Jonas Elrod is a filmmaker in New York who woke up one day to discover that he was having visions and could see angels, demons, ghosts and auras.

“My first vision was pretty personal,” he said. “I was in San Francisco working on a film when I woke up in my hotel room and started seeing energy and feeling energy. I saw these geometric figures and shapes—it was all very overwhelming and I didn’t understand what was happening to me.”

To get some answers, Elrod traveled the country with his girlfriend Mara, focusing on all things spiritual and religious—even the occult—to find out what was happening to him. He went to several doctors to check if there was anything physically wrong with him, but to no avail.

Elrod filmed his cross-country experience with the help of filmmaker Chloe Crespi, creating the documentary Wake Up to show the world his experience with the spiritual.

In the film, he seeks knowledge from a slew of physicians, scientists, religious teachers and spiritual leaders about his sudden metaphysical visions, but no amount of MRI scans or psychological tests determine how or why Elrod sees and hears the supernatural. In the end, he realizes that his visions are part gift, part curse, and he embraces both.

Growing up in a Southern Baptist family, Elrod was always surrounded by conservative Christians.

“You either grow up the preacher’s son or you completely rebel,” he says. “And I rebelled. It’s not like I despise religion, I certainly believe in and trust Jesus. But I wouldn’t consider myself religious. I’m certainly more of a spiritual person.
“When I visited my parents and told them about the visions, they were hesitant at first, like I was,” he continued. “But it was my mother who embraced it and started asking me questions about it. Our relationship has opened up since then, but my father does not ask me anything about my visions.”

The reaction to Elrod’s journey in Wake Up has been overwhelming. It had its festival premiere at the Southwest Film Festival in March 2009 and its New York City premiere, hosted by Sting and Trudie Styler, in April 2010.

The film has been on a series of tour and private screenings hosted by Elrod and others. The next New York City screening is scheduled for Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. at Jivamukti Yoga at 841 Broadway.

“The audience reaction has been really reassuring. There are always going to be people who think you are crazy for seeing and hearing angels and dead people. But then there are those who truly believe and are moved to tears by my experiences. There is a bigger reality than the one we’re sold, and people are looking deeper than ever before. Our job as filmmakers is to get people to start asking questions, and we’ll continue doing it despite all the skeptics.”

By Paulette Safdieh

Bundling up and walking to the gym for yoga class seems less and less appealing as the New York winter rolls on. The hundreds of yoga apps offered on smart phones and tablets mean you can still roll out a mat and enjoy a moment in shavasana pose after a long day’s work in the comfort of your apartment. Yoga junkies can use apps for guided instruction, playlist curating and class locators to enhance their regular routines.

Hundreds of yoga apps, both free and for purchase, have competed for yogi love since the 2007 release of the iPhone and the subsequent launch of Android, the Google operating system. According to Sergio Tacconi, the mind behind the Pocket Yoga app, necessity was the mother of invention.

“I needed a way to do yoga any time, anywhere,” said Tacconi, 37, whose app sells for $2.99 on both Apple and Android devices. “I started looking at yoga apps and didn’t like the ones I saw, so I made my own.”

Tacconi teamed up with Vinyasa Flow Yoga Studios in Dallas, where he practiced for eight years, to select the content. The app offers 27 sessions with varying difficulty levels and styles, default playlists (and the option to draw from your personal iTunes library) and a dictionary of poses. The app has earned a four-and-a-half-star rating in the Apple app store since its launch in 2009 and was made available for Android in 2010.

“The app is not a replacement for your full yoga experience, it’s a supplement that will help you along,” said Tacconi, whose app has reached over a half-million users. “I wouldn’t completely replace my yoga class with an actual teacher with the app. It’s a tool that will help you when you need it.”

Tacconi also launched Practice Builder in November, an app to help yoga teachers build customized routines. Manhattan yoga teacher Jennilyn Carson, the mind behind the acclaimed yoga news website YogaDork.com, uses a similar app called Yoga Journal. In a city with as many yoga classes as taxicabs, Carson says it helps narrow down the selection.
“The apps are great for people stuck in the subway when the train’s delayed and they need to relax,” said Carson, 31, who uses apps on her iPhone. “It helps you use every opportunity to get your yoga in.”

