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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1962)
MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON THURSPAY. NOVEMBER 18, The Medical Roundup (C S" Emtrltut C( onsulUnt InMedlcln Mayo Clinic Emerltui Prufeisor of Me die In Mayo Clinic (Register and Tribuna Ipndlcati, 1962) HI ,-m. .jt ear Why Measure Prothrombin Time? Quite a few people today who have had a coronary thrombosis, or so-called heart attack, due usually to the p 1 u gging up of a little ar tery in the heart, want to know whv Vj they are tak ing a drug rt called couma- j din. Actually Aivirez they are tak ing it because it cuts down on the tendency of their blood to clot in their arteries. Several sets of statistics have shown that during the last 15 years, when many per sons who have had a heart attack were treated with Cou madin or some similar drug, their tendency to get another attack has been definitely lessened. The only trouble has been that some of the people when put on large doses of the drug have bled badly. They have done this for one of a number of reasons: one being that the physician did not insist that the patient have his prothrombin time measured at least once a month. This measurement of the rate of blood clotting (under certain conditions) must be made in a good laboratory, because, even when it is well carried out, abnormal read ings CAN be made. The test should be made from time to time to see 1) whether the patient is being well enough protected from getting anoth er heart attack, and 2) to make certain that his blood clotting time is not being so greatly lengthened that a serious spell of bleeding migh take place. To stop such bleed ing if it should start, the pa tient should always carry with him some tablets of Vita min K. Taking this medicine would serve quickly to cor rect the abnormal tendency to bleed. Recently I read the state ment by a wise physician who said that he will give Couma din or a similar drug only to persons who have sufficient intelligence, sufficient will ingness to take care of their health and perhaps sufficient Income so that they will keep getting a prothrombin meas urement once or twice a month. The doctor will not be responsible for giving such a potentially dangermi drug to a man who will take it carelessly and withoit having its effect measured lism time to time. I regret to have to lay here that a number of rcent re ports have shown tint some physicians, with ther great desire to protect the patient from getting another leart at tack, have gone too Br, and have used a dosage of Couma din so high as to eidanger life. The way I feel abiut this problem is that if a patient of mine has to depart this world, I would much rather that he go with another heart attack - which he got all by himself - than that he jled to death because I gave Hm too big a dose of the drug. I think- the recently punished statistics show that a cose of the drug that causes the pro thrombin time to be 2 or 3 times the normal is tco big for safety. Often, the tme is expressed as a percentige. I personally will not let my blood go below 40 per ctnt. Black Spot in Field of Tision Every so often a puson, usually past middle age, writes to say that sudienly one day a black spot apptared in the field of vision of one eye. The spot moves widely with the motion of the eye from side to side and up and down. Usually, what happen ed in these cases was that a tiny drop of blood leaked from a small artery into the jelly-like material which fills most of the eyeball. Usually, when the ophthalmologist (eye specialist) looks in vith his special little electrically lighted apparatus, he can see the spot. He will say (hat there is nothing to do about it, except to wait and hope that it gets absorbed and dis appears. He may say that the person will soon get so uted to it that he will see it only when looking at a white ceiling. Dr. Alvarez lists and com ments on other eye condi tions commonly worried abont in his booklet, "How to Safe guard Your Vision." Particu larly of interest to persons past middle age, the booklet may be obtained by sending 25 cents and a stamped, self- addressed envelope with your request to Dr. Walter C. Al varez, Dept. MMT, The Regis ter and Tribune Syndicate, Box 957, Des Moines 4, Iowa T J 1 Vjui ' ' if yt ."wp imi mi : 1 23 Horrendous Poetry D 3 CUSTODY SOUGHT - Kenneth, 14-month-old son of Jacque line Rose, who was picked up with her bank robber boy friend, Bobby Wilcoxson, by the FBI at Baltimore, Md., is shown playing with nurse Mary Ann Goodwin at City Hospital in Baltimore where he is being kept pending deter mination of legal custody. A Texas woman, identifying her self as Fern Rose, Kenneth's grandmother, wrote to the Baltimore sheriff's office claiming custody. (UPI) For Your Convenience t Savings-Big Double Load Wither Council To Resist All-Number Calling Objects To Loss of Exchange Identity By DICK WEST Washington -flJPH- The tele phone company, as everyone knows, has a program under way to con vert its dial ing system to what it bland ly describes as "all-n u m b e r calling." Event u a 1 1 y, a 1 1 exchange names will be replaced by Weit numbers and telephone subscribers will be identified solely by digits. For example, m y rolling eupho n i o u s "Jefferson 3-3355" would become a cold, imper sonal "533-3355." Many of us subscribers ob ject to having our exchange names amputated but we thus far have been unable to mount any sort of effective defense. As one exchange after another fell before ihe re lentless onsweep of "all number calling," the resil ience movement all but crumbled for lack of cen tral force and direction. Even so, we may yet save the day. There has now appeared on the scene, with shining lance and armor, a young Harvard student, Mike Laurence by name, who could become our man on the white horse. Laurence is the founder of "The Committee of Ten Mil lion to Oppose All-Number DriverTraining Cuts Insurance New York-Jl'Pli-More driver education in high schools would save money for Oregon motorists, the Insurance In formation Institute reported. It estimated that unless standard driver education courses are given in more Oregon public high schools, the state's young men or their parents will pay an extra $7 million in automo bile liability insurance pre miums over the next nine years. The reason, the institute said, would be because many youthful drivers will not be able to take advantage of the 10 per cent premium discount for driver education. Under present driver educa tion, the young man without an approved high school course will pay at present rates from $126 to $239 ex tra in liability insurance pre miums during the nine year period, the institute said. Calling." In case you are not familiar with this organiza tion, I should explain that it is the citizens' division of "The Council to Resist All Number Calling tCRANO." which Laurence also founded. The purpose of the "Com mittee of Ten Million" is to provide a rallying point for beleaguered telephone sub scribers and indicate ways that they might stave off digitization. At the moment, it might be more accurately called "The Committee of Ten Doien," but Laurence says it is picking up new re cruits almost daily. Laurence, who is addressed by his followers as "el bene factor," was in the capital re cently conferring with his leg islative advisors and this per mitted me to have a talk with him. I found it inspirational. He pointed out that the phone company, as part of its public relations campaign, had been sending out litera ture explaining "all -number calling" in verse form. He recommends that de fenders of exchange names re taliate by sending the phone company "a few bad poems of your own." Laurance conceded that the company's poetry probably Is more horrendous than any thing we subscribers might be able to compose. But he feels our poetry will be bad enough to make an effective harrassing agent nonetheless. I tight on even after we havi He also has devised a plan lost our exchanges, whereby we subscribers can When letters disappear from the dial holes, the com mittee will supply us with "little plastic donuts, encrust, ed with the alphabet," which will fit under the dial and "preserve the Integrity" of exchange names. Village Variety & Garden Shop Hunting 4 Fishing Licenses Issued 2 Day Pholo Finishing Service PAY ELECTRIC BILLS HERE POST OFFICE ALWAYS OPEN "Medford's Only Independent Variety Store" 771 Stewart Avenue 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. Next to "Piggly Wiggly" Weekdays - 10 to 6 Sunday 773-7002 VISIT OUR WaiqwaMzM Use ol LAY-A-WAY S Sn SHOP NOW WWW ltlffl !cetIr Special Thistp ff Is Complete Week Only! Fluhrer's Suggest- Vyv liwii IWhWJ MJily Jj.J IHUI TREATS that MAKE the Holiday Meal STUFFIW BREAD PLAIN or SPICED . . . 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