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J uly 30, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age A4
CGcience
■ ■ ■ M M H M M B K ttM R *''
Another animal
: rabies case
The identification of a second
case ol animal rabies in Oregon
during 1997 has prompted health
officials to remind the public to
avoid physical contact with bats
In Oregon, bats are the only
reservoir species for rabies. Other
animals, such as foxes, cats and
sometimes dogs, can occasionally
become infected as a result of con­
tract with an infected bat, accord­
ing to Dr. Emilio DeBess, public
health veterinarian at the Oregon
Health Division The most recent
animal rabies case occurred in a
Clatsop County bat which had bit­
ten a household dog. Earlier this
year, a Douglas County cat was
found to have rabies.
The rabies virus is spread by
saliva, and exposures may result
from a bite, scratch, or saliva con
tact to the eyes, nose, mouth or an
open wound. "Thankfully, human
rabies is extremely rare, and there
have been no cases in Oregon in
the last seven years. However, the
fact that we have seen two cases in
animals this year means it is still a
potential danger," DeBess stated.
“Whether a bat is healthy, sick
or dead, it should not be handled,"
says DeBess. Bats are an impor­
tant part of nature and benefit us
through insect control; however,
they should not be disturbed To
avoid rabies, public health offi­
cials advise:
Never Handle bats or other wild
animals. Teach children not to
handle bats, and to tell an adult if
they see a bat in inside the house,
garage, or other building.
Keep bats out o f your house by
sealing openings in roofs, floors
or walls and putting screens over
open windows or doors. Hats may
enteropening as small as 3/Kofan
•inch.
’
If you are bitten, immediately
wash any bite or wound with soap
and water. Contact your doctor,
clinic or emergency room.
Immunize your dogs and cats
against rabies. Cats are especially
susceptible because they often
catch bats. Pets that are not im ­
munized and contact a rabid am
mal may need to be killed orphu eil
in quarantine fo r six months
I f you fin d a bat in your house.
JdeBess recommends these steps
If there is any chance that the
Ibat had contact with a person or
pet, it should be captured and
tested fo r rabies. I f the bat cannot
Saf ely be captured, call your local
.health department fo r advice
If you are certain that there was
no contact with a person or pel
(for example, you saw the bat fly in
the house and never lost sight o f
it), close the room and closet doors.
‘ >pen the windows, and watch the
’ lat until it leaves.
DeBess said the Clatsop County
dog which was bitten had been
'immunized against rabies as re­
quired by law, so it did not have to
>e quarantined.
■ H M M
■ ■ ■ ■ I
Understanding and dealing with stress
Ji'Nious R icardo S tanton
The dictionary defines the word
stress as, a factor causing mental or
emotional strain or tension; the physi­
cal or mental state resulting from
such strain But exactly what is this
factor? Is it external or internal? It is
beyond our control? What is the cause
of stress?
We hear so much about stress re­
lated symptoms. At least 65 percent
of those who visit a physician, are
there because of strees related symp­
toms. In the African-American com ­
munity, an inordinately high percent­
age of our people suffer from hyper­
tension This condition contributes
to all sorts of preventable disease
and psychosom atic disharm ony.
Most of this is related to our reaction
to living in a racist and often openly
hostile environment!
We have been mislead to believe
that stress, disease and disharmony
are the results of something outside
by
of ourselves. We have been told that
illness is the result of micro organ­
isms that attack us from without
The truth of the matter is all are
self induced Stress is generated
within ourselves. Il is triggered by or
own minds.
Prolonged negative stress under­
mines our immune systems and we
become susceptible to disease. Bac­
teria and other organisms that nor­
mally would be identified and de­
stroyed by a healthy immune system
overwhelm a weakened one, causing
sickness.
Negative thinking, prolonged and
suppressed anger, frustration, sad­
ness and depression also sabotage
our immune systems and damage our
internal organs. (Our hearts have not
been programmed to naturally attack
us. We do this to ourselves through
lifestyle choices, our thinking and
our emotions.)
We also need to understand there
are two kinds of stress, Eustress and
distress. Eustress is the positive kind
and distress is the harmful variety
Eustress is the inner radiance of power
and control you feel when you are
enthusiastic and confident. Eustress
is activated by our positive attitude,
expectations and enthusiasm This
positive idea triggers the body'sow n
endorphins, chemicals that produce
natural euphoria, the "runner's high"
or the can’t miss feeling when you
are in that “zone.” Athletes know
what I am talking about, so do cre­
ative people who tap into their inner
resources to help them paint, write,
dance, compose, whatever.
D istress is when you feel over­
whelmed, unable to face the ch al­
lenges of life, when you are plagued
with worry, fear and doubt. D is­
tress also triggers chem icals within
the body.
The problem occurs when we
maintain a constant slate of unease.
The body is forced to adapt Io a fight
(light mode for an extended period of
time During this period our diges­
tion is slowed and more blood/en-
ergy is diverted to the extremities to
enable us to lend off danger or to
escape This causes problems be­
cause our bodies are not designed to
maintain this stale of anxiety and
tension. Negative tension saps the
body's resources, draining it o f vital­
ity that could be used for other things.