Eighty-five percent of Tacconi’s customers are Apple users like Carson. Like most apps, Pocket Yoga is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Macbook computers. A free trial version of Pocket Yoga is offered on Apple systems, but not for Android users.

“The Android market is the Wild West,” said Tacconi. “The Apple market is better for consumers, since they approve and disapprove the apps submitted. You have a guarantee you’ll get what you’re going to get.”

For those with the strength to get to class, Yoga Local NYC—available on both Apple and Android devices—caters specifically to New Yorkers. The app pulls up your location using your device’s GPS and provides the addresses of nearby studios, class times, instructor names and, of course, prices.

“When the iPhone came out, I expected it to have an app for yoga the same way it comes built in with the stocks,” said Ben Fleisher, 33, who worked to create Yoga Local. “Nobody did it and I thought, ‘This is crazy!’ Everyone here is on the run even when they’re sitting down. When you want to go to class you don’t want to have to look up so many different websites on your phone.”

Fleisher works as an acupuncturist and massage therapist on the Lower East Side in addition to having practiced yoga since 1995. He plans to expand the app to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago over the next few months since receiving positive feedback for the New York City version.

“Technology is driving us toward shorter and shorter attention spans,” said Fleisher. “Yoga Local and other technology platforms make it easier to get to classes, stay inspired and stay motivated. To that extent, they make our lives more efficient.”

While yoga apps certainly help yogis in a bind, they also change traditional yoga practice. Instead of turning off a cell phone to wind down, app users spend even more time looking at the glowing screens of wireless devices.

Achieving mind-body awareness through breath and movement, the goal of practicing yoga, is better reached in a classic, group setting. For that reason, Carson suggests using apps just as a supplement to a regular yoga practice. Some apps, like Relax Melodies, which has close to 5,000 ratings averaging at five stars, just provide soothing music to ease meditation and relaxation instead of poses.

“I don’t think apps make up for classes, but they’re really good when you need some inspiration for your practice,” said Carson. “They’re useful to look at and remind or refresh yourself.”

When asked in a 2004 survey, 14 percent of New Yorkers reported eating no fruits or vegetables at all on the previous day. The majority of U.S. adults eat more than two times their recommended daily amount of salt and consume too much saturated fat. Eating more fruits and vegetables is one way to protect against many chronic conditions, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Reducing the amount of high-sodium and high-fat foods consumed can help prevent high blood pressure and heart disease.

Americans consume about 250 more calories per day than 30 years ago: about half of these extra calories come from increased consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks.

Only one-quarter of New Yorkers report engaging in physical activity 30 minutes per day, four days per week. Being physically active is important for weight management—creating a healthy balance between calories consumed and burned—and for preventing a variety of chronic conditions and diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Free Fitness Programs
Shape Up New York is a free family fitness program offered at parks sites, community centers and housing sites around New York City. Fitness classes are open to adults and children. Classes cover activities such as step aerobics, fitness walking, light weights, stretching and toning exercises.

Shape Up New York is designed to encourage the development of healthy lifestyles and help improve participant self-esteem through energizing physical activity in a non-competitive environment. The program is sponsored jointly by the City’s Health and Parks Departments.

Below is a list of a few of Manhattan’s Shape Up sites:

Alfred E. Smith Recreation Center
80 Catherine St.
212-285-0300

Recreation Center 54
348 E. 54th St.
212-754-5411

Hamilton Fish Recreation
128 Pitt St.
(212-387-7687

Thomas Jefferson Recreation Center
2180 1st Ave.
212-860-1383

Healthy School Ideas
With over 40 percent of New York City’s youth overweight or obese, it is important that schools promote healthy eating and regular exercise. Student success depends on a blend of academic skills, good health and physical and mental fitness.

