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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1981)
Portland Observer, October 8,1961 Page 9 Fungai Kumbula completes medical studies |Ie h® B^ £ At UA5?I2?8 The Best Priced I A schistosoma la a parasite found in dirty water in some parts o f A f rica. including Zimbabwe. The par asite can enter the hum an body where it completes its life-cycle and can then be returned to the water should the affected in d ivid u al re lieve h im self close to a riv er or stream. Another victim, wading or bathing in the now contam inated water w ill pick up the eggs o f the schistosome and so the parasite pro liferates. W h ile passing through these ‘ k in d ’ and u n w ittin g hosts, the parasite lodges in the intestine and feeds on the host’s cells causing a debilitating sickness called schisto somiasis or bilharzia. Symptoms o f (his dreaded tropical disease include blood in the urine, weight loss and extrem e tiredness. As is to be ex pected, the majority o f this disease’s victims are rural Blacks, particularly in regards to Zimbabwe. Successive white minority regimes deliberately neglected schistosomiasis because it only affected A frican s and , in a way, that was one method o f "con trolling the Africans.” In the immunology laboratory at the C harles D rew Postgraduate Medical School, Fungai Kum bula, recent graduate o f Po rtlan d State U niversity and The P o r tla n d O b s e rv e r'i A frican affairs editor, has started work that he hopes will re verse the spread o f the schistosoma. Since the beginning o f July, he has been doing an internship in medical research at the Charles Drew M edi cal School which is a ffilia te d with the M artin Luther King Hospital in south-central Los Angeles. " T h is internship is the most im p o rtan t thing I have done since I first popped into this w orld,’ ’ as he studies the results o f an immunoas say experim ent he had just com pleted. . . **I can honestly say that in the past five weeks that I have been here, I have learned almost as much i f not more than I did in the four years I was at P S U ,” Fungai con tinues. " T h e m ajor difference now is that I am doing the actual work, the actual research, and it has Hair Cut Rag 420 N ow turned out to be a lot more fun and a lot more fascinating and challen ging than 1 had ever though it would be. Best o f a ll, it has restored my confidence in what I can do and also shown me my weaknesses. I feel much better prepared and a lot more con fid en t now than I did when I stepped out o f PS U ‘ fo r the last time.’ ” Most o f the work that Fungai has done to date has been in cancer re search and sickle-cell disease re search. It has involved getting blood samples from hospital patients with either cancer or sickle cell and com paring them to samples from nor mal or healthy individuals. In the case o f cancer, the cells from heaithy in dividuals were treated with carcin ogens, cancer causing chemicals, to find out what causes the cells to be come cancerous. From these experiments which, as much as possible, try to im itate what goes on in the hum an body, the researchers can fin d out why people contract cancer and, hope fully, what can be done to eradicate this the second leading killer in this country. The sickle-cell research follows pretty much along the same lines: taking samples from healthy in d i viduals and com paring them to sickled cells to fin d out why and FUNGAI K U M B U LA what can be done to prevent cells (Photo: Richard J. Brown) fro m sickling. It is now a w ell- known fact, for one thing, that sick eating it but m aking it a little bit tor w ill also know what to expect le-cell anemia evolved as a defense and be ready. more manageable. The future looks against m a laria fever which was promising. Says Fungai taking another sam claim ing a lot o f lives am ong the A n o th er aspect o f m edical re ple out o f the centrifuge, “ The peo West Africans. People who got the search being carried on in the im ple in this lab have been w onder disease— sickle-cell, that is— more fu l.” munology lab at Charles Drew is cy often than not were liable to suc togenetics and chromosonal analy On September 15th, Kum bula re cumb before the age o f thirty. sis. This involves taking samples, turned to Zimbabwe to set up an im Those who did not get the disease a m n io tic flu id , from expectant munology research lab. " I t w ill be