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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1963)
MEDFO D MAIi, TBISUKE. MEDFOSD, OREGON The Medical Roundup m. v- 0 Xmututt CoosulUftt ta Mtdiem My riuie Emtntiu Professor of Medicine Mayo Clinic (Ktfiittr u4 Tribune Sysdxtau. Lindau's Rare Diseasa Some splendid work has been done on the heredity of Lindau's rare disease in which tumors and little cysts (tiny bags of fluid) appear in the eyes, the brain, and some other or g a n s. The work was done by Hr. Jack Good- wu man. Dr. F. Peck Jr., and Emil J. Kiein holz of the Albany Medical Center Hospital. When these doctors became interested in tha disease, they started track ing down all of the uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, and nieces that they could hear of in a family of people, a few of whom had become blind, or who had died of a brain tumor. , To get the needed informa tion, the doctors looked up records in hospitals, in county court houses, in family Bibles, in church and cemetery rec ords, in the archieves of his torical societies, and in old newspapers. They got in touch with several old family doc tors who had known members of the affected family, and along the way, they became skillful genealogists. They even tracked down one old member of the family with the help of a bartender who knew her. To me this gen ealogic technic is a delight ful and most useful way of studying a rare disease which is not well understood - par ticularly in its milder and poorly recognizable forms. Years ago, I had the pleas ure of doing this sort of work when I studied what actually happened to 673 families, in all of which there was a tend ency to mental troubles, alco holism, severe neuroses, and epilepsy. My book on the sub jact is called "Practical Leads to Puzzling Diagnoses: Neu roses that Run Through Fam ilies" (Lippincott). I found in my work exactly what Dr. Goodman and his associates have found in their work, namely that often a tendency to a disease will show up in different members of a family in different ways; in some the disease will be se vere, while in others it will be so mild as to be unrecog nizable, except to an expert. Dr. Goodman and his men succeeded in tracing 200 per sons in seven generations of the affected family, and found how the disease had affected some of the members. Thir teen of tiiose with the disease were descendants of one wo man. Because among the descend ants of the sister of this wo man there were eight people in three generations with cat aracts in both eyes, cataracts almost Certainly can represent a manifestation of Lindau's disease. Usually in persons with this disease, the people have sev eral angiomas, or little tumors made of blood vessels. Some had these tumors in the brain; one had one in the spinal cord; three had them in a kid ney; and two had the disease show up in their skin. Can Be Treated Early The great advantage of rec ognizing a familial disease early in life is that often then it can.be treated and cured or relieved. Later, it may be inoperable or hard to treat. As I have mentioned in this column, one of the studies like this one of Dr. Goodman and his group is that of Dr. Geoff rey Dean, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, who, in studying the inheritance of porphyria (a disease in which there usu ally are spells of great nerv ousness with abdominal pain, ,red urine, and great sensitive ness of the skin to sunlight) has now traced every person (with this abnormality) in sev en generations - all descended from a certain Hollander who went out to Africa about 1700. An important point is that in this big family there are some lines of descent in which the disease appears, and some lines in which it is absent. In the last few years, the science of human genetics has shot ahead at such a great rate that I think the conspir acy of silence against it, which for the last 50 year has per mitted very little discussion of it by physicians or laymen, must soon collapse. When it is finally overcome, we physi cians and many laymen will have to face the obvious but now unpalatable fact that many diseases are primarily hereditary in nature. Two thirds of the victims of Multiple Sclerosis are be tween the ages of 20 and 40. If you'd like Dr. Alvarez' lit tle booklet which tells more about the disease, send 25 cents and a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your request for it to Dr. Walter C. Alvarez, Dept. MMT, Box 857, Des Moines 4, Iowa. Heavy Rainfall Causes flooding By United Press International Heavy rains broke droughts and sent flood waters rolling through several western states and in Texas and North Caro lina during the week end. About three feet of. flood water poured into the river channels of Duchesne, Utah, Sunday night, causing rmnor damage. It was the last ot the ravaging waters which took, one life and caused