The Medical Roundup
by
(NVJi Emerltmi Coasnltai
jWr '? CI
Consultant la Medicine.
Clinic
Emeritus Professor of Medicine.
Hays Cttata
FT
Km
LAi
Black Moles and Their
Dangers
Dr. George D. Pack, one of
the world's experts on tumors
tells of studying 1,000 adult
patients who
had come to
a diagnostic
clinic with no
particular con
cern about
a their skin. The
I average one
y of the patients
f y had 15 moles,
k 1 none of which
feet or the genitalia. When a
study was made of 1,225 pa
tients with the black moles,
or so-called melanomas, which
often cause serious trouble,
many were found on the soles
of the feet and on the genitals.
What this means is- that
anvone who has a black mole
on his feet or genitals ought:
to have it removed. These
black moles occur most often
on the skin of blonds or per
sons with a sandy complexion,
red hair, and a tendency to
freckles. Dr. Pack and his as-.
sociates urge all people of this ;
complexion to get their black j
moles cut out before they be- j
gin to give trouble. They!
should be removed, also, from j
infants and children.
. Some times a pigmented
mole will remain quiet for
years, and then it will grow
bigger and darker, and it may
ulcerate a bit or bleed or hurt.
This generally means that
trouble is starting. Sometimes
by then it is too late to get
the thing all out. Already it
may have scattered through
the body. Often the black
moles don't show up in child
ren until after puberty. For
tunately, there are some dark
pigmented moles which don't
change into cancer, but one
cannot always tell them from
the other type even with the
help of a microscope. Young
women, when pregnant can
have a bad flare-up of a black
mole. At the great Memorial
Cancer Center in New York
it was found that between the
years 1917 and 1945, 21.4 per
cent of the patients treated
for flare-ups of black moles
stayed well. During the last
few years the percentage of
cures has gone up to 39.1.
Snakebiie
During my many years " of
traveling through the Sierras
of California, I was often im
pressed with the fact that, al
though my companions and I
met many a rattlesnake, we
rarely had a dangerous brush
with one. I once nearly step
ped on a big fellow but he
rattled and warned me in
time. We practically never,
heard of or met with anyone
who had been bitten or had
known personally a person
who had been bitten. In all
of my many years of medical
life I have seen only one man
who was bitten by a rattler,
and he was a professional rat
tlesnake catcher who sold
rattlesnake bile to Chinese
herb doctors for large sums.
He was foolish enough to
reach down into a bag to pick
out a snake that he had
caught. He surely was asking
for trouble and he got it. Af
ter the bite, he had a nasty
black swelling of one of his
fingers,,but aside from this he
didn't seem to be any the
worse for wear. I was just
reading an interesting article
by Drs. H. M. Parrish and E.
B. Pollard, who say that it
has been estimated that each
year in the United States from
2,000 to 3,000 persons are bit
ten by poisonous snakes. That
the mortality is not high is
shown by the fact that in the
period from 1950 to 1954
there were only 71 reported
deaths from snake bites. In
this country, most of the dan
gerous bites are inflicted by
the pit vipers, which include
the rattlesnake, the moccasin,
the copperhead and the cot-
tonmouth.
Cases Reported
The remarkable thing that
Drs. Parrish and Pollard have
now done is to report the
cases of 14 persons who were
repeatedly bitten by snakes.
One was bitten 12 times,
another 10 times, two had six
bites, one had five bites, three
had four bites, one had three
bites and five had two bites!
They were all either profes
sional herpetologists (students
of snakes), or snake-handlers,
wild animal dealers, or bio-
logists. Usually they got bitten
on the fingers or thumbs or
forearms or hands or legs.
Some of the persons had to
have a finger of thumb ampu
tated because of the gangrene
that followed a severe bite.
None of these people appear
ed to have become so im
munized against snake venom
that their second or third bite
would do them little harm. In
many cases the bite was not
severe because the snake was
' small. Usually, there was some
shock, nausea, vomiting and
giddiness, a little fever, a
- rapid, thready pulse, occas
ionally unconsciousness and
muscular twitching, and then
the hand and arm became bad
ly swollen. So far as I know,
the whiskey usually given has
no good effect on persons bit
ten by a deadly snake.
Mental Patients to Run
Own Wing in Hospital
In the Coppice Hospital,
Nottingham, England, a re
markable new experiment is
being tried out. A wing .is
being added to a mental hos
pital - a wing which will be
run by the patients! Doctors
and nurses will come in only
on invitation. Doubtless, the
only types of patients admit
ted will be those who are well
behaved and troubled only by
some mental quirk which they
still have to get under control
before they can safely take
their place in the community
again.
Dr. Alvarez' booklet on
heart trouble may be obtained
by sending 25 cents and a
large, stamped, self-addressed
envelope to Dr. Walter C. Al-
Six Public Hearings Scheduled Next Month
A total of six public hear
ings have been called for
June meetings of the Medford
city council.
' The hearings, based on rec
ommendations from the city
planning commission, were
called at the council meeting
Thursday night.
A proposed subdivision ord
inance is slated for a hearing
June 4. Passage of the ordin
ance would mark the fulfill-
varez, Dept. MMT Register
and Tribune Syndicate, Box
957, Des Moines 4, Iowa.
(Released by The Register
and Tribune Syndicate, 1959)
ment of several years' efforts
by city officials.
Other, hearings called for
June 4 concern two zone
change requests. One is for
a change from single family
residential to multiple family
to permit erection of a Scot
tish Rite consistory at the
southeast corner of Crestbrook
rd. and Highland dr. The sec
ond concerns a change from
single family to limited com
mercial asked by the Knights
of Columbus for a lodge hall
on property on Black Oak
dr. south of Barnett rd.
Two hearings slated for
June 18 concern requests on
behalf of B. and G. properties,
a block of businesses on East
Jackson st. near the new Med
ford Shopping Center.
The lots, currently zoned
single family residential, are
a non-conforming use. One re
quest would change the zone
to limited commercial. The
Exeter, England-(UPD-At the
Devon County pig show
Thursday: Two bishops show
ed up to hold a special com
munion service for herdsmen.
No herdsmen came. The pig
that won a blue ribbon for
Mrs. Diana Suthrell bit her
on the hand as she waited
to collect "his prize.
second concerns - vacation of
an alley behind the properties.
A third hearing slated June
18 is on a zone change re
quest from single family to
light industrial by Harold
Farr to permit expansion of
his Valley Center Trailer
court, North Pacific highway,
onto a lot in the Valley Cen
ter subdivision.
Fuscias t African Violets
FREELAND'S
Tropical Fish
2958 Freeland Read
(West End Beall Lane)
W. B. Taylor rowed on the MAIL TRIBUNE, Medferd, Or.
Harvard crew' in an intercol
legiate regatta in 1875 and
next day won both the seven
mile walk and the three-mile
walk.
Sunday, May 24, 195
As water changes to team
it expands 1,700 times its or
iginal volume.
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