ATW1H%ASUACAD.BITNET@oac.ucla.edu (Dr David Dodell) (06/07/89)
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
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Editor: David Dodell, D.M.D.
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
10250 North 92nd Street, Suite 210, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258-4599 USA
Telephone (602) 860-1121
(c) 1989 - Distribution on Commercial/Pay Systems Prohibited without
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1. Medical News
Medical News for week ending June 4, 1989 ............................. 1
Medical News from the United Nations .................................. 7
2. Articles
How Space Flight has Held Medical Research ............................ 10
Heart and Heart/Lung Transplants Increasingly Popular ................. 15
3. Grants Available
NIH Grant: Children's Knowledge About HIV Infection ................... 16
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
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Medical News
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Medical News for week ending June 4, 1989
(c) 1989 USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
Reproduced with Permission
STUDY - MORE WOMEN SMOKE:
Lung-cancer deaths among women in industrialized countries have jumped more
than 200 percent since the 1950s, a World Health Organization report shows.
Reason: More women are smoking. WHO officials blame the surge in cigarette
advertising targeting women.
STUDY, WOMEN GET CANCER FASTER:
About 2.5 million people die each year worldwide from smoking-related
illnesses, a World Health Organization report shows. One-third are women.
Results also show that women smokers develop cancer after smoking for a
shorter time span than men and reach menopause two to three years earlier than
non-smokers.
STUDY - SMOKING WORST IN USA:
Deaths among women from lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses are
highest in the United States, a World Health Organization study shows. Other
high-smoking rate nations: Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Smoking
rates for men have stabilized since the 1950s, the study said.
TEENS - DRUG ABUSE TOP PROBLEM:
Drug abuse is the top problem facing teens, junior high students told their
congressional representatives in a national letter-writing competition.
Twenty-five percent of the 5,300 student entrants in the RespecTeen National
Youth Forum cited drug abuse as their greatest concern.
TEENS FEAR AIDS, OTHER AILMENTS:
Sexually-transmitted diseases and other sexual issues were named among
problems most important to teens in a recent letter-writing competition.
Seventeen percent of the RespecTeen National Youth Forum entrants named fear
of diseases such as AIDS as the most important issue they face. The contest's
5,300 letters were presented to Congress.
DOCTORS STUDY TRANSPLANT ACCESS:
Transplant surgeons, meeting this week in Chicago, will consider how to
provide greater access to the costly surgery. Statistics from the United
Network for Organ Sharing: 83.2 percent of the victims whose organs were
donated in 1988 were white, 8.6 percent were black and 5.9 percent were
Hispanic; Eighty percent of heart recipients and 61 percent of kidney
recipients were male.
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
HEART DISEASE STILL COMMON:
More than 65 million Americans have symptoms of cardiovascular disease,
according to the American Heart Association. One-quarter of them are at high
risk for developing coronary atherosclerosis -hardening of the arteries.
Business Week reported in its May 29 issue that the disease has been linked to
55,000 deaths in the United States annually.
CHOLESTEROL RATIO MIGHT BE KEY:
The ratio of two types of cholesterol in the body might be a leading factor
in developing heart disease, according to a recent Farmington Heart Study. The
Farmington group found two types of cholesterol in the body: low-density
lipoproteins, called "bad cholesterol," and high-density lipoproteins, called
"good cholesterol." High amounts of LDLs can be dangerous.
GENE CLUSTER LINKED TO DISEASE:
A USC study might have uncovered the gene responsible for sickle cell
disease. The study followed 18 non-black patients with various types of sickle
cell disorder and found an identifiable gene cluster - or genetic fingerprint
- in all the patients. Results of the study were published in the Journal of
the American Medical Association's May 26 issue.
KOOP ISSUES DWI REPORT:
U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop could declare war on alcoholic-
beverage advertising Wednesday when he issues his long-awaited report on
drinking and driving. Koop is expected to take his proposals from the sweeping
recommendations made last December by his two-day Workshop on Driving Under
the Influence.
