Free Yad Sarah device calls for help when subscriber falls
An emergency device that sounds an alert at Yad Sarah when an elderly person falls and calls for medical help has been introduced by the voluntary organization. A hip fracture in the elderly has to be repaired surgically within 48 hours or it can lead to complications and even death.
The inexpensive smart device will soon be available free at all of Yad Sarah’s 103 branches. Developed in China, it is an upgrade of the emergency beeper worn like a watch on the wrist that calls Yad Sarah for help.
The button on the device doesn’t even have to be pressed; it senses when the wearer has lost his balance and fallen, said Yad Sarah founder and president and former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski, who set up the organization exactly 40 years ago when he sent a neighbor a steam vaporizer.
The disabled and elderly who live alone need only register for the emergency beeper service and receive the device. If they fall or call for help, Yad Sarah’s emergency center manned round the clock, seven days a week will respond according to the data about the subscriber that appear on their computer screens.
The lightweight wireless device connects to the regular home phone line and is suited to all telephone companies. It issues a signal if the phone line or electric cable have been disconnected. It has been approved by the Israel Standards Institution and the Communications Ministry. It works on batteries in the event of a power failure and is water resistant.
To see a demonstration, go to youtu. be/56pdp2KJnVU.
DISUSED MIRS SOLICITED BY UNITED HATZALAH
The first aid and rescue organization United Hatzalah is asking the public to donate used Mirs communications devices for saving lives. They are still needed by volunteer medics and paramedics who rush around the country on ambucycles to treat the sick and victims of accidents and trauma, as they are useful because they combine phones and walkie-talkie digital communication devices for groups. A few years ago, Motorola stopped manufacturing Mirs devices and commissioned contractors to do it. But they are not producing enough. Anyone who has an old device that is no longer used is invited to contract UH at www.mirs1221.com.
PASTA NEED NOT BE FATTENING
In recent years pasta gained a bad reputation – that it will cause weight gain. This led many people to limit its consumption, often as part of some aggressive “do it yourself” diets. Perhaps combining it with fattening cream sauce gave rise to the myth. Now a study conducted by the epidemiology department of the Neuromed Institute in Italy does justice to this fundamental element of the Mediterranean diet, showing how pasta consumption is actually associated with a reduced likelihood of both general and abdominal obesity.
The research, published in the journal Nutrition and Diabetes, examined over 23,000 people recruited in two large epidemiological studies. “By analyzing anthropometric data of the participants and their eating habits,” said Dr. George Pounis, first author of the paper, “we have seen that consumption of pasta, contrary to what many think, is not associated with an increase in body weight. In fact, it is the opposite. Our data show that enjoying pasta according to individuals’ needs contributes to a healthy body mass index, lower waist circumference and better waist-hip ratio.”
Many studies have already shown how the Mediterranean diet, such as that native to Israel, is one of the healthiest nutritional regimes, even when dealing with weight control. Very little, however, was known about the specific role of a basic component as pasta.
Dr. Licia Iacoviello, head of the laboratory of molecular and nutritional epidemiology at Neuromed Institute, commented: “In light of this research, we’re talking about a fundamental component of Italian Mediterranean tradition, and there is no reason to do without it. The message emerging from this study… is that the Mediterranean diet, consumed in moderation and respecting the variety of all its elements (pasta in the first place), is good for your health.”
RAMBAM OPENS NEW CANCER CENTER
A new oncology center was dedicated recently at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center, replacing the one built half a century ago. The late Joseph Fishman, a businessman from Haifa who had been treated in the old building, decided to built an advanced new center and donated his own money to help make it possible.
Health Minister MK Ya’acov Litzman, who was a guest at the dedication ceremony, said the public must learn to follow a healthful diet and not to smoke to reduce their risk of cancer. Hospital director-general Prof. Rafael Beyar added that tobacco products are not sold on campus and that its own inspectors give fines for illegal smoking. The new center, to which departments will move in the coming weeks, will be very advanced, giving the best care and shortening queues for treatment for residents of the North. The nine-storey center cost NIS 120 million to build, and more funds are needed to purchase additional equipment and hire more workers.
KICKING THE HABIT ON MOUNT SCOPUS
Hadassah University Medical Center on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus has declared itself smoke free. The hospital stressed in a festive event that not smoking is good for the heart, lungs, teeth and many other parts of the body. Free smoking-cessation courses have been offered at the workplace to staffers and members of their families.
At the event, Dr. Osnat Keidar of Hadassah’s women’s healthy heart center stressed the fact that many women are exposed to both passive and active smoking. Dr. Haggai Levine of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health, who was a partner in the decision, gave a lecture on clean air and a healthy atmosphere. Haim Salman of the works committee related how he had kicked the habit after 13 years of smoking.