Better Living
he Ba Ie ofa
When you were a kid and got
a nosebleed did your mom teU
you to tilt your head b ck? Un­
fortunately, just the opposite
treatment is no considered ef­
fective, states Vasudev R. Gar­
lapaty, M.D., a specialist at the
Ear, Nose and Throat Center of
Detroit I
Most nosebleed victims
ould actually sit up and lean
forward This causes gravity to
10 r the blood pressure in the
upper body and helps the Mood
run out the nose rather than
back into the mouth to be swal­
lowed, explains Dr. Garlaptay.
Mo t common nosebleeds
can be stopped with a few
im steps. Gr p the fleshy
part of the nose an apply pres­
ure for'fNe � es, to give the
blood a chance to clot. Ifbleed­
ould resume, immediately
apply pressure 0 e or two more
times, • Dr. Garlapaty ys.
If done propuly, 90 percent
of the nosebleeds cases can be
stopped this way. .
After bJeedinJ topped;
do not blow the nose, talk or
laugh for abou three hours,
this may disturb the clot.
On r re ccasions, a
nosebleed i more, serious and
.may at respo d to imple pres-
ure. This type of no ebleed
may be located in the posterior
or back of the nose. If a lot of
blood runs down the b ck of the
throat and is Uowcd or spi
o even when the patient i sit-
o-pound baby
I
bleeding into his head. Jason
Will perhaps live his life with
mental handicaps because of
the bleeding, the nurse says. .
Jason waves his tiny arms and
.. His thin hands clasp and
unclasp the warmed air inside
·the box that has been his only
home. He's a cute little kid," the .
nurse remarks.
Prematurity like Jason's can
result from a number of com­
plex medical and social
problems that affect a mother's
health and her pregnancy. What
exactly led to Jason's premature
birth win never be known. We
do know, however, that unless a
mother receives ear ly and ongo­
ing prenatal care, conditions
that can lead to· prematurity
cannot be detected or treated.
The real tragedy of Jason, the
two-pound fighter: his mother
was close to five months preg­
nant with him before she
received any prenatal care.
A growing number of
African American babies today
face a risk of repeating Jason's
tragedy because our nation is
slipping backwards on provid­
ing their mothers with timely,
adequate prenatal care. Ac­
cording to the latest health
statistics, more than one out of
every ten Black births in 1986 in-
I .
wheel a mother who got prena-
tal care late in her pregnancy, or
got no care at all. The number of
Black births that occurred
under these risky circumstances
has gone up 20% since 1980. It
has been the longest upturn in
this negative trend si ce the
government started keeping
track of these numbers decades
ago.
Every baby, regardless of
race, deserves an equal start in
life - beginning with prenatal
care that starts in the first three
months of pregnancy. Until our
nation assures this care to every
mother, our public officials
must be constantly reminded of
the costly,' painful, unnecessary
suffering of many tiny babies
that often results from our cur­
rent neglect.
Marian Wright Edelman is
President of tile Children's
De/elise Fund, a national voice
for children.
ting up, this is often a sign that
the nosebleed will. not stop on its
own.
If the nosebleed does not
stop easily or recurs frequently,
the patient should see a doctor
who may pack the nose with
pertroleum jeUy and gauze for a
day or two if the bleeding is in
the anterior or front of the nose,
says Dr. Garlapaty. Poseterior
nosebleeds require more com­
plicated and uncomfortable
post-nasal packing. Cauterizing
the bleeding site is another com­
mon treatment.
tore that waU of the thin vessels
in the mucous membrane, says
Dr. Garlapaty, Nosebleeds
rarely are caused by high blood
pressure. More likely they are
the result of injury, the common
cold, dry air, allergies, infection,
blowing the nose, exposure to
high altitudes, blood disorders
. or medication.
For more information on
nosebleeds, call the Ear, Nose
and Throad Center of Detroit at
313-867 -sooa
The Center is centrally lo­
cated in the Professional Build-
. 'Gra p th fleshy part of the
n anet apply pr ure for five
mlnut , to give th blood a
chane to clot.' .
19
City. to
w:lith schools
over Iree ce ter
Rutter.
. The commission agreed to
authorize Manning to set up a
meeting with Rutter to talk
about the rec center and bring a
report back to the commission.
During commission com­
ments Wysinger made a state­
ment that there is "a problem
with drugs in the City of Benton
Harbor:"
"We keep hearing about 'say
no to drugs', I think the biggest
no have to start at' Qty Hall,"
Wysinger said Then he made a
motion that all city employees,
including commissioners
should take drug tests. The mo­
tion was supported by CoJDJDis­
sioner Shannon.
The commission voted to
table the motion after City At­
tomey John Postelli said the
drug testing issue has been
presented before the Supreme
Court. He suggeste that they
wait on a vote until a �ion
comes d wn from the Supreme
Court
Mayor W'Uiam Wolf told
, Wysinger, that "no one here is
disputing your motion, but delay
the decision until more legal in­
formation is available".
