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MAY 2020 KunkelCase Files 888-228-9680 • www.KunkelLawFirm.com • GKunkel@KunkelLawFirm.com
FROM THE DESK OF
Gregory Kunkel, Esq.
OUR RESPONSE TO COVID-19
I am writing this month’s article from my home office while in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the economy has slowed to a crawl, we recognize that our clients need our help and that many legal needs cannot wait until the COVID-19 crisis ends. Rest assured, our firm remains fully operational during the COVID-19 lockdown. We are working remotely, communicating with clients by telephone and email, and we’re following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for social distancing. We have implemented new technology that allows us to meet virtually with clients and to attend court and administrative proceedings using online video services such as Zoom. We are happy to assist any existing or new clients using virtual meetings when requested. Once the economy gets back on track, our firm will be here to assist you with any concerns about your employment, work injuries, or social security and long-term disability claims. As always, you can call me at 724-438-3020 or email me at GKunkel@KunkelLawFirm.com for legal assistance.
Imagine if you spent a day standing outside your local gym and asking everyone who went in the same question: “Why are you working out today?”What kind of responses do you think you’d get? Some answers, like “I want to lose weight” or “I want to build muscle,” are obvious, but there’s another contender that might rise to the top: “I want to clear my head.” Anecdotally, most of us know that a hard run or a challenging weightlifting session can help declutter our minds and push petty worries and stressors away. But according to one study, it’s possible that exercise can literally clear up messy nerve cells to restore and improve our memories. For the more than 50 million people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, this simple treatment could prove revolutionary. In a 2018 article, Scientific American describes the brains of people with Alzheimer’s as “harsh place[s] filled with buildups of harmful nerve cell junk,” including amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. This complex neural web makes the disease difficult to treat, but an experiment conducted by scientists from Harvard Medical School, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and other notable institutions found that exercise helps clear up the tangles and improve learning and memory in mice with Alzheimer’s. The scientists even CAN EXERCISE JOGYOURMEMORY? How Regular Workouts Could Help Prevent Alzheimer’s
–Greg Kunkel
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went a step further, identifying a particularly helpful molecule called BDNF that gets a boost from exercise. Now, pharmaceutical companies can use that insight to formulate drugs for Alzheimer’s that raise BDNF. Until those drugs arrive, though, exercise alone might help prevent or heal memory loss. As Dr. Jonathan Graff-Radford puts it in an article for the Mayo Clinic, “Studies show that people who are physically active are less likely to experience a decline in their mental function, have a lowered risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and possibly have improved thinking among people with vascular cognitive impairment.” Multiple studies have found that exercise even helps the brain grow, adding volume to the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal cortex, which control thinking and memory. To get these benefits, you need to make exercise a regular part of your routine, although you don’t necessarily need to sweat every day. One study found that women who walked briskly for just one hour twice a week achieved increased brain volume over six months to a year. If you can’t spare whole hours, you can break that time up into shorter sessions to get results. In an article for Harvard Medical School, Heidi Godman writes that just about any moderate-level exercise will do. She recommends swimming, stair climbing, tennis, dancing, or even chores like mopping floors or raking leaves — pretty much anything that gets your heart pumping. To hold yourself accountable, try partnering up with a friend, keeping a journal of your progress, or hiring a personal trainer.
“Whatever exercise and motivators you choose, commit to establishing exercise as a habit, like taking a prescription medication,” Godman writes. “After all, they say that exercise is medicine, and that can go on the top of anyone’s list of reasons to work out.” The next time you find yourself struggling with brain fog or worrying about your memory declining in old age, instead of focusing on those negatives, try packing a bag and hitting the gym. If it works for the mice, it just might work for you, too!
MEDICARE NOWCOVERS ACUPUNCTURE A New Option to Treat Lower Back Pain
pain and may be a viable option for you if other methods of pain relief aren’t working.
Good news for Medicare beneficiaries! In a landmark decision, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has opted to cover acupuncture treatments for those suffering from chronic lower back pain. This new treatment option opens more possibilities for those seeking pain relief and hints at more choices becoming available to beneficiaries in the future. If you’ve been wanting to try acupuncture for your chronic lower back pain, then there are some things you should know before seeking treatment.
WHAT WILL MEDICARE COVER?
For those with Original Medicare (parts A and B), your plan will cover up to 12 acupuncture treatments over 90 days. These have to be administered by a licensed acupuncturist to treat chronic lower back pain. If you see noticeable improvements in your condition after your treatment, an additional eight sessions may be covered.
treatments are studied, Medicare beneficiaries faced with other forms of chronic pain may have new treatment options opened to them. If you feel that your chronic pain isn’t responding well to physical therapy alone, don’t be afraid to incorporate treatments like acupuncture in conjunction with exercises like yoga. These typically work well as a supplement to physical therapy. If you’ve been suffering from chronic pain and would like an alternative to opioids or surgery, talk to your physical therapist and see what options work with your current treatment.
CAN ACUPUNCTURE HELP?
WHAT’S THE BIG PICTURE?
