Feature14 | August 2010 Dr. Faisal Fakih – Farm Credit of Central Florida Member, Dr. Faisal Fakih, is an accomplished physician who is the Medical Director for Florida Pulmonary Consultants and Sleep Disorder Center in Winter Park. Inspired by his friend and fellow physician, Dr.John Arnold, Dr. Fakih bought a frozen out grove near Groveland, Florida in 1993. He immediately began to apply his healing touch to restoring the grove to a productive and profitable operation. He also acquired an adjacent parcel of land to expand his holdings to the current 120 acres. Dr. Fakih was introduced to agriculture at an early age by his parents. His father was born in a tiny village in Lebanon where his family grew food for their own needs and sold the remainder of their crop. The family moved to Barranquilla, Columbia in Central America, where Dr. Fakih was born, and where his father often told him stories of the family farm in Lebanon. Dr.Fakih earned his B.A. from the Universidad de Zaragoza in Spain, and then served his residency and fellowship at Tulane University in New Orleans. He moved to central Florida in 1979 and has never left. He sees parallels between medicine and raising citrus, “Taking care of trees is like treating patients in as much as both need certain nutrients, and you have to fight diseases.” Dr. Fakih firmly believes good planning and proper treatment is essential to grow a healthy and productive grove. “If you skimp on caretaking of your grove it will eventually cost you,” he said. Just as a doctor would consult medical journals to cure an illness in a patient, Dr. Fakih, read voraciously and gathered volumes of knowledge on the citrus industry before investing in his grove. He has even pioneered a creative method to help his trees survive some very harsh winters, escaping even sub-freezing temperatures for hours. “We have found the tall stand of red cedar trees lining my grove help protect our citrus trees from freezes,” said Dr. Fakih. Additionally, he has cleverly employed extended microjet irrigation to protect the trees’ canopies during freezing temperatures. “Dr. Fakih, has been a Farm Credit Member for approximately six years and he is a pleasure to work with,” said David McDonald, Dr. Fakih’s Loan Officer. Dr. Fakih move to central Florida in 1979. “My realtors, Julia Faye Rogers and Elaine Vick, recommended Farm Credit of Central Florida for financing,” he said. Julia Fay Rogers, owner of Julia Faye Rogers Realty, Inc., had this to say about recommending Farm Credit of Central Florida to her clients, “I have used Farm Credit in the past and have never hesitated in recommending them to any of my customers and friends. They have excellent programs, competitive rates and their stock/participation program is an extra bonus. Most important is the knowledge and desire of the staff to help each individual in their specific needs and following it through to the end. I cannot say enough “good things” about Farm Credit and was most happy, together with my right-hand associate Elaine Vick, to recommend it to Dr. Faisal Fakih. ”As a man who earns his living in avery stressful environment making daily life and death decisions, Dr. Fakih finds working in his grove relaxing and often invites friends out to his property to unwind. He is also a man with a positive outlook. “History has shown agriculture will find a way to survive. I believe eventually a cure for the various citrus diseases will be found,” he said.

Doctors in Agriculture – Dr. Faisal Fakih“Taking care of trees is like treating patients inas much as both need certain nutrients, and you have to fight diseases.”

Reprinted with permission

One of the most important things to remember about Sleep Medicine is that it has progressed in leaps and bounds in the last few years. As recently as 10 years ago, most people who complained about Insomnia or always feeling tired were given a prescription and sent on their way without treating the underlying problem. Today we realize 2 very important things about sleep. Sleep is tied to almost every other aspect of your overall health. If you aren’t sleeping, or getting good sleep, then you may have problems with blood sugar, blood pressure, weight gain, hypogonadism, and cognitive function to name a few. There are new options to help you sleep better, and we offer them all.

First, if you just can’t sleep, one option we are offering to our patients is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. This is a drug free alternative that gets at the root of the problem instead of just treating the symptoms. The new medications for Insomnia are even attacking the problem at the root, not just knocking you out, with a lower risk of becoming dependent.

And if you suffer from the second most common sleep disorder, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), then you have a number of treatment options. The best treatment for OSA is still a CPAP machine, a device that blows a constant stream of air to keep your airway open while you sleep. The machines have gone through a major evolution to give patients choices to increase comfort and compliance. And if you just can’t tolerate the machine, there are several other devices that can help treat sleep apnea comfortably and effectively.

Even if you have one of the less common sleep disorders, like Restless Leg Syndrome or Narcolepsy, you can still benefit from the progress that has been made in treatment. Do the research, ask your primary care physician, or call us with questions, but get help! You can feel better and sleep better!

