Ask Dr. Lamb
by Dr Lawrence E Lamb
i Iy cau
a rt ?
DEA EADER: HPV means
"hum n p pillom vir ," nd it
ca arts. Althou h there re
many different ty of th virus,
only. fe ty h ve ctually been
linked to causin cervical cancer.
And not all enital warts are t e type
th t m y becom cervical c ncer
ither. T know for ure, a complex
and expe ive procedur to type the
rt virus i needed.
TIle virus i usu Ily transmitted
sexually, but it can be spread by
other means, including damp towels
th t h ve the virus on them. The
virus must first penetrate the surf: ce
and inv de deeper cell. It may
remain dormant there for some time.
H it survives, it may attack dj cent
cell and ta e over their genetic
material. Remember that viruses can
only multiply within cells. The cells
that are attacked move to the surf ce
and become the wart.
Such warts often are invisible to
the naked eye. That is wby an abnor­
m I P P smear may need to be fol­
lowed by bathing the cervix with
vinegar or acetic acid, which chan­
ges bnormal tissues to a white color.
Then the cervix is examined with a
magnifying instrument. The proce ..
dure is called colposcopy. Suspi­
cious reas re biopsied. Often, the
biopsy itself will remove the entire
involved area, nd it i cured'. How­
ever, there may be other wart viruses
still deep in the cells that may surface
la1er. Because of u. .... �-�-
• r��� �MI�" .... �
necessary, and ",ova
ue repeat:� •••••• -.&.;
occur. Eventually, some w.arts may
disappear, perhaps even without
treatment, just as warts on the hand
may one day disappear for unknown
reasons.
I am sending you Special Report
108-WS, Pap Test and Early Cervi­
cal Cancer for more information on
how such problems are managed.
Others who want this r port can send
$3 with a long, stamped (52 cents),
self-addressed envelope for it to
THE HEALTH LETTER! 108- WS,
P.O. Bo'x 5537, Riverton, N.J.
08077. ;
Ask Dr. lamb
by Dr. Lawrence E, Lamb
WHY ARE BLOOD PRESSURE
RE DINGS ABNORMAL?
DEAR DR. LAMB: PIe ex-
plain "bolated 51 totic hyperten­
sion," where the top r�adin •
above 160 and th lower reading is
belo 90. Mine h hovered for the
p t three years between 160 and
200 ror the top readinl and the
10 er re din in the r n e of4O to
60. The V h s d Hied ith
variou medical' to no avail.
Currently I'm on verapamil and
lisinopril.
DEAR READER: I do not know
nough about you to y for certain
what your blood pressure readings
mean. My first thought would be that.
your aorta has lost its elasticity. That
happens in some old r individuals.
The most common cau is from the
deposit, of cholesterol in the wall of
the large aorta. All of the oxygenated
blood the h art pumps into your
arteries goes directly out the heart
into the aorta. In young person with
a very elastic aorta, as the blood is
pumped into it with each contracti n
of the heart, th aorta expands easily
like a balloon. That keeps the ys­
tolic pr ssure (the top reading) from
rising high. The contraction of the
elastic a rta then helps to continue to
propel blood thr ugh your art rie .
But if the aorta is rigid, when the
h art c ntracts and jects blood into
the aorta, th aorta cann t ex nd
nearly as much and the pre ur
rises. The end r . ult i high systolic
pressure.
The other condition that n eds to
be considered, nd I'm ure your
doctors know if you hav it r n r, i
leaky rtic valve, which is m t
often from pr viou rht"umatic heart
disease. This i the val 'e that huts
to pr vent blood from r�tming .back­
w rd into th h art aft r It has ejected
blood into the orta. To compe te
. for the leak, the heart mu . ct 1
mor bl into the rta,
th y tolk pr ur to ri
•
LAN I G-On a bright, blue d y,
Michigan logger i hard at wor
with hi ch in aw In the green
woods.
He ldllfully guid it deeper into
the tree trun wdu twirl
arowlct him. he concentrate , he
chew on plug of tob ceo tucked in
his chee .
It i m ho habit keeping him afe,
e believe, b pi • S fe from t
.... dangers of mate , open flame d
fire. But he che witlr'a fal e sense
PATRICIA COLBERT
II E, \ I JTII
"TOB ceo I being recog-
nized major problem no matter
how it i ed," d Bert ote tin,
health educator for the Di trict
Health Departme t o. 3 in Peto -
oy. "Chewers tend to be more of the
d
tprev I nt
However, tobacco use in th home
has proven to be th o. 1 re on
children develop the habit, Wall ce
said.
