T he P ortland O bserver • A pril 5, 1995
P age A5
HEAL
Good News for
Sickle Cell Sufferers
B y L a rry L u ca s
A drug already in use for other
diseases has been found highly
effective in reducing painful crisis
episodes in adults with sickle cell
anemia.
Hydroxyurea, manufactured by
Bristol-M yers Squibb, was given
daily to volunteer patients in 21
medical centers across the country
in a clinical trial. The study
show ed that the m edicine cut
painful episodes— and hospital
admissions for those episodes— in
half. H ydroxyurea also reduced by
half the incidence o f acute chest
syndrome— a life-threatening com
plication whose symptoms include
chest pain, fever and an abnormal
chest x-ray.
The drug is not yet approved by
the Food and Drug Administration,
but because it is approved for other
purposes, sickle cell patients can
get it with a doctor’s prescription.
A ccording to Dr. Claude
L’Enfant o f the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute, “This is
a significant advance in the treat
ment o f adults with sickle cell ane-
Spring Cleaning For The Kidney
Association Of Oregon
mia. Although it is not a cure,
hydroxyurea therapy is the first
effective treatment for this serious
illness and may greatly improve
the quality of life of sickle cell
anemia patients.”
Sickle cell anemia is an inher
ited disease most prevalent among
people whose ancestors come from
Africa, the M iddle East, the
M editerranean area, and India.
About 72,000 African Americans
suffer from this disease— as well
as a growing number o f people of
other races or o f mixed race. In
addition, one in 12 A frican
Americans carries the sickle cell
trait. If people with this trait marry,
their children are likely to inherit
the disease.
In patients with this disease, red
blood cells take on a sickle shape
and become rigid. Scientists think
hydroxyurea prevents the cells
from become rigid, reducing the
pain as the sickle-shaped cells try
to squeeze through tiny blood
vessels.
This breakthrough illustrates
how drug research can not only
save and improve lives— it can
save healthcare dollars, too.
Each time a sickle cell patient
has to go to a hospital or em er
gency room because o f a pain
crisis, it costs hundreds— often
thousands— of dollars. Add that to
the wages and productivity lost
when sickle cell patients c a n ’t
work because of pain episodes, and ’
you have a whopping bill. This
new drug, plus others still in test
ing for sickle disease, should cut
this bill— and also cut the suffering
o f people with sickle cell disease.
L a rry L u c a s is A s s o c ia te Vice
P re sid e n t o f th e P h a r m a c e u tic a l
R e se a rc h
a n d M a n u fa c tu r e r s o f
A m e r ic a in W a sh in g to n , D C .
Teen Line For Pregnancy Prevention
O reg o n now has a statew id e
to ll- f r e e in fo rm a tio n lin e fo r
te e n a g e rs in a strateg y to p rev en t
teen p reg n an cy .
Oregon SafeNet will provide
information about sexuality, absti
nence and referrals to health and
birth control services. The number is
1 -800-998-9825. Hours o f operation
will be Monday through Friday from
noon to 9 p.m.
The information line is one o f a
number o f broad-based strategies as
outlined in form er Gov. Barbara
Roberts’ comprehensive plan to cut
the teen pregnancy rate in Oregon by
half by the year 2000. Gov. John
Kitzhaber has also indicted his strong
support o f this issue.
Sharon Kitzhaber, wife o f the
governor, has agreed to be a spokes
person for Teen Pregnancy Preven
tion Month and will champion O re
gon's teen pregnancy prevention ef
forts.
“The most important thing we
can do is to reach young teens so that
they choose not to be sexually active,
so that they do not get pregnant wh ich
robs them o f their youth,” Mrs.
Kitzhaber said.
families as appropriate;
To provide referral to other lo
cal health and social services;
To id en tify fam ily p lanning
se rv ic e s, gaps in th o se serv ices
1,700 people are on dialysis and an
other 79 patients are waiting for kid
ney transplants. KAO is an affiliate
o f the National Kidney Foundation
(NKF). The NKF helps more Amer
icans prevent, treat and cure kidney
and urinary disease than any other
nonprofit health agency . The Foun
dation's ultimate goal is to take kid
ney disease from treatment to cure.
For more information or to do
nate your vehicle, call us collect at
(503)228-1898.
Sm okers Who Quit Sm oking
Smokers who quit smoking -
even temporarily -- heal faster from
wounds and surgery according to a
study at Baylor College o f Medicine
in Houston.
The privately funded clinical
study used nicotine patches to mea
sure the difference in blood flow in
people who underwent hand surgery.
As a result, researchers have been
able to learn more about how nico
tine from inhaled smoke affects
nerves and constricts blood vessels
leading to the incision.
“Each time nicotine entered the
nervous system, blood flow was re
stricted at the site o f the surgery,”
said Dr. David Netscher. an associ
ate professor o f plastic surgery at
Baylor. “The decrease in the amount
o f blood that flowed to the incision
area was significant.”
Insufficient blood flow can cause
the skin to slough, a term used for
improper healing and eventual death
o f the tissue. A skin graft may be
necessary, and in some plastic sur
gery procedures where large amounts
o f skin are involved, the procedure
must be redone. In some general sur
gery cases, the incision may have to
be sutured again.
However, the restrictive effects
o f smoking on blood flow are short
lived. A smoker who ceases smoking
when a wound or incision is made
will see the risks for complications
drop significantly.
“There is always a slight risk for
failure in any surgical procedure,”
said Netscher. "Previous studies have
confirmed that among smokers the
failure rate is two and sometimes
even three times greater than in non-
smokers.”
The red u ctio n in blo o d flow
to the w ound site can be as high
as 3 0 -p e rc e n t in the first few
m inutes a fte r n ico tin e has tra v
eled through the n e rv o u s system .