thousands of dollars of dam age. A diversion dam burst on the North Fork of the Du chesne river about 40 miles north of Duchesne. A 4-year-old boy drowned when the tent in which he was sleeping was swept away by mud and water. The" U.S. Weather Bureau said the heavy week end rains "undoubtedly broke the two - month drought in eastern Colorado. The rains ranged up to an unofficial five to six inches in Jefferson county. USEFOL PRIZE Middletown, Conn. - SICT -Edward Kulmacz, 45, who has never owned or operated a car, won one at a week end bazaar, . ' Highways Get New 'Welcome Mats' ,J. I rmim,i Your Money's Worth By SYLVIA PORTER Ceeyrieht, Hll Syndicate, !ne. POWER OF PENSION FUNDS . Rumor No. 1 circulating over the years: Labor unions have gained great economic power In this country through their management of the pension funds of their- members. Evidence released todays The rumor has been wildly exaggerated. While covering over 3 million workers, union pension funds had assets of only $1.8 billion ini 1980, and even though these funds are growing rapidly, they "wiH not bulk large as concentrations of financial assets ..." Rumor No. 2 circulating over the years: Managers of pension funds shift their Investments In response to swings in the economy and the stock market, thus have an im mense short-run influence on stock prices. Evidence released today: Pension fund managers do not respond in any important degree to swings in the economy of the stock market. They buy stocks that are rising in price about as frequently as they buy stocks that are de clining in price. Their very structure prevents me tunas from switching assets on short notice and they gear their investment Dolicies to long-term objectives. j Rumor No. 3 circulating aver the years: Families saving through pension funds cut their saving in other forms -cash, savings accounts, securities,; life Insurance, equity in a home, etc. Thi has reduced the pool of savings neeaea to finance our economic growth. Evidence released today: The opposite is true. Families covered by pensions save more in other forms lor tne "realization of retirement needs and of the opportunities to save." The average saving ratio for the main categories of saving in I960 was 11.5 per cent for famines covered oy pen sions against 7.8 per cent for those not covered. Among the ntore significant papers included In the 43rd annual report of the National Bureau of Economic Re search, issued today, is a study on the "Economic Aspects of Pensions," under the direction of Roger F. Murray, professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business. The growth of the federal social security system since the 1930s is a familiar story, of course. The growth of pension plans of private organizations and state and local governments also has been enormous but, as the long-circulating rumors cited above underline, little basic research has been done in this area. ' , ' The upsurge in the number of individuals covered by pension programs outside of federal social security has been sensational and the projections for future growth are even more so. In I960, 26.1 million Individuals were covered by private, state and local plans, more than double the total covered as recently as 1950 and dwarfing the 5.5 million covered in 1940. Murray's study estimates that by 1970, .39.8 million will be covered, and by 1980 the total will reach 48.7 million. This, mind you, excludes the tens of millions protected by federal government programs. The eeonomie-financial power of these pension funds Si dramatised by the assets under Jheir con trol. In I960, the funds had accumulated assets of $68.7 billion, up from $16.6 billion in 1950 and $4 billion in 1940. The protection is that the funds will have assets of $173.4 billion by 1970 end $313.3 bil lion by I960. ' There is no doubt that pension systems are redistributing income in the United States - from higher-income families to lower-income groups, from younger to older workers, from actively productive members of our society to those who have ceased contributing. " There is no doubt that even though they don't shift with short-run moves in the securities markets, they have a huge and continuing impact on the markets. In the past decade the funds have moved into the stock markets and into mortgages on a multi-billion dollar scale. Pension funds have become the key factor in the financial independence of tens of millions. They are forcing dynamic changes in the financial marketplace. They are sustaining rather than draining the supply of savings to finance our economic growth. They are a new financial in stitution, created in this generation, the significance of which we are just beginning to understand. Sixteen highway entrances into Oregon have now been painted at the state borders with the "Welcome to Ore gon" green mats that stretch out 152 feet to form greet ing sign