Wallace aid that a 1 87 tudy of
four 1Jpp r Peninsula communities
showed that venth-grade boys were
mo t likely to ch w tobacco if their
ootnote of
o the program are
geared tow Ed a broad udience of
mokers," , id Andrea Poniers, ff
per on Ior the Tobacco Free
Michigan Action Co lition in lans­
ing. 'However, there i om good
inform tion on mokele tobacco
for ki , nd the dental comrnunity is
big on the is ue."
"They (d nti ts) e the effects of
it by the ncers it caus ," h aid.
HUll
V
L
Contrary to what we believe, love
i not always a many splendored
thing.
Later il\ life, orne find themselves
Ingle through the death of a loved
one or for a reason as simple as 11-
ing it quits.
For some, being single is the
epitome ofl>liss, .,hile others feel
that they are less then a person
without the company of the opposite
sex.
Women were taught
that the most important
thing in life was to '
become the perfect
housewife.
Over the years things have
changed. In the past, women were
taught that the most important thing
in life was to become the perfect
housewife.
-
either celebrating 1heir golden an­
niversaries or have become too old,
ick or tired to enter into any new
relationship.
Mo t single individuals would
rather remain single, than to put up
with orne of todays tandards and in
mo t instances, love has nothing to do
with it.
In the past, an expl nation I for
being Single, was simple as not
being able to find Mr. or Ms. Right.
HOWEVER, BEING SINGLE
today can carry many different
labels. Labels uch as, selfishness, I
got it made, and most popular of them
all, "I am set in my ways." The 1 tter
preventing any potential relationship
a� destroying many existing ones.
I guess the "I am set in my ways
theory can work if you're young,
beautiful and successful, but looking
.. beyond that perhaps you will grow
old, in a house, that is not a home.
Someone once said, "No man i an
island. At some point in time most
of us have to have someone to inter­
act with whether it be social, sexual
or intellectual.
BEST' CHANCE:
nd programs about tob ceo
g re in prog , d ta on chew-
in tob cco i di ieult to find.
Stanley Robin, ociology
profe or t We tern Michigan
University, h en involved with an
ongoin tudy of alcohol and drug
us in h 01 .
Although the tudy contains data
on mo el tob ceo use, much of
,; tanu ,typhoid, yellow fever and the
--- airbom di a diphtheria, influenza
Subtrop'cal c irnate and meningococcal m ningiti
Bring own food, ter enables di ase-
ioo rnosouit .Oi a caused by contaminated
and t r purifying C8r!Ylng mosqui os, food ana water nd a basic lack of
equlpm nt .. _ fhes and fleas
to thrive. _ .. _ ... _-- nitation: dian1l an mic
dy ntery, h patiti A, typhoid
1i e prophylactic medic ne
• • Mefloquine tablets
• I. Gamma globulin booster -, --
Behave
appropr tely
Ori� o.f water
Malaria. caused by mosquito bit
Hepatiti (other than type A),
caused by contaminated blood
products and h�rmic need s
.. - �
Avoid animals;
kill rabid ones ____,:_J
I
your work plac
ma
, r
Schistosomiasis, spread by a
parasite found in snails;
treated with drugs
ing you
•
IC
?
•
pily ever after. '
Many believed it than but a
minority believe it today. Wake up!.
Unfortunately for women, men
washed up by the tides of time are
By MONICA SANCHEZ
Sp.c'.' to the Mlchlll.n Citizen
There are many crises facing our
nation at present: a troubled
economy, higher rates of violent
crime, the spread of AIDS, and an
inadequate health care system, are
among them .. I'hey all clamor tor our
attention.
#
Every nuance of their develop-
ment is reported on the nightly news
and their solutions are constantly
debated by experts, protesters and
politicians. Yet, another grave prob­
lem affec..ts countless numbers of
workers throughout the country -
occupational diseases.
"We are in the midst of an un­
recognized epidemic of occupational
disease, which is di proportionately
affecting African American, Latino,
Asian American, Caribbean
American, and Native American
worker as well a low-wage
workers."
That is the warning Dr. George
Friedman-Jimenez, Director of the
Bellevue Occupational and Environ­
mental Health Clinic at the Bellevue
Hospital Center in New York City,
gave the New.York State As embly
at a public hearing on "Minoritie
and the Environment" in 1991.
C,ORDI
o
Match Jan. 13
Lotto Ticket
Dr. Friedman-Jimenez contend
that since only a Worker' Compen-
ation claim will allow the en e to be
officiall counted a an occupati nal
disea e, exi ting tati tic greatly un­
derestimate the problem for the e
workers.
ND PART of the
problem i
profes ional will n t diagn e an
occupational di ease as uch b cause
of all the red tape involved.