KOOP TARGETS LIQUOR ADS:
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop is expected to endorse health warning
labels for beer and liquor containers. He said recently that he also wanted to
end the use of celebrity spokespersons in beer ads. The National Collegiate
Athletic Association is also considering ending beer advertisements during
sports broadcasts.
IMMUNE SYSTEM MIGHT BE KEY:
Researchers might have found the key to why we get headaches: an overactive
immune system. Doctors at Robbins Headache Clinic in Northbrook, Ill.,
analyzed the immune systems 75 headache patients and 32 normal patients.
Headache patients averaged 30 percent fewer suppressor cells, which slow the
immune system down.
LASERS CORRECT ASTIGMATISM:
Doctors will soon be using lasers to "sculpt" the corneas of 35 million
astigmatism sufferers in the United States. Taunton Technologies Inc. of
Monroe, Conn., on Tuesday said tests proved that its new LV2000 Ultraviolet
Ophthalmic Surgery System could shave tiny amounts of tissue off the cornea,
correcting the refractive error that causes astigmatism and many vision
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
problems.
IMPROVED MAMMOGRAM UNVEILED:
A new diagnostic tool will give doctors improved mammogram images to fight
breast cancer, a California company reported. The Mammoscope, from Vision Ten
Inc. in Torrance, Calif., will enhance the diagnostic information found in
radiographic and xerographic mammograms, allowing for both a reduction in the
number of retakes and better accuracy, the company said.
NEW THERAPY FINDS TUMORS:
A radioactive labeling technique is helping doctors locate and treat
tumors. Researchers from Immunomedics Inc. on Tuesday reported that they had
targeted B-cell lymphomas using a monoclonal antibody "tagged" with a
radioactive label. The antibody located B-cell tumors in animals and human
lymphoma patients, researchers report.
OSTEOPOROSIS THERAPY WORKING:
A dramatically successful treatment is reversing the effects of
osteoporosis - thinning of the bones, Consumer Digest reports in its May/June
issue. The treatment involves the slow release formula of sodium fluoride and
calcium citrate into the body. Bone strength and density improved in all but a
few of the 251 patients tested. The disease will affect one in four women over
the age of 60.
SCIENTISTS `LIGHT UP' GENES:
Scientists at the University of Alberta are using bioluminescense to mark
genetic activity. The low-light markers effectively make genes "light up" when
they are activated and disappear when they are dormant, using a gene from a
bioluminescent marine bacteria and special low-light video cameras. The
technique could replace radioactive dye labeling.
COMPUTER `MAPS' BRAIN AREAS:
Computer-generated brain maps are helping doctors at the University of
Georgia learn more about brain pattern activity in learning disabled children.
The computer system, called the Brain Atlas, creates a multi-colored, three-
dimensional "map" of the brain, highlighting problem areas that can alert
researchers to specific brain dysfunctions.
LASER REVERSES VASECTOMIES:
Researchers using a microscopic carbon dioxide laser are able to reverse
vasectomy surgery faster and more efficiently than previous surgical
techniques, the current issue of Physician's Weekly reports. Doctors rejoined
the sperm-carrying vessel -called the vas - in 19 of 20 patients who had
vasectomies in the past 10 years.
AIDS VIRUS CAN BE HARD TO SPOT:
Hidden infection with the AIDS virus might be more common than once
suspected, at least in high-risk gay men, a study shows. Sophisticated tests
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
found the virus in blood from 31 of 133 gay men testing negative on standard
antibody tests, say researchers from the University of California, Los
Angeles. Results are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
FDA CAUTIONS CONTACT USERS:
The Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday that extended-wear
contact lenses should not be worn longer than a week before removing them for
cleaning, and asked manufacturers to re-label them. Reason: They may cause
serious eye problems. Six million Americans have extended-wear contact lenses,
which are intended to be worn overnight.
