Newspapers / InterCom (Durham, N.C.) / Aug. 4, 1978, edition 1 / Page 2
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Biomed educators on tour today Approximately a dozen principals, teachers and counselors involved in the Biomedical Interdisciplinary Curriculum Project (BICP) are touring the medical center today. They are visiting many of the same areas that their students have visited on previous tours {see Intercom, 2/3/78). Four North Carolina high schools participate in BICP, which is sponsored by Duke, the Fayetteville Health Education Foundation and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The goal of the project is to introduce students to studies in health fields. Football trip planned A limited number of spaces are available for a bus trip to Knoxville for Duke's Nov. 4 football game with the University of Tennessee. A local club has chartered a 38- passenger bus and reserved 20 rooms in Knoxville. Only the first 38 persons interested toill be considered. For more information, call "Link" Couch at 684-3417. f FIRSTHAND LOOK — Biomedical students from Harnett Central High School in Angier and one of their teachers, Ray Bryant (foreground) get an inside view of a hyperbaric chamber. They participated in the Biomedical Interdisciplinary Curriculum Project, as did students from Richmond High in Rockingham, Western Harnett High in Lillington and Scotland High in Laurinburg. Today, educators from the schools are visiting many of the same areas their students saw during fall and spring tours of the medical center. (Photo by Thad Sparks) Parking registration schedule Monday, Aug. 7,8:30-11 a.m.. Eye Center Conference Room, for Eye Center; 1-4 p.m., Pickens Building Conference Room, for Pickens, Southside School, Child Guidance Center, Civitan, Trent Drive Hall and Hanes House. Tuesday, Aug. 8, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Sands Building, first floor, main entrance, for Sands, Nanaline H. Duke, Research Park, Vivarium, ALIF and Jones. Wednesday-Thursday, Aug. 9-10, 8 a.m.- noon and 1-4:30 p.m.. Hospital Amphitheater (first floor, yellow zone) for the hospital and adjacent buildings. Friday, Aug. 11, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.. Room 314, Bell Building, for Bell and Seeley G. Mudd. Make-up days will be Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 14-15, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. in the Medical Center Traffic Office, Room 314, Bell Building (third floor). Vehicle registration for students, faculty, staff and employees returning in the fall to Hanes House, Hanes Annex and Trent Drive Hall will be held Tuesday, Sept. 5, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Hanes House Lobby. Taking sleeping pills worse than losing sleep (The following is reprinted from the Durham Sun and was written by Janet Frye.) Insomnia is a sleep problem that troubles virtually everyone sometimes and an estimated 25 million Americans all the time. But taking sleeping pills for it is much worse than the lack of sleep itself, according to a Duke pyschologist. Sleeping pills either are ineffective or cause side effects or both, said Dr. Patrick Boudewyns, director of The Behavior Change and Self Control Program ("Bad Habits Clinic'O- "(Dver-the-counter sleeping pills are not very effective and prescription sleeping pills are often addictive and are ineffective usually after the first three weeks," he said. "By then, the person has become dependent on them and may become addicted." $100 million worth of interference ' Some research has indicated that sleeping pills cause abnormal sleep patterns and otherwise interfere with a good night's rest. Yet, it's reported that insomniacs support a sleeping pill Intercom is published weekly by the Office of Public Relations, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3354, Durham, N.C. 27710. Joe Sigler Director John Becton Editor Primary contributors: William Erwin, Comprehensive Cancer Center medical writer; Ina Fried, staff writer; Parker Herring, public relations assistant; Edith Roberts, staff writer; David Williamson, medical writer. Circulation: Ann Kittrell. industry worth at least $100 million a year. A sleep disorder clinic at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., has reported that about 40 percent of their patients who complain of insomnia actually lose sleep because they have become dependent on the very drug they are taking to "treat" insomnia. When a group was withdrawn from the drugs and given only a dose every five or six days, they slept an average of 20 percent longer and many had no symptoms of insomnia at all. "Everyone has their own sleep pattern and it changes during life," Boudewyns said. He estiijnated that perhaps 90 percent of adults sleep between seven and nine hours a night, but some need much less and some need more sleep. Babies may sleep as much as 18 hours a day while older people may need only 4li to 6V4 hours. Boudewyns said research has not yet determined what causes insomnia, but the most effective techniques research has developed are for treating initial onset insomnia, or trouble getting to sleep. Ordinarily, a person falls asleep within 10 or 15 minutes after going to bed, but an individual with initial onset insomnia takes a half hour or more every night to fall asleep. "A lot of people have this problem in the average population, but they may not think they have severe insomnia if they get to sleep eventually," Boudewyns said. "All kinds of things affect sleep," he added. Insomnia could be caused by a change in habits, such as working a different shift, a disruption of schedule, a death in the family or stress and tension in general. "Insomnia can also be a symptom of many psychiatric disorders," Boudewyns said. Depression or anxiety can cause a change in sleep patterns. Insomnia cycle Researchers, however, do know why most people are not able to fall asleep, he said, "usually because they are afraid they won't get to sleep—it's a cycle. If they have trouble falling asleep for a few days, they start to get anxious. This increases their fear and anxiety that they might not fall asleep and this keeps them awake. 'Tailing asleep is a natural human function and you can't force it," he added. "One very simple treatment (for insomnia) is to try to get people to stop worrying about it and to try to stay awake longer. "If you can identify a major stress (that might be causing your insomnia) don't worry," Boudewyns advises. "It's when you get into self-prompted anxiety, when you start worrying about going to bed because you know you're going to lie there and not fall asleep, that you need to deal with it. 'Lack of sleep won't kill you' "Even then you may not need to see a professional. The main thing is to stop worrying and stop trying so hard. Wait until you're sleepy to go to bed. Lack of sleep won't kill you, even though you won't feel too good. "If you don't fall asleep, get up and something useful. If you lie there and tos and turn, you don't accomplish anything." Boudewyns said a program of moderate physical exercise, deep-breathing exercises, meditation or yoga might help reduce tension and help the individual get to sleep. "However, if you can't destroy the pattern, consult a psychologist," he said, "because they are usually knowledgeable about relaxation techniques and ways to deal with sleep. "I want to make sure people understand that you can do something about long term insomnia. But medications are just not effective."
InterCom (Durham, N.C.)
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Aug. 4, 1978, edition 1
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