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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1962)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. The Medical Roundup Emtrltns ComulUnt In Medirlnt Mayo clinic Emtrltui Professor of Medicine Mayo Clinic (Regliter ud Tribune Syndicate. 1962) Alvaraa Acromajaly, or Glganliim Every 10 often I see a man who it perhaps seven feet tall, who has a big lower law, a big nose, perhaps big hands and feet, perhaps a coarse skin, and a raucous voice. For ev ery one of these persons I see with a marked form of aprnmoDn- ly. I see manv more with a form so mild that many an observant young doctor will fail to notice it or realize what it is. The person may have only an overly-wide or big nose and perhaps a slightly over size face. Some of these men and women, because of their badly proportioned faces, are distressed because they feel they are homely. In these cases, what hap pened, in childhood, was that the little pituitary gland at the base of the brain became too active, and produced too much of the "growth hor mone." Fortunately, in all but a few cases, the gland later quieted down and did no more harm. I cannot remember when I saw one of these peo ple who needed an operation to remove from the gland a little adenoma o r benigh (non-cancerous) tumor. With x-rays, one can show that many of 'these people have a large "sella turcica" (Turkish saddle) which is a doctor's name for a bony saddle-like cup at the base of the skull which contains the pituitary gland. As the gland enlarges, the bony "saddle" enlarges. Years ago, my good friend Professor Her'iert Ev ans isolated from the pituitary glands of dogs the "growth hormone." On Injecting it in to little dachshunds, he caus ed them to grow into great big hound-like dogs. Recently, Dr. Li has obtained enough of this growth hormone from human pituitary glands to cause some stunted boys to grow. The sad feature is that growth hormone made from the pituitary glands of cattle Is so different chemically from that made from the glands of men that It cannot be counted on to help boys. Chamisl. Working It is greatly to be hoped that, some day, a simple growth - producing chemical can be made perhaps from the growth hormone of ani mals a drug that will cause boys and girls to grow taller. Chemists now are working hard on the problem. I hope that a few ' hundred people who read this will not imme diately write me or Dr. Li for some growth hormone to help their child. I haven't eny at all, and Dr. Li has only enough for a few experi ments. He has none to hand out. One can easily see that it is not easy to get pituitary glands from people who have just died and have not been embalmed. People who for long have suffered from acromegaly write to ask me if their faces will start growing again, and 1 am pretty sure they -ill not. Others write to ar'-. if their minds will be affected, and I see no reason for fearing that. I am sorry that 1 know of no treatment that will cause an acromegalic's legs to shorten, or his face to grow smaller and more handsome. Amebiasis Many persons, and especial' ly those who get a diarrhea while traveling in a foreign country, have now been found or supposedly found, to have amebas (a single-celled micro scopic organism) in their bow el. A poorly-trained or overly-enthusiastic 1 a b o r a t o ry technician can easily make a mistake because amebic cysts (like tiny eggs) look some what like the fat droplets which are common in stools. Also, there are several types of amebas, and probably only one of them causes trouble. Also, few people, and some of us physicians, do not know that a person's b ols can be full of amebas and yet he can be perfectly healthy. I re member a big, husky Mexi can rancher whose sick wife, while going through the Mayo Clinic, talked him into getting 1 a check-up. We found his bowel to be swarming with almost every ameba and worm known to man; he was a walking me nagerie; but he maintained thai he felt wonderfully well; heTiad never been illi his life and he had never had any diarrhea. This is why, when I find a few of the bad ame bas. called histolytica, in I person's bowel, I often say to him, "Let's kill them off but I doubt if they are making any of your symptoms, and hence when you get rid of them, you will probably be no better off." Cured in One Day Many physicians, when they see a patient with ame biasis, feel that they should put him in a hospital for weeks and should keep giv ing him "shots" of this and that, and medicated enemas. During my three years in Mexico, back around 1907, I saw many people with ame biasis, and learned to cure most of them in one day. I realized that when I gave per haps one tablet of medicine three times a day, the ame bas were not hit ha. . enough by the drug; so they did not die. So I gave six or some time 12 tables of carbarsone at one time. This one "wal lop" was not big enough to hurt the man, but that