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We are currently conducting 3 clinical studies for Myeloproliferative Disorders. Two for Myelofibrosis and one for P. Vera. Here is a great article on the continuing debate as to whether these new treatments actually prolong life, or just improve it’s quality by alleviating symptoms.

http://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/Fulltext/2011/07250/POINT_COUNTERPOINT__JAK2_Inhibitors_for.4.aspxtimes/Fulltext/2011/07250/POINT_COUNTERPOINT__JAK2_Inhibitors_for.4.aspx

While we spend a lot of time taking care of our heart, lungs, skin, etc for the future to prevent serious diseases, we don’t spend a lot of time taking care of our most important organ, the brain. There is new movement to promote keeping your brain healthy, right along with the rest of you. As we age, you do lose some cognitive function, but according to experts like Dr Paul Nussbaum, Neuropsychologist and author of “Your Brain Health”, you don’t have to just let a decline in cognitive function just happen. (You can get to Dr Nussbaum’s website here.) Changes in diet and lifestyle can help you maintain the use of your brain function well into later life, and most of them are small steps.

How can we at  Florida Pulmonary help you keep your brain healthy? Simply by offering one of our existing services, sleep medicine. Studies show that among an older population if you treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), you get an almost immediate increase in cognitive function. And there are new studies that suggest that Alzheimer’s Disease may be caused at least in part by a lifetime of untreated OSA. With OSA, you stop breathing while you sleep and it lowers your blood oxygen to the point where your brain wakes you up enough to get you breathing again. A lifetime of this appears to cause damage to the structures of the brain, as well as affecting every other part of you health, including weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and hormonal balance. You can find more information about OSA here on our Sleep Lab website. Talk to your primary care physician today about having a sleep study done, or call us directly at 407-740-5447. And even if you don’t think you have a sleep disorder, you might have friends or family that do, and you can get a $25 gas card for referring them to us!

The biggest news we have this month is the addition of a new doctor to the practice, Juan Carlos Escandon, MD. Dr Escandon is a former native of Colombia who came to America to practice medicine, and even worked at Florida Pulmonary while studying for his license exams. The doctor comes back to the fold after passing his exams, and then completing a fellowship in sleep medicine at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He joins us to help bring the latest treatments and a new perspective to our practice, ensuring the best care for our sleep patients. Dr Escandon is a welcome addition, and is exccited about working with Dr Fakih.

Things continue to go well with the opening of our satellite office in Tavares, FL. We are already getting referrals from the doctors in the area, who are glad to have a top quality alternative for sleep medicine in Lake County. If you have friends of family in that area, please make sure totell them about our new office. You are still eligible for a $25 gas card if your refer a patient to our Tavares office.

We are also well on our way to completing the transition to Electronic Medical Records. We appreciate your patience while we make this transition that will ultimately result in better care for our patients, if for no other reason than the fact that we will spend less time handling paper and more time practicing medicine. Make sure you keep an eye out for a special email in the near future telling you how to access our new patient portal on the website, allowing you to request or change appointments, fill out your paperwork online, see test results, and manage your healthcare better. The new portal should launch some time in the next week. Stay Tuned!

We recently welcomed a new doctor to the practice, Juan Carlos Escandon, MD. Dr Escandon is board certified in Family Medicine and Sleep Medicine. He joins us from the Cleveland Clinic, and will be handling our sleep patients in partnership with Dr Fakih. Dr Escandon shared some simple steps you can take to get better sleep, by improving what is called your “Sleep Hygeine”, which means having good habits to sleep better.

Tips to Start Sleeping Well!
By Juan Carlos Escandon, MD

• Avoid alcohol, smoking, stimulants, tea (hot or iced), cola, cocoa, chocolate and caffeine 4-6 hrs before bed
• No heavy meals 4 hours before bed
• Establish a regular routine for bed time
• Exercise regularly, but avoid excessive exercise 4 hrs before bed
• Wake at the same time each morning including days off and vacations
• Avoid naps. If you need to take a nap limit it to less than 30 minutes and never take a nap after 3:00 PM
• Spend less time in bed and don’t use your bed for non-sleep activities (No work, computer, phone, thinking, worrying ,eating, or video games)
• Take the TV out of the bedroom, and avoid playing the radio too loud
• Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex.
• Avoid any stimulating activities close to the bed time
• Relax before getting into bed
• Create a positive sleep environment
• If noise keep you awake, try using background sounds like a “white noise” generator
• If light interferes with your sleep, try a sleep eye mask or blackout curtains
• A cool, quiet, and dark bedroom is ideal for good sleep
• Remember that pain, temperature sensitivity, noise, abnormal posture stimulate the brain and prevent sleep
• Try a hot bath before bedtime
• Wear socks to bed
• Consider wearing ear plugs if is necessary
• Make sure you have a comfortable mattress and pillow, spending a little extra for these items can pay off
• Turn your clock around or cover it and only use your alarm if needed
• Write down your worries on a piece of paper and set them aside until the next day
• If you are not able to sleep after 20 minutes in bed (based on your internal clock), get out of bed and do something else relaxing or boring (reading, listening to music), and do not go to bed unless you are sleepy
• Don’t get discouraged, improving a problem with insomnia can take some time, it doesn’t happen overnight
• Never go to bed angry or upset
• Turn off negative thoughts, quiet your mind, and relax the body
• These guidelines are principles, not laws. Please stick to a plan for several weeks before concluding that something does or does not work for your sleep. Be consistent and patient and remember that improving a problem with insomnia take weeks to months