Health & Wellness
ealthbeat
: No link between
measles vaccine and autism
WASHINGTON (AP) New research further I
debunks any link between measles vaccine and
autism, work that comes as the nation is experiencing
a surge in measles cases fueled by children left
un vaccinated.
#? Years of research with the measles, mumps and
fSfetoUa vaccine, better known as MMR, have con
*1 ? -? *? ?
nuucu ui4i 11 aoesnt cause
autism. Still, some parents'
fans persist, in part because of
one 1998 British study that
linked the vaccine with a sub
group of autistic children who
also have serious gastrointesti
nal problems. That study
reported that measles virus was
lingering in the children's bow
els.
Only now have researchers
rigorously retested that find
Lipkin
tng, taking samples of youngsters' intestines to hunt
far signs of virus with the most modem genetic tech
nology. There is no evidence that MMR plays any
rote, the international team ? which included
researchers who first raised the issue ? reported
recently. ?
"Although in fact there was evidence that this
:ine was safe in the bulk of the population, it had
not been previously assessed with respect to kids with
autism and GI complaints." said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin of
Columbia University College of Physicians and
Surgeons, who led the wortt published in PLoS One,
the online journal of the Public Library of Science.
*We are confident there is no link between MMR |
Lipkin said.
co-author Dr. Larry Pickering of thel
for Disease Control and Prevention: "I feel |
in that it is a safe vaccine."
s, a highly infectious virus best ]
I skin rash, once routinely sickened I
a year and killed hundreds, until <
made it a rarity in this country.
spin-off company gets
to market cancer treatment I
I
1
iversity of North Carolina at Chapel
ny has been awarded a $2
:ialize a new technology to ii
ent of prostate cancer,
the National
aness Inno
ble Morphormics Inc. to market
gy for rapidly con;
' of individual patients.
3s are critical navigational
i keep a radiation beam f<
while at the same time avoiding
body that could be harmed by
said Edward L. Chaney,
cs' vice president of technology,
d1 of Medicine's department of
and member of the UNC
sive Cancer Center,
of pre-treatment planning,
build the three-dimensional
of their patients by excluding
I other anatomical structures
that are used to guide
, the process for creating such
ng and expensive, Chaney
9, also known as Mx, was f<
' Chaney and fellow UNC professors
r, PhD., Kenan Professor in the
science and radiation oncoi
; Joshi, D.Sc., who at the time was an
at UNC and is now at the Uni'
encouraged to
'Go Healthy' contest
celebration of Go Healthy Month,
n Heart Association's Alliance fo
r Generation program is encouraging all i
he Triad to participate in the first ever "<
I Contest!"
ine contest is in
to the nation's growing <
hood obesity epidemic.
than 12 million .children :
United States are
with another 12 1
of becoming ov
High cholesterol, high t
pressure, and abnormally I
heart muscle tissue
with the 70 percent c
overweight children I
overweight aduks welcomes a|
risk of heart disease into our children's
i from age four to 17 should write two or
-aphs About how they plan to become
I why it is important to them. More infor
and writing tips are available at
ricanheart.org/GoHealthyContest. Parents
?.r younger children complete their entry.
I will be accepted through Sept. 23.
land girl from five different age categories
ted by a judging panel. These 10 local
i will receive a three month family mem4
_ their local YMCA. Winners will bej
I on Saturday. Sept. 27, with a joint procla
Go Healthy Month being presented by
" m Mayor Allen Joines, Greensboro
s Johnson and High Point Mayor Becky
Free prostrate
SCREENINGS OFFERED
Early detection can save lives
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Free prostate screenings will be
offered next week at the Downtown
Health Plaza.
Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center is sponsoring
screenings on Thursday, Sept. 18
and Saturday, Sept. 20 for men over
50 who haven't had a prostate exam
in the last year and men over 40 who
are African- American or have a fam
ily history of prostate cancer.
Screenings are vital for this type
of cancer because early detection
can mean the difference between life
and death.
"With early detection, nine out
of 10 men can beat prostate cancer,"
said Dr. Karim Kader, a Wake Forest
Baptist urologist who is directing the
screening.
The screenings will include a
blood test for prostate cancer known
as the prostate-specific antigen
(PSA) test and a digital rectal exam
to detect prostate abnormalities.
According to the National
Cancer Institute, symptoms of
advanced prostate cancer can be
similar to enlarged prostate and can
include difficulty urinating, frequent
urination, weak flow of urine, urine
flow that starts and stops, pain or
burning during urination, blood in
the urine or semen and difficulty
having an erection. In early cases of
the disease, however, there are gen
erally no symptoms.
"The screening tests are impor
tant because they can detect the dis
ease before symptoms develop,"
said Kader, an assistant professor of
urology. He said about 90 percent of
all prostate cancers are currently
diagnosed at an early stage and men
are surviving longer after diagnosis.
Prostate cancer is the third-lead
ing cause of cancer deaths among
men in the United Sates, according
to the American Urological
Association. It affects about 234,000
American men each year with
approximately 27,000 of them dying
each year.
