If you're losing hope
of losing weight .. .
"How much do I weigh? I really don't know. I've stopped
weighing myself."
"Food? Honestly, that's all I ever think about!"
"My weight? I can talk about anything — but not that."
Over four million Americans suffer from severe obesity.
Their lives, and the lives of their families, are painfully
affected by it. Because while the cause is unknown, we do
know that severe obesity causes emotional, financial and
health problems.
At Thorn Hospital, we offer help for men and women who
are 160% of their ideal weight, or who are more than 100
pounds over their ideal weight. Its a comprehensive weight
reduction program that combines highly refined surgical
treatments with sensitive, caring nursing and supportive,
informative counseling.
In addition, as a specialist in obesity-related surgery,
Thorn Hospital is well prepared to handle
conventional surgical procedures where
obesity may create complications, or where
surgery is indicated because of obesity-
related factors.
For more information, an evaluation, or the
opportunity to observe a group discussion,
please call toll-free or write: Thom Hospital,
458 Cross Street, Hudson, Michigan 49247.
800-722-7413
Thorn Hospital is a non-profit community hospital dedicated to an obesity surgical program.
•Clinical Teaching
•Testing/Evaluation
•Therapeutic Tutoring
5454677 • 4334323
C/3
25201 Coolidge, Oak Park
4036 Telegraph, Bloomfield Hills
LU
Abcare's Home Health Exchange
Cf)
w
I-
CC
I-
LL!
Ca
LU
38
Accredited by JCOHA
providing
• RN's
• LPN's
• Nurses Assistants
• Interpreters for the Hearing Impaired
All Employees Screened, Bonded and Insured.
Over 17 Years Experience
1-800-70-NURSE
810-423-9600
Sharett Looks At
Tumor Metastasis
he search for a cure for can-
cer is a multi-million dol-
lar enterprise involving
thousands of scientists in
research centers around the
world — among them, the
Hadassah-Hebrew University
Medical Center, home of the
Sharett Institute of Oncology.
One of Sharett's most hopeful
projects concerns the mechanism
of metastasis. Tumor metastasis
— the spread of cancer from it
original site — is a major barri-
er to successful treatment. One
of the main routes used by can-
cer cells to spread within the
body are the blood vessels: ma-
lignant cells penetrate blood-ves-
sel walls, circulate with the blood
and escape into new tissues.
Sharett researchers have
found that tumor cells are helped
in forcing their way into blood
vessels by an enzyme called he-
paranase — and they have de-
veloped a substance to inhibit
this enzyme. - In experiments
with mice, they showed that one
injection of their enzyme-in-
hibitor places a 95-percent block
on the ability of skin-and breast-
cancer cells to penetrate blood
vessels and produce metastases
in the lungs. Research is contin-
uing to develop an even more ef-
fective substance.
Other basic research projects
concern drug therapy. One is an
investigation of drug-resistance
mechanisms. Chemotherapy of-
ten fails because tumors become
resistant to the poisons launched
against them. Sharett re-
searchers are looking for com-
pounds to reverse this drug
resistance.
They are also trying to encap-
sulate drugs in liposomes. Lipo-
somes can be directly targeted at
tumor cells by using an antibody
which recognizes a receptor on
the tumor cell. If liposomes can
be made to carry drugs, scientists
will have found a way of deliver-
ing cytotoxic compounds straight
to the malignancy.
Sharett's clinical research is
mainly focused on trials with
new combinations of drugs and
biological compounds, both nat-
ural and recombinant. Among
those under investigation are
Tumor metastasis is
a major barrier.
taxol and interferons.
Cancer research at Sharett is
also out in the community. One
project is a study of breast can-
cer patients — how they and
their families adjust to the dis-
ease, and the effect of relaxation
techniques on their quality of life.
Another is an investigation of
the demographic and clinical
characteristics of Orthodox
women with breast cancer. Re-
searchers have observed that
these women are usually diag-
nosed at a far later stage than
average,. when the disease is
much more advanced. No rea-
sons have been detailed as yet,
but researchers are exploring two
avenues. First, that breast can-
cer in the population is a differ-
ent form of the disease, with a
different biology. It usually oc-
curs in far younger women than
in the general population, and it
may be that it is a much faster-
growing tumor. The second is
that efforts to promote early de-
tection have been less successful
in reaching this comparatively
closed community. ❑
Orthodox Group
Shuns Nedicide'
gudath Israel of America,
a leading coalition group
of Orthodox Jews, hailed
the unexpected unani-
mous recommendation of the
New York State Task Force on
Life and the Law last week
against the legalization of physi-
cian-assisted suicide.
But the Orthodox Jewish coali-
tion group is warning that a pre-
cipitous deterioration of society's
long-standing strictures against
both suicide and euthanasia —
reflected in the national policy de-
bate joined by the task force —
could have dire consequences for
A
the ultimate value of life and its
protection in this country.
It is true, Agudath Israel
spokesmen say, that both the
New York task force and a Michi-
gan State appellate court have
rejected the notion of a suffering
patient's legal right to physician-
assisted suicide.
But in what they say may well
be a telling sign of things to come,
a Washington State law banning
doctors from helping terminally
ill patients end their own lives
was recently declared unconsti-
tutional by a federal court in
Seattle. Moreover, they note, sev-