Message from the President

I’ve never seen it fail, toward the end of September, specifically the 22nd day of September at 5:18 p.m. it happened again. I’m referring of course to the autumnal equinox, one of two days annually when the daylight hours and the nighttime hours are equal. At exactly 5:19 p.m., the leaves started falling off the trees. Another polite name for this day is the first day of fall.

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Those of you that are long time readers of my president’s message may remember back in September of 2004 I wrote about my long time golf partner and good friend, Patrick Quinn of Albany New York who was celebrating the 25th anniversary of his bypass surgery. At that time, I commented about his dedication to keeping physically fit and in training for competition swimming. There has been a great deal of that over the past five years. This year Patrick celebrated the 30th surgiversary by becoming the US Masters two-mile open water cable-swimming champion in his age group (75 -79). It all goes to prove there is no substitute for active physical exercise. So why aren’t you doing more aerobic exercise?

Another friend of mine, a confirmed couch potato sent me a few anti-exercise comments about the importance of walking. Things like “my grandfather started walking 5 miles a day when he was 69. Now he is 97 and we don’t know where the heck he is.” Another one of his little gems talks about “the advantage of exercise every day so that when you’ll die they can say; doesn’t he look good.” He wrapped it up in the statement “every time I hear the dirty word, exercise, I wash my mouth out with chocolate.”

You may recall that I’m a confirmed chocoholic, it’s difficult not to overdo, particularly when the medical community keeps supporting my habit. A recent New York Times article (September 15, page 6D) described the heart benefits of chocolate. I should note very specifically is it written for non-diabetic patients. The article goes through the procedure followed in the analysis of the patients being studied. It indicates that all of them had been hospitalized for their first heart attack prior to the study. They noted a significant reduction in cardiac deaths over the period of the study. I found the conclusion most interesting: “while the chocolate eaters in the study had a statistically insignificant reduction in the risk of death from any cause, over an eight-year span, the reduced risk for dying of heart disease is highly significant. Additionally the results were dose dependent-that is the more chocolate consumed the lower the risk for death.” I always like reading articles with a positive outlook.

For more along the line I picked up a copy of a small booklet titled “Health Monitor at Home,” I found one article of particular interest dealing with microwave cooking. We sometimes assume if the package says “cook in the microwave on high for five minutes” that the package must know what it’s talking about. This article suggests the use of a food thermometer to test the results of the microwave cooking particularly poultry and meats dinners. They point out the hazard of bacteria that may cause food poisoning unless the actual temperature of the food reaches 165°. The article suggests that you rotate and stir to be sure there are no cold spots left in the food. I found it particularly interesting that you must always observe the standing time indicated on the labels. Apparently, the food is still cooking during that period. I always thought the standing time was so that you wouldn’t burn your tongue. I learn something new everyday.

A parting thought, if you haven’t had a flu shot yet it’s time to make an appointment with the doctor, flu season is on its way.