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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1987)
Monday, Febmaiy 16, 1987/The Battalion/Page 5 5 million American women have disease of unknown cause, cure Warped by Scott McCullar By Adelle Hedleston Reporter About five million American ^omen suffer from endometriosis, a iliease which strikes between pu- erty and menopause with a variety of symptoms and no known cause or fure. Endometriosis develops when jiterine tissue is found in the abdo men, on the ovaries and abdominal lining, bowel and bladder, resulting internal bleeding, formation of car tissue, inflammation and other aedical problems, said Sue Deutsch, lirector of support programs for the pdometriosis Association in Mil waukee. Symptoms of endometriosis are bainful menstrual periods, irregular [penstrual cycles, painful bowel novements or urination with a pe- tod, and low resistance to infec- lons, she said. Chronic pelvic pain, epeated miscarriages, painful sex- lal intercourse, infertility and chro- lic fatigue also may be experienced, tie said. Deutsch said each woman may ex- erience different symptoms of the lisease. “There is only one sure way to di agnose endometriosis,” Deutsch said, “and that is through laparosco- py” Laparoscopy is a minor surgical procedure in which a small tube equipped with a light is inserted through the navel and into the abdo men to check the organs, she said. Although the cause of endome triosis is unknown, several theories have been proposed — one of which attributes the disease to genetics. Dr. Jim Meyer, assistant professor for the College of Medicine at Texas A&M, said certain families may be predisposed to it. Deutsch said the disease may be caused by an auto-immunity disor der, birth defect, lymphatic or circu latory distribution of endometrial tissue or, as Meyer said, genetics; but all these possible causes are only the ories. A cure has not been found for the disease, Deutsch said. When the dis ease is extremely disabling, a hyster ectomy is performed and the ovaries are removed — but only as a last re sort, she said. Generally, it’s unacceptable to have these operations because of the permanent effects they may have, she said, but endometriosis victims can find hope through various other treatments. A variety of traditional surgeries and new laser techniques can be used to remove the endometrial growths, Deutsch said, but the disease usually returns. Hormonal treatments that imitate menopause also are used in an attempt to cause the disease to re gress and dissolve. Of the two medications that may be used to treat the disease, only one has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Meyer said the approved medication in capsule form is Danazol, a male hormone which prohibits the menstrual cycle. Danazol’s side effects include de creased breast size, deepened voice, unnatural hair growth and unusual weight gain. Gonadotropin is the medication that hasn’t been approved, he said. When this drug is administered, it causes a menopause state. “The treatment depends on the goal,” he said. It depends on whether the woman wants to have children or just wants the pain re lieved, he said. Waldo by Kevin Thomas ialysis: Texas faces flat future in defense ■ DALLAS (AP) — An analysis of the Reagan administration’s defense buclget requests indi cates that direct defense spending to Texas, as well as other states, will be flat through 1989. ■ George R. Brown Jr., executive vice president at Data Resources Inc., which did the analysis, said defense spending in the past five years grew at an average b.H percent each year, but such spending in the f uture will be far less. ■ “The growth period is coming to an end,” Brown said. “We’re reaching a plateau in defense spending, but that plateau is on top of a moun tain.” ■ William T. Long, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said while defense spending may not continue to be an impetus for growth, it won’t be a dark spot in the economy ei ther. “The bottom line is that for the state economy as a whole, defense spending will have a neutral effect,” Long said. “Still, some indust ries will con tinue to benefit. It all depends on what form de fense spending takes and how well Texas firms are able to capture contracts.” Direct Pentagon spending represented 6.6 percent of total output in the state last year, Brown said. That figure will hold steady, drop ping to about 6.2 percent in 1989, he said. Texas will continue to keep its share of de fense spending up because of research and de velopment funds flowing into the state, Long said. DRI predicts that defense R&D funding re ceived by Texas firms will increase an average 5.1 percent annually through 1989. Donald Hicks, a faculty member of the Uni versity of Texas at Dallas who has studied Penta gon R&D funding in the Dallas-Fort Worth area said R&D spending in fiscal 1985 represented 46.7 percent of the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s total defense contract dollars,. Such spending to area firms is growing at a rapid rate — faster than in competing metropol itan areas, Hicks said. The area ranks among the top four cities in concentration of electrical and aerospace engi neers, said Hicks. State senators to discuss employee claims, prisons AUSTIN (AP) — Senators re turn from a long weekend today to face the ongoing issue of E rison funding and a new prob- :m — coming up with money to pay the workers’ compensation claims of state employees. House members have nothing major on their agenda today but scheduled prison and workers’ compensation debate later in the week. The Senate met for only five minutes Thursday before turning the floor over to committee chair men. Today, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby said, senators will vote on a House-approved resolution to ease prison overcrowding by rushing up to 500 non-violent in mates to halfway houses around the state. The resolution would allow the State Board of Pardons and Pa roles to spend halfway house placement money at a more rapid rate. #MSC ALL NIGHT FAIR RELIVES THE PROHIBITION WITH BUD LIGHT KKYS FMIOS CUSTOM SILK SCHJiKNINC FEBRUARY 21, 1987 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. MEMORIAL STUDENT CENTER CARNIVAL BOOTHS CONTEST & PRIZES NON-ALCHOLIC BAR DANCING & CAFE Admission $1.' Tickets .100 Each A basketful of cash is better than a garage full of 'stuff' Have a garage or yard sale this week - Call 845-2611