Your perception of any situation
and your self-assessment of your
ability to cope with it, triggers em o­
tional and physiological reactions
within you. It's not what's happening
on the outside but your appraisal of
your abilities and resources that
count. Remember, foryou, the world
is what you think it is! Most of the
situations we face in our daily lives
are not life-threatening. Our egos
may be threatened but not our exist­
ence!
Two people can experience the
exact same situation and respond in
distinctly different ways To a
masterplumber a stopped toilet is no
big deal. Io a novice it could be a
major crisis The key to dealing con­
fidently w ith life is to use your mind
tolriggei Eustresslul responses rather
than distressful ones I am not advo­
cating denial and wishful thinking. I
am talking about evaluating every
situation calmly and reasonably Even
an unpleasant situation should be
examined Io find the positive or op­
timal outcome I am advocating us­
ing the power of your mind to help
rather than hurt you! Il is possible
and preferable to apply your mind
and inner resources to bring about
the best possible resolution for all
concerned.
Within you resides the creative
power, the intelligence, strength and
fortitude to effectively cope with
life’s ups and downs.
Thousands more eligible for mental health services
New services, faster access to care
and greater cost predictability are
forecast as all Oregon Health Plan
members became eligible for ex­
panded mental health services in July
The health plan covers about
350,000 Oregonians whose incomes
are below the federal poverty level,
about 10 percent of whom are ex­
pected to need some type of mental
health serv ices.
The Oregon Legislature initially
authorized the Medicaid-financed
health plan to offer an expanded pack­
age of mental health benefits to 25
percent of health plan members, and
those in Benton. Clackamas. Coos.
Josephine. Washington anil 15 east
Strokes warrant emergency action
H ealth
F ocus
J a m e s L. P h illip s, M .D .
B a y lo r C o lle g e o f M e d icin e
H o u sto n , T exas
Stroke sym ptom s require fast ac­
tion.
W hile most o f us know that heart
attack v ictim s need to go to the
hosp ital im m ediately, few people
react that prom ptly to stroke sym p­
toms.
C alled a “brain attack,” a stroke
occurs w hen a blood clot or a rup­
tu red artery in te rru p ts the blood
flow to part o f the brain. C ells die
in the area deprived o f blood, oxy­
gen and n u trien ts, and this initial
cell death starts a chain reaction
lead ing to fu rth er tissu e dam age.
The result can be perm anent disabil­
ity and even death.
S trokes used to be hard to treat,
but tre a tm e n ts e ffe c tiv e in the first
few hours follow ing a stroke are b e­
ing tested and approved.
“C lot-busting” drugs sim ilar to the
ones used for heart attack s are also
beneficial for strokes. O ne approved
drug, t-PA, helps break up blood clots
and prevent further cell dam age.
However, to minimize damage, t-PA
and experim ental stroke drugs must
be adm inistered within the first three
to six hours o f stroke sym ptom s. To
benefit from these m edications, you
must get to the hospital immediately.
Dr. Dennis M osier, a neurologist at
Baylor C ollege o f M edicine in H ous­
ton, is te stin g a new dru g for early
s tr o k e
tr e a tm e n t
c a lle d
a
n europrotective. T his type o f drug,
d e sig n ed to stop the ch ain reaction
o f cell dam age, m ust be given within
six hours.
M osier b e lie v e s that p h y sician s
will one day treat stroke patients in
the em ergency room w ith a co m b i­
nation o f neuroprotectives and clot-
busters.
C h an ces fo r stro k e rec o v e ry are
greatly im proved by fast action. Do
not hesitate to call “ 9 -1 -1 ” at the
first sign o f any o f these sym ptom s:
• One-sided weakness, numbness or
paralysis.
• Problems speaking or understand­
ing.
• Dizziness or loss o f balance.
• Blurred or decreased vision.
• S udden sev ere or u n e x p la in e d
headache.
R e c o g n iz in g stro k e sy m p to m s
and reactin g p ro m p tly can be the
difference betw een life and death or
between recovery and m ajor disabil­
ity
Carolyn Ferrell’s remarkable debut
collection of stories, Don’t Erase Me,
d o n ’t
including a story chosen by Tobias Wolff for The
Best American Short Stories ¡994, introduces a wholly
IWiWI
POWELL’S
BOOKS
original young voice to fiction by and about African
Americans. Focusing her generous attentions on
disenfranchised black teenagers, Ferrell gives pitch-
perfect voice to characters not often found in short
(h er I M illion
I 'sell A New llooks
ern Oregon counties have been eli­
gible since Jan 1. 1995
Results so far show unproved ac­
cess to a broad range of mental health
services, more flexible delivery ol ser-
v ices and increasedconsumerinvolve-
ment in designing services, said Ralph
Summers, health plan unit manager in
the Mental Healthand Developmental
Disability Services D iv isio n He said
that in the 20 initial counties mental
health consumers were served faster,
reported being more satisfied with ser­
vices. and saw introduction of ser­
vices that hadn’t existed before.
The Legislature authorized ex­
panding the package of mental health
services to the remaining 75 percent
of health plan members effective July
I . The 16 counties where health plan
members are receiving a broader
range of mental health services for
the first time are Clatsop, Columbia,
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