of Haifa. THE GOVERNMENT'S decision to approve the tower was announced, appropriately, on Jerusalem Day by Health Minister Uriel Busso and Jerusalem Affairs and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush. They said the step is being taken 'to strengthen the hospitalization system and ensure that physical and mental treatment will be provided at the same hospital.' The decision is a 'major milestone in the development of the medical center, which is a central medical anchor for Jerusalem and the entire central region,' Shaare Zedek director-general Prof. Ofer Merin told In Jerusalem. 'The doubling of capacity will significantly improve the quality of treatment and provide advanced and humane medicine to hundreds of thousands of additional patients from Jerusalem and all over the country. 'Physical and psychological health are linked. One affects the other. Today, we have only ambulatory psychiatry care, but with the new tower we will have inpatient beds as well,' he said. 'The population of Jerusalem is expected to double by 2045, so if medical centers in the capital don't expand, many patients will not be treated. We thought of building the tower about five years ago. People live longer, and that means they need more medical treatment. We also perform surgery and other treatments on people in their 90s that [we] were fearful of doing before.' Bosso said that the tower will serve 'as a lever to improve medical services for the city's residents and strengthen the health infrastructure in the capital.' Porush added: 'This significant decision reflects the strategic importance of Jerusalem in the areas of health and services for residents. It is very good news for the millions of residents of greater Jerusalem; it will improve the quality of life here and deepen health equity in Israel.' Sign up for the Health & Wellness newsletter >>
New York Times
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Elinor Lipman Wants to ‘Get My Characters Out of the House'
A reluctant estate saleswoman is tasked with clearing out a house of ill repute in Lipman's new comic novel. In an email interview, she shared some of her own nifty purchases, and explained why she folds readers' suggestions into her work. SCOTT HELLER What books are on your night stand? 'Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son,' by Peter Manseau (a priest turns up in my next novel); 'Emma,' in conjunction with 'Collected Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald' (because I'm contributing to 'Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen's Unsung Characters' and the working title of my story is 'Miss Bates Bobs Her Hair'); 'Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love,' by Marianne Cronin; 'Displaced Persons,' stories by Joan Leegant; and 'A Taste of India,' by Madhur Jaffrey. What's the last great book you read? 'The Silence of Your Name: The Afterlife of a Suicide,' by Alexandra Marshall. What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet? William Faulkner's. Not that I didn't try. What's your favorite book no one else has heard of? 'Never heard of' is harsh, but I do worry that 'The Wright Sister,' by Patty Dann, went unanointed. I love epistolary novels, and this 'marriage diary' is wonderful: Based on real life, the Wright brothers' only sister, Katharine, marries for the first time at 52. Surviving bachelor brother Orville never speaks to her again. Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Jane Eyre for sure. And more recently, Count Alexander Rostov in 'A Gentleman in Moscow,' by Amor Towles. Also, the many good coppers in Peter Grainger's DC Smith Investigation novels. How have your reading tastes changed over time? I read many more memoirs and biographies. As for fiction, I am less tolerant of grandiosity, impatient with descriptions trying to be poetic — the fancy weather that opens chapters, the cerulean skies, the irrelevant passing scenery. No thank you. A relatively new experience: I always have an audiobook going. Are you an estate-sale shopper? What gems have you turned up? I am. This is more about provenance than the objets, but I now own Beverly Sills's electric teakettle and egg slicer. Might the Trump administration return as a backdrop to your writing, as it did in 2021's 'Rachel to the Rescue'? Not if my agent and editor have a say. With so many novels under your belt, are there new goals you hope to accomplish when you start a new book? I want to get my characters out of the house, to do more than just talk over dinner. I need to push myself to insert action and description, and I'm always mindful of one editor's margin note in 'Isabel's Bed': 'Could someone here please pass the potatoes?' What's the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently? In 'To Repair a Broken World: The Life of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah,' by Dvora Hacohen, I learned that there were exactly 13 Jewish families living in Edinburgh in 1909. Just 13! And in 'Connie,' by Connie Chung: She was the youngest of 10 children, only five survived infancy, all girls, and she's the only one born in the U.S. Tell me a great story about meeting with a book group that's read your work. It was at a book signing. A smiling woman announced, 'We read 'The Ladies' Man' in our pretend book group.' I asked, 'Pretend book group! What's that?' She said, 'Oh, we assign a book then get together and talk about menopause.' She added that mine was the only book that everyone had read. Why did you crowdsource for help on naming businesses in 'Every Tom, Dick & Harry'? I guessed correctly that I'd get dozens of suggestions, and it would be fun to curate them. Facebook friends came through in minutes. Some were extremely clever — such as 'You Can't Take It With You' — but were too long to be used, page after page, as the name of Emma's company. Why admit it? Soliciting potential names for a business doesn't strike me as cheating. An unexpected payoff was that the owner of a real-life estate-sale business offered her help. She had a very entertaining point of view about clients and their stuff. Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book? Not me, but a good friend did. Her crime was choosing a novel from the adult shelf in the bookmobile that came to our middle school once a week. She was banned from the bookmobile for weeks. The book? A Jack Kerouac novel. And this was in Lowell, Mass., Kerouac's birthplace. Which subjects do you wish more authors would write about? Art forgery, art thievery, art plundered by Nazis that's returned to its owners or their progeny. You're organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite? Two very dear, best writer friends I've lost: Anita Shreve in 2018 and Mameve Medwed in 2021. What I wouldn't give. … Plus Stacy Schiff, alive and writing. She knew and loved them, too. And she'd make us laugh.
