FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com march 7, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 31 ALL THE PAPER . . . WITHOUT THE PAPER! Check out QueensCourier.com for additional stories, photos, opinion, events, dining reviews and more. You can also sign up for our digital edition and for our email blast. KIDS EXPO IS FUN FOR ALL A fun-filled event for moms-to-be, parents My Business Story, Etc. advertising feature VARICOSE VEINS: Unattractive and Dangerous and children, the Queens Kids Expo will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, at the New York Hall of Science. Admission will include entry to the museum and the first 200 registrants Everybody has heard of varicose veins. No one really likes them, since they have a reputation of being unattractive, but most people don’t realize they can also cause serious health issues. will receive a goody bag. At the expo, attendees can interact with other Queens parents and experts while learning about the latest information on local classes, camps, schools, financial planning, health and home improvement. But the parents won’t be the only ones having fun. The expo will have activities for kids, such as face painting and entertainment from the Big Apple Circus. There will also be free giveaways and raffle prizes, including a Cancun trip raffle, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Life’s WORC School of Autism. Register at queenscourier.com/kidsexpo. They’re here to serve the community. A new Bell Boulevard branch of Atlantic Bank, part of New York Community Bank, ceremoniously opened with a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, March 6 with branch workers, executive and business leaders present. “It’s just more about our commitment to the community,” said John Fennell, director of Retail Banking and 1st senior vice president, of the new branch. “This is just a great fit for us.” Branch Manager Adina Monokrousos has already begun reaching out to the community and letting business owners know the branch is there to help. “They’ve all been very pleas- Atlantic branch on Bell Adina Monokrousos, manager for the Bell Boulevard Atlantic Bank, helped christen the ant,” she said. new branch with New York Community Bank executives and local business leaders. Cantor Josée Wolff, D.Min. Rabbi Beth Kalisch Spiritual Leader Visiting Rabbi Everything you ever wanted to Know about a Passover Seder* Have you ever wondered how to host a Passover Seder, even though you never grew up attending one? Have you wanted to learn about Passover, so you can feel more comfortable participating in the holiday and explaining it to your children? The Mothers Circle, a series of free programs for women of other religious backgrounds raising Jewish children within the context of intermarriage, is excited to introduce a special one-time class called Seder Survival Guide. *And Weren’t Afraid to Ask! The Seder Survival Guide Prep Class will be held at Temple Sholom, 262-22 Union Turnpike on March 14, 2013 at 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be provided. For directions, please visit www.templesholom.org or call 718-343-8660. For more information contact Cantor Josée Wolff at [email protected] RSVP at 718-343-8660 LEG VEIN SYMPTOMS AND www.USAVeinClinics.com LISTEN TO ADVERTISEMENT YOUR LEGS Most of us don’t think much about our legs until they start hurting. When they do, we try to live with the pain, instead of seeing a doctor. Putting off a visit to a specialist, however, can have serious health consequences, since leg problems can be a gateway to deeper health issues. Doctor Yan Katsnelson is a Harvard-trained cardiovascular surgeon, an expert in minimally invasive surgery, and founder of the USA Vein Clinics. We asked the doctor why it’s so important to see a physician sooner rather than later when experiencing leg pain. Research has shown that nearly 50% of the world’s population will eventually be plagued with vein disorders. The symptoms, however, are sometimes difficult to detect during the early stages. What should we watch for? Listen to your legs! Many of us think that leg pain is completely normal. This is simply not true. If your legs feel tired, heavy, and swollen at the end of the day, if you often suffer from a burning or tingling sensation, experience cramps, notice skin discoloration, and observe varicose veins, it is time to see a specialist, as these could be signs of a potential problem. If you wait, the symptoms may become worse, possibly leading to pain, ulcers, and even blood clots. There’s a tendency to ignore the warning symptoms of vein disease. Why is that dangerous? To answer this question completely, you need to know how vital the job that your veins perform everyday is. Veins are blood vessels that pump blood back to the heart. They contain special valves that open to let blood flow in the right direction and close to prevent it from flowing in the wrong direction. If these valves start malfunctioning— the main reason for varicose veins—serious complications may follow. After all, if blood cannot travel back to the heart, it becomes stagnant in the legs, which may lead to infections, ulcers and unsightly, painful, rope-like thrombi. In some cases, without treatment, venous disease may lead to the formation of life-threatening blood clots in the legs, which may travel all the way up to the lungs and block main blood vessels. What do you say to people who may be frightened of doctors, or the treatments they may recommend? I would