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I he P ortland O bserver • J une 5, 1995
H EALTH
COSTLY INNOVATION:
The Key To New Generation Cancer Medicines
cells to k ill cancerous growths.
Pharmaceutical research com­
panies and the National Cancel Insti­
tute are exploring a wide variety o f
innovative ways to win the war against
NINE NEW GENERATION GENE THERAPIES COULD PROVIDE
NOVEL BREAKTHROUGHS TO FIGHT CANCER
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non. WlBl Rena therapy. s c e n is s can deal w in the p r .c r u mechanism; cl cancer and tarnel
medicines to specific types of the disease.
10
1993
1995
▲NUMBER OF GENE THERAPIES IN DEVELOPMENT
by
J ohn F. B eary , III M.D.
The fight against cancer has tak­
en some novel twists and turns as
researchers seek to develop better
drugs.
Scientists, for example, are ex­
perimenting with light that activates
new medicines only after the drugs
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J ames W. R eed , M.I).
High blood pressure or hyper­
tension afflicts one out o f four A fri­
can Americans. It occurs earlier in
life among African Americans, is
more severe and is less likely to be
treated adequately or early enough to
prevent fatal health disorders.
W hether y o u ’ re an A fric a n
American man or woman, the only
way to know i f you have high blood
pressure is to check your blood pres­
sure regularly. Even i f you look and
feel fine, you can have blood pres­
sure high enough to surprise you in
reach cancerous cells in the body.
Damage to healthy tissue can be
avoided.
Researchers are also develop­
ing cancer vaccines that involve in­
jecting dead cancerous;ells into pa­
tients to stimulate the body’ s im­
mune system to fight the disease
The restarch community ¡seven
trying to 'starve” tumors by cutting
o ff their blood supply. And it is de­
veloping pharmaceuticals that train
the body’s immune system to recog­
nize and attack cancer cells. Drugs
known as interferons or interleukins
can activate the body’s white blood
cancer. It is a formidable task: though
progress had been made, cancer is
expected to k ill nearly 550,000 Amer­
icans this year.
The 98 pharmaceutical research
companies involved in the effort arc-
investing billions o f dollars to re­
search and develop 215 new medi­
cines for 20 types o f the fatal disease.
About 80 o f the new cancer medi­
cines are in the final phase o f human
testing, and another 20 are awaiting
final review by the Food and Drug
Administration.
These 100 medicines are for
bladder cancer, brain cancer, breast
cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer,
leukemia, liver cancer, lung cancer
and others.
Information on all o f the 215
cancer medicines now being devel­
oped in the U.S. is available in a new
PhRMA publication called “ New
Medicines in Development for Can­
cer.” To get free copies, write to the
Editor, “ Medicines in Development,”
Communications Division, 1100 15th
Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005.
Oregon Treasurer Jim H ill has
finalized the issuance o f $2 m il
lion in state financing to build i
40-unit Assisted Living Facility
for low-income individuals suf­
fering from Alzheimer's disease
and related disorders.
The Assisted Living Facility
w ill be an expansion at St. A idan’ s
Place in Gresham.
I am proud o f our role in
helping St. A idan’s Place move
forward with the unique and im ­
portant fa cility,” H ill said. “ A ll
Oregonians can be proud o f this
project.
The fa cility is intended to
greatly benefit Oregonians suffer­
ing from Alzheim er’s who are fi­
nancially unable to care for them­
selves.
The state issued $2 m illion in
tax-exempt bonds to finance the
facility The tax-exempt feature o f
the bonds provides non-profit or­
ganizations the opportunity to sub­
stantially reduce borrowing costs.
St. A idan ’ s is a non-profit cor-
p oratio n associated w ith St
Aidan's Episcopal Church o f Gre­
sham, but accepts residents o f any
religious denomination or beliefs.
Avoiding the Threat of High Blood Pressure
r \T
rt
L, ~ A attack
. I
the form o
f a
stroke, heart
kidney failure or even blindness.
Hypertension usually has no symp­
toms - that is why many call it the
“ silent k ille r.”
The cause o f high blood pres­
sure is still unknown. It's believed to
be caused by one or a combination o f
these common lifestyle behaviors:
too much salt in the diet, too much
stress, too much weight, and too much
alcohol.
African American females are
more likely to have their high blood
pressure treated and controlled than
I I I
■ •
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black or white males, yet the preva­
lence o f high blood pressure among
B lack women is beginning to exceed
that o f men. And more than three
times as many Black women as white
women age 35-44 have the disease.
Since high blood pressure is a
critical problem w ithin the Black
community, it’s important for you to
know the consequences o f untreated
high blood pressure are preventable.
With proper diet, lifestyle changes
and medicat ions, you can control high
blood pressure.
For example: eat healthy, re­
duce stress, drink less alcohol and
visit your doctor regularly to monitor
your blood pressure.
In large-scale studies, it has been
shown that a greater percentage o f
African Americans are able to con­
trol their hypertension with pharma­
ceutical therapies such as calcium
channel blocker or diuretics. Other
categories o f hypertension treatments
which may also control your blood
pressure are beta-blockers, ACE in­
h ib itors, alpha blockers, central
agents and vasodilator. Your doctor
selects the best medication for you
County, Casey
Agree On Health
Services
Bonds To Help
Alzheimer’s
Patients
from the various drug categories
based on the drug’s effectiveness in
controlling your blood pressure, any
existing medical conditions and po­
tential drug side effects.
I f y o u ’ re at ris k , have yo u r
blood pressure checked every few
m onths and discuss hypertension
treatm ent o ptions w ith yo ur doc­
to r. M ed ica tio ns fo r treatm ent o f
high blood pressure vary, but one
th in g rem ains the same -- m e d i­
cine o n ly w orks i f you take it.
U n fo rtu n a te ly B la c k men are
w e ll-k n o w n fo r not seeking p rop-
The Multnomah County Depart­
ment ofC om m unity and Family Ser­
vices and C asey Family Programs, a
private n o n -p ro fit agency, have
signed an agreement for mental health
services for children.
The idea o f a partnership, to
provide behavioral health services to
children, developed six years ago.
A grant from the Robert Wood
Johnson foundation helped finance a
pilot program aimed at helping emo­
tionally disturbed children, using
money from a number o f sources,
including the Children Services D i­
vision and Portland public schools.
After nearly 18 months o f nego­
tiations between the county and
Casey, a contract was written to ad­
vance the county’s goal o f improving
access to behavioral health services,
county officials said.
“ Thecollaboration between pub­
lic and private sector agencies is one
o f the cornerstones o f Multnomah
County’ s concept o f good govern­
ment This particular public/private
partnership is unique as the first o f its
kind in delivering services to emo­
tionally disturbed children and ado­
lescents,” said Beverly Stein, M u lt­
nomah County chairperson.
er diagnosis and sustaining tre a t­
ment. A bout h a lf o f B la ck men
being treated fo r high blood pres­
sure drop out o f treatm ent in the
firs t year.
Being an educated consumer in
terms o f selecting blood pressure ther­
apy w ill come in handy when asking
your doctor about high quality, low
cost alternatives. There are newer
once-a-day formulations o f medica­
tions available, which are priced up
to 25% less than others. Being aware
ofyour alternatives may produce sav­
ings in the long run.
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