Can’t Sleep? Try Hot MUk
AN APPROPRIATE RIBBON FOR CUTTING—^When the new Obstetrics-Gynecology
Clinic quarters opened recently, some imagination went into designing the proper
ribbon for Dr. Roy Parker, chairman of Ob-Gyn, to cut (top picture). Onzelle Riley,
head nurse of Ob-Gyn clinics (holding one side of the ribbon here) fashioned it
from gauze bandage, and the bow was decorated with two boxes of birth control
pills. Bruce Gebhardt, administrative assistant in the department, holds the other
side of the ribbon. In the picture below, trying out some of the furniture in the clinic
waiting area, are, left to right: Max IsJey, Durham architect who designed the clinic;
Gebhardt; Parker; and Paul Stark, assistant administrator for the Ob-Gyn unit.
(Photos by David Williamson)
MH
Four Assistant Profs Appointed
Four academic appointments were
announced recently by University
Provost Frederic N, Cleaveland.
All the appointments are for assistant
professors. Filling these positions are
Dr. Robert H. Harris, medicine; Dr.
Patrick E. Logue, medical psychology;
Dr. Thomas T. Long, medicine; and Dr.
Donald Serafin, plastic and
maxillofacial surgery.
Harris received his 8.S. degree from
Georgia Institute of Technology in
1962 and M.D. degree from the
Medical College of Georgia in 1966.
He served his internship and residency
at the University of Virginia Hospital
and came to Duke in 1972 as a
research fellow in the Department of
Medicine. Division of Nephrology.
Logue received his undergraduate
training. M.S. degree in experimental
psychology and Ph.D. in counseling
from the University of North Dakota.
Prior to his recent appointment at
Duke, Logue was the assistant director
of the Human Development Clinic at
Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Long joined the Duke staff in 1972 as
a research fellow in gastroenterology.
He received his B.S. degree from
Wake Forest University in 1962 and
M.D. degree from the Bowman Gray
School of Medicine in Winston-Salem.
Serafin received his undergraduate
training and M.D. degree from Duke.
He served a straight surgery internship
at Grady Memorial Hospital in Georgia
an^ general surgery residency at
Grady and Emory University. He came
to Duke in 1971 as an assistant
resident in plastic surgery.
Brody To Speak
The editor-in-chief of the Journal of
Gerontology, Dr. Harold Brody, will
discuss “Aging in the Central Nervous
System” Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Room
1504 in the Blue Zone.
Brody is also chairman of the
Department of Anatomical Sciences at
the State University of New York in
Buffalo. His visit to Duke is t>eing
sponsored by the university’s Council
on Aging and Human Development.
The talk is open to the public.
TRENT SOCIETY MEETING
The Josiah C. Trent Society for the
History of Medicine will sponsor a
lecture by Professor Charles
Rosenberg, chairman of the department
of history at the University of
Pennsylvania, entitled “Hospital and
Patient in the Nineteenth Century."
The lecture will be held on Thursday,
Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. at 1132 Woodburn
Road, Durham. Interested persons are
asked to call the Medical Center Library
secretary at 684-3505.
A cup of warm milk sipped just
before bedtime actually will help you
get to sleep, according to a Duke
doctor.
So will a shot of liquor or a round of
exercise, Research Assistant Professor
Pat Prinz advised those attending
Davison Club-Washlngton Duke
Weekend.
Buttressing some folk remedies for
insomnia while shooting down the
sleeping pill approach. Dr. Prinz said
"milk has a constituent in it that
promotes sleep. "
That substance, she went on to say,
is "tryptophane." It's found in every
type of protein. The body converts it
easily into another compound called
"serotonin," which brings on sleep
when it reaches the brainstem.
"So a cup of warm milk—that old
wives' tale—will In fact induce more
sleep, " she said.
Exercise helps, too, Dr. Prinz added,
But the insomniac shouldn't wait until
bedtime to start his jogging and sit-ups,
nor should he overdo it.
"If he overexerts—over and above
his normal pattern—he will get a sleep
impairment." she warned.
Exercise during the day can lead to
restful sleep later, said the specialist,
because it seems to promote the
deeper stages of slumber.
These stages are marked by brain
waves that are larger and slower than
those recorded during wakefulness or
during lighter stages of sleep.
"A moderate amount of exercise is
known to facilitate that slow wave
pattern," she explained.
Sleeping pills, on the other hand,
alter the slow waves or destroy them,
Dr. Prinz continued. This makes the
deepest stage of sleep disappear and
may cause people to complain that
they've slept poorly,
“Moreover, the sleep-inducing effect
of these drugs tends to decrease with
prolonged use," she noted, "So the
person is tempted to increase his drug
intake in order to regain restful sleep,
further impairing the quality of his
sleep,"
Of all the sleeping potions,
barbiturates are the worst offenders,
the researcher said, "They wipe out
those big slow waves. People who use
sedatives constantly are depriving
themselves of some aspects of normal
sleep."
Alcoholic beverages alter the normal
sleep pattern, too, Dr, Prinz said, but "a
lot less than most drugs."'
Cracking a smile, she confirmed that
"a good hot toddy at night will do
wonders for sleep, "
■y-'y.
WARM MILK ADVOCATE^hat
some people think is an old wives
tale—that drinking warm milk before
bedtime will put you to sleep—really is
true, says Dr, Pat Prinz, Dr. Prinz, one
of the speakers for Davison
Club-Washington Duke Weekend
activities here in September, advised
that exercise or a hot toddy also have
sleep-inducing benefits. (Photo by
William Erwin)
TWO YEARS OF HELPING—Medical Center Parking Valet Charles (“Charlie")
Grinstead celebrates his two-year anniversary next Wednesday doing what he
does best: helping patients and visitors. And somehow, he seems to know just
about every employee here—it he doesn't, it never takes him long to get to know
them. “Happy Anniversary,” Charlie... it‘s nice having you around.