Health and Financial Fitness Expo a smashing success

It was another successful and highly informative morning as the annual Senior Health & Financial Expo hosted by The Home Reporter and The Brooklyn Spectator took place at Dyker Beach Golf Course.

The event, held on Friday, April 28, focused on teaching attendees how to take care of their health better and become more educated on financial matters.

A variety of vendors were on hand, providing the numerous attendees with free screenings and tests, as well as useful information. In addition, those who were in attendance had the opportunity to listen to several speakers on vital topics.

“I am thrilled to bring you powerful speakers who will share life-saving, life enhancing information,” said Home Reporter and Brooklyn Spectator Co-Publisher Victoria Schneps at the event.

Among them was Director of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at Maimonides Medical Center Dr. Israel J. Jacobowitz, the keynote speaker who discussed advances in treatment for atrial fibrillation.

“I want to let them know about cardiac surgery and let them know what’s available in Brooklyn, more specifically at Maimonides Medical Center,” he said. “My feeling is that for patients and their families, the best place for them to get their health care is locally. The burden of going into Manhattan or other places is extraordinary. They don’t get the same family-oriented type of care. At Maimonides, the families are thought of as family and not just strangers coming from a different community. All the resources available to them in the best hospitals in Manhattan are available at Maimonides.”

Jeffrey P. Gorak Esq., of Ronald Fatoullah & Associates, discussed using trusts to protect assets, avoid probate and save taxes. “One of our primary goals as a firm is to help the elderly community,” he said. “I want to use my abilities as an attorney to help as many people as I can. We live in an age when more and more people need our help and we want to be able to provide as much information as possible so that so that people are informed. There are a lot of services available out there to them that most people are unaware of.”

“We are giving out information regarding our Managed Long Term Care Plan,” said Michelle Francis, manager of business development for AgeWell New York. “We have been discussing our Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plan as well as holistic treatments and the benefits of meditation.”

The significance of getting your ears checked was stressed by Dr. John Weigand of Liberty Hearing, “Patients need to know what the starting point is,” he said. “You’d be amazed. It’s up to us as audiologists to make hearing part of your health care culture. A lot of people check their eyes, and go to the dentist. They don’t think about hearing.”

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Danielle Casagrande from SUNY Downstate Medical Center discussed preventing injuries, specifically to the shoulder and elbow, in the elderly.

“I treat people, not x-rays, so if you find out that you have arthritis because someone took a chest x-ray and they said your shoulder has arthritis, if it doesn’t bother you, you don’t necessarily have to do anything about it,” she said. “A lot of these problems could be treated without surgery but a lot of patients don’t come to me for maybe eight months or a year after they’ve been in pain because they think going to an orthopedic surgeon, my first reaction is going to be we have to do surgery. Over 90 percent of patients I see, I never do surgery on.”

Dr. Carey Skorski of Bay Ridge Holistic Healthcare talked about neuropathy.

“Peripheral neuropathy is a degenerative disease, [caused when] over time, the blood flow to your feet decreases due to diabetes or poor lifestyle choices, like no diet or exercise,” he said. “We found holistically we can help patients naturally get back on track. We use whole food supplements that get the blood vessels opening back up again and we clean up the blood with other nutrients.”

Attendees also enjoyed themselves. “It was great and very informative,” said Sandra. “I come to these all the time and I love all the information and booths they offer.”

Sponsors included:

*Maimonides Medical Center

*SUNY Downstate Medical Center

*Liberty Hearing, and

*Ronald A. Fatoullah & Associates.

A variety of raffle prizes were awarded including:

*Five $300 gift cards from Dr. Carey Skorski for exam, nerve test and x-rays;

*A $25 gift card from Almonte’s Food Dynasty;

*A food gift basket from LaBella Marketplace;

*Two $25 gift cards from 3 Guys Produce Store

*100 $10 gift cards from Bagel Boy.

The exhibitors were: