FEB. 10, 1999
Page A6
(Ehr ¡Portlanh (©bscroer
1999 McCall Forum Features Koop vs. Califano on Health Care
en vironm ental health hazards, and
P resident Johnson, for w h o he d ev el
im m unization and disease prevention.
H e b ecam e the g o v ern m en t’s c h ie f
o p ed th e legislative p rogram an d co-
it a m atter o f indiv id u al re s p o n sib il
is n o t co v ered b y an y h ealth in su r
ance. D o cto rs in creasin g ly feel se c
ity?
T h ese q u estio n s w ill fram e the
o n d -g u essed b y H M O s o r g o v e rn
m en t b u reau crats. A n d it seem s the
spo k esm an o n A ID S . H e presently is
the E lizabeth D eC am p M clntery Pro
ordm ated econom ic policies. T h e N ew
Y o rk T im escalled h im "D ep u ty Presi
d ent for D om estic A ffairs." Presently
public ex p ects h ealth care issu es to
b e solv ed w ith n ew tech n o lo g ies and
fe sso r
at
D a rtm o u th C o l
h e serves as chairm an and president
o f T h e C en ter on A ddiction and S ub
m iracle dru g s.”
" O u r tw o g u ests to g eth er have
d e c a d e s o f p e rs o n a l e x p e rie n c e
le g e , h is a lm a
stan ce A buse at C olum bia U niversity
m ater.
J o s e p h
w o rk in g in th e h ealth care sy stem ,
D o n d ero said. " M o st p eo p le are fa
C alifano served as
S e c re ta ry
of
(C A SA ).
T h e T o m M c C a ll F o ru m w a s
founded in 1982 b y th e students and
m iliar w ith C . E v erett K o o p ’s w a r on
b ig to b acco a n d use o f th e bully
H ealth, E ducation
Is health care a h u m an rig h t ? O r is
d eb ate for Pacific U n iv e rsity ’s 1999
T o m M cC all F orum . T h e 17* an n u al
p ublic affairs forum is titled “ H ealth
C are: R ight o r R esp o n sib ility ?" an d
w ill b e held o n T h u rsd ay , M arch 4 ,
1999, at the A rlen e S ch n itzer C o n
cert H all in Portland.
S peakers for th is y e a r’s M cC all
F orum w ill b e C . E v erett K o o p ,
form er S urgeon G en eral u n d e r P resi
d en ts R eagan an d B ush; an d Jo sep h
C alifano, form er S ecretary o fH ealth ,
E ducation, a n d W elfare u n d e r P resi
dent C arter.
" A s a society, w e ’v e rejected n a
tionalized h ealth care an d in stead de
facto hav e created a h ig h ly p o liti
a n d W e lfa re in th e
C a rte r A d m in is
pulpit o f th e S u rg eo n G e n e ra l’s o f
fice to get p ublic atten tio n to health
tration beginning
in l9 7 7 .D u rin g h is
issues.
"C alifan o ’sh igh-profilepublic ser
vice b eg an as a to p aid e to L.BJ,
h elp in g create th e G reat S ociety p ro
gram s in clu d in g M ed icare an d M ed
cized tw o-tiered h ealth care sy stem :
privatized health care now d o m i
icaid. A t H E W , h e w as th e first to
tak e o n th e to b acc o lo b b y and o th er
to u g h issues su ch as ab o rtio n and
and P resident B ush in that capacity. A
nated b y H M O s, a n d a g o v ern m en t-
b ased system fo r the eld erly . M e d i
so arin g h o sp ital costs. H e h as w rit
ten ex ten siv ely ab o u t the subject o f
native o f B rooklyn, N e w Y o rk , Dr.
K oop graduated from D artm outh C o l
care, and the p o o r, M ed icaid ,
h ealth care.”
C . E v erett K o o p b ecam e the U.S.
said
P ro fesso r R u ss D o n d e ro , facu lty
coordinator of the Forum . " B u t 15
percent o f th e p o p u latio n at an y tim e
S u rg eo n G eneral in N o v em b er 1981
lege. F ollo w in g h is ap p o in tm en t b y
President R eagan, Dr. K o o p advised
and served b o th President R eagan
the public o n the d an g ers o f sm oking,
H O U S T O N - A nerve graft per
form ed during surgical rem oval o f the
erections during the surgical procedure
know n as a radical prostatectomy.”
prostate m ight help prostate-cancer
patients m aintain their ability to have an
T he nerves from the ankle are sewn
onto the erection-producing nerves that
run along the right and left sides o f the
prostate. Researchers hope that new
nreves will regenerate through the graft,
w hich will serve as a “ safety net” by
providing a scaffolding that can main
tain the electrical nerve pathways needed
errection.
T his experim ental technique and
positive results from tw o patients w ho
have had the graft are reported in the
January issue o f the Journal ofU rology
by physicians at B aylor C ollege o f
M edicine and The M ethodist Hospital
in Houston.