Unfortunately, foods and beverages sold for fundraisers are often high in fat, sugar, salt and calories. Unhealthy food or beverage fundraisers send confusing and contradictory health messages, increase the availability of junk food in schools and teach kids to compromise their health for a profit.

Conversely, healthy food and non-food fundraisers send clear health messages and help change the school environment; increase the health of the students, school staff and parents; and help everyone make a profit.

Healthy Fundraiser Ideas
Sell produce (e.g., holiday baskets, Parent-Teacher Conference sale, concession stand, etc.)
Hold a student vs. faculty or student vs. alumni sporting event
Have an -athon (e.g., walk, dance, bike, hula hoop)
Offer evening parent classes (e.g., aerobics, dance)

It’s the same story every year: After weeks of indulging in cookies, cake, giant meals and more drinks than you can remember, the holidays have ended and you feel like a beached whale. Hence, one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions: Get in shape.

But just because you start the year strong doesn’t mean it stays that way. Work, family, money and life in general tend to get in the way as the cycle repeats itself. Just as it is the most common resolution, the “get in shape” mantra is usually broken.

This year, instead of falling prey to the usual routine, we asked some expert fitness trainers to share their tips and thoughts on how to first, get back to the gym, and second, stay there once you do.

The experts all said three basic things: If you haven’t been working out, start slow and build up; bring a like-minded buddy to help motivate you; and, if you can, get a trainer. They also said that part of getting fit is taking care of yourself. “It’s not just what you do in the gym, you have to sleep, eat well and cut out stress,” said Matthew Cole, director of Sculpt New York. “You need to maintain the health of all your faculties.”

What to do when you get there
There are a few approaches to getting in shape. The first is to take classes. Antonio Sini, owner of Nimble Fitness, recommends starting with Pilates, a dance class like salsa or tango and low impact yoga. “Learning some basic yoga moves is a great way to also take some exercise home,” he said.

For David Barton, owner of David Barton Gym, the key for newbies is to start weight lifting slowly. “Strength training gives you the most results whether you have a little or a lot of time,” he said. “If time is limited, concentrate on the major muscle groups and do as many big compound movements as you can.” He added that 20 to 30 minutes of proper movement can be highly effective. Just make sure to not overtax yourself; just because you can manage to lift the heavy weights doesn’t mean you should.

Trainers
The first step in choosing a trainer is making sure they are right for you, your workout speed and your goals. “Most people don’t see the results they want and that’s why they quit,” said Barton. “A trainer will vary your workout at just the right time to outsmart your body’s natural flab-harboring tendencies so you can achieve your dream body.”  Cole said that if you can’t afford a personal trainer, make sure to bring a friend to help motivate you to go to the gym and to work harder.

Eating
“Food is a huge part of exercise and how it can benefit you,” said Sini. “It’s super important that people understand nutrition.” The first thing to understand is your body—are you trying to lose fat, gain muscle, tone or just feel more in shape? “You don’t want to work out on a completely empty stomach, so have an apple or breakfast bar an hour before,” said Sini. “But you don’t want to eat within 45 minutes of exercise, since the blood leaves your stomach and goes to your muscles.” The best approach: munch on a piece of fruit or plain yogurt an hour before working out, drink water during and have a light meal 45 minutes afterward.

“After you work out, your body wants to absorb nutrients and it’s one of the best times to eat,” said Sini. But, he added, “It has to be the best food, like something high in protein light in carbs and low in fat.”

Staying motivated
One piece of advice the experts agreed on appears odd, but makes sense when you think about it. Don’t tell your out-of-shape couch potato friends your goal. “Surround yourself with like-minded people,” said Sini. Often, he said, someone who is unmotivated will bash your goal, making it hard to push yourself.

Another way to motivate yourself, he said, is to figure out what will make you happy. “First, look at yourself in the mirror and decide if your goal is to look and feel better physically—if that is going to make you happy, then do it.” He also said it’s easier to keep a more general goal, like fitting into a pair of pants, rather than losing 20 pounds.

Cole also added, “Don’t think about supermodels or what you consider normal; think about you and your own body.” He suggests writing down your life for a day to see what you actually do and how you can incorporate more exercise into a daily routine.