for all travelers enter ing the state. Included are both Highway 98 and 189. . These 16 large welcome mats are located in every area of the state wherever a major highway crosses the border, according to Forrest Cooper, state highway engi neer. Paint crews of the highway department will also paint welcome mats on several other entrances to the state as soon as possible. These other highway include roads under construction and those in remote areas. All incoming lanes have the "Welcome to Oregon" paint ed in letters eight feet tali. On the outgoing lanes are letters of the same sire stating "Hurry Back." This Is the second year that the Highway Department has painted the welcome mats on state entrances. MOM DAY, JUHE 17, 3ti3 Constitution on Ballot Suppled Portland -ffPS-Tbe executive board ot the Young Democrats of Oregon passed a resolution Sunday supporting a move to place the state's proposed new constitution on the 1964 gen eral election ballot. The executive committee of the Citizens Committee for Constitutional Revision voted Friday to place the document on the ballot by initiative Woodburn Youth Dies From Accidental Shot Woodburn-flsre - Jack Her bough, 15, Woodburn, died in a Portland hospital Sunday night from an accidental gun shot wound. Authorities said the youth was struck En the forehead with a .22 caliber buiir-i while target practicing with some friends near his home south of here. petition if that method can be used legally in this case. The Young Democrats re solved la "pledge the efforts of the entire organization to secure signatures ... if this may be don according to the present constitution," t The proposed constitution failed to get through the 1963 Oregon Legislature by the necessary two-thirds majority. It was passed by the House but failed by three votes in the Senate. Backer then de cided ta ask Attorney Gen eral Robert Y. Thornton for an opinion on the legality of putting It on the ballot by initiative. Students Named to Dsan' Honor Lht Two Medford students were named to the dean's list for scholastic achievement at Mar yihurst esltege last semester. Marilyn Martin, sophomore biological science major, and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Har ry E. Martin, 144 South Keens Way dr., and Janet Sterling, daughter of Mr. and Mrs R T Sterling, 15 Geneva st both received nonors.- Hospital Bads - Per RENT At A to Z Rental A? AUTO LEASE See Darrell Miller to Uaw Ysuf Car of 7?ujk All MAKiS AND All MODELS! 301 Sayfh Ositiral Call 773-82C3 ri'saMTiiwrrmrrpYisyHM'TgM'irn CI PRICES LIKE THESE PROVE SAFEWAY'S YOUR 8S? PLACE TO SAVE! i Mill PRICES effective Monday, June 17 thru Wednesday, June 19 at Safe way in Medford, We reserve the right to limit. i FANCY RIPE mimm 1 Firm, Golden-Ripe Hatfield Attacks Recent Legislature St. Helens-ftiD-Gov. Mark Hatfield used a safety award ceremony here Saturday as a forum to lash out again at the 1963 Oregon Legislature. He told sawmill workers, managers and their wives at the Pope and Talbot sawmill ; plant here that politics caused ; what he termed the "failure" j of the session. ' ; 'We can chalk it up to poli- j tics that the failure is on the record books not politics in j the noble sense of the world but politics in the ignoble j sense," Hatfield said. The governor presented resident plant manager Har- vey Hawkins with a plaque signifying the National Safety Council's highest award, the "Award of Honor." The plant operated the en tire 1962 year without a lost-1 time accident. I Summer Boat Sale FINEST BOATS IN TOWN JOHNSTON STORES Medford Shopping Center T Romaine Lettuce Crisp Cabbage total-grown, leafy, green head local large firm heads. 10 225 Pius Many Other "Garden Room" Specials! lucerne U vt gaiion m 30c Rod, or Drip Mb. trt"Q Ice Milk AAJB Coffee Black Pepper r 39 Plus the Added Bonus of GOLD BOND STAMPS Start saving now for lovely treasure for your home. ,,,, , The proof is right in front of yout Low prices in our advertising pages and on our shelves right down the line prove you can gave more at Safeway any day in the week!. And low prices are ust the beginning! Top-quality foods; friendly, courteous service; bright, clean, wide aisles are other reasons "Safeway's your BEST place to save!" Jell-well Gefetfet. Chums from variety of delightful fruit flavors. 3-oi. pkg. . eans Pet Milk TOWN HOUSE Great Northern. Idaho red and Pinto. 2-lb. pkg. ' Evaporated milk for ' socking, bafeteg mi baby's formula. 1 4j-oi. can. . m Tip Top Frozen Juke aiacx Cnerry Orange-Apricot 6-oz. cans Oesseri topping. 6-ex. can 59c Fig Bars Sunshina cookiej.-16-ox. pkg. ."' 39c Dost 'n Wax Son Ami- 7-ot, can 69c Trend liquid 0rg9m fercStftaj. t2-ott 29c Trend MEAT DEPARTMENT SPECIAL mil mm A Corned Pork Picnics Boneless Boiling Beef Sliced Pork Liver Chefs Tamales Sliced Boloqna El lb. lb. Ik ea. Take your pick of these grand meat buys... Monday thru Wednesday only.
