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Wednesday, August 23,1960
Ths Battalion
Page SB
Depression limits activities
of about 10 million in U.S.,
AM A journal study reveals
CHICAGO (AP) — Depression, which afflicts nearly
10 million Americans, is more commonly disabling than
arthritis, ulcers, diabetes or high blood pressure — ail-
menu that are often taken more seriously, a study says.
“We’ve greatly underestimated up until now bow dis
abling depression is related to other chronic medical
conditions.” said John E. Ware Jr., principal investiga
tor in a study that questioned 11,242 outpatienu in
three cities.
Depression proved at least as bad as emphysema or
back problems at limiting people in their physical func
tioning or causing them to stay in bed, said the study,
published in Friday’s loumal of the American Medical
Asaocsacion.
The only two worse chronic conditions were heart
pam and advanced coronary artery disease, in terms of
limiting activities such as walking, dressing, bathing,
climbing stairs or participating in sports, the stuov
found.
Dr. Gerald Klerman. a depression researcher and
psychiatry professor at Cornell University Medical Ccri-
lege in New York, said he considers the study important
because it shows the real costs of depression
“It looks pretty serious," he said in a telephone inter
view Thursday, adding that only about 2u
depressives are getting treated.
percent of
getting i
| ‘The majority suffer in silence or are misdiagnosed
— as having tension, anxiety, personality disorder or
weak character,” he said.
The study, coordinated by the RAND Corp in Santa
Monica. Calif., looked at adult patients in a variety of
settings — health maintenance organizations, group
medical practices and solo practices — in Los Angeles.
Chicago and Boston
Researchers found that about half of the 11.242 sub
jects studied suffered from either depressive symptoms
and-or one of eight chronic medical conditions — high
blood pressure, diabetes, advanced coronary heart dis
ease. heart pain, arthritis, back problems, lung prob
lems or digestive problems, Ware said.
Almost one-quarter of the subjects — 2,467 people —
reported depressive symptoms, which they typically ex
plained to their doctors as feeling “down in the dumps”
or chronically tired. Ware said.
Such patients experienced as much or more bodily
pain ana stayed in ned as many or more days as as pa
tients with back, lung or digestive problems, heart pain,
high blood pressure or diabetes, the researchers found.
Only arthritis proved more painful and only ad
vanced heart disease caused more bed days, they said.
In addition, patients with depressive symptoms re
ported significantly less ability to function socially than
those with any of the chronic medical conditions, the re
searchers said.
“If the doctor ... is unable to come up with a certified
psychiatric diagosis, that doesn’t mean the person can
oe ignored.” said Ware, a research psychologist and se
nior scientist at New England Medical Center Hospitals
in Boston.
buch patients “have a tremendous unmet need and
burden that costs a lot from society's point of view, be
cause they’re not able to function.”
Dr. John Zajecka. clinical director of osychiatric
treatment research at Rush-Presbyterian-bt. Luke’s-
Medkal Center in Chicago, said patients with depres
sive symptoms — even if they don t meet the classic def
inition of depressive disorder — "are very treatable”
and often respond well to antidepressant medications
About 4 percent of the population of the United
States, or 9.9 million people, suffers from major de
pression in any given year, according to Dr. Martin B.
Keller, director of psychiatric research at Massachusetts
General Hospital in Boston.
Tom y Jerry creates controversy
for El Paso Times comic-page readers
EL PASO (AP) — The cat and
mouse games of “Tom and Jerry”
are usually not the stuff of contro
versy. until their antics are spelled
out in Spanish.
For nearly a month, the El Paso
Times has been running “Tom y
Jerry” on its funny pages but crit
icism from disgruntled readers con
tinues.
“Although I am not prejudiced in
any manner, I must oppose this deci
sion. The Times is a paper for the
community of El Paso, which is still
ut Ujf L'mtcd Si airs,* fhyA Vecj^of
El raso wrotf in a^teier that ap
peared Sunday in the^imcs
The newspaper has received more
than 150 cans and letters about the
comic-page addition. Ten readers
canceled their subscriptions, said
Managing Editor Paula Moore.
The bilingual duo began appear
ing in the Times on July *0 and were
part of a comic page shakeup that
£ ve the adios to "Andy Capp, “Re-
ve,” and “Spiderman.’’
Readers also have complained
about the omitted strips, but Moore
said the loudest cries were heard
about the addition of “Tom y Jerry,”
obtained through Editors Press
Service, Inc. of New York.
“Anytime we do anything that
even hints at something like this, we
get reaction.” Mrs. Moore said Mon
day. “When we say ‘Feliz Navidad!’
at Christmas, we get two or three let
ters. When we started “Vista” mag
azine — although it's in English, its
directed at Hispanic* — we got quite
a bit of reaction.”
A week ago, the paper began in
cluding English subtitles with the
strip at the suggestion of readers.
-Three Spanuh-language dailies
are circulated in El Paso, but Mrs.
Moore said the comic strip is part of
the newspaper’s effort to reflect the
city, where 65 percent of the resi
dents are Hispanic
Still, some readers saw the strip as
something else.
“Why run a Spanish language
strip in an English language paper?
I’m not paying for a foreign lan
guage paper,” said Waller R. Reed
of El Paso
Ray Roberts, also of El Paso,
called the new strip “an addition to
the Times’ other daily word puzzles”
and said he hoped it did not become
a trend.
