MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREGON
TUESDAY. APRIL 24. 1962
The Medical Roundup
ft f . Emeritui C
Emeritus Consultant Id Medicln
Mayo clinic
Emeritus Professor of Medlclnt
Mayo clinic
(RegUter and Tribun iyndicaU,
1962)
mi
Person Who Cannot Take
Thyroid Substance
Hundreds of people write
to say that their doctors got
a report irom tne laboratory
that either
their basal
m e t a b o lie
rate, m e a s
ured by a spe
cial breathing
apparatus, or
their "protein
bound iodine,"
measured by a
chemist, was
low. Some
times, the person writes to
aay that his metabolic rate
was minus 12 per cent, and
he is being treated for this.
I think most experts would
agree that 12 per cent is well
within limits of nor.-nal and
needs no treatment. I have
known doctor friends who had
a basal metabolic rate of mi
nus 20, and who were perfect
ly comfortable and not ill.
The important point, that
few of us doctors seem ever
to have been taught in college,
is that if we give 2 or 3 grains
of thyroid substance to a per
son, and all he does is to get
jittery and nervous and ready
to jump out of his skin, he
fairly obviously does not need
the stuff. Hence, if I had or
dered it, I would tell the pa
tient to quit taking it.
If a woman past 40 has be
come slowed up mentally; if
she goes to sleep in her chair;
if she has gotten stout and
pudgy in the face, with thick
ened eyelids; if she feels cold;
if her skin is dry; if her hair
is brittle and if she has lost
all interest in sex, then the
giving of thyroid substance
in good-sized doses is likely to
make her feel like a new
woman. She probably will
have to keep taking it all her
days.
Felt Mora Narvout
Some women write to say
that they had a goiter cut out;
and then they were given thy
roid substance. The fact that
this only made them feel more
nervous makes me doubt if
the report obtained with the
breathing machine was cor
rect, we physicians commonly
forget that the girl who runs
the machine can make a mis
take, or her machine can be
out of order, or the calcula
tions she has to make can
come out wrong.
Before the measuring ma
chines were redesigned, I saw
many estimations of basal me
tabolic rate which proved to
have been incorrect. Today,
it is fashionable to rely on
measurements of the "protein
bound iodine," but this can
easily be wrong because the
normal amount is about 4-
thousandths of a milligram,
which is such an extremely
tiny amount that only an ex
pert chemist can measure it.
As I write this, a friend
comes in to tell me that her
"basal metabolic rate" came
out much too low, while her
protein-bound iodine came
out too high. The probability
is that one of the reports is
wrong.
A point that all women who
have had a toxic goiter re
moved surgically should re
member is that they are likely
to be somewhat nervous for
the rest of their days.
People write to ask if there
is any home test for thyroid
deficiency and I say "Yes." If
a woman (it is usually a wom
an) feels slowed-up, sleepy,
cold, tired or weak; if s h e
doesn't perspire much, and if
she goes to sleep in her chair,
her thyroid is probably func
tioning poorly. Her doctor
might do well to try giving
her a few grains of Uiyroid
substance a day. On the other
hand, if her thyroid gland is
over-working, she will feel
warm, jittery, nervous and un
able to sleep. She will per
spire much; she will kick off
her bed clothes at night; she
probably will blink her eyes
Equalization
Board Meets
The Jackson County Board
of Equalization held its first
official meeting of the year
Monday to consider the
assessor's proposed posted
ratio.
County assessment ratios
for 1962 were posted April IS.
By law, all counties, except
those under reappraisal and
Multnomah county are re
quired to assess property on
the basis of at least 25 per
cent of market value. The
25 per cent of market value
gives the assessed valuation
on which taxes are figured.
Now is the time for tax
payers to examine the asses
sed value of their property to
determine the accuracy of the
assessment, county officials
advised today. If the taxpayer
has a reasonable doubt he
should contact the assessor
first, then if satisfactory
agreement is not reached, the
taxpayer may appeal to the
county board of equalization.
The equalization board will
convene May 14, and petitions
may be filed prior to that
date with the county clerk,
but in no event later than
May 21. Petitions must be in
writing, giving the facts and
the grounds upon which the
petition is made, and verified
by oath of the petitioner or
his attorney.
If the taxpayer fails to se
cure relief from what he con
siders to be over assessment
or inequity, he may then ap
peal to the newly created tax
court in Oregon.
often; she may have a fine
tremor in her hands; she may
lose weight, and she may have
some diarrhea.
