ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 1996 TAG: 9604300066
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Health Notes
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
On April 9, I mentioned that the University of Virginia was searching for women to help test a digital-imaging mammography machine designed to give a better view of the dense breast tissue of younger women.
The floodgates opened; the University of Virginia got 30 calls from Roanoke-area women by the next day, and Robin Baxter, a radiology technologist, was still returning calls a week later. Some of the respondents were disappointed at what she had to tell them. The machine test is open to women 40 and older or to women 35 and over who have a "first degree" relative, a mother or sister who has had breast cancer.
Participation also includes at least one trip to Charlottesville to the University of Virginia Diagnostic Center for Women. It requires a traditional mammogram and one by the new machine. If a woman has had a recent mammogram, however, UVa likely can use it instead of taking another.
Federal Drug Administration trials on the machine began in November and have included 75 volunteers. The trials will go through the end of the year.
Women still interested in participating in the study can call (804) 982-2572 or 924-5194.
Ideally, readers would have been provided in this column with all the basic information about the UVa test. But since that didn't happen, it's a good opportunity to point out that no individual should get involved in any kind of experiment without having all details. The machine test is relatively simple, but the drug trials that go on all the time are more complicated.
It's easy to find out about clinical trials - the National Institutes of Health, (301)-496-4000 or the NIH page on the Internet, will give you a list - but before you leap consider these questions, which are from the April issue of Reader's Digest:
Who is the sponsor of the experiment? (Once you know check track records of the sponsor with the Institutional Review Board.)
Who qualifies? Age, health, and type of disease are factors.
Who pays for the experiment? Make certain the Informed Consent form you have to sign includes that information.
Can the treatment harm you? What are the risks for terminally ill patients? Will there be pain? Will your privacy be protected?
Some of these also are good questions for UVa.
Hearing tests
On Saturday, the Roanoke Valley Speech and Hearing Center will offer free tests and free speech screening for children and adults from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The center is on Colonial Avenue Southwest, Roanke, across from Towers Shopping Mall.
For more information, call the center at 343-0165. No reservations are needed.
MS research
"Progress and Promise in MS Research" will be the topic of a mixed-media program May 11 from 11 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Health professionals will hold video discussions of research on multiple scleroses and then take questions via teleconference hookup to sites all across the country.
All participants will be able to hear all questions and answers. To register or learn more about the conference, call Beth Barber at (800) 451-0373. The Blue Ridge Chapter, national Multiple Sclerosis Society and Berlex Laboratories are sponsoring the conference.
Anxiety screening
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, any person who thinks he or she might suffer from an anxiety disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive behavior, can be tested for it free at the Lewis-Gale Foundation at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem.
The event is sponsored by the Lewis-Gale Clinic Department of Psychological Medicine and the Mental Health Association of the Roanoke Valley. Call 774-4022 for more information.
AIDS counseling
From May 13 through Dec. 20, Johanna Jones, a Radford University graduate student, will be available at the Good Samaritan Hospice on Electric Road for individual or group counseling for people living with HIV and AIDS and for their families and friends.
Anyone interested in the free counseling or in joining a support group, should call Dr. Bill Baker at the hospice, 776-0198, for an appointment.
You can reach Sandra Brown Kelly at 981-3393 or through e-mail at skelly2180@aol.com
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