PACEMAKERS ADAPT TO EXERCISE:
A new line of "smart" pacemakers are helping heart patients lead more
normal lives. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the Kelvin
500, a miniaturized pacemaker from Cook Pacemaker Co. The tiny unit weighs
less than one ounce. It regulates the speed of the heartbeat during exercise
by speeding up when it detects an increase in body heat.
DOCTORS STUDY ISOLATION DATA:
Doctors in Houston this week are examining Stefania Follini, the Italian
researcher who ended a 131-day isolation experiment last week after emerging
from a cave near Carlsbad, N.M. Findings so far: The body adapts
physiologically to isolation with changes in blood pressure and sleep rhythms.
Doctors say they hope the research might aid space travelers on long missions.
NIH GRANTS RESEARCH LICENSE:
The National Institutes of Health on Wednesday cleared the way for a
research company to produce specially bred animals for AIDS research. RRI Inc.
was granted a license by NIH Wednesday to produce New Zealand white rabbits.
The rabbits' immune systems reacts to the AIDS virus the same way as the human
system. RRI will supply 3,000 test animals a year.
GRANT SHOULD SPEED UP RESEARCH:
The recent clearance granted a research company to produce animals for AIDS
research should speed testing of over 100 anti-AIDS drugs, the Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Association said Wednesday. The biomedical manufacturer RRI Inc.
will produce 3,000 New Zealand white rabbits for testing. The rabbits' immune
systems reacts to the AIDS virus the same way as the human system.
ASPIRIN MIGHT PREVENT SENILITY:
Aspirin might help prevent "little strokes" and the senility they sometimes
cause, Consumer Digest reports in its May/June issue. Doctors in a Houston
study gave aspirin daily to a group of multi-infarct dementia patients. They
experienced increased blood flow to the brain and a lower rate of transient
ischemic attacks compared to a control group not receiving aspirin therapy.
AIDS TESTS UNCOVER OTHER ILLS:
AIDS is helping some insurance companies save money. Blood tests to
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
diagnosis AIDS victims have uncovered only a handful of cases of the deadly
disease but have revealed hundreds of unrelated ailments such as cirrhosis of
the liver, high cholesterol counts and kidney diseases.
FDA CLEARS NEW DRUG:
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the drug erythropoietin for
patients with anemias associated with chronic renal failure, the Washington
Post reports Friday. It will be marketed under the name EPPEX, from Ortho
Pharmaceutical Corp. The company is also checking the drug's ability to combat
illnesses such as arthritis and anemia associated with cancer chemotherapy.
DIABETES EXPECTED TO SOAR:
About 3,000 diabetes specialists will meet in Detroit during the weekend to
discuss plans to cope with an expected rise in diabetes cases. Diabetes cases
are expected to soar as baby boomers enter their 40s and America's general
population ages.
SURVEY - DOCTOR SUPPLY FALLING:
Increasing malpractice insurance premiums, diminishing autonomy and the
diminishing professional stature of physicians might lead to a shortage of
doctors by the year 2000, an executive search firm said this week. A study by
the New Jersey firm Sampson, Neill & Wilkins Inc. countered recent predictions
of a physician surplus.
POLL - DOCTORS HAVE BOOZE BLOCK:
Most doctors have strongly negative attitudes toward alcoholic patients and
are ill informed about ways to treat the chronic disease. Johns Hopkins
University polled its medical students and staff on alcoholism. Results showed
doctors did not routinely consider strategies for alcoholism treatment.
Results were published in Friday's Journal of the American Medical
Association.
HEAD INJURY PROGNOSIS IMPROVES:
Several new techniques are being employed to help traumatic head injury
victims survive with little or no brain damage, the Journal of the American
Medical Association reports in its Friday issue. Drugs to slow brain
metabolism and prevent brain cell damage have met with increasing success,
while research continues into developing improved techniques.
