“PrEP is pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis, whereas PEP is post-exposure HIV prophylaxis. We use antiretroviral medication in both strategies. However PEP is a 28-day course, and the patient typically has to present within 72 hours of exposure to HIV. PrEP is continued for as long as a patient is at an increased risk of exposure to HIV and transmission of HIV.”
Monaa Zafar, MD, is a board certified primary care doctor at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients Monday-Friday. She has a particular interest in disease prevention, health promotion, and chronic illnesses. Dr. Zafar is fluent in Urdu and Spanish. Mount Sinai Doctors is an organization of clinical relationships and multi-specialty services that expand the Mount Sinai Health System’s footprint beyond the seven main hospital campuses into the greater New York City area.
“Contact dermatitis is a skin rash that’s caused by contact between a certain substance or chemical and the skin. There’re two different types of contact dermatitis: irritant and allergic. Irritant is when a chemical is simply too irritating for the skin. It could be a harsh soap. It could be simply water – washing your hands too often. That reaction usually happens pretty much within the same day or the next day between the contact with the skin and the occurrence of the rash or the symptoms. The other type is allergic contact dermatitis, which is an itchy, usually pink, flaky rash, that occurs typically at least the day or two after exposure to a certain chemical. This can be a preservative or a fragrance from a skin care product. It can be nickel or another type of metal, contact with jewelry or belt buckles. Things like plants, poison ivy is a common example of allergic contact dermatitis. There are many different things that can cause this, and there is a test that can figure out what the particular chemical is that you may be allergic to. It’s called a patch test. Typically, a dermatologist or an allergist does the test. Not every dermatologist does this, and not every allergist does it. So you need to find a dermatologist or allergist who specializes in contact dermatitis and in patch testing. An easy way to find out is to go in the American Contact Dermatitis Society website and look for dermatologists who provide this service. The test is a three-day test. We basically test for the most common chemicals – typically from skin care products, jewelry, detergents, and even clothing that can cause allergic contact dermatitis. The treatment for contact dermatitis is typically anti-inflammatory creams, like topical steroids and emollients.”
Tamara Lazic Strugar, MD, is a board certified dermatologist at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients Tuesday-Thursday. She has a particular interest in eczema, psoriasis, acne, warts, skin cancers, medical and surgical treatment of skin disorders, and a wide variety of cosmetic procedures, including Botox, fillers, microneedling, chemical peels. Dr. Lazic Strugar is fluent in Serbian and Spanish. She knows basic Italian. Mount Sinai Doctors is an organization of clinical relationships and multi-specialty services that expand the Mount Sinai Health System’s footprint beyond the seven main hospital campuses into the greater New York City area.
“Insulin is produced by the pancreas. It’s an essential hormone that’s used by our body to absorb glucose and utilize that, and store it as fats or essential lipids. The reason why insulin is important is because it’s used for more than just glucose control – it’s also used for cholesterol metabolism. Insulin actually allows us to convert cholesterol into various components of cholesterol, such as the good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, which eventually are used by the body for essential metabolic processes. Insulin is produced by a component of the pancreas called the beta islet cells. The other core portions of the pancreas are really utilized for a digestive function, so insulin is essential in that regard. When somebody has diabetes, it’s because either they don’t manufacture enough insulin from those cells, or it’s because the body becomes relatively resistant to the insulin their pancreas already makes.”
Make an appointment with Berestrand Williams, MD, FAAP
Berestrand Williams, MD, FAAP is a board certified primary care doctor at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients of all ages Monday – Friday. Trained in Connecticut and Massachusetts, he is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal Medicine and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians.
After majoring in Biology and graduating with honors from Harvard University, he was awarded his medical degree from the University of Connecticut’s School of Medicine and completed two residencies – one in Internal Medicine at Boston University’s Boston City Hospital and another in Pediatrics at the combined Boston University School of Medicine – Harvard Pediatric Residency Program.
Prior to joining Mount Sinai Doctors, he practiced at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center for nine years and then served as Chief of Primary Care at Concentra Urgent Care and Family Medicine Center. He has been nationally recognized, receiving the Surgical Scholars Award in 1987 and the AOL Foundation Grant: Franciscan Children’s Hospital in 2001. Dr. Williams is fluent in Spanish.
