Cancer Information Service
12,000 questions in two years
By Wflliam Erwin
The voice on the phone didn't sound
unusual, but the question did.
"I'm a health educator in Pitt County.
Sometimes school kids ask me whether
smoking marijuana causes cancer. Does
it?"
Karen McCrory, information specialist
at Duke's Cancer Information Service,
had the answer in less than a minute.
Reading from a thick loose-leaf binder,
she said;
It's thought that smoking marijuana
does not increase a person's risk of
developing cancer because it is usually
smoked in very small amounts. The
danger of smoking large amounts of
marijuana may be greater, but no studies
on this subject have been done."
Common and uncommon questions
Uncommon questions come in almost
daily at the Cancer Information Service,
which just turned two years old. Staff
members and trained volunteers have
fielded questions on the so-called
"betabolic" cancer treatment, on
unpronounceable new drugs and on
possible links between personality types
and cancer.
But most of the 12,000 people who've
called the service have had more basic
questions, such as these:
"I have a discharge from one of my
breasts. Does that mean I have cancer?"
"What are the symptoms of rectal
cancer?"
"How can I get medical treatment if I
don't have health insurance?"
"I want to quit smoking and I'd like
some help. Can you send me something?"
Anyone can call
Anyone in North Carolina can reach
the service without charge by dialing 1-
800-672-0943. Persons in surrounding
(Continued on page 2)
Hcilol I |uft read about a ndfade
cancer ireatmcnl and I wanted to
know—
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Duke University
Medical Center
Intercom
VOL. 25, NO. 21
MAY 26, 1978
DURHAM, N.C.
Duke team calls for easier access to mental health care
Medicine in the United States could be
improved significantly if the traditional
barriers between mental and general
health services were broken down.
That was the conclusion a team of
researchers at Duke reached after
completing a major study of the
relationship between those services.
The project was commissioned by the
Institute of Medicine, a branch of the
National Academy of Sciences that
advises the federal government on
proposed medical care, research and
education policy.
In the first section of their 342-page
report, the authors point out that only
about a fifth of the more than 30 million
Americans believed to suffer some form
of mental illness are treated by
professionals specifically trained to
handle psychological problems.
Sixty percent of the patients are seen
by non-psychiatric physicians, while most
of the rest either go untreated or seek
help from non-professional sources.
The researchers, who reviewed more
than 800 scientific publications in their
study, said there is almost no information
available on how non-psychiatric
physicians treat mental illness and very
little data on the kinds of disorders they
see.
Several studies, however, have
surveyed non-psychiatric physicians
about their attitudes toward treating
patients with psychological problems.
Those questioned typically reported
they lacked confidence in treating mental
illness, that such disorders are harder to
treat than physical complaints and that
their results were not as good as with
other patients.
LEARNING TO TALK—Duke audiologist Janice Mack (right) uses toys
and food to encourage 3-year-oW Aaron Summey of Chapel Hill to learn
to talk. Aaron has had limited hearing since birth. Two hearing aids and a
battery-powered amplifier boost his hearing to a level that enables him
to learn to talk. Aaron and his mother Linda Summey attend training
sessions with Mack offered through the Acoustic Prog»'am of Duke's
Center for Speech and Hearing Disorders. (Photo by Parker Herring)
"Interestingly, while there is no
evidence concerning the emotional drain
on the physician that these patients
represent, many of us working in medical
centers know that this is a significant
concern of the non-psychiatric
physician," the researchers said.
Despite these difficulties, the Duke
team found that well under half of all
patients diagnosed as having
psychological problems are referred to
mental health specialists. The age, sex
and socioeconomic status of the patient
all a f feet the likelihood of referral, as does
the physician's attitude toward the
psychiatric profession.
Other barriers to the best treatment
include negative public attitudes toward
mental illness, the financial burden of
psychiatric care and ignorance about
available treatment facilities.
(Continued on page 3l
Audiologist offers
advice for parents
By Parker Herring
(From a report by Linda Wilson, reporter for
speech and hearing.)
May was designated National Better
Hearing and Speech Month, and Janice
Mack, director of Duke's Acoustic
Program, has been busy promoting the
month's theme.
In an interview last week, she offered
some advice for parents.
"Parents should ask themselves if they
have any worries about their child's
hearing," Mack said, "and if they do, they
should take the child to an audiologist," a
specialist in detecting hearing disorders.
She said some parents hesitate to seek
help because they are either scared of
what they might'' find out or they feel
guilty about the child's disability.
Audiologists can test for hearing loss
even in infants. "If a hearing loss is
detected," she added, "parents can take
comfort in the fact that there are trained
professionals who can work with them."
Mack said there are milestones in
(Continued on page 4)