OCR Text |
Show Page A4 Thursday, June 9, 1988 Park Record Yourhealt IPoMe nsiotftteir Teen pregnancy on the rise in Utah 1 1 An assortment of fender benders and various juvenile offenses of-fenses kept officers busy this past week along with a handful of threatening phone calls and locating a few runaway kids. But there were a couple of items to indicate in-dicate the summer season has arrived. ar-rived. On June 5 officers responded to this complaint: ' "Subject states he left his fan-nypack fan-nypack on the table in the Alamo and for reasons which he cannot understand was ejected from the bar by the management and now cannot find his fannypack. Pack is dark blue wilderness brand. Contained $15 cash, notebooks and clothing." The Pocket Guide to Park City The guide that goes with you! Chock-full of current information about Park City's recreation, shopping, dining and entertainment spots. Our summer 1988 issue can be found at over 60 locations throughout town. The Pocket Guide to Park City & ElSEj a winning combination tor more information, call 649-9014 ! ' fornix m LI ZjJ wnm lit) flziHir(iiyti f0 ifeli m& !&m V&&38B& In the kids-will-be-kids and school's-almost-out department also on June 5 officers answered this compliant: "Juveniles were running around with a flashlight making the dogs bark. House was being toliet-papered. Owner confronted juveniles and they split." And finally with evidence that mating season has come to Main Street this report from last Saturday Satur-day night: "Two males were quite loud when contacting two females. They were asked to move on." Can compliants of loud music being played outside after sundown sun-down be far behind? &M aMI x QYSgTO by HEIDI WEST Record staff writer Although Utah's plight may be nowhere near as severe as most of the rest of the nation, it still has a significant problem with teenage pregnancy, said Dr. Kathleen McEUigott, director of the Teen Mother and Child Program Pro-gram at the University of Utah. The number of teens giving birth in Utah is 30 percent lower than the national average and 20 percent less than the national average for Caucasian Americans, she said. This is in spite of a one-third lower abortion rate than the rest of the nation. Although Utah may seem to have a higher proportion of married mar-ried teens with children, McEUigott reported of 141 pregnant preg-nant teen girls who came to her program in 1987, only eight were married at the time of conception. By the time the babies were born, 45 were married. However, the average number of young women who were choosing choos-ing to keep and raise their children without a mate was in- In the mid 1960s, 35 percent per-cent of unwed teen mothers were placing their babies with adoption agencies. agen-cies. In the late 1980s, only five percent are do-ing do-ing so. creasing, she noted. For example, in the mid 1960s, about 35 percent of unwed teen mothers were placing plac-ing their babies with adoption agencies. In the late 1980s, only five percent were doing so. McEUigott, speaking to more than 50 health workers at the Annual An-nual Utah Public Health Conference Con-ference Friday, stressed she could not identify a teen likely to become pregnant simply by looking. look-ing. However, there were some ... characteristics several of them shared. For instance, if their sisters or mother had become pregnant as a teen, if they used drugs, alcohol or smoked, belonged to a low socio-economic class, were black or high school drop-outs, they were classified as high risk. She also noted 50 percent of her pro- Cancer a by HEIDI WEST Record staff writer It's a complex combination of body chemistry, genetics and previous exposure to cancer-causing cancer-causing agents which determines why some get cancer and others do not, said a toxicologist with the University of Utah. i jSL?jyL JSa. ) p ijM 2)Io)tl ; f " :. ,1 ' 7 , 'v :" " 1 I . I x - - i u J This familiar poster by Planned Parenthood is part of a campaign aimed at making teens aware of the responsibilities accompanying sex. gram's clients had attempted suicide at least once before becoming pregnant, and about 25 percent reported having been sexually sex-ually abused. After becoming pregnant as a teen, the girls were much more likely to have a second pregnancy within a year, drop out of school and go on the welfare rolls. McEUigott said $16.65 billion was spent nationally on teen pregnancy pregnan-cy in 1987. She noted she had been keeping statistics on the fathers of babies two - step and complex process Dr. Mike Franklin explained to health