A fter sm oking a c ig a re tte itta k e s
an a v e ra g e o f 25 m in u tes for
nerves th at c o n stric t b lo o d v e s
sels to return to norm al.
“ We are te llin g su rg eo n s to
advise th e ir p a tie n ts w ho sm oke
to cease the activity as clo se to
the surgery date and as long after
surgery as p o ssib le ,” N etsch er
said.
¿Panuint/ia ¿Rue
To Advertise in
g iu rila nò
(O b se rv e r,
Samantha Rae Gershowitz, the daughter o f Larry J ay Gershowitz and
Deborah Elizabeth Baltus o f Portland was bom March 11. 1995 at Good
Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center. She weighed 6 pounds, 13
ounces. Her brothers are Shane an Kyle Baltus. Maternal grandparents are
Don and Diane Ferris o f Portland.
call (503) 288-0033
or Fax 288-0015.
March of Dimes
WalkAmerica
THE LARGEST. MOST COMPLETE RETAIL FABRIC STORE IN THE WEST
Walk for
Someone
You Love
A P R IL 4 , 1 9 9 5 T H R O U G H A P R IL 1 8 , 1 9 9 5
%
AIL
OFF PRINTS
Teeth Reflect
Cultural Tastes
INCLUDES:
CALICOS • CHILDRENS PRINTS
RAYON PRINTS • DECORATOR PRINTS
SILKIE PRINTS
News USA
1%
Your son, granddaughter, nephew,
OFF
cousin, sister, neighbor’s child.
• NOTIONS • TRIM • DENIM
• CORDIÎROY • FUR • ALL FLEECE
A pregnant friend, a healthy baby,
a sick baby. Babies bom and
babies yet to be bom.
5 0 % o ff
Walk with us!
Selected Home
Decorator Fabrics
Call the March of Dimes and
Limited to Stock on Hand
sign up today!
BE SURF. TO CHECK OUR STORE. FOR “MANAGER’S SPECIALS"
•Discounts dn n<H jpph io special purchase or pnswush discounted <w marked down items 4 4 thru 4 IS 9$
Prices m*xl Ypnl 4 through \pril IS, 1905
Ä
/
/
n
J
STARK
S T R F lfl
l»34Sf>u¿Zl
advertise In
(The Piirtktnïi
(ID User Her
( all 503-288-0033
be given instructions on where and
when to drop-off your vehicle.
The Car Contribution Campaign
is a hassle-free way for people to get
rid o f an unwanted automobile and
help drive down the rate o f kidney
and urinary disease. Vehicles donat
ed to KAO are sold at auction. Pro
ceeds to support programs in re
search, patient services, organ dona
tion, public information and profes
sional education.
In the state o f Oregon alone.
abric
WORLD WISE
(NU) - It’s said that beauty is in
the eye o f the beholder. And that
may explain why Americans like to
see a full com plem ent o f bright
white teeth, while just the opposite
is true in other cultures.
The researchers at R em brandt
Oral Care Products looked into these
cultural differences and discovered
that, in som e parts o f the w orld,
beauty really is more than skin deep.
For instance:
• Natives in remote Malaysia in
lay their teeth with bits of brass, wire
and semiprecious stones to enhance
their beauty.
• In A frica, m em bers o f some
tribes remove one tooth or more for
tribal identification.
• In some mountain villages of
Taiwan, the back teeth are extract
ed as a sign o f beauty.
• Many native populations of
A m erica stain their teeth for c o s
metic purposes, just as their ances
tors did. The practice began in 200-
500 A.D.
• Centuries ago, people in some
regions of China covered their teeth
with thin pieces o f gold.
• The Fulani of Sudan blacken
their lips and surround their eyes
with black pigment to emphasize the
whiteness of their teeth.
To ask the folks at Rembrandt how
you can have whiter teeth, call I-800-
548-3663.
and b a rrie rs to te e n a g e rs s ta te
w ide, re p o rt the finds and p ro
vide ad v o c a c y fo r n ecessary se r
v ic e s fo r teen s;
To ensure that information and
referral services delivered are cul
turally appropriate.
A television public service an
n o u n c e m e n t, title d “ S h o u ld I
Shouldn't I? will be broadcast across
the state during April which is Teen
Pregnancy Prevention Month.
The Teen Health Information
line is a program o f Oregon SafeNet,
Oregon Health Division and Medi
cal Assistance Program.
State D epartm ent o f Human
Resources officials said the objec
tives o f the information line are:
To provide accurate, non-judg-
mental sexuality information to ado
lescents and families as appropriate,
including information about absti
nence;
To provide birth control infor
mation and referral to local family
planning services for adolescents and
If unloading a used car is on your
list of things to do for spring cleaning,
the Kidney Association o f Oregon
(KAO) can help. Donate an unwanted
vehicle to KAO and you’ll be helping
to fund the fight against kidney and
urinary disease in Oregon. You may
even qualify for a tax deduction.
The donation process is simple.
Anyone interested in making a con
tribution should call (503) 228-1898
and talk to a KAO representative
(collect calls will be accepted). You’ll
RFI A II HOI RS
M «l\ IRI'H«i,tin ‘><Hipni
M il Rim
M \l l\1
W IIO IF S A It HOI RX
Ml IX IK I_ Mkim-S Ripm
SVH R im ,ii«l.im-Spni
M XI m LI («Uni-ipm
RETAIL-WHOLESALE
Pkntvof FREE PARKING
S a tu r d a y , A pril 2 9 , P o r tla n d I S a le m I V a n c o u v e r
CARS • BUSES • RVs
7 0 0 S.E . 1 2 2 n d Ave
P o rtla n d , OR
252-9530
<
Jo in O u r C a m p a ig n fo r
H e a lth ie r Babies
March of Dimes
222-9434