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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1963)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDKORD. OREGON SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER 8. 1963 g J Portable Electrocardiocorder Aids in Study of Heart Disease By JAMES DOYLE United Press International PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) I watched my heart beat, in the form of a wavy green line on a screen, going 60 times its normal speed in a demonstra tion of remarkable new equip ment for the study of heart di sease. Doctors working with the equipment believe it is the most significant step in research of the heart in recent medical his tory. The green line formed on an oscilloscope screen and then danced and jiggled for 10 min utes. It represented a 10-hour chart of my heart action dur ing part of a normal work day and hours after work. A 10 - hour electrocardiogram (EKG) during periods of nor mal activity had never been possible before the development of the portable electrocardiocor der. The recorder is carried over the shoulder like a camera case with electrodes attached to the chest while a tape in side moves slowly, noting beat-by-beat the heart's changes and damage if any. But, by means of a "rapid read -out system." it can be scanned in 10 minutes speeded up on an electronic scanner to 60 times its normal rate. Audio Signal Along with the visible elec trocardiographic impulse, an audio signal is emitted which sounds like a car in low gear until the heart activity speeds up. Then it sounds like that far turn during the Indianapolis '501)'. The equipment is used for preliminary analysis. A more detailed examination is made on a third unit of the equip ment. The equipment is at Port land's St. Vincent hospital in a new department called a cardi ac telemetry station. It is the first such station on the West coast, and one of the first in the world. It was opened July 17 under the direction of Dr. Herbert J. Semler, a cardiolo gist on the hospital staff, and RECORDS HEART ACTIVITY-James Doyle, of United Press International goes casually about his duties with a portable elec trocardiocorder strapped to his body in Portland, Ore., recently. The electrocardiocorder records one's heart activity during nor mal activity and is used for a preliminary analysis of heart con dition. (UPI) a former Mayo clinic physi cian. Dr. Semler says the. equip ment here is being used p r i marily for research until more is known about it. To demonstrate how research of this nature is done. Dr. Sem ler attached the recorder to me for a 10-hour period and ac quired a more complete rec ord of my heart than has ev er been obtained in any previ ous examination. Had Conventional Test Before I wore the recorder, however, Dr. Semler and his technician on the cardiac proj ect, Mrs. Bernice Piatt, put me through the paces on the conventional EKG and a radio transmitted electrocardiogram. The transmitter unit was the step in heart research that pre cede the recorder. Its proto type was used at Cape Canav eral, where cardiac telemtry is known to be used for monitor ing the heart action of astro nauts in orbit. During the time I wore the recorder I jotted down on a "diary" what I did and at what time. This would be matched later with the heart action as recorded on the tape. The wavy green line I watch ed looked like a sharp-peaked This is GYM SHOE WEEK atGALLENKAMP'S 2.99 MEN'S & BOYS' machine wash able basketball shoes with heavy duck canvas uppers, suction sole, cushion arch insole, venti lation eyelets and rubber toe and ankle guards. In black or white, sizes from little boy's 6Vi to man's 12. MEN'S & BOYS' machine wash able basketball oxford with heavy duck canvas uppers, suc tion sole, cushion arch insole, ventilation eyelets and rubber toe guard. In black or white, sizes from little boy's 11 to man's 12. 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But when it is taken, with the person at rest or inactive, there is no evidence of heart damage. The standard equipment which has been in use for many years as functional only when the patient is at rest. However, heart trouble may show up mainly during periods of activity.or stress. "We could never follow any one's heart action for 10 hours a day unless we had a finger on their pulse all that time," Dr. Semler said. "With the new instruments, it is now possible. We think this is going to have a tremendous impact on the nation's health." By "we" he meant himself and his two assistants, Dr. Rob ert Gustafson, resident at St. Vincent hospital, and Dr. Two Accidents Checked by Police John Harold Greb, 