I usually can make the -di
agnosis in a moment simply
by reaching out and feeling
the woman s hand. If her skin
is warm and feverish, her thy
roid gland usually is working
too fast. Sometimes, then, one
will find a little goiter, and
perhaps slightly bulging eyes.
WINNER Laura May Noble, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. E.
Noble, Brophy rd., Eagle Point, has placed tenth in the jun
ior division of the Pinto of the Year and Top Ten Award for
1961. She will accept her award in Nome, N. Y. this week
end. With her is her pinto, "Senorita Cindy."
Eagle Point Girl, Tenth In
National Competition
Eagle Point Laura May
Noble, 15, of Eagle Point has
placed tenth in the junior di
vision of the Pinto of the
Year and Top Ten award for
1961.
Miss Noble will go to Rome,
N.Y. April 28 and 29 for the
awards dinner and presenta
tion of trophies honoring the
top ten pinto horses and riders
in the United States and
Canada during 1961.
She is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. J. S. Noble of Bro
phy rd. Her pinto is named
"Senorita Cindy."
HOMES LACK BATH
London-fflPD-Nearly 5 mil
lion homes in Great Britain
still are without a bath, Frank
Allaun, a Labor member of
Parliament claimed Monday.
you've seen the overhung ones
the underslung ones...
Linfield Schedules
Annual Campus Day
McMinnville - The invita
tions are out for annual Cam
pus day at Linfield college on
April 28. This is the day when
high school seniors have the
opportunity of seeing what
campus life is like at Linfield.
Linfield students have ar
ranged a full day for the vis
itors. They will be able to
meet professors, visit classes,
and participate in college ac
tivities.
Miss Noble has been taking
the 4-H horse club project
for six years and is a member
of the Lake Creek Rancheros
horse club. She started break
ing and training her pinto for
a 4-H project last year.
The girl is the granddaugh
ter of Vern Matthews, Here
ford cattle ranclicr in the
Eagle Point area, where she
began her first years of riding
at the age of six. Today dur
ing branding season she
drives cattle to and from the
range, and is a contestant
in the gymkhana events.
In addition to the riding
career, she is a sopohomore
at Eagle Point High school,
belongs to the Pep club, girls
athletic association, plays in
the school band, and is work
ing on a 4-H beef club proj
ect. She attends the Apostolic
Faith church.
DATE REVISED
Salem - IUPH - The Oregon
Highway Department said
Monday that it has revised the
proposed completion date for
the S24 million Astoria-Meg-ler
bridge, extending it from
the spring of 1965 to the sum
mer of 1965.
Week's Sewing Buy
V v-I
1
mm
Small Worlds
Around Us
By LYNN M. W ATKINS
(Register and Tribunt
Syndic). 1962)
Plant Monitar Sundew
Doesn't Look The Part
We were disappointed when
we found it. We had expect
ed a vicious monster, a mini
ature ogre. But we discovered
an innocent looking little
rosette of bright, shiny leaves
snuggled down close to the
soggy ground of the swamp.
We located it by the jewel
like leaves. They shone and
sparkled in the sun like tiny
diamonds. It was nearly hid
den by low-growing grass, but
it shone so brightly we could
hardly miss it. It was about
two inches across and barely
an inch in height. This was
a sundew, one of the so-called
monsters of the world of
plants.
It didn't look the part. From
the rosette of slender leaves
several bristly hairs extended.
On the tip end of each was
a tiny dot of purple. We ad
justed a magnifying glass and
established the fact the pur
ple spots were actually small
glands. Here was a plant that
trapped living flesh, digested
it, and thereby extended its
own simple life.
Some astonished observers
who have studied this plant
credit it with a low order of
"plant reasoning," or "veg
etable intelligence" because it
can reject that which is not
flesh. .
No Nitrogen
The sundew grows in a
swampy or marshy environ
ment and in a sour soil almost
devoid of nitrogen an ele
ment ordinarily necessary to
plant growth. To gain neces
sary nutriments, it must re
sort to the securing of flesh
flesh in the form of insects
for its continual survival.
Having located the tiny
and we hoped hungry plant,
we settled down to wait. Care
fully we removed the obstruct
ing grass blades, and adjusted
a magnifying glass on the
little plant. We wanted to see
a plant trap cat a living victim.
It didn't take long. A small
fly came sailing in to hover
over the meat which we had
placed near the plant. Before
it settled to ground level it
aparcntly noticed the shining
jewels of the nearby sundew.