day, it usually killed off all of his amebas. Another thing I learned, was that if with most of the amebas killed off the patient wasn't any better, his or her troubles were not due to the amebas and it was up to me to find a tvw and belter diagnosis. This is a good thing to know. Do you know the proper diet for hypertension? Exact ly what is normal blood pres sure? D r. Alvarez answers these and other questions in his booklet, "High Blood Pres sure." To obtain it, send 25 cents and a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your request to Dr. Waller C. Al varez, Dept. MMT, The Reg ister and Tribune Sjndicate, Box 957, Des Moines 4, Iowa. CONVERTED BY CROOKS Moscow (UPD The newspa per Red Star said Saturday a military accessories factory in Leningrad was converted by crooks into a private plant producing pens, folders and shaving goods. MEDFORD. OREGON MONDAY, MAY 21, I- 9 Frr''4s s t mw m YIKESl-Chcckers. a Chicago canine, encountered a strange sight as he looked up a tree in Schiller Woods forest pre serve when he saw a pair of hands protruding from a hole in a tree. What Checkers didn't know was that a girl had climbed the tree to perform the trick. (UPI) Small Worlds Around Us By LYNN M. WATKINS (Registei and Tribuna Syndicit. 19621 Prolific Hamster Is Hit Own Predator Not even the zoologist knew much about the golden ham ster until about 30 years ago when half a dozen of the tiny animals were discovered in Jordan in a hole in the ground. Residents of the region knew there was a small, sol-den-colored animal that raid ed grain crops and seemed to enjoy living in a dry, almost waterless area, but they ac cepted the animal as a part of the native fauna. No Equal The scientist who discover ed the babies was interested. He took the animals home and raised them. He made some startling discoveries. By the time the youngste.'s were two months old they became parents. As experimental animals in medical research they have no equal, being particularly valuable in cancer research. This, mainly, because the hamster is tough, easily rais ed and has two cheek pouch es. In these fleshy recepta cles, human cancers can be implanted and the progress of the disease checked from day to day. Mrs. Hamster is ready to raise a family when she is two months old. In a little over two weeks sh . will give birth to as many as eight tiny hamsters. These little ones will be raising their own children in another couple of months. In the meantime, the orig inal mother has produced a couple more litters. She only has to wait about threl weeks between litters. Such a staggering birth rate makes the efforts of mice or guinea pigs seem pretty ama teurish. The rabbit isn't even playing in the same league. Tops As Pets As pets the hamsters are tops. They are playful, harm- less, clean and always good natured. With such a procliv ity for biological multiplica tion, how does it happen the! hamsters haven t taken over? With such an exploding popu lation potential they could overrun the place. Or, why aren't we up to our necks in hamsters? The reason la simple. If left alone, the hamsters are their own predators. E v e n I " 7 mama and papa hamster, Just beginning to raise a family, will leap at one another and fight until one or the other is dead. Every hamster seems to have an irresistible urge to kill another hamster. 100 FINANCING on AN Strvica or Repair Work Drivo in for fraa attimata ar Call 2-6208 WHITNEY OLDS 41 S So. Riveriida BICYCLES & TRICYCLES REPAIRED Large Stock Tires and Parts Many Foreign Bike Parts SIMS CYCLE & HOBBY SHOP 23 North Fir 772-2472 i aiiiuaj in i una mi. urn n SB ig Bays ! 7-Pieee kaSLfl Dinette fSBl 1 iv S'i HaaMauiaiKBnanaK mssm Open Tonite and Thru Friday till 9 STOftEWIDE! These are true values reduced drastically from our every day prices. Check throughout the store and compare with sales prices anywhere. 1 EgcIs 36" x 60" Table Zenith TV 19" Including $13.95 Rollaway Stand ONLY Visit Before You Giant Swivel Rocker ONLY $4788 Beautiful Decorator PICTURES 24"x30" . QMLY $H95 Buy! Reversible FOAM CUSHIONS liiH ALL WOOL CARPET CARPETING $3 - $388 ?3: NYLON TWEED With Foam Padding 1 m --at' 3-Pieces With Salem Maple Finish Mattress 6 Legs. 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Norge Upright Freezer $157.88 Fully Automatic Norge Washer , $169.88 QaGaaeri 3-Piece Table Group .nd co $1888 Maple Milk Stools - $P Rattan Shell Chairs S2.83 3-Piece CHAISE LOUNGE SETS $16.88 I 9 LIVING ROOM SET 8788 DIVAN and CHAIR $9988 SECTIONAL $1888 2 Piece Loose F-oam Cushions .... 2 Piece with Foam Cuihioni Table 1 ..w i t valuti to II .! e i I . h II " IHMLV free U iiiiHiiiivF uri iirni rTiN; KWBWP r ' TRANSFER as FUriTURE OOi LAMPS Reg. $9.95 2 ... 8'5 Floor Lamps $598 POLE LAMPS $488 ALL SALES FINAL 1 Be sure to look for taqs on other merchandise ijiot listed here! There's many, many items on sale duringhis clearance that will probably include just the things you want.
