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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1994)
P age A5 T he P ortland O bserver • O ctober 19, 1994 New Physicians Join Bess Kaiser Medical Center Jean Marie Lien, MD, and Vicki Sands, MD, have joined the Kaiser Permanente medical group Both will practice at Bess Kaiser Medical C en ter, 5055 N. Greeley Blvd. Dr. Lien practices perinatology in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She completed her medi cal education at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and an in ternship and residency at the M edi cal Center of Delaware. She went on to serve a fellowship in M aternal- fetal m edicine at the University of California, Irvine. A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Dr. Lien is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology. Born and raised in Oregon, Dr. Sands practices at emergency medi cine. She is a graduate o f Oregon Health Sciences Uni versity and went on to com plete an internship and residency at Stanford University and K aiser P erm an en te S anta C lara Medical Center, both in California. Bess Kaiser Medical Center is one of tw o Kaiser Permanente non profit community hospitals serving more than 380,000 people in North west Oregon and Southwest W ash ington. Of CPC-111 In Sickle Cell Crisis Cypros Pharmaceutical Corp., a development-stage company, re ported that it has com pleted its preclinical analysis o f CPC-1 I l ’s effects on sickle cell disease and has concluded that a Phase II trial of CPC-111 in patients in sickle cell crisis is warranted. Paul J. M arangos, chairm an and chief executive officer, commented: “This analysis is part of our ongoing efforts to investigate all of our pat ented indications o f C P C -1 1 1. We believe that this drug can ameliorate the horrible effects o f sickle cell disease. If this is borne out in our Dr. Jean Marie Lien is one of the new physicians at Bess Kaiser Medical Center. discovered that infertile smoking women have a “significantly in creased risk of diminished ovarian reserve” — an indirect measurement of the number of eggs remaining in the ovaries. They ascertained the number of ovarian eggs by testing the women with the clomiphene cit rate (or CC) challenge test, which causes the body to produce follicle stim ulating horm one (com m only know as FSH), and is used to gauge the ability o f a woman to become pregnant. The evidence that smoking im pairs fertility corresponds with other known risks o f smoking to women, including irregular menstrual cycles, and an earlier-than-average onset of m en o p au se. C o n ta c t: D r. Fady S h arara, (3 1 2 ) 9 9 6 -7 4 3 0 ; Judy Folkenberg, (301) 496-1766. (Fer tility and Sterility, Vol. 62, NO. 2, August 1994, pp. 257-62) Volunteer Opportunities Available Portland Multnomah Com m is sion on Aging is looking for volun teers to serve as S.A.F.E. Om buds man (Special Advocates For Elders). These volunteers assist seniors liv ing in housing projects resolve con cerns over housing issues. There are 15 public housing projects in M ult nomah County. A one year com m it ment is required, with a need to visit clients once a week. Professional training will be given in areas such as elder abuse, conflict and problem resolution, effective communication, etc. This is a first in the nation - will provide nationwide model. P ortland A dventist M edical C enter’s “Health For Life" Depart ment needs assistants in their Health Van which goes to various locations in Portland. Volunteers help by greet ing and registering people, talking to them about health issues, if possible, and making them feel comfortable. Any medical knowledge or experi ence will help but is not a require ment. Choose your own hours and days. Oregon Health Division - Pri mary Care Program is looking for Phone Surveyors to call physicians’ offices to get answers to a two-page survey which is designed to measure the availability of physicians through out the state to serve special popula tions. These special populations in clude low income, M edicaid clients, seasonal m igrants and hom eless people. This phoning can be done at the volunteers’ homes and/or at the State Building, 800 NE Oregon St. any morning or afternoon shift, M on day through Friday. If interested or seeking more information, please contact Helen W ahl, RSVP, at 229-7787. RSVP is a part of the Corporation for National and Community Service and is spon sored locally by Legacy Health Sys tem at Good Samaritan Hospital & Medical Center. Health Tips For October, 1994 Kids are back in school. For m any children, this means being home alone after school while their parents are at work. For many par ents. it means concerns about how safe their children are when they're home on their own. “The American Academy of Pe diatrics recom m ends that children under 13 should not be left alone,” says Virginia Feldman, MD, chief of pediatrics for Bess Kaiser Medical Center in North Portland. “Even teens are at greater risk for poorer health when they're unsupervised. Studies show that such teens are more likely to be involved in sexual activities and drug use. W ell-orga nized after-school activities, such as sports, can reduce these risks.” W hat's a parent to do when such programs aren't available .’ "How you talk with your kids when you're there has a lasting effect when you're not there,” says Dr. Feldman. "The same studies show that teens have lower rates of drug use and pregnancy when their parents discuss their values with them, and know where they are and what they're doing." To help your children be safe when you aren't there: • Stay in touch - call them fre quently from work. • Have them call you if they go to a friend's house or make some other change of plans. • If there are guns in the house, keep them locked up and store the am munition in a separate place. • Have them take a “home alone” safety class - many school offer them. “It's also important to have an exit plan in case o f fire,” says Dr. Feldman, “and to make sure they know how to reach 911, relatives or neighbors, and how to give their com plete address. Practice with your youngster. Many kids, even older ones, do n ’t know how to give essen tial information, yet it’s as impor tant for help to reach them as it is for them to call for help.” Oregon Receives Cancer Prevention Grant Lives o f women in Oregon will be saved, thanks to a $7.5 million federal grant that recen tly was awarded to Oregon Health Division The Centers for Disease Control grant will provide breast and cervical cancer screening to thousands ol women who have low incomes and have no public or private insurance coverage Health Division will dis tribute the funds in conjunction with the Oregon Breast and Cervical Can cer Coalition at a rate of $1.5 million per year for five years Lolly Champion. Co-Chair ot the Oregon Breast & Cervical Cancer Coa clinical trials, then it will be possible for the company to market C P C -111 sooner than expected.” Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder. A patient needs two genes to have the disease in its full-blown form. Patients with one sickle cell gene are carriers for the disease and can pass the disease on to their chil dren. but do not have the crisis them selves. Sickle cell disease is principally restricted to African Americans and some Americans of M editerranean origin. It is estimated that up to 8 percent o f African Americans are carriers o f the disease. The disease is caused by defec tive red blood cells, which not only carry oxygen inadequately around the body, but also form an abnormal sickle shape. Sickled red cells then plug up small blood vessels, causing various degrees of ischemia (lack of oxygen) in the organs that those vessels supply. A recent paper in the New En gland Journal of M edicine reported on an independent epidemiological study that showed the median life span is shortened in patients with two sickle cell disease genes. Rising Gun Ownership May Lead To More Teen Suicides Smoking Reduces The Chances Of Becoming Pregnant Women who Smoke are three times more likely than nonsmokers to have high levels of a hormone that indicates that they have fewer eggs available for pregnancy. In the study, supported by the National Institute o f Child Health and Human D evel opment (NICHD), Dr. Eady Sharara and his colleagues studied 210 infer tile women between the ages of 35- 39; 65 o f the women smoked and 145 had never smoked. The investigators Plans Announced For Phase II Clinical Trial lition emphasized the importance of this grant. “This isoneof the I argest grants for women's health the state ol Oregon has ever received. Our hope is that it will make breast and cervical cancer screen ing a reality lor all women in Oregon.” Screenings will begin early next year in Mai ion. Multnomah and Union Counties and will expand to other counties over the next five years. In addition, the Health Div ision will col laborate with the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board to make screening sei vices available to Native American women The grant funds w ill also be used to expand public and professional awareness of the value of early detection & screening. At least 17% o f Oregon women age 50 and older have never had a mammogram. Approximately 17% of women age 18 and older have not had a Pap test in the past three years During 1994. an estimated 2.100 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and an estimated 170 women will be diagnosed with cervical can cer However, regular screening in creases the possibility of early detec tion and saves lives. If these diseases are found in time, the cure rate ap proaches 100%. M ore and more O regonians are buying guns to protect their families against crime. The tragedy is that bringing a gun into the home may increase the possibility of a teenage family m em ber succeeding in kill ing themselves. In 1992, close to 7(X) O rego nians under age 20 tried to kill them selves. M ost took sleeping pills or poison or tied slashing their wrists. Teenagers who tried those methods usually survived. However, when young people picked up guns, the chances they would die increased greatly. O f 34 teenagers who shot themselves, 28 died. That frightens Kaiser Peimanente pediatrician Virginia Feldman, MD. who practices in North Portland. “Fire arms were used in only 5 percent of all - reported suicide attempts in Oregon, but they account for 70 percent of all suicide deaths,” says Dr. Feldman. "The reason is sad but simple. Bullets are effective.” Youth suicide rates in Oregon have risen dramatically over the past two generations. From the late 1950s to the 1990s. the suicide death rate among high-school-age teenagers bal looned from 2.8 death per 100,000 teens to 17.8. For boys 15 to 19, the rate has climbed even higher, to 28.7 completed suicides per 100.000 teen agers. Having more guns around can only worsen the situation, cautions Dr. Feldman. “Teens are impulsive. If there’s a gun in the home, a