25, of 5170 Table Rock rd., Central Point, was cited by state police for failure to yield the right of way following a two car accident on Stewart ave. and Kings highway Friday. Greb was treated for minor injuries and his passenger Tam my Lynn Greb 2, was treated for head cuts at Rogue Valley hospital and rcaleased. According to police the Greb car started to turn left onto Kings highway directly in front of a car driven by Walter Abbot Emerson, 53, of route 1, box 217, Talent. A car driven by Latham Craig Wright, 21, of 3321 Jacksonville highway, knocked down 38 feet of wood fence on Biddle rd., near Hilton rd. Friday, state po lice reported. No injuries were noted. The Wright car was pass ing a car driven by Charles Louis Moore Jr., 38, route 1, box 23, Rogue River, as the Moore car was attempting to turn into the Medford Meat com pany, state police said. Charles Norland of the U. S. Public Health service. All three men are working on a voluntary basis, with support for the proj ect derived in part from t h e Frank R. Menne Research fund of St. Vincent hospital and the Oregon Heart association, plus voluntary contributions by per sons wishing to see such re search progress as rapidly as it has already. Reliable Library The purpose now is to gather a reliable library of heart charts and histories. The nest step, and the one to which the station is gradually being di rected, is to use the cardiocor der as a diagnostic tool. "We are getting useful data," Dr. Semler said, "but it has to be carefully evaluated first pri or to its future in clinical med icine." He wants completely analyzed file of healthy, and in some in stances unhealthy, hearts be fore the recorder is put into clinical use. In time it will ful fill its function of finding coro nary disease while it is treat able. While we watched the green line on the oscilloscope, we matched notes I had kept in the diary. At one point, as I took a story on the telephone under pressure of a local dead line, the cardiocorder told us my heart rate jumped up. The su perimposition of the heart-beat picture changed slightly. The audio scanner hummed at greater pitch. Once as I raced across the room to grab a ringing tele phone from a dead stop, t h e picture revealed that my heart abruptly leaped into a higher rate. Later in the day I look a nap with the lightweight recorder still hanging around my shoul der. My heart rate leveled off to about (U) heats a minute until I was awakened by a tcle- pnone. The green line blipped and danced and (hen went hack to; a more normal configura t i o n, j but remained at a higher speed i as I dressed and, later, as I j drove through heavy traffic. ! Had there been any abnormal action during the 10-hour peri od, it would have been clearly printed for the doctor to ex amine. . It is easy to understand why Dr. Semler holds the cardiocor der as one of the most useful tools yet developed for the di agnosis and future treatment of the nation's number one killer "heart attacks." SWIMMING POOLS HEATERS I SAUNAS Now is the time to install Iht rough itructure of your pool, allowing you until next summer to landscape and fence. Partial payment now balance next Spring when pool is filled and put in operation. NORTHWEST SWIMMING POOL CO. 1822 W. Main Ph. 773-4340 Spiritual Leader of Mormon Church to Have 90th Birthday SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) -White - haired David O. Mc Kay, spiritual leader of two mil lion members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints, plans to observe his 90th birthday tomorrow by "just re laxing" at his boyhood home. I never felt better in my life and I moan it," he chor tled with a twinkle in his blue eyes. "The only thing that wor ries me is that I get tired after working 8 or 10 hours a day. Talking about his birthplace at Huntsville in northern Utah made him recall the past. "I certainly gave my mother a lot of trouble as a little ras cal," he said. "I'm extremely happy I was able to attend the dedication of a new chapel in Wales. It makes amends for my childhood capers." The chapel dedication took place last month in Cardiff about 12 miles from the birth place of his mother. The over seas roundtrin flight boosted his lifetime travel log estimate to at least one million miles by all types of transportation. Missionary Activity President of the Mormon church since 1951. McKay be came acquainted with mission ary activity at the age of sev en when his father was called to serve in the British Isles for two-year period. The fami ly remained at the Huntsville farm to maintain the father in his missionary labors. McKay followed in his father s footsteps shortly