file copy ecor - nih record · rated women had higher rates than single or married women. among the...

FILE COPY

ecor U . 5. DEPA RTM ENT OF

HEALT H . EDUCAT I ON . AND WE LFARE

NATI ONAL I N STI TUTES OF H EALTH

P U B L I C H E A LTH SERVICE

N IH Within Sight Of CFC Quota; Drive Extended

Laser, Artificial Heart Research Trends Over 750 Attend Reported by Ors. Ketcham, Kantrowitz The Conference

With only 90.9 percent of the IH goal reported at the end of the

fifth week of the Combined Fed­eral Campaign, Dr. Donald Hart­ing, NIH Campaign Chairman , an­nounced that the campaign here would be extended anobher week­to Nov. 1 0.

The total of contributions re ­ported at the end of the drive's fifth week here was $140,659. The

IH quota is $1 54,700, leaving IH $14,041 hort of its goal . NIH employee participation at

conclusion of the fifth week was only 87 .7 percent , i t was pointed out.

Un pledged U rg ed to Give

Dr. Harting expressed the hope that duri ng the final week, tho e NIH employees who have not yet given would pledge the remaining $1 4 ,04 1 nece sary to reach the IH goal and to ·help put PHS over the top.

At the end of the fifth reporting pe riod, five other NIH units had joined NICHD, NIGMS, and DRG in exceeding their quotas.

The five units were DR with 100.6 percent; DBS with 100 per­cent ; Il\1H , 102.9 percent ; NIDR, 109 percent; and OAM, 1 1 1 .8 per-

,s,. DR/ VF. F.XTENDEn. r•au, 8)

This p icture, ta ken in the Laser Loboratory at Redstone Arsena l, shows the new arti c u lat ing arm portion of the loser module under test to dete rm ine a ny loss in power output. From left : Dr . Robert Hoye, NCI senior surgeon; Dr .Jomes Deorm o n , Assisto nt B ronch Chief, Army Missi le Command; and Dr . A lfred Ketchom, C h ief of the N C I Surgery Bra nch . .

By Herbert B. r ichols Broad views of present accompl i shments and futu re trends in two

specialized areas of "med ical physics" were presented by two di stinguished surgeons at a 1·ectmt seminar for science wri ters in ew Yoz·k City.

The surgeons were Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz, Director of Surgical erv­ice of the Maimonjdes Hospital in B rookl yn and P rofessor of urgery at the Dovn1state M edical Center,

tate niver ity of w York, an d Dr. Alfred . Ketcham, Chief of the Surgery B ranch of the ational Cancer Institute.

Dr. K antrowitz, who i a Hean

Institute grantee, chaired the all­day sessions and devoted an hour to the discussion of artificial hearts.

NIMH-Group Health Ass' n Study Finds 1 in 7 Adults Has Psychia tric Ailment

Dr. Ketcham spoke on the laser ( Light Amplification by Stimu­lated Emission of Radiation ) , a re­search tool that has opened up a whole new region of the lectro­magnetic spectrum to practical applications in many fields, medi­ci ne i ncl uded.

Beam Vaporizers

On in even adults seen by a physician has a psychiatric ailment, according to a iiew study conducted joi n tly by the National Inst i tute of Mental Health and th Group Health Associ ation , Inc., Washi ngton , D . .

The study outlines the type of p ychiatric problem the doctors found most frequently in a sample of more than 6,000 patients. The more se riousl y d isabled than the Group Health Association provides prepaid group medical service in the Washington, D.C. area.

Ben Z. Locke, NIM H statistic ian, reported these findings to the American Public Health Associa­tion annual meeting in Chicago :

1 ) Psychiatric p roblems were more common in women patients than in men. In the over-64 age group, the rates for women were 50 percent h igher than for men. But the men on the whole were

women. 2) Widow d, divorced, or sepa­

rated women had higher rates than single or married women. Among th e men, married or not, the rates we1'e simi l ar.

3 ) Older people suffered many more psychi atric complaints than younger adults. Rates for tho e ov r 64 rose three to four times those for people in their 20s.

4) Men who turned out to have(Sec HEALTTJ STUD Y, Paoo 8)

These light beams, he said, are able to vaporize an y kno\vn sub­stance and to bore th rough metal almost instantaneously. It is the high intensity of rel ati vely low­power d l ight beams that makes the laser of particular value to medici ne, augmenting the sui-geon 'b scalpel where special problems are i nvolved .

Basic com parisons with solar en­ergy, he said, show solar sui·face temperature to be around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit while the laser beam can reach 18,000 F. olar power is figu1·ed at 5,000 watts and the laser at 250 mil l ion watts.

Best of all , the use of l ight for (Sec RESEARCH TRENDS. T'a,oe 4)

On Health Goals The White House Conference on

Health, held Nov. 3 and 4 at the Shoreham Hotel , brought together "the best minds and the bolde t ideas to deal with the pre ing health needs of the ation."

Over 750 distinguished members of the health professions partici­pated in th Ls forum to dis-cus, President Johnson' hea l th goal for the Nation and the means of implementing them.

The P1·esident's announced goals for the conference included a search for :

1- Tew ways to increase lifeexpectancy ;

2-Achievement of a healthierenvironment ;

Dr. Stewart Dr . Go rdner

3-J mpi-ovemcnt of our under­standing and care of the mentally ill , and

4-Elimination of d i eases such as tuberculosis , measles and whooping cough.

The President' new health team -HEW Secretary John W. Gard­ner; Dr. Philip R. Lee , AssistantSecretary -designate for Health andSc ientific Affairs ; and SurgeonGeneral William H. Stewart--ad­dressed the o,pen ing session of theconfe1·ence. Dr. J ames A. Shannon ,D i reetor of I R , also attended the

(See CONF'£RENCE, Pao• 8)

John Carter Named to NCI Advisory Council

John M ack Carter, Ed itor of the Ladies' Home Journal, has been ap­pointed to the ational Advisory Cancer Counci l for a 3-year term ending epte

m

ber 30, 1968. Last year M r. arter was a member of the President's Commi ssion on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stl·oke,