And for those who think of exercise as real work, try Barton’s theory on going to the gym: “For that one hour of my day, that time is all mine. The gym, it’s like my sanctuary.”

The great thing about a new year is starting with a clean slate and looking at the next 12 months with a new set of goals. If you are a smoker, now is a great time to stop. Let’s face it: Being a smoker in New York isn’t as easy as it used to be. Along with the difficulty of finding a place to smoke, huddling outside in an alley in the rain, snow and freezing temperatures, there is also the cost factor. Cigarettes can now cost more than $10 a pack. Smoking a pack a day costs $3,650 a year—a nice vacation you are blowing away in smoke.

The most obvious reason to quit smoking is for your health. Smoking affects every organ in your body and is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, leading to 393,000 deaths annually. Tobacco smoke is harmful to smokers and nonsmokers. Cigarette smoking causes many types of cancer, including in the lungs, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach and cervix. It also causes heart disease, stroke, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, cataracts, macular degeneration and hip fractures.

A pregnant smoker is at higher risk of premature delivery and abnormally low birth weight. In addition, a woman who smokes during or after pregnancy increases her infant’s risk of death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to young children and even pets, who can develop cancer and lymphomas from inhaling smoke. Cats can develop oral cancer from licking the cancer-causing carcinogens that accumulate on their fur and have a higher risk of developing malignant lymphoma. Dogs have an increased incidence of cancer in the nose and sinus area.

If someone gave you a cocktail at a New Years Eve party and said, “Here’s a great drink; it’s addictive and is made from arsenic, benzene, cadmium, vinyl chloride, formaldehyde and toluene,” would you drink it? Hopefully, you would have the good sense to refuse it. Those chemicals are just a few of those packed into every cigarette.

So why is it so hard to quit smoking? Two reasons. The first is nicotine, a drug found naturally in tobacco that accounts for the physiological problems of smokers. Nicotine is absorbed into your bloodstream and is carried throughout your body, where it can stay three to four days after stopping.

The second component is the psychological aspect of smoking, or the excuses you make for smoking. “I’m bored,” “It helps me relax,” “I’m stressed and  “I only smoke when I go to a bar with my friend” are all excuses I have heard from smokers.

Several ex-smokers who were two- and three-pack-a-day smokers who were able to quit cold turkey without any help seemed to have something in common; they had an illness that scared them.

“I quit when my doctor refused to operate on me for triple bypass surgery unless I quit smoking,” said Mike, a cab driver and former three-pack-a-day smoker. “It was tough, but I did it and I feel so much better. I chewed gum, ate carrots and drank coffee. That was 20 years ago.”

Jim P. a 58-year-old stockbroker, used to smoke two packs a day. He quit when he got pleurisy and thought he was having a heart attack. He shared this thought: “If you believe enough in yourself, you can do anything and you will beat any addiction. You have to believe you have the power to change and that it will be real and permanent.”

For those who can’t do cold turkey, there is help. First, write down the day that you plan to quit and do it. Tell your family and friends, so they can help you keep your commitment. Nicotine replacement therapy in the form of gum and patches are now available over the counter and will provide the nicotine without the harmful chemicals in cigarettes. Prescription medication from your doctor, like Zyban and Chantix, may help you—but remember, there are always side effects to these medications.

Give your mouth something to fight the tobacco craving, like sugarless gum, nuts, sunflower seeds or green tea, which is great for weight loss. Go online and join a stop smoking program. Get more exercise and stay away from places where you used to smoke or people who smoke so you won’t be tempted. Some people have had good success with acupuncture, in which a staple is placed in the ear. Others have had success with hypnosis.

Whatever works for you to accomplish you goal, now is the time to do it. Remember, no one dies from cigarette cravings, and the benefits you reap from stopping smoking will add years to your life.

By Ashley Welch

After Dr. Allison Stern Rosen was diagnosed with breast cancer over 10 years ago, there were some constants she could count on in her life. Fatigue, muscle and bone pain and overall difficulty in moving plagued her on a daily basis.