Some of the complaints have
come from members of the Hispanic
community.
El Paso Times columnist Joe Ol
vera addressed that sentiment over
^Je weekend.
^"The Hispanic community, rather
than criticizing the Times for that
one comic strip, should enjoy the ef
forts made in its behalf.” he wrote
Sunday
Olvera suggested the l imes pub
lish the days important stories in
Spanish once a week, especially
those that impact non-Englisn
speakers
The Times published stories in
Spanish regarding the implementa
tion of immigration reform laws in
1987
The city's afternoon daily, the El
Paso Herald-Post, does not currently
carry Spanish copy. It attempted to
run Spanish news bnefs in 1985. but
there was little acceptance among
readers, said Editor Tom King. The
newspaper also found translations
difficult, even for those fluent in
Spanish. *
Girl protects endangered animals
from highway hazards, pollution
PARIS, Texas (AP) —Janae McK
inney collects turtles, lots of turtles.
She also collects bugs, tad proles,
frogs and any other animals she feels
may be endangered by their sur
roundings.
Miss McKinney is not an ecologist.
She is simply concerned about ani
mals that seem to fall prey to auto
mobiles. polluted water and other
ecological mishaps that occur in to
day’s society.
The 7-year-old, a first-jjrader this
past school year at Aikin Elementary
School in Pans, seems to be wise for
her years. She knows the meaning of
ecology and understands the need to
sometimes help defenseless animals
survive in less-than-friendly sur
roundings.
“I didn’t like the fact that these
animals, especially turtles, were get
ting run over on the highway.” she
said. “So one day I asked mother if
she would stop so I could pick up a
turtle off the road. I guess that is
when it all started.”
Janae’s mother. Jan Semple McK
inney, couldn't turn down her
daughter’s request to save a turtle
from being crushed on a busy road
just outside Paris.
“I could tell she was very con
cerned, so I told her we would make
it a protect.” Mrs. McKinney said. “I
think die is being very responsible
and has saved a lot of turtles from an
early death on the highways."
Janae periodically patrols her
neighborhood and a nearby creek
for small creatures. If the creek is ac
cidentally polluted, she collects the
minnows and tadpoles from the wa
ter and takes them home to her por
table fish tank.
She has encouraged her mother
to take her riding on the roads just
outside the city each morning before
school to check for healthy, or in
jured. turtles on the highway That
duty requires a 6 a.m. wake-up call.
If one is spotted, they stop their
car. pick it up and bring h home to
add to an already large collection of
terrapins, red-necked sliders and go-
■pher turtles, just to name a few.
“These are native to the area.”
Janae said as she picked up a terra
pin. “They are very sweet and make
good pets.”
Lark warning causes concern
at end of latest Bond movie
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers are fuming over the placement
and timing of a warning about the dangers of smoking in the latest James
Bond movie. “Licence to Kill.”
Philip Morris paid $550,000 to the film maker. United Artists, to have its
Lark cigarette appear in the movie, according to congressional testimony
In response to concerns from the American Lung Association, Ameri
can Heart Association and American Cancer Society, the movie contains the
Surgeon General’s warning about the effect of smoking.
Reps. Tom Luken, D-Ohio, and Bob Whittaker. R-Kan, have expressed
reservations about the placement of the warning, which comes during the
final credits.
“We believe that the health warning should appear at the beginning of
the film, as many viewers ... will leave before they see a warning in the mov
ie’s credits." Luken and Whittaker said in a letter to the head of the Federal
Trade Commission. Janet D. Steiger.
Luken said Friday the letter asks whether the commission has the au
thority to issue rules on tobacco advertising in movies.
Then she pointed to as red
necked slider, describing it as
’’mean”. She said they will bite with
out much encouragement.
“I don’t handle the red-necked
slider and the big snapper turtles
unless it is necessary.” she said.
She keeps the terrapins and other
dry land turtles in a cage. Other tur
tles that are accustomed to living in
the water are kept in large con
tainers of water.
Janae gets some help in her un
usual hobbv from sisters Jamie and
Jill Beth. But her father. Mike McK
inney. is not very enthusiastic about
the project, according to Mrs. McK
inney.
“Mike doesn’t like to handle the
animals, so we don't get a lot of help
from him,” she said “But he is toler
ant of it all and supportive of Janae’s
endeavor.”
The budding ecologist is keeping
a chart on the eating habits of the
turtles and the other animals she col
lects. The turtles eat lettuce and
other greens, tadpole eggs and some
insects, she said.
Turning her animal rescue pro
ject into a classroom event was a
challenge for Janae. Her teacher.
Martha Upton, gave her the oppor
tunity to explain the origin ana hab
its of the turtles to her classmates.
Despite her penchant for gather
ing endangered creatures. Janae
doesn’t foresee herself as an ecolog
ist or a biologist. The straight-A stu
dent has already decided she will be
an obstetrician when she grows up.
“Since I was 5 years old. I have
wanted to help babies be bom." she
said. “I'm sure that is what 1 will end
up doing.”
No sooner than she completes the
sentence, she dashes off to the back
yard to check on a family of lizards
that has made a home behind the
children's playhouse.
“There is never an idle moment."
her mother said. “But I wouldn't
have it any other way. One day she
might be an influence in providing
safe habitats for small animals.”
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