“Im potence is very com m on side
effect o f postate surgery, because the
nerves that control the ability to have an
errection m ight be rem oved o r dam
aged,” said Dr. Edw ard K im , a Baylor
urologist and principal author o f the
paper. “W e are investigating the poten
tial benefit o f grafting nerves taken from
the ankle onto the nerves that control
for an erection.
“O u r first patient, a 5 6-y ear-old man,
w as able to have a partial erection six
m onths after the surgery and intercourse
15 months after surgery,” Kim said. The
second patient, 58, w as able to have
intercourse eight m onths after the sur
gery.
“W e exxpect it to take at least two
years for patients to appreciate the full
benefit o f this procedure, because both
spirited debate b etw een a liberal and a
reorganization in
C arville, W illiam Safire, John Sununu,
Pierre Salinger, R obert B ork, Jesse
Ja ck so n , M ario C u o m o , and D an
N a v y , C a lif a n o
w a s n am ed G e n
eral C ounsel o f the
Nerve graft during prostate
removal might help prevent impotency
tics and L aw Forum . O v er the years,
th e T o m M cC all F o ru m has b eco m e
th e p rem ier public affairs event in the
N o rth w est, draw in g national political
figures each y ear to P ortland fo r a
tenure the d epart
m e n t u n d erw en t
the m ost com plete
25 years. F ollow
in g service in the
lege an d from C orn ell M edical C o l
faculty o f Pacific U niversity’s P oli
co n servative o f national interest. P re
v ious debaters have included: Jam es
Q uayle.
R eserved-seat tickets for th e 1999
T o m M cC all Forum are available
A rm y . C a lifa n o
th ro u g h the Pacific U niversity B ox
w asappointed spe
O ffice (503) 359-2918 o r F red M ey er
c ia l a s s is ta n t to
F astixx (503) 224-8499.
National Publication
Upscale
___ ______
arp «pvered
dunne are
SU1 severed during sur
the prostate
ends o f each nerve graft have
to develop
gery, the patient has less than a tw o
connections,” K im said.
percent chance ofbeing able to develop
A lthough rem oval o f the nerve from
an erection strong enough for inter
the ankle can produce a sm all sensory
deficit in the foot and low er leg, the
problem is likely to go aw ay as other
nerves com pensate for the loss, he said.
O nly m en w ho are potent prior to
prostate surgery can potentially benefit
from this type o f nerve graft.
Kim and colleagues in B aylor’s Scott
D epartm ent o f urology and D ivision o f
Plastic Surgery are evaluating results
fro m 50otherm enonw hichthis surgery
procedure has been performed.
Each year, 340.000men are diagnosed
w ith acancer o f the prostate, the w alnut
sized sex gland that m akes the fluid to
c a n y sperm. A bout 50,000 m en each
year have theirprostate removed. Ifboth
sets o f nerves that run along the sides of
course.
“The nerve graft might be able to
spare manv m en a problem than can be
physically and psychologically debili
tating, but w e need to com plete long
term studies o f at least 100 patients to
justify recom m endations for this proce
dure,” K im said.
O ther Bay lor researc hers w ho coau
thored the paper are Dr. Rahul N ath in
p 1 as tic surgery and Dr. Ihom as W hee ler
in pathology .The Prostate C ancer R e
search Initiative in the Scott D epartm ent
o fU ro lo g y at B aylor is supporting the
study. M em bers o f the departm ent are
now performing radi cal prostatectomies
K a i B u sin e s sm a n P a u l K n au ls w ill be featu red in the M arch issue o f the
N a tio n al P u b licatio n U p scale m ag azin e as R o le M odel
with nerve era9s
Fat-blocking drug helps
obese patients lose weight
H O U STO N - A tw o-year study o f
nearly 900 obese patients has show n
that the drug orlistat (Xemcal), in com bi
nation with a m oderate-calorie diet, pro
duces w eight loss, helps prevent weight
regain, and procedures other health ben
efits. Results o f the study, conducted at
B aylor College ofM edic me in Houston
and 17 other research centers nation
wide, are published in the Jan. 20 issue
o f the Journal o f the A m erican M edical
A ssociation (JAM A ).
“W e are extrem ely encouraged by
the outcom e o f this research, w hich w as
the largest and longest o f any double
blind, placebo-controlled U.S. trails to
test the effectiveness o f a weight-loss
m edication in obese patients,” said Dr.
John Foreyt, principal investigator for
the B aylor site.
Orlistat, w hich has not been ap
proved by the Food and D rug A dm inis
tration, is a “ fat blocker.” U nlikeobesity
drugs that m anipulate the brain to de
crease appetite, orlistat prevents about
one-thirdoffat consum ed during a meal
from being digested so that the body will
not absorb it.
Participants in the study had to be at
least 30 pounds overweight. They were
random ly assigned to receive orlistat or
a placebo, a harm less sugar pill.
