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.
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