The fly left the meat and
flew close over the waiting
plant.
Settled Down
Evidently the glistening
substance that shone so
brightly was attractive, for
the fly settled down right in
the middle of the rosette of
slender leaves.
It was alarmed for it tried
to fly off again, but its feet
were stuck. The more it strug
gled, the tighter it was held.ced animal ... a juice power-
3
Its frantic movement excited
the plant, which poured out
more of the sticky substance.
The bristly hairs, with their
attached glands bent inward,
enfolded the helpless insect
like tiny, loving arms.
Time moved slowly now for
us as we watched. A chemical
action was slowly digesting
the fly; the plant had made a :
kill. That shiny fluid was very I
similar to the gastric juices in '
the stomach of a warm-blood-1
ful enough to digest flesh.
turning it into a liqud. The
plant ogre was assimilating its
meal, and we were eye-witnesses.
HURRYI HURRYI
Hubbard Bros.
BIG SALE
Ends Sat., April 28
Home Rule Forum '
Scheduled on TV
A county citizens' forum on
home rule will be held Thurs
day. April 26, on station
KMED-TV, Channel 10, at 10
p.m.
The program will be con
ducted live and Is designed to
provide an additional oppor
tunity for interested citizens
to air questions about the pro
posed Jackson county home
rule charter.
An admittance fee wl
charged to help pay produc
tion costs, it waa stated.
DOWNTOWN
LAUNDROMAT "-"a-STEWART
WEST A STREET
..be
oduc-
Now look at the great one!
Mercury Meteor'62
Size-wise it', the wife size. The new Mercury
Meteor has everything you would ordinarily find
in a big car: luxury, etyli'h design, roominess
and top performance- And still it's priced below
many compact, handles and parks like a dream,
ie tops in economical operation. Both Meteor
engines (the peppy six and the brawny new V-8)
(aid ad the years thereafter)
are absolute misers when it comes to your gaso
line bills. As if this weren't enough. Meteor has
all the famous Mercury self-servicing features
including self-adjusting brakes and 30.000 miles
between major lubrications. There are bigger
ones and smaller ones but Meteor it the great
one. See it now at your Mercury Dealer.
Need a dress for every day
and one for special occasions?
Choose this soft, simple style
Make one version in cotton,
another in silk.
Printed Pattern 9418; Half
Sizes 14V4, I6V2, 18Vi, 20'i,
22Vi, 24Vj. Size 16'2 requires
3 vards 39-Inch fabric.
FIFTY CENTS in coins for
each pattern for first-class
mail. Send to Marian Martin,
Pattern Dept., 232 West 18th
St., New York 11, N. Y. Print
nlainlv NAME, ADDHhoo,
with SIZE and biii-i.
NUMBER.
Extra Big Summer Pattern
Catalog over 106 styles for
all sizes, occasions. Send 35
cents.
f(pl WXYS3MMf A " Lit
ipaEsi5 ss 1 a niiwi ii limn,... mmOT8m ,',,-. '' ---lnit "T
ESSSwEl :.wSmxwKMST!Z. , , ;, .,.,i,;,,'i, t.y..mf A I i'
1962 . "
1887 I
imes change...
bankers change...
and YOU benefit
stop coiyr.
AKOVMt is
CIRCLES
HP Ml STR4ICIIT FOR YOUR MF.RCLRY DEALER TOR THE BEST
BUS AOIT EACH SIZE
MEDFORD MOTORS, Inc.
225 South Riverside
HEAR
ALCOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS
Each
Sunday Morning
8:30 on
K-DOV
in 1887 when w first opened om doors, bankers waited
hi solenw dignity behind marble ratings tef
jrou to come . Today, you'll find office's of
The Orego Bank easily available to
offer you friendty, courteous service. Often
they are out eating on our customers,
offering o-rhe-spot financial help.
vAv Now
, The Oegon Bank gives yoa checks imprinted with
your name ...... Christmas Club accounts . , ,
checking accounts tailored to your needs . .
electronic bookkeeping to speed the handHng of
deposits . . . these and many more services have
all come about in tne past 75 years, We look for
ward to eipanding this personal servfee In the future,
that we may further assist with aU your money matters.
ROGUE VALLEY
BRANCH
Court Street
Umber Federal Defoat Ivurmce Corpnratmm
am
oacas
EAST MEDFORD
BRANCH
East Jackson Street
Branches also in
Milton-Freewiter, Pendleton,
Portland and The Dalles.
AWw leJtrtl Hotnt Sjmm