Page B3
October 12, 2005
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H ealth ____________
L ocal E pilepsy C enter B rings P atient R e lie f
Surgical procedure
reduces seizures
Diagnosed with epilepsy 11 years ago,
Brianne Si mpkins had tried several differ
ent kinds of anti-epileptic medications in
an attempt to control her seizures without
enduring success.
“I was frustrated and at a point where I
needed something permanent to help me
with my condition, an option that would
enable me to take care of my family, to be
healthy for my young son,” she says.
Tim e will tell, but Sim pkins may be
headed on the right path, tow ard her
goal o f a more sim plified life that is
under control.
Mark Yerby, medical di
A surgical procedure to
rector
of the Providence
reduce seizures is now avail
Epilepsy
Center. “Further
able to patients at the Provi
more, many VNS patients
dence Epilepsy Center, part
have been found to ben
of the Providence Brain In
efit from improved cogni
stitute and based at Provi
tive function including
dence St. Vincent Medical
increased alertness, con
Center. Simpkins was one
centration and mood."
of the initial patients to un
A fter headaches, epi
dergo the operation.
lepsy
is the most com
C a lle d V agus N erve
mon
neurological
condi
Stimulation (VNS), “it has
tio
n
,
o
u
tn
u
m
b
e r in g
been clinically proven to
stroke, P arkinson’s dis
d e c re a se , and in som e
ease and m ultiple scle
cases, eliminate, seizures by
Mark Yerby
rosis. It is a d isorder
conditioning the brain to
better react to the interruptions in brain whereby recurrent seizures are caused
function common in epilepsy,” says Dr. by excessive electrical discharges from
the central nervous system .
VNS therapy consists of an implanted
generator - a small, battery-operated, pace
maker-like device that delivers intermit
tent electrical stimulation to the patient’s
left vagus nerve, which activates various
areas of the brain.
T rained neuro- and vascular sur
geons, working in concert with Dr. Yerby,
perform the procedure. The generator is
im planted in the patient’s left chest area,
with small thread-like wires and spring
shaped electrodes running under the
skin and w rapped around the left vagus
nerve in the neck.
After implantation, the generator must
be programmed todeli ver a precise amount
ofelectrical stimulation intermittently. This
is done using a computer and hand-held
“wand.” The wand is placed over the
patient, above where the generator has
been implanted, and programming takes
approximately 15 minutes. VNS electrical
output is gradually increased by repro
gramming monthly, over four to five
months, all of which is done in the doctor’s
office.
“VNS has evolved into a mainstream
therapy that offers most patients long
term improvements in seizure control and
quality of life,” says Dr. Y erby. "Practitio
ners have an increased understanding of
how VNS works, which patients best re
spond to the therapy and how to treat
patients with it, given ongoing clinical
studies, research and data.
Vaccine Stops
Potential Deaths from Bird Flu Alarm
Cervical Cancer
realistic estimate.
Scientists have made predictions rang
ing from less than 2 million to 360 million.
Last year, W H O ’s chief for the Asia-
Pacific region predicted 100 million
deaths, but until now that was the high
est figure publicly mentioned by a WHO
official.
W e’re not going to know how lethal
the next pandemic is going to be until the
pandem ic b e g in s,” W H O in fluenza
spokesman Dick Thompson said Friday.
“You could pick almost any number”
until then, he said, adding that WHO “can’t
be dragged into further scaremongering.”
Experts agree there will certainly
be another flu pandemic - a new
human flu strain that goes global.
However, it is unknown when or
how bad that global epidemic will
be.
It also is unknown whether the
H 5N 1 bird flu strain circulating in
Asian poultry now will be the origin Mutiara Gayatri, 6, a victim o f bird flu, lies
ofthe next pandemic. But experts are on a b e d a t a hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia.
tracking it just in case, and govern
ments across the world are preparing them flu pandemic, experts say. One is the attack
rate - the proportion of the population that
selves for such a possibility.
Two factors will have a major influence become infected. The other is the death
on how many people will die from the next rate, or the proportion of the sick who die.
Flu Shot Clinics to Open
Asbestos Exposure Warning
Number depends
on when pandemic
begins in Asia
(AP) — The W orld Health Organiza
tion moved Friday to revise alarming pre
dictions that a pandemic stemming from
the bird flu virus ravaging parts of Asia
could kill as many as 150 million people.
A flu spokesm an at the agency’s
Geneva headquarters did not say the 150
million prediction was wrong, butempha-
sized that 7.4 million deaths is a more
Kaiser Permanente will offer free flu
shots to its health plan members at high-
est-risk for complications from influenza
during special clinics on Saturday, Oct. 15
from be 9:30 a. m. to 2:30 p.m. After that, flu
shots will be given on a drop-in basis
weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
All Kaiser Permanente members will be
able to receive flu shots starting Monday,
Oct. 24 and continuing through the flu
season.
The shots are especially recommended
for those at highest risk from influenza:
people 65 or older; children ages 6-23
months; residents of nursing home and
other long-term care facilities; anyone ages 2-
64 with chronic health problems, such as dia
betes, heart disease, or asthma; women who
will be pregnant during the flu season; out-of
home caregivers and household contacts of
children less than 6 months of age; and health
care workers with direct patient contact.
According to the federal Centers for Dis
ease Control and Prevention, it takes one to
two weeks after being vaccinated for anti
bodies against influenza to develop and pro
vide protection. The flu season typically
peaks between December and March, so
patients at highest risk are encouraged to get
their flu shot in October or early November.
O regon health officials are w arn
ing em ployees o f a form er north
Portland vermiculate processing plant
that they may have been exposed to
asbestos.
Between 1968 and 1974, Suprem e
Perlite, located at 4600 N. Suttle Rd.,
processed m ore than 600 tons o f
vermiculite attic insulation taken from
a mine in Libby, Mont. The verm icu
lite from Libby was found to contain
asbestos.
A dditionally, household fam ily
m em bers were likely to have been
exposed to asbestos fibers that w ork
ers brought home on their clothing
and hair.
“Form er w orkers and household
m em bers may be at higher risk for
certain health effects,” said A m anda
Guay o f the Oregon D epartm ent o f
Human Services. “W e recom m end
that anyone who may have been ex
posed learn more about asbestos and
see a doctor with experience in as
bestos-related lung disease.”
For m ore information, call DHS at
503-731-4025.
y
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(AP) — The first major study of an
experimental vaccine to prevent cervi
cal cancer found it was 100 percent
effective, in the short term, at blocking
the disease and lesions likely to turn
cancerous.
The drugmaker Merck & Co. said
Gardasil, a genetically engineered vac
cine, blocks infection with two of the
100-plus types o f human papilloma vi
rus, HPV 16 and 18. The two sexually
transm itted viruses together cause
about 70 percent of cervical cancers.
Other types of HPV also can cause
cervical cancer and painful genital warts.
About 20 million Americans have some
formofHPV.
The final-stage study of Gardasil in
cluded 10,559sexually active women ages
16 to 26 in the United States and 12 other
countries who were not infected with
HPV 16orl8.H alf got three vaccinedoses
over six months; half got dummy shots.
Among those still virus-free after the
six months, none who received the vac
cine developed cervical cancer or pre-
cancerous lesions, compared with 21
who got dummy shots.
“To have 100 percent efficacy is
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Dr. Eliav Barr, M erck’s head of clinical
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