Cancer Building Named for Former Patient
A Greensboro business executive
recovering from cancer gave $1
million yesterday to help finance the
cancer treatment and research
building now under construction
here as part of the Comprehensive
Cancer Center.
Edwin A. Morris, chairman of the
board of Blue Bell, Inc., presented his
gift in a 1 p.m. ceremony at the
medical center. Interviewed before
the ceremony, he said, “I'm hoping
that through research at Duke, we'll
find measures to prevent and cure
the spread of cancer."
The gift was accepted by Dr.
William G. Anlyan, vice president
for health affairs. Dr. William W.
Shingleton, director of the cancer
center, announced that the building
will be named in Morris' honor.
Looking for Better Ways
Scheduled to open a year from
now, the four-level facility will bring
together Duke researchers looking
for better ways to diagnose and treat
cancer. Twenty single rooms for
patients taking part in research
studies will occupy most of the top
floor.
Space will be provided as well for
the cancer center's computerized
library of treatment results and for
center specialists tracking down
cancer risk factors.
Other Buildings Complete
The Morris Building will house all
of Duke's cancer treatment clinics,
currently scattered through the
medical center. More than 1,000
outpatient treatments a week will be
possible in the structure, up from the
nearly 650 treatments now given
every week at Duke.
Two other buildings in the
Comprehensive Cancer Center
complex already have been
completed. The Edwin L. Jones Basic
Cancer Research Building and the
center's Animal Laboratory and
Isolation Facility were dedicated
Sept. 25.
Morris, treated for colon cancer 17
months ago, still enjoys frequent
hunting trips. A native of Concord,
he joined Blue Bell, maker of
Wrangler jeans and other clothing
EDWIN A. MORRIS
brands, in 1937. He served as the
corporation's chief executive officer
from 1948 to 1974 and has been
chairman of the board since 1966.
A graduate of Washington and Lee
University, Morris is a former
president of the American Apparel
Manufacturers Association and is a
member of the boards of directors of
the North Carolina Citizens
Association, the North Carolina 4-H
Development Fund and the North
Carolina Department of Natural and
Economic Resources.
Dum
Intercom
Duke University Medical Center
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 49
DECEMBER 17,1976
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Before Uncontrollable Swearing Begins
Boy Treated for Rare Disease
By David Williamson
Physicians here are treating an
eight-year-old Durham child for a
rare and incurable central nervous
system disease known as Tourette's
syndrome.
Their diagnosis and treatment
have come before the boy developed
the most bizarre symptom of the
disorder — excessive and
uncontrollable swearing.
Dr. Lea O'Quinn, director of the
Developmental Evaluation Clinic,
READING OF DOINGS AT DUKE—North Carolina's elder statesman, retired Sen. Sam
J. Ervin Jr., took a few moments from his busy law practice and lecturing schedule last
week In Morganton to peruse Intercom and to pose for one of its reporters. Ervin,
who turned 80 this year, is a 1917 University of North Carolina graduate who
remembers trips he made in those years from Chapel Hill to Trinity College (now East
Campus) to watch baseball games. He said his daughter Leslie attended Duke in the
early 1950's, and that his visits here since then have been to present talks-and to see
friends in the hospital. (Photo by David Williamson)
said that prior to being given the
only drug effective against Tourette's
syndrome, the third-grader was
plagued with facial spasms, a
goose-step walk, involuntary
utterances and inability to sit still.
Clown's Role
"The parents brought the child
here because his tics (spasms) were
interfering with his progress in
school, and his conception of himself
was suffering," the pediatrician said.
"He didn't think he could do as well
as other children, and he began to
play a clown's role so that people
would think he did what he did as a
joke, just to make them laugh."
Dr. O'Quinn said the swearing
symptom, which physicians call
coprolalia, usually doesn't begin
until adolescence.
In the past, before researchers
found that Tourette's is a chemical
imbalance in the brain, sufferers
were thought to be insane and often
confined to mental institutions. Still
earlier, those who had the "cursing
disease" were persecuted as being
possessed by devils.
Tics and Grimaces
Dr. Robert Thompson,
administrative director of the clinic,
observed the child during play
sessions and counted as many as 50
of the tics and grimaces in an hour.
The boy's mother reported as many
as 300 of the mannerisms during
some hours at home.
During their first meeting with Dr.
O'Quinn, the parents, who had read
a magazine article on Tourette's
syndrome, asked the pediatrician if
their child could have the strange
disease.
"Tourette's was in the back of my
mind, but as far as a diagnosis was
concerned, I was bothered that there
weren't any of the obscenities which
accompany it," the Duke doctor said.
"When I went to read about it I
found that patients don't always
have to have the coprolalia,
especially at such a young age."
Lost All Symptoms
After treatment with haloperidol, a
drug that blocks the action of
dopamine, a chemical that transmits
messages in the brain, the child has
lost essentially all of the symptoms of
his disease.
i®
DR. LEA O'QUINN
"I was really amazed with the
difference," the specialist said. "He
is much more calm, and on his last
visit, he didn't blink, sniff or clear
his throat the way he did before."
But one of the problems with
haloperidol is that it makes people
sleepy and sometimes nauseous.
Such side effects can also hinder his
performance at school. Dr. O'Quinn
pointed out.
A Christmas Present
Since the boy doesn't like the taste
of the drug, he has "made a deal"
with his parents and physician to be
taken off it for the holidays "as one of
his Christmas presents."
"We want to see if his symptoms
come back after he is taken off the
haloperidol, and if they disappear
(Continued on page 2)