Page 9 - Hobe Sound Reflections - February '21

Hobe Sound, Page 9

ClevelaND CliNiC martiN health News

When ‘Leaky’ Valves Are At has lost significant functional capacity. In most cases the Innovation Way in Port St.
Lucie, on the campus of
valve can be repaired (> 80 percent). Studies show that
The Heart Of The Problem mitral valve repair results in better long-term survival, Cleveland Clinic Tradition
more preservation of heart function and lower risk of Hospital. Patients may
Your heart has four valves. They open during a heartbeat complications. If the valve can be repaired, no long-term request an appointment by
so that the blood can flow from one chamber to another and use of blood thinners is required. calling (772) 288-5862 or
close to make sure that blood can’t leak back out. Some valves cannot be repaired and require online at martinhealth.org/
Q: What is mitral regurgitation? replacement. Whether repaired or replaced, most patients neurosurgery.
A: Mitral regurgitation occurs when the valve between experience dramatic improvement in symptoms and Ren specializes in
the upper and lower chambers on the left side of the heart functional status. Nearly all isolated mitral valve repairs cerebral and spinal vascular
does not close properly. Mitral valve prolapse is a structural or replacements can be performed using a minimally disease and can utilize open
abnormality of the valve where the leaflets have extra invasive approach through a 2- to 3-inch incision on the techniques or advanced
tissue and are displaced from their normal position (too right side of the chest. The doctors at Cleveland Clinic minimally invasive
far backward). A small percentage of patients with mitral Martin Health are experts with extensive experience who endovascular procedures to treat different conditions,
valve prolapse will eventually develop regurgitation. specialize in diagnosing and treating patients with simple such as brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformation, and
Q: What are symptoms of mitral regurgitation? and complex heart valve disease. carotid artery disease, acute stroke, trigeminal neuralgia,
A: Shortness of breath or difficulty catching your To learn more about heart and vascular services at facial spasm, chronic subdural hematoma, among others.
breath (especially with exertion), palpitations that feel Cleveland Clinic Martin Health’s Frances Langford Heart Ren received training in both neurosurgery and
like rapid or irregular heartbeats, and swelling of the feet Center, visit martinhealth.org/heart. endovascular neurosurgery. He completed a neurosurgery
and ankles are symptoms of mitral regurgitation. Other fellowship at the University of Washington, and a
symptoms are weakness or dizziness, and increasing Neurosurgeon Zeguang Ren, cerebrovascular/endovascular neurosurgery fellowship
fatigue. M.D., Ph.D., Joins Cleveland from Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester.
Q: What treatment options are available for mitral He earned a Master of Neuroscience degree and Ph.D.
regurgitation? Clinic Martin Health of Neuroscience at Beijing Neurosurgical Institute and
A: If the leak is mild or moderate, it’s usually treated Beijing Tiantan Hospital.
with medication and close follow-up. However, if the leak Cleveland Clinic Martin Health welcomes board- Prior to joining Martin Health, Ren has practiced as
is severe, surgery is often needed. Sometimes patients certified vascular and endovascular neurosurgeon an attending neurosurgeon in Tampa, Fort Pierce and in
who believe they have no symptoms actually do, but have Zeguang Ren, M.D., Ph.D. Beijing. He is board certified by the American Board of
adapted to their limitations. Dr. Ren is now accepting new patients. His office Neurological Surgery.
It’s important to treat the problem before the heart is located at Tradition HealthPark One at 10050 S.W.

Book REviEw

Hits & Misses – until 100 years later! What And now, he is in a cage in a glue factory and nobody
happens to him then becomes the
cares about him, and his friend, Paul – you know him,
By Nils A. Shapiro author’s satirical commentary Paul Revere – is famous. It isn’t fair.
I should make this an on our “millennial” generation’s Menlo Park, 1891. Thomas Edison’s laboratory was located
annual treat! foibles and lifestyle trends. in Menlo Park, N.J. In 1891, he invented the kinetograph, the
Exactly one year ago, in That story has just been made first “motion picture camera” which he knew would change the
February 2020, I reviewed into a film, An American Pickle, world and make him famous. He hires a boy, hands him two
a collection of short stories, starring Seth Rogen in dual roles oblong wooden clubs, tells him to just swing the clubs over
Spoiled Brats, by Simon as both the immigrant Jew and his head, films that activity for a few minutes with his new
Rich, an author among whose the century-later descendant of invention and sarcastically titles the film Newark Athlete. Then
credits are having been a his wife who was pregnant at the Edison invites the press, screens the film and anticipates their
writer for TV’s Saturday time of his disappearance. excited reaction and questions. When the reporters notice the
Night Live and The Simpsons. Rich’s newest collection, boy, they rush to him – not Edison – and ask what it feels like
He is a frequent contributor to Hits & Misses, contains 19 stories. Published in 2018, it is every to be an actor, what advice he has for youngsters seeking an
The New Yorker magazine, has created several TV series, and bit as much fun. And, just as with the others, you can open it to acting career, inquire about his girlfriends, and so on. Simon
now has seven published books to his credit. almost any page – at the beginning of any story – and find a hit; Rich lives in Los Angeles, and knows full well the irony of
England’s Guardian newspaper calls Simon Rich “the there are virtually no misses here. In my case, I had an hour or celebrity worship – actors over all others, including in this
funniest man in America,” and he has also been described so before dinner New Year’s Eve and decided to start reading fictional case the inventor!
as “the Stephen King of comedy writing.” Conan O’Brien the first story. In two sittings, by the end of New Year’s Day, I Dinosaur is about a real dinosaur. You know, the really big,
has simply stated, “My admiration for Rich is rivaled only had turned the last of the book’s 230 pages ... captivated again green kind with a scaly back, yellow eyes and sharp razor teeth.
by my jealousy.” by the almost inconceivable imagination capable of springing Except this one works as a writer for a TV show, and the rest of
As for my reaction to Spoiled Brats, the book I reviewed a from one man’s mind! the staff, humans one-twentieth his size, are really way – and
year ago, I laughed out loud from first page to last at the wildest I kept telling myself “just one more story ... just one more I mean waaaaaaaay younger. The problem is that the others
extremes of comedic imagination I had ever encountered in ...” After all, they average only about five or six pages each. keep using words like “woke,” and other terms that he hasn’t
any creative form. One of the 13 stories in that book, Sellout But, like eating potato chips, I couldn’t stop until there were caught onto, and he is embarrassed to admit it, so he has to
– although, at 78 pages in length, I described it then as almost no more left. Here are several examples to explain why: keep looking them up. It’s a “generation gap” thing, but when
a novella – I found especially hilarious and impressive. It tells Riding High: The Oatsy Story is told by a horse who robots enter the picture it all works out at the end, thanks to
of an immigrant Jew who arrives in America from Europe, gets has a legitimate complaint. He describes how one night Simon Rich’s inexhaustible imagination.
a job in a Brooklyn pickle factory, marries a girl who becomes he spent hours running all around town, even through There are 16 more like these. Go along for the ride. You
pregnant, and one day he falls into a large vat of brine, the lid brambles, no matter how tired, while his friend Paul on will love it. And when somebody makes a movie out of one
closes above him, and he is not discovered – perfectly preserved top of him, was scared and kept screaming his head off. of these stories, you will have read the book first!