Acupuncture is an ancient form of medicine, with roots as far back as 100 B.C. Today, many patients in the United States have found the treatment effective — though clinical trials have proven inconclusive. However, in 2017, guidelines published by the American College of Physicians found moderate evidence that acupuncture is effective at treating lower back
The CMS’ decision to cover acupuncture marks the first time Medicare has expanded to an area of alternative medicine. The decision came in response to the opioid crisis, which has unfortunately highlighted the extremely harmful effects of painkillers on individuals and families. As more alternative medicine
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THE TIMELESS CHARM OF THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE Plus, How to Create Your Own Outdoor Cinema
blankets, and outdoor hanging lights add a fun touch to your cinema. Just be sure to turn the lights off before the movie begins — and silence those cellphones! Once your setup is complete, select your movie, get the popcorn popping, and enjoy some movie magic right in your backyard.
As of 2018, USA Today estimated that only about 330 drive-in theaters still exist in the United States. But if you don’t have one in your area, there’s a way you can enjoy the outdoor movie experience without having to leave your backyard. Your outdoor cinema starts with a projector. If you don’t have one, they are readily available to purchase at most big-box stores. For playing the movie, you’ll need a laptop and streaming service or a DVD or Blu-ray player. You’ll connect these devices to your projector through an HDMI port. As long as you’re not broadcasting to the whole neighborhood, stereo or computer speakers should be just fine, but you can also opt for a Bluetooth speaker that will give your audio a big boost. Next, you’ll need a flat surface to display the movie. A plain, white bedsheet makes a good screen, or you can make your own with white fabric from craft stores or online. Cushions,
Summertime is synonymous with many childhood experiences: hours splashing in the pool, sleepaway camp, and snow cones, to name a few. A quintessential summer destination that isn’t as common these days is the drive-in theater, yet many childhood memories are built on this little bit of nostalgia. The first drive-in theater opened in 1933 in Camden, New Jersey. At the time, films cost 25 cents per person, plus 25 cents per car, and drive-ins usually got movies in the second run, after they’d shown at indoor theaters. The trend started off slow, but by the ‘50s, Americans had fully embraced the outdoor theater experience. The ‘80s brought a charismatic Michael J. Fox to audiences in “Back to the Future,” and shortly after, “The Sandlot” hit the big screen and gave us lines that we’d quote for the next decade (“You’re killin’ me, Smalls!”).
Inspired by Bon Appétit
Take a Break!
STICKY AND SWEET PORK ‘RIBS’ Ingredients
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1/2 cup chili oil
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2 heads garlic, cloves separated
1/3 cup oyster sauce
3 thumbs ginger, chopped
1/3 cup toasted sesame oil 5 lbs boneless pork shoulder, flattened
1 cup hoisin sauce 3/4 cup fish sauce
2/3 cup honey
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3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup rice wine
1 tbsp molasses
Directions
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Using a convection plate on the grill, cook pork until the thickest part reaches an internal temperature of 140–145 F. In a large saucepan, simmer brown sugar, molasses, and reserved marinade for 6–8 minutes. Baste the pork with the brown sugar glaze for 2 minutes before serving.
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In a blender, purée garlic, ginger, hoisin sauce, fish sauce, honey, rice wine, chili oil, oyster sauce, and toasted sesame oil until smooth. Reserve and chill 1 1/2 cups for later use. In a bag, add the remaining mixture and pork shoulder. Marinate for at least 8 hours.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of Gregory Kunkel, Esq. PAGE 1 Can Exercise Jog Your Memory? PAGE 1 A New Way to Treat Lower Back Pain PAGE 2 The Timeless Charm of the Drive-In Movie PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Sticky and Sweet Pork ‘Ribs’ PAGE 3 Has Breakfast in Bed Gone Out of Style? PAGE 4
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
What Moms Really Want on Mother’s Day Has Breakfast inBedGone Out of Style?
companies capitalized on the tradition and the new holiday by running ads inmagazines and newspapers encouraging children and fathers to serve their matriarchs breakfast in bed. Since then, servingmothers breakfast in bed has become a popular Mother’s Day ritual around the world, and it remains so today. However, there is one group whose voice has been left out of the breakfast in bed conversation: mothers. In a recent study conducted by Zagat, a well- known dining survey site, researchers found that only 4% of moms polled want breakfast in bed. Yes, you read that right. When you factor in the mess of syrup, crumbs, and coffee spilling over clean sheets, it’s understandable. Today’s mothers usually don’t have servants to clean up afterward. The study also revealed what most moms prefer to do for breakfast on Mother’s Day: 53% of mothers like to go out, and 39% prefer brunch instead of breakfast.
Serving breakfast in bed to moms, especially on Mother’s Day, has been a widespread tradition for years, but have you ever wondered if it’s what your mom really wants? Here’s a look at the Mother’s Day breakfast in bed tradition and some recent insight into the popular trend. According to Heather Arndt Anderson, author of “Breakfast: A History,” the popularity of breakfast in bed became widespread during the Victorian era, but only for married, wealthy women who had servants. Those women would enjoy their first meal of the day in bed, and then their servants would handle all the spilled scone crumbs and messy breakfast residue. In 1914, PresidentWoodrowWilson dubbed Mother’s Day a national U.S. holiday, and a few years later, the aristocratic English tradition of breakfast in bed sailed across the pond to America. By the 1930s, food and bedding
While breakfast in bed seems like a nice gesture, statistics show that it’s probably the last thing your momwants to wake up to on May 10. This Mother’s Day, show your appreciation for your mom or the mother of your children by asking her what she would like to do. She deserves the holiday morning she desires, whether that includes a full breakfast in bed or a trip to her favorite brunch joint
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