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D ecember 6, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
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Flu Season Cases To Increase
Federal health officials said cas­
es o f influenza can be expected to
increase in the coming months and
recommended that people who have
not been vaccinated should do so.
The U S . Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) said
sporadic flu activity has been report­
ed in 16 states so far this fall. Out­
breaks have occurred in Oregon, Ida­
ho Alaska and Montana.
This season’s flu vaccine should
protect against the A/Texas, A/
Johannesburg and B/Beijing strains
that have been reported so far, the
CDC said.
“Someone who hasn ’ t been vac-
cinated yet who is in a high-risk
group should go ahead and get vacci­
nated,” Nancy Arden, chiefofC D C 's
Influenza Epidemiology Section,
said. “It’s much better to take it now
than not to take it at all.”
Widespread flu activity does not
usually begin until December and
influenza normally circulates well
into the spring, the CDC said. In a
typical year, as many as one in five
Americans is infected with influenza
and about 20,000 die from flu or its
complications.
Health officials recommend vac­
cination for people 65 and older;
people living in nursing homes or
chronic care facilities; people with
chronic pulmonary or cardiovascu­
lar disorders or who have been treat­
ed for chronic metabolic diseases,
and children and teenagers who are
receiving long-term aspirin therapy
and could develop Reye syndrome
after contracting influenza.
The CDC says other people, in­
cluding health care workers, can ob­
tain a flu vaccine if they wish to
reduce their chance o f infection.
Arden said the A/Johannesburg
strain is fatal more often than the
other two strains. “Ofthe three strains,
this one is more likely to affect the
elderly,” she said.
Type A flu viruses, which ac­
counted for three-fourths o f last year’s
flu ca se s, can be tre a te d w ith
amantadine and rimantadine, which
can be taken in liquid or pill form.
The two anti-viral drugs prevent
illness in 70 to 90 percent o f cases
and can reduce symptoms if given
within two days after a person be­
comes ill. However, the drugs are
ineffective against influenza type B
Healthy Eating May Lower Stroke Risk
♦ Healthy eating may reduce
the levels of a certain amino
acid often found in men who
suffer strokes.______________
erately elevated levels o f homocy­
steine (Hey) were also more likely to
suffer strokes.
“Our find ings are consistent with
the hypothesis that high blood con­
centrations o f Hey are associated with
increased risk ofcerebrovasculardis-
ease,” Perry said.
Perry said high blood pressure
was still the strongest indicator o f
stroke risk. The test for homocysteine
came second, followed by smoking.
He said doctors could eventual­
ly develop a blood test for homo­
cysteine that could be a cheap pre­
dictor o f stroke, but said it was more
The am ino acid, know n as
homocysteine, is important to the
body’s metabolism and doctors say
high levels could show both a prob­
lem with diet and be used as a test for
stroke risk. Its levels are affected by
B-vitamins, found in ffesh fruits,
vegetables and grains.
In a report in the Lancet medical
journal. Dr. Ivan Perry and colleagues
said they had tested more than 5,000
volunteers and found men with mod­
important to realize that homocy­
steine levels are influenced by diet.
“ It basically boils down to get­
ting people to eat more fruits and
vegetables,” Perry o f London’s Roy­
al Free Hospital said in a telephone
interview.
But Perry said more research
was needed: “ We imply that there is
a link but we do not have sufficient
rigorous scientific data to state clear­
ly that there is a link.”
People who eat more fresh fruit
and vegetables are also known to
have lower incidents o f cancer and
heart disease.
Technologies Slash Medical Costs
Doctors at Yale University say
the use o f miniature telescopes in
their consulting rooms for infertility
tests and other procedures has slashed
the number o f costly operations.
“Thirty minutes after the proce­
dure the average Yale patient had
negligible discomfort, did not re­
quire pain medication during recov­
ery and left the office building within
45 minutes o f the procedure,” said
Dr. Steven Palter, director o f the
Office Laparoscopy Program at Yale
School o f Medicine.
It usually takes longer for pa­
tients to fully awaken from general
anaesthesia than with the new proce­
dure using mini telescopes, he said.
In addition, the procedure rids the
unit o f cumbersome diagnostic tests
and reduced costs for insurers.
The technique, among other
uses, was helpful in finding sources
o f pelvic pain, inspecting blocked
fallopian tubes and other causes o f
infertility as well as performing tubal
ligations, a method o f female steril­
ization.
Palter said the scopes could also
be used to detect hernias and tumors
and find the source o f abdominal
pain in men. He predicted they could
be in most obstetrician and gynecol­
ogists’ offices in five years, egged on
by insurers who would refuse to pay
for more costly hospital procedures.