Depressed by her physical ailments, Rosen turned to the one thing that still brought her great joy—music. One day she began dancing, swaying and rocking her hips gently.

“I was exhausted all the time from the chemo,” she said, “but even though it hurt to walk, I found it exhilarating that I could move to the music without pain.”

Rosen, a psychologist and psychoanalyst, looked into existing research and found studies suggesting exercise was an important part of the rehabilitation of breast cancer patients. However, there were no classes or exercise DVDs tailored to people with cancer.

Rosen decided to change that. She approached her friends, Jan Albert and exercise physiologist Martha Eddy, about creating a dance class specifically for cancer patients. That’s when Moving On Aerobics was born.

Eddy designed the class based on the symptoms many cancer patients experience, including fatigue, pain and loss of range of motion.

“Only when you push your body will you strengthen it,” Eddy said.

However, participants of the class are allowed to go at their own pace.

Today, Moving On Aerobics offers free classes to cancer patients at community centers and hospitals throughout the city, including the JCC on the Upper West Side.

Such exercise classes are part of the growing number of doctor-recommended complementary treatments for cancer patients—treatments in addition to existing methods like radiation and chemotherapy. As more research emerges proving the benefits of these supplemental treatments, they have gained a much wider acceptance from the medical field.

Dr. Alyson Moadel of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has been researching the effects of yoga on breast cancer patients since 2007.

“We’ve found that breast cancer patients participating in a 12-week yoga program show a significant increase in mood, spiritual well-being and overall quality of life,” she said.

In addition, she said, other forms of exercise can “improve energy levels and decrease fatigue and stress in cancer patients before and after treatment.”

Other, less traditional treatments are also being integrated into overall treatment plans for cancer patients.

Dr. Pamela Yee, integrative internist at the Continuum Center for Health and Healing affiliated with Beth Israel Medical Center, sees patients both before and after radiation and chemotherapy treatments and surgeries.

“Patients come to me before traditional treatments to find ways to reduce side effects, increase their immune system and do anything to strengthen their bodies to receive the treatment,”  Yee said.

After patients undergo the radiation or chemotherapy, Yee will also suggest ways they can rebuild their strength and remain healthy.

One of the methods she recommends is diet change.

“Though during treatment is not the time to make sweeping dietary changes, there are some alterations that can be made,” she said.

Yee suggests patients try to avoid sugar, as studies suggest it may feed cancer. She also said introducing anti-cancer food like cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts, can be helpful. These vegetables contain compounds that are believed to help prevent many types of cancer, especially breast cancer.

Many cancer patients also find comfort in energetic techniques like acupuncture, the insertion and manipulation of needles in the body to relieve pain and treat other ailments. According to Yee, acupuncture has been proven to reduce some side effects of chemotherapy like nausea and vomiting. However, many of her patients say they benefit from the traditional Chinese practice because it helps balance their whole body.

Yee recommends different herbs or supplements based on the type of chemotherapy a patient has undergone, but she said some are beneficial for most conditions. For example, medicinal mushrooms have been proven to help boost immunity.

While supplements are sometimes difficult to recommend because of the lack of scientific research available, Yee said she does so by analyzing the studies and making suggestions based on the most prevalent available evidence.

Though Yee said conventional methods of treating cancer have certainly proven to be effective, complementary treatments such as these can only help the process.

“When you think of the treatment of cancer, you think about chemo and radiation essentially blasting everything away,” she said. “It’s sort of like a war tactic, bombing and hitting as much as you can. The reason I use other unconventional methods is to attack the cancer in other ways—using other methods that can potentially get a hold on the cancer.

By Laura Shin

Yoga and Pilates classes have become increasingly popular in the fitness world in recent years. Now, experts say that if practiced in a modified way, these exercises could prevent—and even treat—osteoporosis.

“When you stimulate the bones, it builds up bone density. If you start out with good bone density you’ll be better off when you start losing it—and everyone loses it as they get older,” said Ellen Saltonstall, a certified Anusara yoga teacher and co-author of the book Yoga for Osteoporosis.