workers that some of the chemicals in prescription drugs, industrial processes and even the food we eat can trigger a change in genetic material which can later be transformed to cancer. But, before that happens, those changes must be "promoted" to override a natural command in cells which keeps them from the haywire dividing which eventually eventual-ly becomes a tumor or leukemia. Promoters are yet another set of chemicals, said Franklin. For instance, he explained, saccharin sac-charin is associated with bladder Don't Let Another WeekGoBy. Our dieters lose an average of 17 to 25 lbs. in just six weeks. And so can you. Our counselors will show you how to lose weight quickly, feel great, and keep the weight off. So call now for a free consultat ion. Diet Center 750 E. Hwy 248 Suite 21 7 (across from the Yarrow) 649-6776 JftWfe Si pi oorn in her program, as well. More than half, 50 to 60 percent, had a criminal record. The majority ma-jority were more than 18 years old, and almost all believed birth control was a female's responsibility. respon-sibility. McEUigott reported statistics for teen pregnancies by county in Utah. Summit County was second lowest and Utah Co. was lowest in the state. The number of teens using the University program was increasing, increas-ing, she noted. It had gone from 96 in 1985 to 117 in 1986 to 141 last "Literally, what you ate for breakfast or what you did earlier today to-day or yesterday can make a difference dif-ference in whether or not you get . cancer." Toxicologist Mike Franklin cancer in laboratory animals, but only if those animals are first exposed ex-posed to another toxin which changes their genetic material. That makes saccharin a promoter pro-moter i.e. in and of itself.it does not cause cancer. The substances that cause the genetic damage in the first place are called "initators," he explained. explain-ed. Ionizing radiation, like that from X-ray machines and a chemical found on molds in grains and peanuts called aflatoxin-Bl are examples of initiators. in-itiators. Just like promoters are harmless without an already altered gene to work on, simply initiating a genetic change will not produce cancer. Only if a person per-son is exposed to an initiating compound followed by a promoter will a tumor appear. Although this two-party system of carcinogenesis seems complex enough, Franklin says the amount and activity of different enzymes in each individual's body can also influence the process. It's important to know potential cancer causing agents are not usually in their worst form when they enter the human body, says Franklin. The body's enzymes must first metabolize or break the chemicals down into pieces before they become dangerous. Although that seems like a mysteriously non-protective measure for our bodies to take, breaking down whatever enters is just a normal year. She estimated between 160 and 170 would be a part of it this year. McEUigott, who is a member of the Governor's Task Force oh Teen Pregnancy, said she felt the problem could be resolved by encouraging en-couraging teens to hold off on engaging in early sex, increasing the involvement of different organizations such as schools and churches, and increasing a teen's access to information on birth . control and sexually . transmissable disease. liver function, says Franklin. The body can't tell the difference between bet-ween something harmful or ' helpful until it gets a look at the pieces. Then, another set of enzymes usually converts the potentially harmful pieces into something the body excretes as benign. But, sometimes it lets them go through, or actually switches them to an initiator or promoter. How often that happens is dependent on a person's genetic make-up, i.e. whether there is an abundance of the kind of enzyme which converts it to a carcinogen. But, it is also related to how many other toxic chemicals have entered the body recently. Franklin noted if a person had smoked cigarettes recently, their lungs might have a larger than average amount of the enzyme which metabolizes cigarette , chemicals. When they smoke their next cigarette, they are more likely to have one of the components switched to an In- itator or promoter than a first-time first-time smoker. They would also be more likely to develop cancer from any other related car- cinogen broken down by that particular par-ticular enzyme nitrosamines from bacon, for example. "Literally, what you ate for breakfast or what you did earlier today or yesterday can make a difference in whether or not you get cancer," said Franklin. |