·1 hear time after time of
people 'complaining of drugs in
their neighborhoods, dope
pushers kicking in doors, run­
ning through their neighbor­
hood", said Wysinger.
"Senior citizens can't sleep at .
night, because.they have to stay
awake, worrying about drug
pushers stealing something
from them to purchase more
drugs, " he said
"The least thing we can do is
to have aU our city employees
and commission tested for the
use of drugs. If you don't do
drugs, you have nothing to
worry about, and the way things
are going tonight, makes me
think we have a drug problem in
the city government," he said ·1
don't know, maybe we do."
"You are proving to me
tonight that you are using the
Supreme Court, and other offi­
cials to 'dodge the bullet' of city
employee and commission
taking a simple drug test,"
Wysinger added.
. In other matters the commis­
sion voted to submit a proposal
to the State Department of
Commerce requesting a loan of
$373,185 in Urban Land As-
. sembly funds to romp te ac­
tivities in the orth of Main
area.
Manning said he rece� a
caU Friday morning. March 17, I
from Lansing, and as told he
had to have the proposal in by I
Friday, March 24.
"The money we are getting
Co DDed on P 21
By W htEdelm
Children's Hospital Neona­
tal Intensive Care Ward,
WasJUngton, DC.
In an incubator in a large
bright room filled with nurses
and equipment, tiny "Jason" is
fighting for his life.
Six weeks after he was born,
Jason eigbs two pounds, six
ounces. He has come a very long
way. At birth "T three months
before he was due - Jason
weighed just over one pound
J ason lives because tubes
connect his lungs and every
available vein to .the many
machines that are needed to
feed him and keep him arm
and enable him to take his next
breath. :
It is quiet in Jason's comer.
A baby can' be heard crying
across the room, but because a
breathing tube runs down his !, ",!,�����;;!J
throat, little Jason cannot
. When his heart rates slows a
monitor beeps to alert the'
nurse.
"Minimal handling" says the
sign on Jason's incubator. He is
too fragile to be touched very
much. He has been through
surgery to. enable doctors to in­
sert an intravenous feeding
needle. He has a heart problem.
And he has already suffered
seizures because of damage to
his nervous system caused by
a-r,.w.- BrOMl
BENTON HARBOR - In
the city commissioo's pre-meet-'
iag session Monday, March 21,­
Commissioner Charles
Yarbrough, told the eommis-
. n that he had a meeting with
School Supt James Rutter that
morning. and he i willing to talk
with city officials about getting
the Charles Gray Recreation
Center back into operation.
. Yarbrough said he was told
the school system is willing to
help support the center's opera­
tions, that is, ·if the city is".
Commissioner Ralph Cren­
shaw, asked, "was the county
ready to si� down" and discuss
the rec center?
Mayor William Wolf id,
·accOrding to the original 1975
agreement, the county does not
have any obligations financial­
ly."
The agreement was between
the commission and the school
board and the COUDty, Wolf said
"If the old agreement is no
Working, let's sit down and talk
about the necessary amend­
meats to it But in the mcaDtime
- I would enCouragee�
on this board to keep a very
open mind and let's meet with
the school board and ge this
resolved and let's get that rec
center open again", said Wolf.
Commissioner Fred Sims,
told the commission that City
Manage Steve Manning had
made efforts more than once to
talk to Mr. Rutter. "I think Mr.
Rutter should come to our city
manager, if he wants to have a
meeting", Sims said
Co mmissioner George
Wysinger, said the last time
Manning went to the school
board to talk about the rec cen­
ter, they told him they didn't
want to discuss the rec center.
He said Manning should take
some legal counsel with him
when be goes and talks with
Rutter and the school board this
time.
Commissioner Kerry Shan­
non said, he personally oulda'r
want to see "any of the city's
money go into recreation",
however, ·if the city is bound by
contractual obligations in the
past, we ve no choice but to
tiP those obligations·"
'The Oty of Benton Harbor
Don't pack cotton or gauze iag neD to Detroit Ostepathic is in 'sorry financial conditions',
into the nose yourself, however," Hospital in Highland Park. The and we have to draw the 1iDe
warns Dr. Garlapaty. "There are Center treats disorders of somewbere,·Slwmonsaid
many n trums that also do not sinuses, neck, larynx, vocal "WhatJs more important, to
k: 1u: ... .,. Id cloths th cis, trachea and esophagus, fund the tecreatioa or continue
back ��':t'�co and inse� : and spccia1iza in head, neck to have the city facing all kinds
paper towel under the upper lip and tonsil surgery. The center of debts? We're a long ways
are ." also handles ear and hearing from being out of the woods, "he
Another old wives tale says problems, uch as hearing tests added.
that nosebleeds are caused by and hearing aid evaluations, Commissioner Arnold Smith
hypertension, when the blood through Malcolm A M�� 'agreed with Wysinger about
pressure is high enough to rup- M.�., �.C.C.A., a clinical Manning having 1egal counsel
. � audiologist· with him when. he meets with
. I. __