Miriam Furst (Sheila Wilensky) Tucsonan Miriam Furst has been teaching in the field of gifted education for more than 30 years. She’s still at it, researching stimulating activities that illustrate concepts she’s trying to convey. But instead of K-8 or college students, students in Furst’s sharp mind classes are residents at Handmaker Jewish… Read more »
Elizabeth Katz, DMD Establishing good dental hygiene for children begins long before they have all of their teeth. Children should begin seeing a dentist when they get their first tooth, or by their first birthday, according to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Visiting a dentist within the first year of life… Read more »
What does a triangle sound like? What noise do you think the color purple makes? Israeli scientists have made the seemingly impossible possible by helping the blind ‘hear’ colors and shapes normally perceived visually. Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have shown that through the use of sensory substitution devices,… Read more »
Nancy Cohen is a registered nurse and life coach. All of our lives are marked by milestones and passages. For families who are dealing with acute or chronic medical conditions, these transitions can be especially challenging. Whether it’s the onset of Alzheimer’s for a spouse or the changes of adolescence for a child with type 1 diabetes, patients… Read more »
Once a month, a group of about 20 Jewish women meet to talk about their children. That may sound fairly routine, but this gathering has a unique purpose. All of these women have children or grandchildren with special needs. They meet to share information and to support each other.… Read more »
KFAR SABA, Israel (JTA) — Michelle Kolath-Arbel squeezes a nipple, rolling it in her fingers with a look of mild disgust. This model, which Kolath-Arbel ordered from China two years ago for $50, is thick and crude and took three months to arrive in the mail. “It was hard,… Read more »
Twenty-five percent of adults in the United States have a mental illness — from depression and anxiety, to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia — according to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, “Mental Illness Surveillance among Adults in the United States.” The percentage of Jewish adults with… Read more »
(Above) Members of Team Tamara at Liver Life Walk Tucson on Dec. 14. Front row (L-R): Lavina Tomer, Bryan Kaplan, Tamara Novak, Sandra Wortzel,
Judith Weiser, Lyla Michelson, Rabbi Helen Cohn, Joel Alpert; back row: Gabi Zimerman, Linda Horowitz, Renate Wasserman, Carol Weinstein, Marlyne Freedman, Kenny Wortzel, Nan Rubin, Tanya Fleisher, Nancy Lefkowitz, Ann Markewitz, Byron Michelson. (Courtesy Congregation M'kor Hayim) As my wife, Tamara, and I anxiously awaited news of a liver donor, it seems as if the third time truly was the charm. Three years ago she started gaining weight and experienced an unfamiliar level of fatigue. She could barely make it out of the house for more… Read more »
Renee Bailey When Renee Bailey was 10 years old her mother, a registered nurse, thought she was a picky eater. “My mom saw me in a play, I think it was Yankee Doodle Dandy, and I was way shorter than the other kids,” recalls Bailey, now 36. “We went to an… Read more »
Yael Schwob Yael Schwob, 21, of Rekhasim, Israel, suffers from arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a rare congenital disease that can cause severe bleeding episodes. The condition is difficult to treat and can be fatal. Yael’s AVM has manifested on her face, disfiguring her extensively. She and her father, Rabbi Yaakov Schwob, are… Read more »
Sarah Ashford The following is taken from a talk Sarah L. Ashford gave in September when she accepted the Daniel Moreno Recovery Award from the Aurora Foundation on behalf of her family. Her parents, Daniel Ashford and Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford, are both natives of Nogales, Ariz. Sarah is a descendant of… Read more »
People may enroll in the state-based insurance exchanges beginning Oct. 1, with coverage to start Jan. 1, 2014. See www.healthcare.gov/mar ketplace/individual/. Who may enroll? People who are uninsured or who have insurance they buy themselves (such as those who are self-employed or retired early). It is not open to… Read more »
Mike Cracovaner, CEO of New Pueblo Medicine, explains the accountable care organization concept. (Deborah Mayaan) Many people wonder what will happen as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2011 is put into effect, with coverage for currently uninsured people beginning Jan. 1, 2014. Mike Cracovaner and two other members of the local Jewish community are part of a team developing new approaches… Read more »
Rabbi Sandra Wortzel It was easy for Sandra Wortzel to identify as Jewish growing up in New York City. It took years for her spiritual journey to sway her into becoming a rabbi. “I grew up completely secular,” Wortzel, 58, told the AJP. “My brother became a Bar Mitzvah but that’s it”… Read more »
Renee Gutman, Ph.D., has a thriving practice as a pediatric and adolescent neuropsychologist in Tucson, but her family’s relocation from Mamaroneck, N.Y., wasn’t for professional reasons. Their 2004 move depended on finding the right Orthodox shul for her grieving father. When Gutman’s mother lay dying in her arms, her… Read more »
Marian Salzman May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month. After having two brain tumors removed in the last four years, Tucsonan Marian Salzman, 53, is celebrating being alive. And she’s not just alive, she’s vibrant, creative and has a prominent role in the world of public relations and newscrafting. Salzman, the CEO… Read more »
Rachel Baumann Rachel Baumann, a University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson student, has won the Shandel Medical Endowment Scholarship from the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation. The merit-based, $20,000 biennial scholarship is awarded to Jewish second-year medical students attending the UA College of Medicine in either Tucson or Phoenix.… Read more »
Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Dr. Hani Abdeen visits 8-year-old Sarah Ghanem, from the village of Durah near Hebron, while she is treated at Hadassah Hospital’s pediatric oncology-hematology department in Jerusalem on Sunday, May 5. (Courtesy Hadassah) Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Dr. Hani Abdeen visited Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem on May 5. The hospital said Abdeen was the first P.A. health minister to visit the facility. Abdeen, accompanied by other senior officials from the Palestinian Authority, met some of the dozens of Palestinian physicians who… Read more »
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild will give the opening remarks at an all-day seminar sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association Desert Southwest Chapter at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Wednesday, March 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sessions at the 19th Annual Mayor’s Alzheimer’s Conference will include “Caregiving: Elder Law… Read more »
A view of human chromosomes under a microscope (Courtesy Memorial University of Newfoundland) Expectant mothers long have faced the choice of finding out the gender of their child while still in the womb. But what if parents could get a list of all the genes and chromosomes of their unborn children, forecasting everything from possible autism and future genetic diseases to intelligence… Read more »