say, “You Have No Reason To Be Scared!” By implementing the new, FDA recommended procedure, Endovenous Laser Therapy (EVLT), the treatment of varicose veins is practically painless, and the patient can quickly return to his/her regular activities. Treatment typically takes less than fifteen minutes. Some complicated cases may require several short treatments. Will medical insurance cover EVLT? The EVLT treatment is covered by Medicare and most insurance plans up to 100% Why would someone suffering from varicose veins choose USA Vein Clinics? By using state-of-the-art medical equipment, USA Vein Clinics is the best place for your legs. Our experienced cardiovascular surgeons have cured well over 10,000 patients across the country. We have offices in the major cities of Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. Moreover, we know that the health of your legs is critical to enjoying life to its fullest, and we love what we do. If you suspect that you might have vein problems, don’t put it off and please give us a call today! USA Vein Clinic Centers are located in Queens and Brooklyn. Call 718-889-0171 or visit www.USAVeinClinics.com WHAT ARE VARICOSE VEINS? The full name of the disease is actually “insuffi ciency of superfi cial veins of lower extremities,” or more simply, “venous insuffi ciency.” Besides being unsightly, the condition can cause multiple other signs and symptoms, like tiredness, heaviness in the legs and feet, cramps, brown discoloration, restless leg syndrome, swelling, numbness, itching, and burning. “Spider” veins—small, bluish or purple vessels (technically called telangiectasia)—are a manifestation of this disease as well if they form in the legs and feet. Once venous insuffi ciency progresses, complications can develop, like thrombophlebitis, trophic ulcers, reperfusion cellulitis, swelling of an extreme degree called anasarca, progressive infections called phlegmasia, and even skin cancer. Other, less common problems include chronic pelvic pain and orthostatic hypotension. What’s really going wrong in these veins? It all starts in the small folds on the inside lining. In a vein of normal diameter, the folds located on opposite walls can reach each other to form a valve, allowing blood to move only in one direction: upstream. Such veins are called “competent” or “suffi cient.” In even slightly enlarged veins, those folds do not meet. The blood, therefore, can go either direction. The “abnormal valves” are appropriately called “incompetent,” and the vein is called “insuffi cient.” Normally, blood in our legs moves against gravity to reach the heart; in an “insuffi cient vein,” however, the blood will be directed vertically down, toward the feet. HEALTH CONSEQUENCES Insuffi cient veins can have many detrimental consequences. The ones most people know about are mechanical—such as dilated, varicose veins, and swollen legs and feet. However, many people don’t realize the biochemical consequences, like increased toxins in the blood. The blood fl owing through our veins is “used” blood. It doesn’t contain oxygen or nutrients, and it’s loaded with carbon dioxide and other end products of metabolism. These waste materials need to be fi ltered through the kidneys, liver, gastro-intestinal tract, and lungs, and eventually expelled from the body. Typically, the body is effi cient in getting rid of these toxins, so they don’t hang around long enough to cause trouble. In insuffi cient veins, however, such blood is being forcefully injected back into peripheral tissues, poisoning them and depriving them of the fresh blood normally brought in by the arteries. HOW IS IT TREATED? Regardless of the signs and symptoms, treatment should be directed at the cause—poor circulation. First, we need to identify the veins with incompetent valves. Second, we need to stop the blood from fl owing through them. Any treatment not directed at improving circulation is not effi cient, at best, and is often detrimental, with the potential of accelerating the disease or leading to further complications. In the old days, surgeons made a large, entire-leg incision and removed the affected veins during an operation. Not only was it disfi guring, invasive, and required general anesthesia—with a long recovery period—“looking” for it was a crude way to fi nd an insuffi cient vein. Today, we fi nd abnormal veins with an ultra-sound machine. It’s precise, painless, and quick. Once the vein is identifi ed, there are several types of treatments designed to seal the vein from the inside, as opposed to surgical removal. Endovenous Laser Therapy (EVLT) is the best approach. The vein not only remains closed, but in most cases, it slowly disintegrates while being digested by surrounding soft tissues. The vein is gone, so the problem is gone. At USA Vein Clinics, physicians, with high qualifi cations in vascular pathology—specializing exclusively in management of venous insuffi ciency and its complications—conduct meticulous evaluations, perform needed testing, and administer appropriate treatment on a case-by-case basis. In our centers, the relationship between doctor and patient doesn’t stop upon completion of treatment; we always follow our patients to ensure perfect results and full satisfaction. USA Vein Clinic Centers are conveniently located in three Chicagoland locations: Chicago (Belmont Ave.), Northbrook, and Elk Grove Village. USA Vein Clinics. Call 24/7 847-346-0070; www.USAVeinClinics.com You’re in Trusted Hands™
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