Friday, April 15, 1983/The Battalion/Page 15
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B United Press International
BOSTON — Fifty percent of
Imen who took high doses of
common ulcer medication be-
ime impotent and had swollen,
ittler breasts after just a few
piths of treatment, a study
lid Thursday.
All the symptoms dis-
:ared after the drug cimeti-
, the most commonly pre-
ed drug in the nation, was
iscontinued, said the study in
i New England Journal of
hdicine.
It found cimetidine inhibited
ction of the male sex hor-
e androgen, causing impo-
Je and breast changes in 11
|l men who were treated for
Ire peptic ulcers that require
ive doses of the medication.
The symptoms were re-
led in men taking three to
times the normal daily dose
and probably are not common,
said a researcher from the Na
tional Institutes of Health in
Bethesda, Md.
“This study proves the anti
androgen effects can occur in
people,” said Dr. Robert T. Jen
sen. “I think it will not be very
common, though.”
The drug is commonly pre
scribed for ulcers that plague
one in 10 men and one in 25
women in the United States,
Jensen said, and has replaced
the use of antacids and surgery
for ulcer patients. However,
only one in 10,000 ulcer patients
has the peptic ulcer that requires
the massive doses taken in the
study.
Peptic ulcers are caused by a
tumor that makes the stomach
produce up to 25 times the nor
mal amount of acid.
“It used to be that all these
patients died because they just
burned holes in their stomachs,”
Jensen said.
Nine of the men studied be
came impotent, five completely
so. Nine had breast changes, and
Five had gynecomastia, excessive
development of the male breast.
“Most of the men who had
gynecomastia were bothered
only minimally by it, but nearly
all who became impotent
wanted to discontinue cimeti
dine and try some other form of
therapy including total gastrec
tomy (surgical removal of the
stomach),” the researchers said.
They said switching the pa
tients to ranitidine, another
drug that blocks the secretion of
gastric acids and allows the
ulcers to heal, stopped the side
effects.
ixed hormone pill
more beneficial
I United Press Internationnl
BOSTON — Government
Hors Thursday cautioned
mien against taking birth con-
pills high in the hormone
estin because they said it in-
blood cholesterol levels
#Bthe risk of heart attacks and
trokes.
^^^â– Vomen taking oral con-
â– .ictptives high in estrogen and
bpinenstruating women who
â–  estrogen pills had lower
IcM levels of harmful choles-
f S n»H aiK ' higher levels of a type
s ®;. '■cholesterol that protects
"n H 11S| heart disease, the resear-
ner reported.
atKOMwTliis study confirms pre
ps work that shows estrogens
: noindic
lit Foret
is said lit
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iday’s
one series of effects that
ight be regarded as beneficial,
iile progestin may have
rse af fects on blood choles-
rols,” said Dr. Basil Rifkin of
[ational Institutes of Health
in Bethesda, Md.
The results were consistent
with previous studies that found
women taking estrogen after
menopause had a much lower
rate of deaths from all causes,
including heart disease, he said.
“If one pill is as effective as
another in preventing pregnan
cies, you may as well go on the
one that has a mixture of hor
mones that doesn’t have adverse
ef f ects and may have a beneficial
effect,” he said.
The results of the nationwide
study of 374 women taking the
pill, 284 women taking estrogen
after menopause and 1,086
women taking no hormones
were reported in the New Eng
land Journal of Medicine.
Rifkin said women using low-
estrogen, high-progestin birth
control pills had 24 percent
higher levels of low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
ong reclaims perch
erlooking New York
, one oi
i. nudeat
trryinguL
vhen it United Press International
noon IfW YORK — Proving you
about5 f' 1 keep a good gorilla down,
Jellis Ait ft Kong was back on top of
le Empire State Building
'hursday.
I the "rfB'he 10-story, 2,500-pound
ednestb' Sr balloon was inflated
: lowerfd-Kiesday night to almost a
helicop' 1 uaner-mile into the sky, after
hewretkjle than a week of problems
King him back on his perch.
^ jhe inflation of the balloon
arked the 50th anniversary of
e original King Kong movie.
^ Jfltheof the Film Kong climbed
U12-story skyscraper, then
e world’s tallest, with Fay
rat in his hand.
In 1976, Kong, this time in a
e by Dino DeLaurentis,
cation
climbed to the top of the World
Trade Center with Jessica Lange
in his gigantic hand. That was
before she won an Academy
Award for “Tootsie.”
Robert Vicino, creator of the
latest version of Kong, said he
and crews would put the
“finishing touches” Thursday
on the balloon beast — “turn his
arm around a little, things like
that,” he said, adding that Kong
would probably stay up about a
week.
Vicino said he may even in
flate Kong right on the street
after his reign atop the Empire
State Building.
“I feel relieved, over
whelmed, extremely excited and
mostly thankful that God was lis-
to
me,
the
Vicino
third tin
said.
;
%
Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity
Announces Their Seventh Annuall
FIGHT NIGHT
Slide
zz i
k
)
Friday, April 22 & Saturday, April 23
Brazos County Pavillion
(East Bypass at Tabor Rd.)
Boxing between Dorms — Corps — Fraternities —
Student Organizations — TAMU Students
Plenty of Food & Beer Available
Admission: Tickets available at: Pother’s Book-
$ 3 00 presale store, Texas Aggie Bookstore, Tri
$ 4 00 gate State Sporting Goods & Suds
FIGHT TIMES:
Fri. Apr. 22
Fri. Apr. 22
6 p.m.-Midnight
Sat. Apr. 23
12 noon-5 p.m.
Semi-finals
Admission FREE at this time.
Sat. Apr. 23
6 p.m.-Midnight
FINALS
than non-users. LDL has been
shown to contribute to heart dis
ease.
The women on those pills also
had “significantly lower” levels
of high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) cholesterol that protects
against heart disease by carrying
the fatty deposits out of the sys
tem, Rifkin said.
“Thus, hormone prepara
tions that simultaneously elevate
LDL levels and decrease HDL
levels cause the most concern,”
the researchers said.
The study also found signifi
cantly higher levels of the pro
tective HDL cholesterol in all
nonmenstruating women,
young and old, who were taking
estrogen.
Birth control pills are the
most popular non-surgical form
of contraceptive, useci by as
many as 55 million women worl
dwide.
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tening
“They say
charm.”
The effort, which began 10
days ago, touched off a cham
pagne celebration on the “Kong-
course,” the landmark build
ing’s concourse renamed by
Kong spokesman Dan Wolfson.
Kong was just a silhouette
against the illuminated tower of
the Empire State Building
Wednesday night. He was ex
pected to exert his full terror
Thursday.
Arthur Novell, a publicist for
the project, said he had been
getting calls from all over the
city and New Jersey: “He’s 84
feet high. How can you miss
him?”