Yoga is beneficial because it puts specific stress on critical areas such as the hips and lower back, Saltonstall said. Good alignment is also emphasized, which is crucial. But not all types of yoga are safe for those who already have osteoporosis.

“Harmful positions are the forward bend, when the spine rounds forward,” she said. “That’s dangerous for people with osteoporosis because fractures tend to occur, so you want to avoid that if you know you have it.”

Osteoporosis is a common bone disease that is estimated to affect one out of five American women over the age of 50.

Gusti Ratliff, a yoga therapist in Dallas, was diagnosed with osteoporosis five years ago. She said the type of yoga she was practicing was actually hurting her back.

“I developed osteoporosis and I was fracturing my back doing yoga,” Ratliff said. “The type of yoga I was doing was a flowing yoga and it was working against me.”

Flowing yoga consists of many forward-bending positions. Ratliff switched to a weight-bearing yoga, which incorporates more standing positions.

After two years of practicing weight-bearing yoga, along with increasing her calcium intake, Ratliff’s bone density improved and her osteoporosis was downgraded to osteopenia.

Saltonstall agrees that in order for yoga to treat osteoporosis, it must be a vigorous yoga that uses muscles.

“Relaxing yoga won’t change the bones,” she said. “For example, Anusara yoga is excellent because it invigorates muscle strength.”

In addition to seeing bone density scores improve, Saltonstall said she has seen clients become stronger and more confident. When looking for the right kind of yoga class, Saltonstall says students should look for a good teacher who has experience working with different levels of fitness, age and experience.

“I recommend talking to the teacher. Tell them, ‘I have osteoporosis and I can’t bend forward,’” Saltonstall said.

Many of these recommendations also apply when considering Pilates for the treatment of osteoporosis, said Rebekah Rotstein, a certified Pilates instructor and creator of the Pilates for Buff Bones workout.

Though there is little research on how much Pilates can actually prevent or treat osteoporosis, it can definitely prevent excessive bone loss, said Rotstein, who became even more interested in the topic when she was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 28.

“If a class is modified for people with osteoporosis, one of the things it should do is emphasize stability through the spine and through the shoulders—working the back as well as working through standing and weight bearing,” Rotstein said.

Working the back works the muscles that pull against the bone, which ultimately strengthens the bone, she said.

But, like yoga, it is important to avoid any positions that involve bending forward to avoid the risk of a fracture. Finding a Pilates class modified to be safe for those with osteoporosis might be challenging.

Aside from the classes she teaches and those by instructors she certifies, Rotstein said she doesn’t know of any Pilates classes in New York City that are designed specifically for those with osteoporosis.

When considering a regular Pilates class, Rotstein recommends asking the instructor if they’ve had osteoporosis training and if they’re familiar with exercises they should modify or avoid.

Rotstein said she has witnessed many success stories where clients conditions have improved.

“Most everybody I’ve worked with, there’s always some kind of improvement—not just the score of their bone density but also their overall strength and their overall emotional state,” she said.

One of the most critical things Pilates does is emphasize proper alignment and good posture, which is great for everyone but especially those looking to prevent or treat osteoporosis, Rotstein said.

While Pilates can help improve bone density, other treatments should not be avoided. Rotstein said it is important for patients to follow their doctor’s orders and practice other exercises as a complement to the Pilates workout.

On Sunday, October 23 LUNGevity will host its fifth annual  Breathe Deep NYC 5K walk to raise money in the fight against lung cancer. Over 1,000 survivors, family members, doctors, and supporters will take part in the event that includes live entertainment, children’s activities, photo booths, a silent auction and donated raffle prizes prior to the start of the walk.

Co-spokespersons, Heather Geraghty and Jess Trovato are personally committed to the cause.

Geraghty, a 25 year-old who was diagnosed with lung cancer at 24, joined the cause after having 2/3 of her lung removed. She will speak at the event to raise awareness among young people.