sui cidal teenager will be tempted to use it instead of a less lethal method. Instead of seeing their child wake up in the hospital with bandaged wrists or their stomach pumped, parents will be mourning the senseless death of their child,” says Dr. Feldman. She advises parents o f teenag ers to: • Remember that not all teenag ers who attempt suicide show recog nizable signs beforehand. Parents may be wrong if they think they can predict when a gun might pose a danger to their teenager. • Keep guns out of the home, at least until teenagers have moved out. If you don’t want to part perma nently with a gun, store it with a friends or relatives who don’t have children or teenagers. • Be aware that gun safety rules for children - keeping your gun in a locked place with bullets stored sepa rately — may not deter an older youth. Teenagers are more resourceful. (Eltc IJ o r tla n i» (© b se v u c r welcomes health articles from the community. If possible, please include photos. H ealth F James L. Phillips, M.D. ocus Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Make organ donation a life-saving responsibility When it comes to organ dona tion, many African-Americans have serious misgivings. Because of a hesitancy to do nate organs, the African-American community is suffering from a lack of compatible organs. For example, in 1993 here in the Houston area. 26 percent of people on w aiting lists for organs were Blacks, while only 10 percent o f organ donations cam e from African-Americans. T his is im portant since graft survival (how successful the organ “takes” to the recipient) is higher when organs are transplanted within the same ethnic group. The best "m atch" for African- Americans are organs from African- A m erican s. U n fo rtu n a te ly , this more desirable match does not occur often enough. W hy are w e so re lu c ta n t to donate organs? Perhaps it's a misunderstanding of the organ remov al process itself. M any people b elie v e that organ removal will disfigure the body or th at the d e c e a se d has " s u ffe re d enough" In truth, organs are only re m o v ed upon c o n se n t o f fam ily m e m b e rs o r w ith p re -a rra n g e d consent o f the donor through the signing o f an organ donor card or some other document that conveys consent. That's why it's important for you to discuss your wishes with your family. You can explain that removal of organs does not disfigure and open casket funeral services can still be held. Family members of people who have suffered long illnesses may see organ donation as "continuing the pain." While this seems illogical, I certainly understand the fa m ily 's concern in not w anting additional complications. But in truth, organ donation can vastly improve quality of life, and often saves lives of the recipients. Given the facts, it’s easy to see why organ donation is necessary. Nationally, A frican-A m ericans are the la rg e st m in o rity g ro u p on w aitin g lists fo r d o n o r k id n ey s. Even though we make up only 12 percent of the U.S. population, we account for 34 percent of all kidney failure patients. A ccording to the U nited N et w ork fo r O rg an S h a rin g , b lack p atien ts w ho su ffe r from kidney failure wait twice as long as their w hite c o u n te rp a rts fo r a kidney transplant. In most cases, African- American organ recipients depend on kidneys from cadavers instead of living donors. T hat’s why know ing the facts about organ d o n a tio n is cru c ia l. Here are a few com m on questions about organ donation: W/n- should I donate my organs? M any d ise a se s that hit A frican - Americans especially hard can lead to a need for transplantation. For instance, high blood pressure can eventually cause kidney failure. In fact, blacks with high blixxl pressure arc seven tim e s m ore p ro n e to k id n ey fa ilu re th an th e ir w hite counterparts. It’s possible you may be the one to benefit from a donated organ. W hat w ill it c o st? charge for donation T h e re is no Will signing a don or ca rd affect medical treatm ent I receive while alive? No. It would be extremely unethical and illegal to offer you anything but the best o f care ju st because you have dem onstrated a willingness to donate organs upon your death. Which organs can I donate? You can d o n a te o rg a n s an d tis s u e s including the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and pancreas, as well as the corneas, bones and skin. /Joes organ donation really make a difference? You have an opportu nity to bring happiness out of a time o f grief. By donating your organs, you can make it possible for others to live healthy, productive lives. Will it conflict with m y religion? M ost m ainstream P ro testan t and Catholic churches support it. D o nating your organs is an individual decision. H ow ever, if you have some concerns, talk to your clergy man. What do I have to do to become a donor? Discuss it with your family and sign an organ donor card in the presence of two witnesses. You can in d ic a te y o u r w ish e s w hen you renew your driver's license. Talk to your local m otor v eh icle license bureau, or an organ donation group in your area. The reasons for not donating organs are many and usually result from fears, m isunderstandings and lack of information. April 17-23 is National Organ Transplantation and Donation Awareness W eek. Take the time »o find out more about this precious gift. Organ donation is one of the most generous acts o f kind ness that you can do for another. • ♦
