http://www.thecharlottepost.com
Cfjarlotte
] 6 20U4
THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2004
1B
LIFE
NOT THE NEEDLE
For some,
the point of
treatment is
no joke
By Ranit Mishori
THE WASHINGTON POST
Old Hollywood gag: Doctor
approaches patient with big
hypodermic needle. Patient
sees needle, faints and hits
the floor with: a loud crash,
taking along ever3d:hing
within reach; a soft whump,
landing flat on his back; or,
least often, the quiet sighing
crumple to the floor.
Woody Allen whumped in
“Sleeper.” Hugh Grant crum
pled in “Nine Months.” So did
Robin Williams in the same
movie, same scene — except
he was the doctor.
It’s a big laugh, unless you
take this sort of thing seri
ously, which a good number
of us happen to do — enough
that the medical dictionaries
have come up with a term for
it: aichmophobia. It means,
in plain English, fear of nee
dles, pins and other pointed
objects doctors might need to
stick in patients.
“It is one of the most com
mon medical disorders in the
human population” said
James Hamilton, a family
physician from Durham,
N.C., who has made a serious
study of aichmophobia (also
called beionephobia or
tryanophobia). In 1995, the
condition was officially recog
nized in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual, fourth
edition (DSM-IV), the refer
ence book that is a bible to
psychiatrists. The diagnosis
is characterized by such
strong reactions to injections,
injuries or blood that patients
will either avoid such situa
tions — and go to extremes to
do so — or tolerate needles
only under extreme emotion
al duress.
Researchers estimate that
between 7 and 22 percent of
the general population has
this degree of needle phobia.
Hamilton suspects the per
centage is higher: “They tend
to select themselves out of
the patient population,” he
said, “so you’ll see them only
when there’s absolutely no
choice, when they need to go
to the hospital.” He bases this
finding on his research, but
owns up to another source of
information: He’s a needle-
phobe himself.
Not getting your nose or
navel pierced because of nee
dle phobia is one thing. Not
getting your regular dose of
insulin is a whole other mat
ter. Similarly, for people with
multiple sclerosis (some of
whom need weekly shots of
interferon), and those requir
ing regular injections for any
of a host of other medical con
ditions — among them
migraine, allergy, erectile
dysfunction, fertility prob
lems and chronic infections
— this could be a real prob
lem.
Hamilton is a repository of
stories of people who have
gone to extremes to avoid the
doctor’s needle: the woman
who refused to have a
Cesarean section because she
didn’t want the injected anes
thesia; the man who jumped
out of a second-story window
at a hospital in Knoxville,
Ifenn., rather than have blood
drawn for testing; the patient
who tried to punch the nurse
##o
s
claims more
memory
A black woman in her laki (>0s with salt and
jK-p|M;r hair walks along' West Koulevard
around 8 a.ni. om^ Sunday mornitjg trying to
gid home.
A traiHmdous obstacle was in lier way. She
was beach'd thi' wj'ong way. The woman
couldn’t l■«‘nlemher where home was
la-causc! she has Alzh'im;r’s.
Alzheimer’s is the most common
form of dementia, a brain disordec-
that affects a pej'son’s ability to
carry out daily activities. Many
days victims !un’t remember
wliere home is and frantically seek
U> lind things they recognize.
“'I'he estimated prevalence of
Alzheimer’s disease using 2000
f’ensus iigures is 77,02;i people in
tint 40 ccmntry i-egion of Western
L Noi'th f’ai'olina,” said Lynn Gray.son
mT ^ of the Alzheimer’s Association of
^ Y Western (Carolina ChapUtr.
More than 4 million Americans have
Alzheimctr’s. It’s the fourth lead
ing cause of death among
the elderly. By the middle
1^, of this centui-y, the num-
her of peo)>le in the
IJnitctd Hates with
Alzheimer’s will
reach 14 million
unless prevention,
treatment or a cure
is found. 'The disease
sti'ikes regardless of
gender, education.
socio-eco
nomic backgi'ound.
The number of vic
tims has more than
doubled since 1980.
HELP
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/TRINA MONTGOMERY-ARDREY
Comic strip containing racial slur stirs protest
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
See POINTED/4B
PITTSBURGH, 'Pa. - The
editor in chief and managing
editor of a student newspaper
at Carnegie Mellon
University are considering
resigning after the newspa
per ran a comic strip that
contained a racial slur.
Alex Meseguer, editor in
chief of The Tartan, will tem
porarily suspend the newspa
per’s operations in light of
the publication’s April Fool’s
Day edition, which not only
contained the controversial
comic strip, but also included
depiction of female genitalia
and poems about rape and
mutilation.
Meseguer on Saturday
apologized to the 75 people
who had gathered on the
imiversity’s campus to
protest the newspaper’s 12-
page spoof edition. Many of
the participants at the gath
ering, organized by the his
torically black fraternity
Kappa Alpha Psi, were
angered by a comic strip
called “Harold and the Other
Guy.”
The cartoon, drawn by stu
dent Bob Rost, depicts a goat
using a racial slur while
bragging to a mouse how he
had hit a black person on a
bike.
Meseguer said Rost has
been fired from the newspa
per.
“The cartoon does not repre
sent my personal opinion,”
Rost said. “The intended
humor missed its mark.”
The cartoon made it into
print because fatigue clouded
the editors’ judgment,
Meseguer said. He said he
and Tartan Managing Editor
Jim Puls are considering
stepping down.
“The Tartan has committed
a grave error, one that threat
ens our mission, our mem
bers and our very existence,”
Meseguer told angry demon
strators.
Meseguer said he’s taking
steps to prevent similar inci
dents from happening.
The newspaper will hire an
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