In the procedure for obstetrics,
the miniature telescope, called a
microlaparoscope, is inserted into
the abdomen via the navel through a
hole the size o f a pin. Doctors pump
in a small amount o f gas to form a
bubble that allows viewing on a vid­
eo monitor. Unlike laparoscopy dur­
ing surgery, patients are awake and
can provide feedback.
Without the need to use an oper­
ating room, employ an anaesthetist,
make costly preoperative tests and pay
for hospital recovery time, Palter said,
the cost o f the procedure fell to less
than $2,000 from up to $8,000. He
said several major health insurers had
contacted him for more information.
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
J o h n n ie C och ran K e y n o te s B la c k s
The Puget Sound E ducation
C h ap ter o f B lacks in G o v e rn ­
m ents will host th e ir first a n n u ­
al fu n d raisin g d in n er in re c o g ­
nition o f the C en tral A rea M o­
tivatio n P ro g ra m ’s 30th A n n i­
versary.
This e x citin g ev en , w ill be
held on S atu rd ay . Jan. 13, b e ­
g in n in g at 6 p .m . a t th e
M e y d e n b a u e rC o n fere n c e C e n ­
ter, 11102 N.E. 8th S treet in
B ellevue.
T his y e a r’s them e is: “ We
hold these tru th s to be s e lf e v i­
dent that all men are created
e q u a l.”
CAMP is the oldest African
American community action agen­
cy serving low-income residents in
the greater Seattle area. To assist
CAMP in meeting the needs o f the
community, proceeds will support
CAMP’sefforts to raise $2,000,000
to secure and renovate a facility to
house their youth and employment
programs
K eynote sp eak er is A ttor-
Johnnie Cochran
ney Jo h n n ie L. C ochran, Jr., the
in tern atio n ally fam ous attorney.
C ochran is fo u n d e ro f the Los
A ngeles and W ashington, D C.
based legal firm s o f C ochran,
A tkins & E vans and C ochran,
M itchell & Lotkins.
An astute attorney, Cochran is
CHOICES
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Call Daniel E. Russell at 282-7999
For your free initial consultation.
an inspiring positive African Amer­
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recipient o f numerous awards in
recognition o f this achievements
and community service.
Cochran Villa, a 10-unit, low-
income family housingcomplex, is
just one o f his notable achieve­
ments o f community support.
Friday, A pril 28, 1995, was
desig n ated “Jo h n n ie C ochran
D a ,” in h is h o m e to w n o f
S h re v e p o rt, L o u isia n a O th er
d istin g u ish e d a c h iev em en ts in­
clude: P io n eer o f B lack Legal
L eadership Award from the Los
A ngeles B ro th erh o o d C rusade,
D istinguished A lum ni A w ard
from the UCLA B lack A lum ni
A w ard for E x cellen ce in P ro ­
fessional A chievem ent from the
UCLA Alum ni A ssociation, and
a L ifetim e A chievem ent A w ard
from the P asadena Branch o f
the N A A C P
Last Day Ticket Sales January
2, 1996. Reserved seating only.
(503)282-9547.
Center Pointe Debutes
Center Pointe is a new not-for-
profit organization whose mission
is to maintain and promote the emo­
tional well-being o f care providers
who give support to HIV/AIDS-
affected persons.
The volunteer staff o f Center
Pointe, has a total o f over 25 years
experience serving the HIV/AIDS
population and vast experience in
the not-for-profit sector.
Center Pointe offers services
in support o f those providing care
to persons who are HIV/AIDS-af-
fected. Compassion fatigue, stress,
grief, and burnout issues all need to
be addressed if care providers are
to take care o f themselves and in
tum be effective.
Providing care and support to
those facing a life-threatening ill­
ness often brings up personal issues
♦ Support groups for partners,
friends, family members, pro­
fessionals and volunteers.
♦ Individualguidanceand encour­
agement.
♦ Outreach, including presenta­
tions, professional development
seminars, and on site support
groups to hospitals and agency
service providers.
♦ Spiritual guidance/support.
♦ Special workshops supporting
care providers who are caring
for someone through the final
stages of life.
♦ Grief support groups.
for care providers. There are lessons
to learn, ways to be more effective,
and an opportunity for care provid­
ers to nurture their own lives and
values.
Care providers for HIV/AIDS
affected persons are unique in many
ways and in too many cases, there is
very little, ifany, respite or care for
them.