were just as likely to succumb from mothers and examining the chromo quite a challenge but after this intern the malaria which was caused by a sones to see if the baby will be born ship, I feel I am as ready as I will ever parasite called a tse-tse fly . B ut, healthy or what b irth defects it be. More than likely I will be return those individuals who only got the might have. It also enables the re ing to Charles Drew next summer and •r«it— that is, one normal gene and searcher to tell what sex the baby p robably fo r many summers a fte r one sickled gene— were im m une will be. Since this analysis is done that for this very special continuing from malaria. Because it is a genetic long before the baby is due, it gives education series. Research is that disease, how ever, sickle cell has the parents tim e to decide i f they kind o f field where I will be learning been impossible to eradicate thus want to have the baby should they all my life doing my bit to make Zim fa r. Recent research has shown be informed that it will have this or babwe a healthier nation and so con promising signs o f not quite eradi- that defect or abnormality. The doc- solidate our in d ep en d en ce." w ith thia ad 1408 N.E. Broadway Butch Coor» ■» • recant regon >7212 party with M r A m Moore. tyh>— t er In Lac Äng ST» lfs6oodt°Kr>o^lk at £ NO Appointment htimatet C am a C a n v a n ia n c a Com piere D e a f ! Service Mehaaretter EXTRACTIONS a n d FILLINGS AUO CNTAI Dunf StdhMit Nmahd - MA m Omsd Insurance 8 « r 8 U V Dwto« OpwotiM LOWCOST Q u ality DENTURES ite r ile * D a . && uì M camtollot M tM S W Memn D E N T IS T I Saturdays offices SALIM « EUGENE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Bonneville Power Administration Longview-Portland Area Public Meetings WASHINGTON BPA ia proposing construction of a 500-kV transmission line between the Longview and Portland areas. Possible routes are shown on the map. To help w ith the environmental studies which are pert of this project, we are asking for your comments. This information will L h < used to determine the areas of environmental concern. Please plan to attend if you are in terested in thia project. -STUOV AREA IDAHO OREGON F o r t V ancouver R e g io n a l L ib r a r y L ib r a r y H a ll 1007 E. M ill P l a i n B lv d . V a n c o u v e r, W ash in g to n 98663 D ate . . . Time . . . O c to b e r 1 3 , 1981 7 :3 0 p.m . LO C A TIO N TROJAN, Cam as/W ashougal O f f ic e P u b lic U t i l i t y D i s t r i c t o f C la rk C ounty Community Room 89 "C" S t r e e t W ash o u g al, W ash in g to n 98671 D ate . . . Time . . . Woodland High S c h o o l L ib r a r y 757 P ark S t r e e t W oodland, W ash in g to n D ate . . . T ime . . . O c to b e r 1 5 , 1981 7 : 3 0 p .m . C o w litz C ounty P u b lic U t i l i t y D i s t r i c t P u b lic S e r v ic e Room 960 Commerce Avenue L ongview , W ash in g to n 98632 D ate . . . Time . . . O c to b e r 2 0 , 1981 7 :3 0 p.m . R a in ie r High S c h o o l/H u d so n E le m e n ta ry S ch o o l Complex B r i a r c l i f f A u d ito riu m R oute 4 , Box 4245 R a i n i e r , O regon 97048 D ate . . . Time . . . O c to b e r 2 1 , 1981 7 :30 p.m . D ate . . . Time . . . O c to b e r 2 2 , 1981 7 :3 0 p.m . O c to b e r 1 4 , 1981 7 :3 0 p.m . VAU W A S H IN G T O N 98674 S cap p o o se M iddle S c h o o l 401 S o u th C olum bia R iv e r Highway S c a p p o o s e , O regon 97056 ¿8 S I_____ ’"TT O i 5?. i.y \ H .T ..W A .H K e lso E le m e n ta ry S ch o o l 34651 SE. K e lso Road B o rin g , O regon 97009 D ate . . . Time . . . O c to b e r 2 6 , 1981 7 :3 0 p.m . FORTLAN d M 1-3 Rock C reek Campus P o r tla n d Community C o lle g e B u ild in g 03 - "Forum " 17705 NW. S p r i n g v i l l e Road B e a v e rto n , O regon 97229 D ate . . . Time . . . O c to b e r 2 7 , 1981 7 :3 0 p.m . fit-? C t S c . A M A S CO ’ - Sherwood E le m e n ta ry S ch o o l 800 N. Sherwood B lv d . S herw ood, O regon 97140 D ate . . . T ime . . . O c to b e r 2 8 , 1981 7 :3 0 p.m . I- , • ClN If you wish to comment and are unable to attend any of the meeting» or if further inform» non concerning the project is required, write to the Lower Columbia Area Office, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, Oregon 97206, Attention OPE, or call the Area Engineer at 234-3361, Exten sion 5235. OR EG O N INO RTHI •A AAA — w n . , « _ FIGURE I FLANNING STUOV AREA ALLETON-FORTLAND AREA REINFORCEMENT »1-1