Cancer Sucks, I Hate CPAP!, Don't Mess With Texas And Litterer's Make Lousy Lovers Are Examples Of Phrases That Connect Or Could Connect With The Public In A Very Special Way

    GURNEE, IL, June 06, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr Ira Shapira and his wife Elise and many of their family members and friends have been sporting CANCER SUCKS t-shirts and caps for years. Elise is a seven time Breast and Ovarian cancer survivor and knew she wanted a CANCER SUCKS t-shirt the first time she saw one. "It is amazing how complete strangers will come up to you and start sharing their stories or merely comment on the shirt," says Elise. Anyone who has ever had cancer or known a friend or relative with cancer gets it immediately. CANCER SUCKS gear is available at http://www.ChooseHope.com and they donate a percentage of their sales to cancer research. The Shapira family has been seen recently at the "Break the Silence" ovarian cancer walk, various cancer runs, and at the FORCE convention in Orlando, Florida recently. They have been dubbed the Chicago Cancer Sucks contingent. FORCE, stands for "Facing our Risk of Cancer Empowered" and represents families and individuals with genetic predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. FORCE is credited with creating the term PREVIVOR, which is a word representing the challenge of coping with gene mutations (BRAC 1 and BRAC2) that lead to extremely high risks of genetic cancers. The force website can be found at http://www.facingourrisk.org/index.php

"It is amazing the way people just open up to you when they see "CANCER SUCKS" on your chest" says Ira and often these are people who desperately need to talk to others. While visiting Epcot at Disney World following a full day at the FORCE convention in Orlando a woman approached us and stated, "My mother was a teacher and always hated that word (sucks) but I love your shirts and I'm sure she would approve." She then proceeded to tell her story of dealing with breast and ovarian cancer. She was unaware of FORCE but definitely planned on visiting their website as well as the Choose Hope website. The response is the same anywhere we go in the US or in other countries. It was because of that reaction that Dr Shapira formed I HATE CPAP! LLC, which is a company, dedicated to spreading vital information about the dangers of Sleep Apnea and about comfortable oral appliances as alternatives to CPAP for treating Sleep Apnea. CPAP is the Gold Standard of treatment for sleep apnea but unfortunately the majority of patients prescribed CPAP cannot tolerate and often go untreated. Dr Shapira has been a pioneer in the field of Dental Sleep Medicine and has been utilizing oral appliances to improve patient's lives for over 25 years. He did research as a visiting assistant professor at Chicago's Rush Medical School in the sleep center and worked with Dr Rosalind Cartwright PhD a founder of both sleep medicine and dental sleep medicine.

Most patients were not aware there were alternatives to CPAP; they were also never told that the majority of patients do not tolerate CPAP. Studies have shown that only 23-45 % of patients actually use their CPAP machines and that even patients who actually use CPAP usually only wear it for 4-5 hours not the recommended 7-71/2 hours. There is a group of patients who readily take to CPAP treatment and love it from the start. These patients are great advocates of CPAP but this just makes patients that do not tolerate CPAP feel like failures. The February 2006 issue of SLEEP JOURNAL gave new parameters of care for oral appliances in treating sleep apnea. They are now considered a first line treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea and an alternative treatment to CPAP for patients who do not tolerate CPAP.

The website http://www.ihatecpap.com is designed to connect with patients who do not tolerate CPAP. "Patients have been telling me they hate CPAP for over 25 years" relates Dr Shapira. "They hate the hoses, the masks the noise, the sinus problems, the air leaks, the dry mouth and the variety of other problems." "I don't hate cpap," insists Dr Shapira who calls CPAP "a vital life saving treatment for sleep apnea, but many of my patients do". Patients who don't use CPAP face severe health risks. One study showed a 36% decrease in 8-year survival when comparing patients with treated versus untreated sleep apnea. There is a six-fold increase in heart attacks and strokes in patients with untreated sleep apnea. In addition studies have shown that there is a six-fold increase in motor vehicle accidents in patients with untreated apnea and that these patients have slower reactions times than patients who are legally drunk. Dr Shapira suggested in a tongue in cheek article in Sleep and Health Journal (www.sleepandhealth.com) that MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) consider changing their name to MADD, Mothers Against Drowsy Driving, a much more serious threat to the public. Patients with untreated sleep apnea or sleep deprivation are especially prone to problems driving even when they do not exceed legal blood alcohol levels.

The website http://www.ihatecpap.com has thousands and thousands of unique visitors every month who spend a great amount of time perusing the site and hundreds and hundreds of patients are referred to Sleep Apnea Dentists for treatment. It would seem that a site that is saving lives and bring patients in for sleep apnea treatment would be warmly endorsed by The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) but the company was banned from having a booth at the annual meeting by the academy. They objected to the word hate and when Dr Shapira explained that the site was savings lives a past president of the organization told him that fact was "irrelevant".

In spite of being snubbed by the AADSM an organization Dr Shapira a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine has forged ahead and the I HATE CPAP website has continued to grow. It currently averages 8000-9200 unique visitors monthly the majority of whom are first time visitors seeking help with this serious condition.

"DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS" according to Richard H. Thaler the author of Nudge, an incredible book about "Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness" was a slogan developed to connect with 18-24 year-old male Texans who didn't take the issue of littering seriously. TV spots with Dallas Cowboy players and celebrities like Willie Nelson made "DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS" the nations favorite slogan by a landslide in 2006 and were actually honored in a Madison Avenue parade in New York City. According to Thaler there was a 29% decrease in litter in the first year of the campaign and over six years a 72% decrease in visible litter.

The book "Nudge" deserves a serious look by anyone who wants to understand why the world works as it does or more importantly want to actually affect it for the better. According to Steven D Levitt the coauthor of Freakonomics (another incredible must read text) it is "One of the few books I read recently that fundamentally changes the way I think about the world". The author on the cover of his book proudly displays that quote.

"Litterer's Make Lousy Lovers" could be use to connect to that same group of 18-24 year old males. Obviously those who are not concerned with others would never make good lovers. This could be set as a standard to predict what to expect over the course of their lives. And who wants to be known as a Lousy Lover?

Marty Neumeier the author of "ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands" stated in his book that "When everybody zigs, zag," in his fresh view of brand strategy. Each of the above examples are excellent an powerful examples of "ZAG" marketing. In these turbulent times many messages are lost as people are preoccupied with other worries.

Dr Ira L Shapira is an author and section editor of Sleep and Health Journal, President of I HATE CPAP LLC, President Dato-TECH, and has a Dental Practice with his partner Dr Mark Amidei. He has recently formed Chicagoland Dental Sleep Medicine Associates. He is a Regent of ICCMO and its representative to the TMD Alliance, He was a founding and certified member of the Sleep Disorder Dental Society which became the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, A founding member of DOSA the Dental Organization for Sleep Apnea. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, A Diplomat of the American Academy of Pain Management, a graduate of LVI. He is a former assistant professor at Rush Medical School's Sleep Service where he worked with Dr Rosalind Cartwright who is a founder of Sleep Medicine and Dental Sleep Medicine. Dr Shapira is a consultant to numerous sleep centers and teaches courses in Dental Sleep Medicine in his office to doctors from around the U.S. He is the Founder of I HATE CPAP LLC and http://www.ihatecpap.com Dr Shapira also holds several patents on methods and devices for the prophylactic minimally invasive early removal of wisdom teeth and collection of bone marrow and stem cells. Dr Shapira is a licensed general dentist in Illinois and Wisconsin.

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