Health
The health benefi ts of eating apples
The phrase, “An apple a day keeps the doctor
away,” is a familiar one that many people
fi rst heard as children. But some may be
surprised to learn the phrase is as factual as it
is familiar.
Apples are among the most cultivated and
consumed foods in the world. They’re also
among the healthiest. Medical News Today, a
market leader for medical news that is owned
and operated by the United Kingdom-based
healthcare publisher Healthline Media, listed
apples among its 10 healthiest foods.
Apples provide an array of health benefi ts,
lending credence to the notion that consuming
one per day might just keep the doctor away:
Apples may reduce risk for stroke. Apples
are rich in antioxidants, including quercetin,
which researchers have determined can help
people lower their risk for thrombotic stroke.
In that study, which was published in the European
Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2000,
researchers studied more than 9,200 men and
women over a 28-year period. Those who ate the
most apples during that time had a lower risk
for thrombotic stroke, a type of stroke that occurs
when a blood clot forms in an artery that
supplies blood to the brain. Such blood clots
block the fl ow of oxygen-rich blood to the brain,
producing long-term brain damage.
They lower levels of bad cholesterol. “Bad
cholesterol” refers to low-density lipoprotein, or
LDL. LDL is considered bad because high levels
of it lead to a buildup of cholesterol in the
arteries, raising a person’s risk for coronary
artery disease. Thankfully, in 2011, researchers
at Florida State University found that older
women who consume apples every day had reduced
their LDL levels by 23 percent in six
months and even increased their “good” cholesterol
levels by four percent over that period.
Good cholesterol, also known as high-density
lipoprotein or HDL, has been found to prevent
arterial disease.
Apples can help people maintain healthy
weights. The fl avonoid polymers found in apples
inhibit enzymes that break down simple sugars.
What does that mean for you? That means that
the fl avonoid polymers in apples help you fl ush
more of the sugar in apples out of your system
instead of storing it as fat. That can help people
maintain healthy weights. Fuji apples have the
highest concentration of fl avonoids, so people
who want this particular benefi t of apples may
be best picking up these types from their local
farmers’ market.
They can lower risk for diabetes. A recent
cohort study published in BMJ (formerly
the British Medical Journal) that involved researchers
Neurointensive care unit opens at NYU Langone
COURIER L 36 IFE, APRIL 5–11, 2019 PS
from the United Kingdom, the United
States and Singapore found that consuming
three servings per week of blueberries, grapes,
raisins, apples, or pears reduced participants’
risk for type 2 diabetes by seven percent.
An apple a day could very well keep the doctor
away, paving the way to a long, healthy life
for apple affi cionados.
Apples provide an array of health benefi ts, lending credence to the
notion that consuming one per day might just keep the doctor away.
A new level of neurological care is
now available in Brooklyn with
the opening of NYU Langone
Hospital–Brooklyn’s new neurointensive
care unit.
The state-of-the-art unit features
four fully equipped single-bed patient
rooms with a new dedicated nursing
station. Each patient room has access
to the latest in diagnostic equipment
— including fi beroptic intracranial
pressure monitoring, bedside ultrasound,
therapeutic temperature management
technology, and transcranial
doppler to measure blood fl ow
through the brain. The unit is an expansion
of the adjacent 10-bed surgical
intensive care unit on the hospital’s
fourth fl oor.
As Brooklyn’s fi rst Joint Commission
certifi ed Comprehensive Stroke
Center — and the only facility in the
Northeast that additionally holds
Joint Commission certifi cation for
stroke rehabilitation — the hospital
has built a strong stroke, neurology,
and neurosurgical program that is
second to none.
“This latest expansion demonstrates
our commitment to delivering
advanced, around-the-clock neurocritical
care to our patients, our
community, and our region,” says Dr.
Aaron S. Lord, chief of neurology at
NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn,
who will oversee the new unit along
with Dr. Erich G. Anderer, chief of
neurosurgery at the hospital.
“Our institution includes some of
the most talented brain and spine surgeons
in the fi eld, and the new unit
will provide an environment that will
encourage even faster recovery with
a highly skilled nursing and medical
staff available 24/7,” says Dr. Anderer.
The new facility is an integral part
of the medical center for stroke and
neurovascular diseases, which brings
leading experts in neurology, neurosurgery,
neurocritical care, neurointerventional
radiology, neuroradiology,
and neurorehabilitation together
to diagnose and treat the most complex
conditions affecting the brain
and spinal cord.
“Stroke is among the most interdisciplinary
specialties in the medical
fi eld,” said Dr. Koto Ishida, medical
director of the stroke program at
NYU Langone Health. “Collaboration
is critical to understanding and
treating a patient with a neurovascular
condition, whether with the
emergency department nursing staff,
the physicians and surgeons, or the
outpatient physical, occupational, or
speech therapists — everyone plays
a part in delivering exceptional care
during this diffi cult time for patients
and their families.”
While hospitalizations due to
stroke in Brooklyn are above state
and national rates, the borough has
among the lowest rates of stroke death
in the United States, according to federal
Centers for Disease and Prevention
data.
“Our outcomes in stroke treatment
are a key indicator that what we have
built here in Brooklyn is saving lives
and serving as a model for other institutions
across the country,” said Dr.
Rudy.
Learn more about NYU Langone
Hospital–Brooklyn and the Center for
Stroke and Neurovascular Diseases at
https://nyulangone.org.
The neurointensive care unit at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn features a state-of-the-art
care environment.
/nyulangone.org
/nyulangone.org