PARKINSON'S THERAPY QUESTIONED:
Swedish researchers casted doubt recently on a new Parkinson's Disease
therapy that transplants human fetal tissue into Parkinson's victims. Doctors
at University Hospital, Lund, Sweden, used neural cells from aborted human
fetuses in two patients. The treatments had no substantial therapeutic effect,
doctors reported in the Archives of Neurology's June issue.
HEADGEAR CALLED INEFFECTIVE:
Safety headgear provides only limited protection to college wrestlers, the
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
Journal of the American Medical Association reports in its Friday issue.
Doctors at Ohio State University studied 537 college wrestlers, some of whom
suffered permanent deformities to the ears despite wearing headgear. The study
suggests that current headgear offers ineffective protection.
CANCER INSTITUTE OFFERS HELP:
The National Cancer Institute is offering free booklets to cancer victims
and their families on dealing with the disease. The booklets include
information on diet, radiation and chemotherapy. Also available: Three
booklets for parents of children with cancer and a coloring book that helps
explain cancer to children. For information, contact the institute at (800) 4-
CANCER.
ACNE DRUG MIGHT CAUSE DEFECTS:
The acne drug isotretinoin, sold under the brand name Accutane, is a potent
contributor to birth defects, a study at the California Birth Defects
Monitoring Program shows. Doctors at the program found birth defects occurred
in 12 of 48 women who had used the drug during early pregnancy. Results of the
survey were published in the current issue of Consumer Digest.
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
Medical News from the United Nations
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COMPUTER CHIP MAY SPEED GENE ANALYSIS
A newly developed computer chip may greatly accelerate the process of
deciphering the human genome, allowing researchers to make sense of the
information contained in its myriad combinations of nucleotide building
blocks. TRW, Inc. originally designed the chip for the Defense Department to
extract important information from the mountain of cables and reports it
receives each day. After hearing a lecture on the mathematics of genetics,
TRW's B. K. Richards decided the chip also would be useful for seeking
patterns in DNA that give clues to the location and function of the
approximately 100,000 genes on human chromosomes--a task that had previously
been the domain of supercomputers, but which the new chip could turn into a
benchtop operation for a fraction of the cost. Richards collaborated with Tim
Hunkapillar, a computer scientist at Caltech (California Institute of
Technology) and designed a DNA analysis system based on the chip. They took
their design to Applied Biosystems, which contracted for exclusive license to
the system's hardware (the accompanying software will be made available to
researchers, free of charge, by Caltech). Los Alamos National Laboratory
investigator Daniel Davison used the system to compare a gene consisting of
10,000 nucleotide bases with a 30 million-base reference file at Los Alamo's
Genbank, a DNA database. The task took one day using a Cray-2 supercomputer,
10 days with a VAX supercomputer, and just 10 minutes using the Applied
Biosystems hardware, he said. DNA analysis can be performed at about the same
speed with the Connection computer, a massive parallel processing machine made
by Thinking Machines Inc., but, in addition to its unwieldy nature, it costs
about $2 million, compared with an estimated $40,000 for the Applied
Biosystems hardware. ``For [DNA analysis],'' said TRW's Kwang-I Yu, inventor
of the chip used in the system, ``it has much more computing power than a
supercomputer.'' However, the initial test runs have been performed on
prototypes and a commercial product is thought to be two years away. (unitex)
ZIMBABWE: Child Health Improves Despite Nutrition Crisis
Harare, May 25, 1989 (AIA/Liz Urwin) -- More children are surviving past their
critical first year than ever before in Zimbabwe.
The success has come in spite of immediate post-independence political,
economic and environmental crises that brought falling nutritional standards.
Local observers say the crash delivery of health and social service benefits
to the urban and rural poor who were largely ignored under colonialsm has
staved off a population disaster.
During the early '80s the simmering bandit war waged by disaffected former
freedom fighters threw whole areas of rural Zimbabwe into confusion.