Trovato joined the cause in 2007 when her father was diagnosed with stave four lung cancer. In 2011 she joined the staff of LUNGevity in order to devote all her efforts to ending the disease.

Lung cancer is the nations number one  cancer killer, impacting 1 in 14 Americans. LUNGevity’s Breathe Deep NYC walk along with dozens of other Breathe Deep walks taking place around the nation, will help raise money for research, treatments and cures for lung cancer through the LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s largest lung cancer nonprofit funder of research.

Registration for the walk begins at 8:30 a.m. and the 5K Walk begins at 10:30 a.m., leaving from Battery Park.

By McCamey Lynn

By Ashley Welch

Last week, pancreatic cancer took the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Several days earlier, Dr. Ralph Steinman, winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize for medicine, died from the same cancer, just days before the award was announced.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that there will be 44,030 new cases and 37,660 deaths resulting from pancreatic cancer in the United States this year. The American Cancer Society says pancreatic cancer patients have only a 20 percent chance to live at least one year after diagnosis, and fewer than 4 percent will be alive after five years.

Many doctors agree that the reason for such daunting numbers is that pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Why is this and what is it about its nature that makes it so deadly?

Pancreatic cancer begins in the tissues of the pancreas, a six-inch-long organ located horizontally behind the stomach in the abdomen. It secretes enzymes that aid in digestion and produces hormones that help regulate the metabolism of sugars.  Cancer occurs when cells begin dividing uncontrollably and form lumps of tissue, which become tumors and interfere with the main functions of the pancreas.

The first reason pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat is that it is often goes undetected until it’s in its advanced stages. This is because the early signs of pancreatic cancer are varied and are common with many other, less serious health conditions.

“Most of the time, pancreatic cancer presents very nonspecific symptoms that do not necessarily give any indication of a serious disease,” said Dr. Chandan Guha, a professor and vice chair of radiation oncology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center.

These early symptoms include bloating, nausea, indigestion and abdominal pain, things Guha said people may often ignore because they are minor ailments that they expect to experience in their day-to-day lives.

By the time more serious symptoms, such as severe weight loss and jaundice (the yellowing of the eyes and skin), occur, the cancer has often reached advanced stages and has most likely spread outside the pancreas.

At this stage, the cancer is almost impossible to remove because it often spreads to vital blood vessels that are in close proximity to the pancreas.

“The pancreas lives in a very protected location,” said Dr. Steven Standiford, a surgical oncologist and chief of staff at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia. “A small tumor in the pancreas can involve the portal vein, the major vein that drains the intestine into the liver, the hepatic artery, the artery to the liver, or the mesenteric artery, which is the main artery to the intestine, making the cancer inoperable at that point.”

Doctors must then turn to radiation and chemotherapy for treatment. Yet, according to Standiford, although some progress has been made in treating pancreatic cancer with these methods, they do not yield the same dramatic results as for other types of cancer, such as breast cancer and Hodgkin’s disease. The reason for pancreatic cancer’s weak response to these methods, he said, is not known.

“It could be that we haven’t found the right drugs,” he said, “or is it that the tumor is just that resistant, that it’s much harder to find the right drugs.”

Such limited treatment options, coupled with late detection, are the main reasons for the low life expectancy and high mortality rate associated with pancreatic cancer.

So what hope is there for the future treatment of this deadly disease?

Scientists are working all over the country on different ways to extend the lifespan of pancreatic cancer patients and possibly find a cure.

Some methods under development include trying new chemotherapy drugs and improving the delivery of the drugs to the cancer site. Others are experimenting with “targeted therapy” drugs, which would attack the unique aspects of cancer cells while causing little harm to healthy cells. Still other doctors, including Guha at Einstein Medical College, are working on vaccines for pancreatic cancer.

Though vaccines are typically thought of as a means to prevent a disease, this type of vaccine would help treat an existing cancer by strengthening the body’s natural defenses against it.

Guha said this is essentially done by “trying to educate the body’s own immune system to consider the tumor as dangerous and to fight it.”

He is studying whether a vaccine, coupled with chemotherapy, would improve overall survival and induce strong tumor-specific immunity in patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer.

