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From left to right: Dana Savici, M.D., James Sexton, M.D., Ioana Amzuta, M.D., Birendra Sah, M.D., and Anil Ghimire, M.D. MEET THE PHYSICIANS PHYSICIANS AT THE new University Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine clinic at Upstate University Hospital at Community General are all board-certified in pulmonary and critical care. Each provider has individual areas of expertise and interest. + Ioana Amzuta, M.D. Specialties and certification: sleep medicine, internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine + Anil Ghimire, M.D. Specialties and certification: internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine + Mohamed Heikal, M.D., FCCP Specialties and certification: sleep medicine, internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine + Robert Lenox, M.D., FCCP, Chief, Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Specialties and certification: internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine Ioana Amzuta, M.D., and Birendra Sah, M.D., in the pulmonary care unit + Dragos Manta, M.D. Specialties and certification: internal medicine, sleep medicine, pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine + Anupa Nadkarni, M.D. Specialties and certification: internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine + Birendra Sah, M.D. Specialties and certification: internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine + Dana Savici, M.D. Specialties and certification: pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine Anupa Nadkarni, M.D., in the new office at Upstate University Hospital at Community General + James Sexton, M.D. Specialties: pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine COPD According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COPD and other chronic lower respiratory diseases have surpassed stroke to become the third leading cause of death in the United States. The new clinic at Upstate University Hospital at Community General has the on-site ability to perform spirometry and additional pulmonary function tests, which, according to Dr. Lenox, are the only methods used to verify airway obstruction. The clinic is equipped to pursue all avenues of treatment plans and utilizes Upstate University Hospital at Community General's rehabilitation facilities after the patient is treated at the clinic. According to James Sexton, M.D., pulmonary and critical care specialist, Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program at SUNY Upstate Medical University, patients with emphysema typically present with comorbidities, so the first steps in treating their COPD is addressing their other conditions. Exercise is a major component of the treatment process, and, as with any lung condi- tion, smoking must be curtailed. After the patient gets into better shape, the underlying disease can be treated, and the patient can then be transferred into Upstate University Hospital at Community General's rehabilitation program. Sleep Medicine The new clinic employs three certified sleep specialists who have expertise in all manners of sleep problems, including sleep apnea, narcolepsy, upper airway resistance syndrome, insomnia and restless legs syndrome. Upper airway resistance syndrome is of particular interest to Dragos Manta, M.D., sleep specialist at University Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine, whose research and fellowship training at Stony Brook University focused primarily on this "milder case of sleep disorder breathing." According to Dr. Manta, the syndrome often presents with "fatigue rather than pure sleepiness, migraine headaches, bruxism and irritable bowel syndrome," among other symptoms. "If patients present with nonspecific symptoms that are hard to categorize, physicians should be aware that some of these patients have a milder form of sleep apnea," Dr. Manta says. "Treatment can improve the life of the patient who has multiple complaints that otherwise might not be treatable." Treatment options for these milder forms of sleep apnea are enhanced by the clinic's collaboration with Upstate University Hospital at Community General, particularly in the availability and proximity of the hospital's sleep lab for clinic patients who need sleep studies. When a patient is referred to the clinic for sleep disorders, he or she will meet with one of the sleep specialists for assessment. The sleep specialist with whom the patient meets will then follow the patient through the entire treatment process, providing personalized care from beginning to end. The new University Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine clinic at Upstate University Hospital at Community General is located at 4900 Broad Road, Syracuse, NY, Suite 2-I, in the North physicians' office building. For more information, call (315) 492-5804, or visit www.upstate.edu/pulmcc. ■ MDNEWS.COM ■ MD NEWS Central New York | 13