The political problems caused economic stagnation, particularly in the western
Matabeleland areas of the nation.
Then a killing drought beset the country. Some areas went for seven years
without adaquate rains. Southern regions are still suffering. Food aid, from
crops grown in Zimbabwe, is a way of life for many towns and villages.
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
Add to the equation a shift to greater maize production at the expense of
other foodstuffs, such as beans or groundnuts, and the overall nutritional
conditions were set to produce a free but sickly society.
The toll is seen in one World Bank statistic that showed in 1985 that 28
percent of Zimbabwean under-fives were growth-stunted and nine percent of
older children showed signs of wasting.
Yet, for a new generation of children being born today, Zimbabwe has managed
to reduce its Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), the number of deaths of children
under one year of age, from 110 per 1,000 before independence to 73 per 1,000.
One of the main aims of both liberation movements Zimbabwe African Peoples'
Union (ZAPU) and Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), now united in one
ruling party, was to bring sanitation, water, and health benefits to everyone
in the nation.
At independence clinic construction and village infrastructure development was
made a priority.
At the same time a department of National Nutrition was established. Its
activities include health, education, growth monitoring, nutritional
surveillance and supervision of the child supplementary feeding programmes.
These were initiated by non-governmental organisations in 1980 and taken over
by the Ministry of Health in 1983.
Also at independence, a campaign to encourage and support breast-feeding of
infants for two years after birth was implemented.
Today 98 percent of women breast-feed initially, although fewer than 50
percent are still breast-feeding at 20 months, according to UNICEF.
Zimbabwe made some effort to abide by the WHO code for marketing of infant
formula, implemented in 1981. There is no promotion of artificial milk, nor
is any available in local maternity hospitals or clinics.
But infant formulas were not banned. Nestle has a factory in Harare and a
worrying survey in 1988 showed that there is an increase in the number of
young urban women introducing formula to young babies because they must return
to work after a short two months' maternity leave.
Neverthless, women who stop breast-feeding because infants get diarrhoea have
been the focus of a successful campaign to teach parents and health workers
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT).
In addition, since 1981, the Ministry of Health has tried to increase
vaccination coverage as part of the Primary Health Care Programme. In 1984,
42 percent of children were fully vaccinated. Now it is approximately 70
percent.
SECOND CASE OF HIV-2 AIDS VIRUS REPORTED IN U.S.
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Volume 2, Number 23 June 6, 1989
A second case of infection by the HIV-2 strain of the deadly AIDS virus,
still very rare in the Western Hemisphere, has been reported in the United
States, doctors in Massachusetts said on Wednesday.
Virtually all victims of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the
United States have been infected by the HIV-1 virus. HIV-2 is much harder to
detect and treat than the more common virus, and in Africa has been spread
primarily through heterosexual contact.
HIV-1 is primarily found in the homosexual community or intravenous drug
users.
HIV-2 was first identified in west Africa in 1985 and since has spread
rapidly through Africa and Europe. In April, doctors reported that at least
five cases of HIV-2 have been identified in Brazil but, until now, only one
case of HIV-2 infection had been found in North America, in an immigrant from
west Africa.
Doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard School of Public
Health, both in Boston, reported in a letter to the New England Journal of
Medicine that they found the virus in a second west African immigrant in
January 1988.
The 39-year old man had come to Massachusetts in 1983 and the doctors said
he was probably infected before he left his homeland, suggesting an incubation
period for the virus of at least five years.
When the patient went to the hospital he reported symptoms of nausea,
diarrhoea and severe weight loss for the past four months, all common symptoms
of AIDS.
"He reported no intravenous drug use or blood transfusion but he noted he
had had multiple heterosexual contacts in West Africa," the doctors said.
The patient tested negative for HIV-1 and his symptoms subsided with drug
treatment after two days. However, five months later the man fell ill again,
and this time the doctors said they tested him for HIV-2, with positive
results.
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