“How can I shrink my pores? I’ve been blessed with these big holes in my skin, and what can I do about it? The short answer is it’s really tough to fundamentally change the structure of your skin. The longer answer is though that there are some things that we can do to help minimize the appearance of your pores and to give you a regimen that you can do at home to promote ongoing sort of smoothing of your skin. So the first thing is it’s really important to incorporate a topical retinol or a retinoid product into your nightly regimen. Retinols are over-the-counter and retinoids are by prescription – these are all derivatives of vitamin A. The second thing is it’s really important to maintain just a good cleansing regimen. Things like glycolic acid and salicylic acid can also help by removing the debris from your pores and therefore allowing them to relax a bit. Procedure wise, there are some things in the office that can be useful: chemical peels, which we do in our practice here, typically beta hydroxy or alpha hydroxyl acid peels. There are some laser treatments that can also be helpful for shrinking your pores, and this would be something to bring up with your dermatologist. But something, for example like a fractionated laser, or an intense pulse light laser, might be helpful for minimizing the appearance of your pores. Then the last piece, which is maybe a bit of common sense. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is really important: making sure you hydrate well, making sure you get enough rest, and eat enough fruits and vegetables – those b-complex vitamins are great for promoting a glowing skin.”
Reena Rupani, MD, is a board certified dermatologist at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients Monday-Thursday. She has written several publications, including two textbooks, on dermatology and has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed articles. She has a particular interest in both adult and pediatric medical and surgical dermatology, as well as cosmetic care, including Botox, chemical peels, injectable fillers, and laser therapies. Mount Sinai Doctors is an organization of clinical relationships and multi-specialty services that expand the Mount Sinai Health System’s footprint beyond the seven main hospital campuses into the greater New York City area.
“In order to correct a bunion, surgically, the bones in the fore foot have to be realigned. Because of the bunion, there’s an increase in the separation of the metatarsals, so in order to correct the bunion, the metatarsal has to be moved back inward. This can be done through a small incision made on the inner side of the foot. We do have the technology now to actually make the incisions sometimes even three or four millimeters wide, where we then drill through the bone from the inside out, making cuts in the bone – both dorsally and plantarly. This allows the capital fragment, which is the head of the bone, to then be shifted over to realign the joint in a more proper alignment. This then allows the joint and the cartilage to function more efficiently with keeping the toe in a more favorable alignment. Bunions typically do not return after surgery if the bunion is corrected properly. Keeping in mind that a bunion is an angulation between the first and second metatarsals, if there is just a bump that is shaved off the inner side of the metatarsal, then the bunion can reoccur because of the angle of the metatarsal was not addressed and that angle can increase over time. So, by correcting the angle, making the bone aligned properly by cutting through either the head of the metatarsal or the base of the metatarsal, and bringing the base into alignment, this ensures that a bunion does not reoccur.”
Make an appointment with Thomas Goldman, DPM
Thomas Goldman, DPM, is a board-certified podiatrist at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients Monday-Friday Trained in New York, he is certified by the American Board of Podiatric Medicine. He was awarded his medical degree from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine and completed his residency in Podiatry at Coney Island Hospital. He has a particular interest in podiatric minimally invasive foot surgery and sports medicine.
“The best way to deal with a sunburn is to prevent it in the first place. Sunburns are one of the main factors that – over a long period of time – can turn a benign mole or freckle into a skin cancer. So, the concern and the reason why we always, as dermatologists, talk about sunscreen is to prevent skin cancer. What do you do if you do get a sunburn? The best thing to do is to apply either aloe vera gel or cool compresses and to see a dermatologist if you can be seen early enough. If you have a topical steroid at home, such as a Cortizone 10 (over-the-counter), that is an anti-inflammatory that works best for sunscreens. I would say it’s even better than cool compresses and aloe vera gel. So Cortizone 10, if you don’t have a prescription, Cortizone at home is a good place to start.”
Tamara Lazic Strugar, MD, is a board certified dermatologist at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients Tuesday-Thursday. She has a particular interest in eczema, psoriasis, acne, warts, skin cancers, medical and surgical treatment of skin disorders, and a wide variety of cosmetic procedures, including Botox, fillers, microneedling, chemical peels. Dr. Lazic Strugar is fluent in Serbian and Spanish. She knows basic Italian. Mount Sinai Doctors is an organization of clinical relationships and multi-specialty services that expand the Mount Sinai Health System’s footprint beyond the seven main hospital campuses into the greater New York City area.