Center Pointe will offer a sup
port group for Mothers, and a sep­
arate support group for Fathers, o f
HIV/AIDS infected individuals be­
ginning on Monday, January 8,
1996.
A support group for partners
and friends o f HIV/AIDS infected
individuals will begin on Tuesday,
January 9, 1996. The ten weeks
support groups will be held in
SouthEast Portland.
Ifyou would like to attend these
10 week support groups or need
further information, please call 503/
771-2213.
Study Finds Many Lingering, Painfull Deaths
Etfortstoprolongpeoples’ lives
often only prolong their dying, and
too many people die hooked up to
machines, alone and in pain, a major
study said on Tuesday.
“ We don’t know when to stop,”
said Dr Steven Schroeder, board pres­
ident o f the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, which sponsored the
study appearing recently in the Jour­
nal ofthe American Medical Associ­
ation.
Theeight-year$28-million study
o f more than 10,000 patients had
discouraging results about the cold
and painful circumstances in which
Americans die and the difficulty o f
changing patterns even when intense
efforts are made.
“We need to find how to live
well in the shadow o f dying,” said Dr
Joanne Lynn, a George Washington
University professor and director o f
its Center to Improve Care o f the
Dying. “Most o f us can live comfort­
ably and meaningfully as we die.”
Lynn was among the research­
ers who evaluated the portion o fthe
study that tried and failed to come up
with ways o f changing the ways doc­
tors and patients communicate and
use information to make decisions
about death.
Chastened by the findings, the
foundation announced a $ 1.2 million
follow-up campaign to find new re­
sources and solutions. Participants
in the study, outlined at a Washing­
ton news conference, also called for
changes in medical education so that
dpetors are better equipped to deal
with the tough decisions engendered
by high-tech medicine.
“Death used to be the enemy
(for doctors). Now we know we can
create outcomes worse than death,”
studydirector Dr William Knaustold
the news conference. Knaus said lat­
er the hope is to make dying more
humane - without encouraging as­
sisted suicide.
“People might turn to physician-
assisted suicide because they are afraid,
they want control over what happens.
We want to eliminate that as an op­
tion” by coming up with better ways to
prepare for death, he said.
The study found that doctors did
not know o f their patients wishes.
For instance, nearly half were un­
aware iftheir patients had stated that
they did not want cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR).
Thirty-eight percent o f the pa­
tients spent at least 10 days in inten­
sive care, where measures are used to
stave off death and where bills o f
$5,000 a day are not uncommon.
And half the patients who were able
to communicate in the last three days
o f life reported being in severe pain.
Patients who did leave instruc­
tions often did not do so until very
late in their illness, a day or two
AIDS Cases
Reach Half
Million
The number of AIDS cases diag­
nosed in the United States since 1981
has passed ihe hall-million mark, with
Americans accounting for one in ev­
ery nine cases worldwide, federal
health officials said on Friday.
The US. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said that as of
the end of October, a total of 501.310
people had been diagnosed as having
AIDS. Ol those. 62 percent have died.
“Over hall a million people with
AIDS really should signify to the
American public the ongoing se­
riousness and magnitude of this epi­
demic,' said Dr. Patricia Fleming of
theCDC's AIDS surveillance branch
The CDC said 59,806 A IDS cases
have been reported in the United States
so far this year The World Health
Organization estimates that there have
been 4.5 million AIDS cases world­
wide.
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before their deaths.
“We don’t decide to let patient
die in peace until almost the las
moment,” Lynn said.
The re su lts w ere no d ifferen
under an ex p erim en tal program
that offered train ed nurses as
signed to help d o c to rs and pa
tien ts co m m u n icate, c o m p u te r­
g e n e ra te d re p o rts on su rv iv a
p ro sp e c ts and risks o f d isa b ility
and d e ta ile d w ritten in stru ctio n s
from the p a tie n t and the fam ily.
“ Im proved inform ation, en ­
hanced conversation and an explicit
effort to encourage use o f outcomes
and preferences in decision-making
were completely ineffectual,” the
study said.
Since one-on-one intervention
was so disappointing, it said, the goal
should be to change the medical sys­
tem, ranging from doctors’ attitudes
toward treating pain to financial in­
centives for using machines to keep
people alive a few more days or
hours.
The foundation commissioned a
special report front the Hastings Cen­
ter on medical ethics. The center’s
president noted that 25 years after
the start o f the advance directive and
“living will” movement, doctors and
patients are “still scratching our
heads, tinkering with the fine print,
trying to get straight about the last
weeks and days o f dying life.”
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