Heidi Skolnik ’83, M.S. ’84: Peak Performance

Heidi Skolnik ’83, M.S. ’84: Peak Performance

By Susan Weiner, IC View

During her 25 years as a sports nutrition consultant, Heidi Skolnik has counseled corporate VIPs, the New York Mets, the New York Giants, the New York Knicks, the Juilliard School, and the School of American Ballet on the virtues of nutrition and performance. On any given day, a morning roundtable with NBA athletes and coaches may follow up with a lunchtime lecture at Julliard and a one-on-one evening training session with a New Jersey homemaker.

“There are some people who want structure, a 9 to 5. My schedule and destination are different every day,” explains Skolnik, a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, a certified dietician nutritionist, and president of Nutrition Conditioning, a nutrition consulting practice serving the greater New York Metropolitan area. “That works for me. I get to do consulting, writing, presentations, media interviews, and even sales; it’s part of owning your own business.”

Pursuing her dreams and public speaking are two of the many life skills Skolnik acquired at IC, where advisors and professors encouraged her to take a hands-on approach to her education. She ultimately fashioned a successful career in the health industry from interdisciplinary Planned Studies courses in holistic health, dance therapy, exercise, and nutrition. “IC really gave me a lot of room to create my reality,” she says.

A public speaking course provided Skolnik with basic oratory skills, and she accepted speaking engagements—some at IC—to get the experience. Opportunities arose from people who heard her talk. Now a sought-after speaker and an advisor to Men’s Health magazine, Skolnik travels the world giving lectures and has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, 20/20, and the Food Network channel.

Skolnik co-authored her first book in 2007, The Reverse Diet: Lose Weight by Eating Dinner for Breakfast and Breakfast for Dinner. Her next book, Nutrient Timing for Peak Performance (Human Kinetics), will be released in June 2010.

“I’m very practical, I’m very realistic. I think you can eat healthily without eating perfectly,” says Skolnik. As for her experience at IC, “I didn’t need to have a clear path. IC allowed me to take my passions, put them together, and make them work.”

May 29, 2010 Posted Under: IC View   Read More

The 2010 Johns Hopkins Memory White Paper

The 2010 Johns Hopkins Memory White Paper

Excerpt from page 35, by Susan Weiner

Maintaining Balance in Dementia
How to build strength and prevent falls

Cognitive impairment affects more than memory and thinking. It can interfere with a person’s motor and balance control, resulting in difficulties walking, slowness of  movement, a shuffling gait, and general unsteadiness. Balance problems are often an initial sign of dementia due to Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, stroke,  or normal-pressure hydrocephalus (an abnormal increase of cerebrospinal fluid). Losing balance and falling down is common among those cognitively impaired and often occurs during routine activities such as getting out of bed, standing up, climbing stairs, and using the bathroom. Loved ones may break bones or suffer other serious injuries  that threaten their health and longevity. Nearly two million adults older than age 65 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to accidental falls in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Individuals with cognitive decline have a three times higher risk of injuries from falls than cognitively unimpaired  elders.

Exercise Can Help
Inactivity and lack of exercise often accompany Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and further weaken muscles and decrease flexibility, affecting the way individuals
walk and increasing the likelihood of falling. An exercise plan can counteract this increased risk by improving balance and mobility. It can also help your loved one maintain independence, promote a normal routine, and enhance mood. Ongoing strength and balance training may even eliminate or forestall the need for walking assistance, negating some safety issues. Whether exercise and balance routines are incorporated at home or professionally, it’s never too late to enhance coordination. Researchers have found  that elderly people with dementia in nursing homes who participated in an exercise program were able to improve balance after just six months. Caregivers may be able to aid in the process. Research from 2008 showed that when caregivers motivated and taught participants with dementia a tailored set of exercises, they fell significantly less than  those in the group that did not exercise. After 12 months, the exercise group improved their balance, while steadiness deteriorated in those who didn’t exercise.

Getting Started
A health professional should be consulted before beginning any exercise program, and types of physical activity should be individualizedto the person’s abilities.  For those with limited mobility, repetitive everyday routines like folding laundry or washing dishes can be used to improve coordination and increase activity. Routines can also decrease anxiety, because they don’t require as much thought and concentration.    People in the early stages of cognitive decline may find walking, dancing, stationary bicycling, yoga, and tai chi to be helpful in building balance, stamina, and strength. Swimming and water aerobics also are good options and require less balance and are easier on your joints. Most important, choose an activity that the person is likely to enjoy and stick with. Doing activities with someone else offers added incentive and pleasure to continue with  any activity program.