During the first year o f the study, all
participants w ere confined to a low-
calorie diet. Those receiving orliastat
lost 8.8 percent o fb o d y fat; the placebo
group lost only 5.8 percent. A t the end
o f the first year, 65.7 percent o f the
orlistat group lost m ore than fivepercent
oftheir initial body weight, com pared to
43.6 percent o f the placebo group. A l
m ost 39 percent o f their initial body
weight, com pared to nearly 25 percent o f
those w ho w ere given the placebo.
During the second year, participants
w ereplacedonam oderate-caloriedietto
see if they could maintain their weight
loss. Participants given 120 milligrams
o f orlistat regained 63.4 percent oftheir
lost weight.
Patients who were treated with 120
m illigram s o f orlistat th roughout the
tw o years lost 7.6 percen t o f their
initial b o d y w eight b y the en d o f the
study, w hile those given a placebo
show ed only a4 .2 percent loss through-
o u t the tw o years.
In addition to w eight loss, orlistat
significantly reduced total cholesterol,
low -density lipoprotein (L D L) choles
terol, and the ratio o f L D L to high-
density lipoproteins, g lucose, insulin,
and blood-pressure levels.
T hroughout the study, orlistat w as
w ell tolerated by p articipants. T he
m ost com m on adverse reactions w ere
intestinal, reported b y 79 percen t o f
the orlistat group and 59 percent o f the
patients given a placebo.
T his studyis definitely g o o d new s
for obese people w h o have d ifficulty
regulating the am o u n t o f fat in their
diet and w hose w eight is interfering
w ith their health,” said F oreyt, p ro fes
sor o f m edicine and directo r o f the
B ehavioral M edicine R esearch C en
ter at B aylor. “ S tudy particip an ts also
had to exercise, w hich serves as a
rem inder that an effective w eight-loss
program cannot rely on m ed ication
and d iet alone.”
T he re se a rc h w s fu n d ed by
H offm ann-L a R oche, m anufacturer o f
orlistat.
PCC Unions to Launch Labor
Histoiy Mural
T h e P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity co lleg e
■ederation o f C lassified E m p lo y ees
ind P C C F acu lty F ereration w ill hold
i c e le b ratio n to K ic k -o ff o n a labor
listory m u ral pro ject. T h e k ic k -o ff
¡elebration w ill be h eld from 1 -2 p.m.
in W ed n esd ay , F eb ru ary , 0 ,h in the
ip p er m all o f the C o lleg e C en ter at
Sylvania C am p u s an d w ill featu re the
jro u p G en eral S trik e sin g in g labor
tongs as w ell as a la b o r h isto ry dis
play. C ak e an d refresh m en ts w ill be
lerved. A t n o o n in the sam e locatio n ,
the f e a t u r e d s p e a k e r f o r th e
N ew sspeak p ro g ram w ill ta lk o n is
sues vital to w o rk in g p eo p le.
T h e P C C F ed eratio n s re c en tly re
ceived a $ 2 2 5 0 grant from th e R e
gional A rts an d C u ltu re C o u n c il for
the m ural project. T h e m u ral has also
p ro ject, n o ted th at “ the im ag ery w ill
install p rid e an d an ap p reciatio n o f
the acco m p lish m en ts, h isto ry , and
secu red fu n d in g from a n u m b er o f
sources internal to th e P o rtlan d C o m
m u n ity C o lleg e sy stem , a su b stan ial
d o n a tio n fro m th e P lu m b ers and
S team fitters u n io n L ocal 290, and
cu ltu ral div ersity o f th e lab o r m o v e
m ent and h ighlight the critical co n tri
b u tio n s in d iv id u al w o rk ers m ak e in
o u r ev ery d ay lives. It w ill b u ild on,
exp an d , an d stren g th en the d ialo g
that has already b eg u n b etw een PC C
and the co m m u n ity an d celeb rate the
kinds o f activ ity th at o c c u r w ith in
m o n ies an d reso u rces from th e tw o
PC C federations. A F T -O reg o n p ro
v id ed fun d in g fo r the K ick -o ff event.
T h e m u ral w ill b e p lace d o n the
u n io n s’ ex terio r office at the S ylvania
cam p u s S o m e o f th e goals o f the
m u ral are to in crease the visib ility o f
these w a lls.”
I f y o u are in terested in p articip a
tion in this project, call 977-4482 Skilled
m u ralist interedted in b ein g c o n sid
ered fo r the p ro ject c o o m in a to r p o si
tion should subm it a resum e and w ork
sam p les to P C C F F , P O B ox 19389
P o rtlan d , O R 9 7 2 8 0 b y F eb ru ary 10,
an d p articip atio n in the u n io n s as
w ell as ed u cate m em b ers and the
co m m u n ity -at-larg e o n lab o r histo ry
w h ile h ig h lig h tin g the d iv ersity o f
those in v o lv ed in lab o r struggles.
L aura C am pos, acla ssified em ployee
w ho co n ceiv ed o fth e m ural an d co n
tinues to be activ ely in v o lv ed in the
1999.
1
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