Healthy Rounds - WTIC News/Talk 1080

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Healthy Rounds with Dr. Alessi 3-6-10
Dr. Alessi discusses the importance of being an organ and tissue donor, as well as answers questions about being an organ and tissue donor with guests Chad Ezzell and David Undis.

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Alessi 2/27/10
Dr. Alessi discusses health care cuts with Dr. John Foley, then takes a look at Connecticut's boxing safety regulations with Dr. Schwartz.

Healthy Rounds with Dr Alessi 2-20-10
Dr. Alessi interviews Fr Rick Frechetto in Haiti. New indications for mammography are discussed with Dr. Jean Weigent and Dr. Diana Hieman

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Anthony Alessi 2/13
Dr. Alessi interviews Commodore Rudy Laco live from Haiti regarding Operation Unified Response and the role of the USNS Comfort.

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Anthony Alessi 01/23
Dr. Alessi talks with Haitian Health Foundation's President and Founder Dr. Jeremiah Lowney. Also Dr. Alessi speaks with Michael Joyce about tips to help recover from surgery.

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Anthony Alessi 01/16
Dr. Alessi speaks with Anthony Holland and Scott Di Francesco about healthy weight loss and exercising tips.

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Anthony Alessi 01/09
Dr. Alessi talks with Big Y pharmacist Mike Desmarais, as well as takes your calls.

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Anthony Alessi 12/26
Dr. Alessi talks with Eliot Russman, Christine Buhler and Sue Holt-Brown of the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation.

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Anthony Alessi 12/19
Dr. Alessi talks with Dr. Tanya Bilchik, Director of the Hartford Headache Center. Also, Dr. Alessi takes your calls.

Healthy Rounds with Dr. Anthony Alessi 12/12
Dr. Alessi talks Bill Garrish for an H1N1 update. Also, Dr. Alessi speaks with Dr. Carlos Barba, Director of Bariatric Surgery at the Hospital of Central Connecticut about Lap Band Surgery.

Schedule

Feb 20	11am - 12pm
Feb 27	11am - 11:30am
March 6	11am - 12pm
March 13	12am - 12pm

About Anthony G. Alessi, M.D.

Anthony G. Alessi, M.D., is a Board-certified neurologist who specializes in neuromuscular diseases and sports medicine. He is a neurologic consultant for the University of Connecticut's Department of Athletics, the New York Yankees, the San Francisco Giants, and the Connecticut Sun. He serves as a ringside physician for the Connecticut State Boxing Commission, as well as the athletic commissions of the Mohegan Tribe and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. He is a weekly columnist and blogger for the Norwich Bulletin, and is a frequent lecturer on health topics. He is Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center. Dr. Alessi, his wife, Claire, and their three daughters, live in Norwich, Connecticut.

For more, go to AlessiMD.com

Book: Healthy Sports

Healthy Sports
A Doctor's Lessons for a Winning Lifestyle

To order, click here.

Healthy Rounds Blog

National Cheer and Dance Championship
This weekend the Mohegan Sun Casino hosted the Spirit National Cheer and Dance Championships. I served as the physician for this event. Cheerleading has been referred to as "the most dangerous sport in America" based on the frequency of injury. Although there were injuries at the event, none were serious and all were evaluated by certified athletic trainers and physicians.

Many people have offered solutions on how to make cheer and dance safer. Some have advocated for greater regulation and others for banning it entirely. After working with these athletes who are passionate about their sport, I believe there is only one way to improve safety.

Parents who are collectively spending millions of dollars on lessons, entry fees, uniforms and make up should demand that the sport be made safer by insisting that they will only spend their hard-earned dollars in gyms where instructors are certified in teaching as well as first aid. Parents must also insist that they will only allow their children to compete in venues where licensed medical professionals are available in case of a catastrophe.

The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators can help guide parents to the safest gyms and competitions.

Sadly, it is only through the power of the almighty dollar that this sport will become safer.

Do you have a cheer and dance story to share?
If you are a "cheer parent" would you make the hard choice of keeping your child out of an unsafe competition?

Bariatric Surgery
If you are considering weight loss surgery be sure to do your homework. This week's guest on Healthy Rounds was Dr. Carlos Barba. Dr. Barba is director of the Bariatric Surgery Program at the Hospital of Central Connecticut. He is among the busiest bariatric surgeons in the country with over 14 years experience.

Dr. Barba stresses the need for a team approach such as the one taken at the Hospital of Central Connecticut where registered dieticians, psychologists and exercise physiologists work with patients before and after surgery.

The two most commonly performed operations are the gastric bypass and the lap band procedures. Gastric bypass is a much more radical approach and less popular than laporoscopic banding.

The key to success with either of these procedures is commitment to a program of regular exercise and eating right. The procedure is just a way of getting started on a life-long journey to good health.

Listen to the podcast of Dr. Barba's interview http://www.wtic.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4226868

If you are interested in bariatric surgery contact the Hospital of Central Connecticut at 1-866-668-5070 or http://thocc.org/services/weigh/surgery.aspx?fontsize=Large

Feel free to post any questions or information you may have about bariatric surgery.

Haitian Health Foundation

I just returned from my third trip to Jeremie, Haiti. Jeremie is a remote area in the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Malnutrition, poor sanitiation and inadequate drinking water are among the biggest challenges. As a physician, it affords me the opportunity to diagnose and treat diseases I'd only read about like malaria, tuberculosis and various parasitic infections.

Despite these adverse conditions patients were grateful for whatever treatment is provided. Sometimes that treatment was only a kind word and a smile since there is an extreme shortage of medication and virtually no diagnostic equipment.

The Haitian Health Foundation (HHF) of Norwich, CT is the organization that sponsors the clinic where I worked along with many other outreach efforts in Haiti. Its' founder, Dr. Jeremiah Lowney has been making these trips four times a year for the past 27 years. I had the plaesure of interviewing Dr. Lowney on the "Healthy Rounds" radio program just before leaving for Haiti. http://www.wtic.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4216171

This trip differed from my other visits because I left with a feeling of hope and pride. My hope was based on having the opportunity to work with a group of young, American volunteers who have left the comforts that we have become accustomed to so that they can help those in need for an extended period of time. My pride was based on the fact that my youngest daughter Stephanie was one of those volunteers.

If you wish to donate time or money to help this outstanding effort please contact HHF at www.haitianhealthfoundation.org