Health

Kingsbridge Heights Six-Year-Old Sees Wish Come True with New Yorkie

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
  The first thing 6-year-old Camilia Vanderhorst wants people to know about her new Yorkie puppy is its name. “I’ll call him Coco, [not Coco Melon]” she insisted softly as she addressed the media gathered in front of her home in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx on Nov. 10. Asked what was the first thing she planned to do with her new pet, the shy 6-year-old said, “We can play fetch.”   While the origin of Coco’s name was unclear, what was obvious was Camilia’s joy at seeing her wish for a new puppy come true. She received


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Health Check: Take Care of Your Mental Health

By Dr. GIFTY AMPADU
Each year, usually around the start of the year, which is just around the corner, we are encouraged to meet with our primary care physician to assess our physical wellbeing. Not often prioritized as part of this routine is an effort to assess our psychological and emotional wellbeing, which is concerning, because poor mental health has an impact on physical wellbeing and quality of life.   Mental health problems continue to rise across the nation. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased isolation, anxiety, unresolved grief, stress, and financial and housing insecurities, all of which are predictors of a mental health crisis. Also at risk are people with chronic medical


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Op-Ed: Keeping Our Kids Safe With Vaccination 

By Dr. DAVE A. CHOKSHI 
As a father of a young child and the City’s doctor, it has been especially meaningful for me to see so many brave children roll up their sleeves to get vaccinated against COVID-19. I have had the privilege of being present when some have gotten their first dose. I remember one young person had tragically lost their mother to the COVID-19 pandemic. The family felt relief and joy after waiting so long for the comfort of knowing the child was protected.   Since the COVID-19 vaccine was authorized, over 140,000 children ages 5-11 have received at least one dose in


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UPDATE Dinowitz Responds to 2nd Rally in a Month Where Anti-Semitic Imagery was Displayed

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Bronx Jewish Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) has formally responded to the organization of a second rally in a month, the latest held outside his Riverdale home on Sunday, Dec. 12, during which anti-Semitic imagery was, once again, on display. As reported by Norwood News, about 50 protestors showed up for the rally to oppose the assemblyman’s proposed bill A8378, according to one witness who works for the assemblyman.   The bill, if passed, and which is still at the committee level stage of the legislative process, would authorize an immunization program against COVID-19 for schools funded with State aid,


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UPDATE Protestors Rally Outside Jeffrey Dinowitz’s Home to Protest School Vaccination Bill

By SÍLE MOLONEY
An estimated 50 protestors, some dressed in ultra-Orthodox Jewish attire, held a rally outside the home of Bronx, Jewish Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81), in the Riverdale section of the Bronx on Sunday, Dec. 12, displaying anti-Semitic imagery and protesting the assemblyman’s sponsoring of bill A8378, according to one witness who works for the assemblyman. It is the second such rally protesting the assemblyman’s legislation in the last month.   The bill, if passed, and which is still at the committee level stage of the legislative process, would authorize the State commissioner of health to develop and supervise the execution


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Montefiore Appoints Dr. Sangita Jindal to Oversee Assisted Fertility Treatments

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Montefiore Health System announced on Wednesday, Dec. 8, that Dr. Sangita Jindal, who oversees the lab at Montefiore’s Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Health in Hartsdale, NY, has been named the president-elect of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART).    According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ART includes all fertility treatments in which either eggs or embryos are handled. In general, ART procedures involve surgically removing eggs from a woman’s ovaries, combining them with sperm in the laboratory, and returning them to the woman’s body or donating them to another woman. They do NOT include treatments in


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Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman Send Letter to FEMA, Requesting Additional Aid for Ida Victims

By SÍLE MOLONEY
    Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) sent a letter dated Nov. 30 to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) asking them to provide additional aid to victims of Hurricane Ida. This follows the release of data which shows that nearly 10,000 applications for disaster relief in Queens and The Bronx were denied. The full letter is available here. “We have heard from countless residents in New York’s 14th and 16th districts that the aid coming from FEMA has been insufficient, and in some cases, non-existent,” wrote Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez. “For example, a constituent in the Village of


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Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Study Shows Kids with Obesity/Diabetes at Higher Risk of COVID-19-Related Hospitalization

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Researchers at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have released a new study which highlights that children with obesity or diabetes who contract SARS-CoV-2 infection are at a higher risk of being hospitalized than children who are not obese, or do not have diabetes. They say this is particularly concerning since reports have shown that rates of obesity and diabetes have increased among children during the pandemic.   Building on research conducted early in the pandemic, CHAM investigators analyzed 319 patients from 0 to 21 years of age with SARS-CoV-2 infection, of whom approximately one quarter were hospitalized


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