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November 24, 1994
Media Contact:: To pursue any of these stories, call the contact person
listed
Phone: (410) 955-5384
E-mail:
Gstephen@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu
MEDICAL NEWS TIPS
Listed below are story ideas from The Johns Hopkins Medical
Institutions.
"FALSE MEMORY" CONFERENCE EXPLORES BELIEFS ABOUT ABUSE
The scenario has become familiar to viewers of TV talk shows or readers of
popular magazines. During psychotherapy, an individual is stunned to find that
dark, long-buried memories push their way to the surface, leading to the
revelation of painful scenes of childhood sexual abuse, torture at the hands of
satanic cults, or even abduction by alien beings. Suddenly, years of vague
psychosomatic ailments fall into a dreadful focus. Lawsuits are filed, families
are split, friends and relatives are shocked.
But how much basis in fact or scientific theory do these tales of "recovered
memories," often associated with the diagnosis of multiple personality
disorder, really have?
Little or none, say the organizers of a December 9-11, 1994 conference co-
sponsored by The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and the FMS (False Memory
Syndrome) Foundation. Rather, they say, such "recovered memories" most often
are beliefs produced in suggestible patients by the therapists who claim to
discover and treat them.
Nearly 600 persons have already registered for the Baltimore conference, which
has been advertised through national mailings to psychiatrists, psychologists
and social workers. The program's directors, Paul R. McHugh, M.D., Henry Phipps
professor and director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
at Johns Hopkins, and Pamela P. Freyd, Ph.D., executive director of the FMS
Foundation in Philadelphia, will hold a media briefing at noon on Friday,
December 9. Members of the media who are interested in attending the briefing
or other parts of the conference should call 410-955-6680.
For media inquiries only, contact Gary Stephenson at 410-955-5384.
CATCHING BONE PROBLEM BEFORE IT BECOMES SERIOUS
It begins simply, typically as a dull pain in the bones. In a small number of
cases, Paget's disease progresses to deformation of limbs, the hips, or the
skull. Serious pain, loss of hearing, or loss of mobility can result.
The good news is Paget's (pah-jets) can be treated with several drugs,
including a recently approved drug that will help patients who do not respond
to previously available treatments.
"In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth 10 pounds of cure," says Michael
Levine, M.D., a Hopkins professor of medicine. "It's much easier to control
this disease before the symptoms become serious."
Physicians aren't sure of Paget's cause, but suspect a viral infection in the
affected bones.
Paget's is the second most common bone disease after osteoporosis, but public
awareness of it is low. Experts estimate that 100,000 people have been
diagnosed with Paget's, but are concerned that the actual number of sufferers
could be up to seven times that figure.
For media inquiries only, contact Michael Purdy at (410) 955-8725.
SPECIAL DIET MAY REDUCE DIALYSIS DEATHS
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions have found that a
very-low-protein diet before kidney dialysis may reduce patient deaths by
three-fourths during the first two years of dialysis.
Scientists believe the very restrictive diet may actually bring patients to
dialysis in a better nutritional state. "That could be why they appear to be
doing better for the first couple of years of dialysis," says Josef Coresh,
M.D., Ph.D., a Hopkins epidemiologist and author of the small study, which
followed 44 patients.
If a similar reduction in deaths occurs in a following controlled study, the
diet may become an important tool for prolonging the lives of dialysis
patients.
For media inquiries only, call Michael Purdy at (410) 955-8725
NATIONAL STUDY TO EVALUATE CHILDHOOD ASTHMA CARE
Pediatricians have treated mild to moderate childhood asthma for years with
drugs used only after an asthma attack starts.
Now, though, some doctors are starting to say that even mild asthma attacks
can, over time, stunt lung capacity. They think the best way to manage
childhood asthma is with regular doses of anti-inflammatory drugs that prevent
attacks altogether.
The first long-term national study designed to see which approach is better is
beginning under the sponsorship of the National Institutes of Health.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins will be among the participating researchers.
The Childhood Asthma Management Program is designed to determine what
treatments will help asthmatic children be as healthy as they can be," says
Franklin Adkinson, M.D., a Hopkins professor of medicine.
For media inquiries only, contact Michael Purdy at (410) 955-4725.
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