Balance 101
A simple balance exercise is simply to stand behind a chair or counter, lightly grasp on, and raise one leg about a foot off the ground for a count of 10 seconds. As skill level improves, the routine can be modified by standing on one leg longer, closing your eyes, and increasing repetitions.
  • Start out with 10-minute exercise sessions and work your way up.
  • Avoid slippery floors and throw rugs.
  • Make sure the area is well lit and uncluttered.
  • If maintaining balance is difficult, exercise within reach of a rail or grab bar.
  • If standing is a challenge, exercise on a bed or secure floor mat.
  • If the person begins to feel hurt or sick, make sure to stop the activity immediately.
  • A physical therapist can also design a special balance exercise plan depending on skill level. See the box above for an example of an exercise for beginners. Your doctor can  provide a referral to a therapist or may even have diagrams of exercises to try at home, if it is safe to do so.
February 17, 2010 Posted Under: Dementia, Health & Wellness   Read More

Preserving the Night

Preserving the Night

Preserving the Night
Artificial lighting casts a long shadow over animal and human health.

By Susan Weiner, Energy Times

Before the lightbulb, people slept beneath inky skies with only the flicker of a candle or torch to hold the darkness at bay. Today we control when we sleep and when we rouse, staying awake late into the night amid domes of artificial light reflected from homes, businesses and streetlamps.

Cities can be seen from space, yet the bright world we’ve created has its downsides. More than simply hamper our view of the stars, artificial light—or light pollution—affects the migration, reproduction and feeding of wildlife, and is suspected of causing some cancers in people. Plants and coral reefs are also affected by artificial light as it disrupts their natural growth cycles.

Bright lights and haze can extend more than 100 miles beyond the borders of an urban area, exposing deer, coyotes, moose, raccoons, bats and other animals to predators and hindering their ability to search for food. Frogs and other wetland inhabitants become disoriented, leading to a decrease in reproduction. Moths and other insects encircle artificial lights, neglecting to reproduce and pollinate, dying of exhaustion or becoming targets for predators.

In North America, 100 million birds die in collisions with lighted structures. Near coastal areas, marine birds can fly off course to the point where they die of exhaustion. Sea turtle hatchlings, instinctively drawn to the ocean by the reflection of the moon and the stars, crawl towards roads and communities, ultimately dying from dehydration, cars, predators and fatigue.

“All life is related to light. Daylight regulates daily activities,” explains Travis Longcore, PhD, science director of The Urban Wildlands Group and author of Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting (Island Press). “We have completely altered the system that was predictable throughout all of human history.” According to a report by the National Parks Conservation Association (www.npca.org), only 10% of the US population is privy to clear sight of the galaxy on a regular basis.

From Dusk to Dawn

Night consists of sunset, twilight and dusk, followed by gradations of dark. The constant twilight resulting from man-made lighting interferes with the biological rhythms of wildlife. “As we homogenize the nighttime environment by making it perpetual moonlight, we homogenize their habitats,” says Longcore. “Behaviors are cued by the rhythms of light.”

For more than 20 years, scientists have speculated that increased cancer rates may be attributed to the rising use of electricity at night, which upsets production of a hormone called melatonin that regulates sleepiness. One study links decreased melatonin levels to increases in breast cancer (Cancer Causes and Control 5/06). A 2009 University of Haifa study found that men with the highest exposure to artificial lighting at night faced an 80% increase in prostate cancer risk. Scientists speculate that melatonin may protect against cancer by preventing tumor cells from growing.

Got Milky Way?

Light pollution squanders $2 billion in energy each year, according to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA, www.darksky.org), based in Tucson, Arizona. “Everyone who uses, generates and pays for outdoor night lighting is contributing to light pollution,” says Terry McGowan, chair of the IDA Technical Committee. “The job of the IDA is to first inform and educate, and then convince people to change their outdoor lighting practices so as to minimize and eliminate light pollution.”

To that end IDA works with lighting manufacturers and approves environmentally friendly lighting with the IDA Fixture Seal of Approval. “Fixtures good for dark skies can also be good looking, energy efficient and inexpensive to operate,” says McGowan. Other ways to reduce light pollution include ensuring that fixtures shine light downward, minimizing wattage, shutting off unnecessary lights and using time controls, energy-efficient light sources and yellow spectrum bulbs.

Those who sleep beneath dark skies can count their lucky stars. But we have a long way to go before all people—and wildlife—can enjoy night as it occurs naturally.—Susan Weiner

November 28, 2009 Posted Under: Environment   Read More
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