Physicians from Wake Forest
Baptist's Department of Urology
will conduct the screenings from 6 -
8 p.m. on Sept. 18., by appointment
only. Call 336-716-2255 to make an
appointment. The Sept. 20 screen
ings, from 7-9 ajn., will be con
ducted on a walk-in basis.
The Downtown Health Plaza of
Baptist Hospital is at 1200 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive.
Medical Mystery
. # Photo courtesy of Discovery Health
American Dr. Anthony Gaspari with Dede, who is known throughout his native Indonesia as the
Treeman," ever since these bizarre growths began to cover his body. The Discovery Health channel is
set to chronicle Gaspari' s fight to save Dede's life and reclaim his body. "Treeman: Search for the
Cure," will air Oct. 5 at 9 p.m.
Free drug samples cost in long
run, Wake Forest study finds
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Those free drug sam
ples that we all get from
our doctors may not end up
being free after all.
A study involving
researchers at Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical
Center found that such
samples, which are provid
ed to physicians by phar
maceutical companies,
may be costing uninsured
patients more in the long
run because when their
samples run out and they
have to buy the drug, often
there is a much cheaper
generic drug available.
The retrospective study
looked at the prescribing
habits of more than 70
physicians in a university
affiliated internal medicine
practice in the months
immediately before and
after the closing of their
drug sample closet. The
complete findings can be
found in the September
issue of "Southern
Medical Journal."
"It's true that samples
can save patients money in
the short-run," said David
P. Miller, M.D., lead
researcher and internal
medicine physician at
Wake Forest Baptist. "But
our study shows that they
may end up paying more in
the long run when they are
given prescriptions for
brand-name only drugs."
The study says that
drug samples are available
only for brand name drugs,
which are often newer,
more heavily advertised
and almost always much
more expensive than
generic drugs in the same
class.
"The theory is that
drug companies hand out
samples because it gets
physicians in the habit of
using a drug and physi
cians, therefore, are more
likely to prescribe that
drug later," Miller said.
Many times, initially, a
patient will be given a
sample of a drug to test tol
erability and effectiveness.
Often times, when a physi
cian gives a patient a sam
ple, it is accompanied with
a prescription to fill after
the sample is gone.
Sometimes free samples
are used by physicians to
help patients who cannot
afford medications. But
the availability of drug
samples is not always pre
dictable and, when patients
return for refills and the
samples they need are
missing from a practice,
either because the drug
representative didn't leave
enough or stopped distrib
uting them altogether,
patients who were started
on brand name drugs in
sample form are left pay
ing the price when they
have to fill a prescription
Mental
Health:
An
Introduction
fat Iftfrrft flnsaau I
on HWiowtyI
?
WJoe Fowst UraverahBacusJ
There has been an increasing
push in society toward becoming
healthier; we all know, for
instance, that the consequences of
obesity, poor diet, and inactivity
can be deadly. In our attempts at
living healthier lifestyles, we must
keep in mind that our mental
health is equally as important.
Millions of people of all races
and ethnic backgrounds in the
United States live with conditions
like depression, anxiety, schizo
phrenia, and obsessive-compul
sive disorder. But how much do
we really know about these condi
tions?
Unfortunately, people living
with mental illness axe frequently
stigmatized and treated different
ly? even by those who mean
well. Education is the first step
toward addressing stigmatization
and helping people who need
treatment to seek it with confi
dence. To that end. the Maya %
Angelou Center has decided to
dedicate a three-part article series
to the discussion of mental health.
This article will focus mainly on
adult mental health.
What are some of the most
well-known mental illnesses?
We have written articles on
most of the well-known mental
illnesses, including depression,
anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipo
lar disorder. Briefly, here is a
recap of a few mental illnesses:
Mood disorders. Mood disor
ders include depression and bipo
lar disorder. With depression, a
person may experience prolonged
"down" periods in which they
may feel unusually sad or hope
less, lose interest in things that
used to bring them pleasure, and
have decreased energy. Suicidal
ideation (thoughts of suicide) and
is not uncommon among people
with depression and can some
times lead to suicide attempts. In
bipolar disorder, people cycle
back and forth between depres
sion and mania, a "high" or "ele
vated" state of mind characterized
by increased energy, racing
thoughts, and impulsiveness.
These are only a few symptoms of
bipolar disorder and depression;
your healthcare provider can pro
vide you with more details, or you
can call the Maya Angelou Center
(number below) for more infor
mation.
Anxiety disorders There are
many types of anxiety disorders,
including panic disorder, obses
sive-compulsive disorder, gener
alized anxiety disorder (GAD),
post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), and social phobia. While
we all experience anxiety in our
daily lives (it's part of being
human), for some people these
feelings can become serious and
debilitating. Each of these condi
tions has its own symptoms; how
ever. the .National Institute of
Mental Health (NIMH) notes that
"all the symptoms cluster around
excessive, irrational fear and
dread."
Schizophrenia. People living
with schizophrenia frequently
experience terrifying hallucina
tions. such as hearing or seeing
Sec Menial health on All