before the turn of the century after graduation from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City where he was class valedictorian. Later, he became an educator and in 1906 was called to serve as a mem ber of the Council of Twelve Apostles of the church. This was the start of fulfill ment of a remark made years earlier to McKay by a Scottish leader in the church, who said: "If you arc faithful, you will yet stand in the leading coun cils of the church." In the ensuing years of his apostleship, McKay served in a wide variety of church posts, traveling far and wide in the world to spread the word of God. He also devoted time and energy to civic responsibilities : on a local, state and national level, acquired business acumen and maintained avid interests in youth work, horses, automo-. biles and airplanes. The prophecy issued in Scot land reached full blossom on April 9, 1951. Becomes President McKav was "sustained hy church members assembled in the famed Salt Lake City Tab ernacle on Temple Square as president. As "prophet, srer and revcalatnr of the church, McKay became the ninth suc cessor to founder and first Pro phet Joseph Smith. He brought the presidency a strong sense of individual free dom which- he has retained through the years. "I believe in freedom of choice for the individual," he said. "An individual can choose to be a saint or sinner. "The individual is the center of all our activity. Our church stands for the salvation of the individual, not the group or state. That is what Jesus Christ has shown us." McKay's belief in the free dom of the individual makes him a strong foe of what he de scribes as the "Communist con spiracy." "My feelings would not be au thoritative," he declared, "but since you asked, I must say I do think the Communist con spiracy Is one of the greatest menaces in history. The indi vidual inherently objects to be ing controlled by any one man or group. The Communist prin ciple strikes at trie freedom of man." Asked whether he was pleased with the church's progress un der his leadership, the tall, con genial McKay leaned back in nis chair and, with a steely gaze through thick glasses, said: "It's thrilling. There has never been greater spirit of devotion among members. I notice it time and time again on the re cent trip (to Wales). "The progress of the church is most encouraging and it is due largely to activitv of t h e laymen themselves. This is an individual s church." A six-footer, McKay's phy sique has become slender with the passage of years. But the liery spirit, devotion to the gos pel, firm handshake, smile and warm friendliness to all comers are the same as in his youth. Altogether it spells love in capital letters. He loves people and those who meet him can't help but return the love. "In recent years," said one church official, "President Mc Kay has shown his age, espe cially during informal talks. But, we've seen him talk for mally to groups for a 45-min-ute stretch without any trouble. And, in church business meet ings he is sharp as a tack in running affairs. We have noth ing but admiration for him." Early Riser McKay is an early riser, of ten at his desk at the church's headquarters by 6 a.m., when he isn't globe trotting. A steady stream of church leaders and visitors parade into his office during the day or McKay at tends meetings scheduled to move the church forward in all phases spiritual and business enterprising activities. McKay has no regrets that his years are passing. He smiled broadly and quipped: "We used to have an order in the house not to use the nhrase 'old age.' That is no longer true. We have welcomed it. McKay's "we" includes his wife, Emma Rae Riggs McKav, They were married in Salt Lake city on Jan. 2, 1901 and until about a year ago his AG-year-old wife was his companion on near ly all his travels. Of their seven children, all hut one are still living. The McKay family also includes 21 grand children and 10 great grandchil dren. Many of them will be on hand at Huntsville to honor their earthly father who has instilled in thousands of persons in all lands a dedicated belief and worship for God. BE PREPARED FOR with a NEW GAS HEATER NEW Trend Setting De sign. Yeors ahead! Styled by a leading industrial designer, With bright new beauty outside and famous Dear born engineering Inside, this new Regency puts Dear born even further ahead among gas area heaters. NEW Exclusive Control Center. Complete comfort control at your fingertip. Set it . . . forget it. WM..-. "s NEW Powerful Thermo Thrust Blower. Thrusts the warm air far out into the room ... at floor level. 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