Though this vaccine is still in experimental trials, Guha said he has hope that such treatments will soon make for more positive outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died last week from pancreatic cancer, which continues to have one of the lowest cancer survival rates, 4 percent after five years.

By Dr. Cynthia Paulis

Red, white and blue may be patriotic colors, but when they occur on your fingers it may be a sign of something known as Raynaud’s disease. The condition is characterized by a vasospasm and in some cases can be associated with autoimmune diseases such as lupus or scleroderma.

In Raynaud’s, areas of your body such as your fingers, toes, the tip of your nose, ears and, on rare occasions, tongue will feel numb and cool in response to cold temperatures and stress. Smaller arteries that supply blood to the skin narrow and go into spasm, causing the numbness. The symptoms experienced depend on the severity, frequency and duration of the vasospasm; the first thing a patient notices is that the area, usually the fingers, turns white due to inadequate blood flow. As oxygen is depleted in the tissues they turn blue, and when the spasm stops and blood returns, the skin turns bright red and can be tingling or painful. The attack can last from less than a minute to several hours.

Dr. Robert Dickerson, a rheumatologist in Manhattan, said Raynaud’s often affects women between the ages of 17 and 25.

“The problem with trying to diagnose the disease is that they look very normal,” he said. “The first line of treatment is to give the patient an understanding of the event, because that reassures them and [helps them] understand the triggers that will cause this problem.”

The two most common triggers are cold temperatures and stress. In both cases the body’s normal response is to preserve core temperature—in people with the disease, this response is exaggerated.

Dickerson also stressed that other triggers that can cause the event are “smoking, caffeine, estrogen-based birth control pills, occupations where vibrations are constant, such as working with a jackhammer” and perhaps vinyl.

“I once had a patient many years ago who was a disc jockey. She was working with vinyl records and developed symptoms of Raynaud’s disease,” said Dickerson.

Certain over-the-counter medications that contain pseudoephedrine can also act as triggers. Beta blockers used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease such as Lopressor, Toprol, Corgard, Inderal and Innopran XL have also been know to trigger Raynaud’s disease.

The problem with Raynaud’s is that if attacks increase in frequency, poor oxygen supply to the tissues can cause the tips of the fingers to ulcerate and become infected. With a continued lack of oxygen, gangrene can occur—although this is very rare, it does happen.

When an attack occurs, Dickerson advises, “Warm your hands by putting them in warm water. If that’s not available, gently massage your hands or, if it’s your feet, wiggle your toes. Make wide circles like a windmill with your arms or place your hands under your armpits to warm them up.”

Prevention is the best way to minimize the attacks. In cold weather wear gloves, a hat, a scarf and boots. Dickerson advises, “Wear socks and gloves to bed. If you are drinking a cold drink, use a napkin or insulator around the glass to keep your hands warm.”

If you are taking food out of the refrigerator or freezer, wear gloves or oven mitts to keep the cold from your hands. Air conditioning may trigger the attack, so set the temperature higher to prevent attacks.

Dickerson reassures patients that “80 percent of people will do well with prevention and avoidance of the triggers that cause the attacks.” The most common drugs used for treatment are calcium channel blockers such as Adalat, Procardia, Norvasc and Plendil. They work by relaxing and opening up the small vessels in your hands and feet, thereby decreasing the frequency and severity of the attacks. They also can be used to heal ulcers on the fingers and toes.

Another class of medication used is alpha blockers, which counteract the effects of the hormone norepinephrine, which constricts the blood vessels. Minipress and Cardura are commonly used alpha blockers.

Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, has been used to treat the problem and biofeedback has been used to cope with stressful situations.

One of the more unusual treatments is Viagra, which is a potent vasodilator.

Raynaud’s disease can’t be cured, but its symptoms can be minimized by eliminating the triggers that cause it—cold, stress ( easier said than done), smoking and caffeine. So, the next time you feel inclined to go for the 60-ounce cup of coffee, think about switching to green tea instead and maybe booking a nice trip to Hawaii in December.