"Doctors are very reluct nt to et
'involved with Worker's Cornpcnsa­
tion," ay Dr. Friedman- imcnez.
In addition, mo t health care
provider have inadequate
knowledge of ccup a ti nal
medicine. C n cquently, ace of
occupational asthma, for example,
will mo t likely be treated and li ted
as just thma.
II] fact, Mount Sinai' 0 cupa­
tional and Envir nrncntal Health
Clinic in New York ity cstirnat
that 95-97 per ent of occupation, 1
disca e death and 62- ' 9 per' cnt f
in ident ca 'C f upati nal di -
ease arc n t reported" uch.
The re .ult i that the conditi n
which auscd me pr blcm are not
inve tigatcd and many other work rs
continue to be e po cd and at ri .k.
All f the e fact rs can del y or
prevent the orrect di n i f c­
cupational di ea e, making effc ive
treatment and prevention mu h lcs
likely.
PRE. VI. T1
DEPE D
b' ic right and that they might have
to take action to guarantee their own
health and afety."
Dr. Friedman-Jimenez tells of a
fact ry in Connecticut where
pr duction workers. had often come
into e nta t with a chemical solvent
that when ab orbed through the skin
and into the I od en ed damage to
th liver.
"Seventy- ix percent of the
pr duction worke . had evidence of
liver damage at any iven time. This'
went n f r 1 to 15 years, but no one
knew a ut it ex cpt the workers, 93
percent [whom were Latino," he
explains.
After m nths of a trike, manage­
ment decided to change the olvent
and hired the Yale Occupational
Health Clinic to do r gular urveil-
ance of worke . After two years,
there wa nly one case of liver
dama e. '
DR. 'RIEDMAN-JIME .. Z
sees this case a an example 0
failure of current method
monitoring employer mpliance
with afety regulations.
Ms. Hill agrees, "That' why we
are pushing for the OSHA Reform
bill to be pa ed, whic'h will
strengthen the law and give it new
teethandnew ub tance thatit an
provide greater protection for
workers."
Dr. Friedman-Jimenez believe
that part of the solution i informing
workers of th ir options. "If they
knew they could come to us f r help,
we could treat them and begin to
document the problem and e tim te
the full extent of the cpidemic."-
Maybe then thi unrecognized
epidemic would inally be brought to
the forefront of our natior.al con­
science.
study: "Current M itude (If Oc­
cupational Disease in the United
State ," by PJ. Landrigan arnr S.
Markowitz, every year there are ap­
proximately 350,000 new ca and
50,000 to 70, deaths due to oc­
cupational di ea e in the United
State.
Although this'data was not
reported by race or elhnicity, Dr.'
Friedman-Jimenez feels that other
evidence clearly ugge t that
minoril}lltWorkers are at higher ri k
for occupational disea e. For ex­
ample, U.S. Cens and Bureau of
Labor tatistics how that minoritie
are overrepresented in higher risk
jobs, but underrepresented in lower
risk positions.
Jaribu Hill, a Safety and Health
Specialist for the New York Com­
mittee for Occupational Safety and
Health (NYCOSH), feels the main
reason for this disparity is racism. "It
is a complicated issue, but the fact i
people of color are still relegated to
second class citizenship.
There i' no real concern for these
workers' because historically they
have been denied many of the right
enjoyed by white workers."
Dr. Friedman-Jimenez agrees.
He cites, as an example, a study of
lung disease in textile mill workers
which ound that African-American
laborers had been regularly assigned
to areas where the concentration of
textile dust was highest, putting them
at a much higher risk for developin
brown lung disease.
1989
D PI E UCH VID N E
occupational disease statistrcs
remain carce, particularly as they
pertain to minority workers. "Part of
the problem is the structure of
Worker' Compensation [which] i
by nature adversarial," explains Dr.
Friedman-Jimenez.
"Onc a worker file for Worker'
Compensation, the employer's in-
urance company hires lawyers and
doct rs to fight the claim." The
result i that minority w rkers, for
fear of 10 ing their job ,often do not
file.
And for megal immigrants, the
additional concern ofpossible depor­
tation make filing for 'Worker'
Compensation les attractive.
A urvey of patients, with work
related injurie in New York, howed
that while 46 percent of the injured
whi te workers had filed for Worker'
Compen at ion, no ian worker
had filed and only about 26 per nt
of Latin and 37 percent of African
American workers had filed.
up n identi fyi ng the cau 1 ex­
pure and liminating them. Thi
I where workers can do the m t t
help themselve . . Hill (\!) ert
that it i rare for an employer t
plemcnt trategic on hi own.
"Mo tempi ye e not in m-
pliance [with a[ety law], 0 it i
important that the w rke them el­
ve understand that they have certa.n