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Show famished eye. . . .one of the clearest messages of televi- sion is that businessmen are bad, evil people, and that big businessmen are the worst of all." So says Ben Stein, in his new book, The View from Sunset Boulevard America As Brought To You By The People Who Make Television. Why Sunset Boulevard Because, as Stein points out, The of television is spewing out the messages of a few writers and super-mediuproducers (literally in the low hundreds), almost all of whom live in Los Angeles " And what are these messages' Businessmen are bad people So are high-levpolice "representative of a rotten and deadening bureaucracy" Rebel cops are Garbled message. m ' the salt of the earth and smart, too Under the superficial charm of small towns a lurking, terrifying evil, waiting to ensnare the innocent Natty Bumppo of the big city" But big cities are "basically friendly, cheerful places." And so on is Fiber and Diabetes Diabetics on insulin may benefit from added fiber in the diet. A recent study (Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 88, page 482) reported on eight insu- diabetics, comparing what happened when they gel litOe dietary fiber (3 grams) and then much more (20 grams) daily. r With the intake, even as insulin dosage remained the same, mean blood sugar was reduced by almost 50 milligrams. The study suggests that substantial changes in fiber content of the diabetic may . be a useful means of lowering plasma glucose in some diabetic patients." lin-requiring high-fibe- . i Hail wiiiM-- r IVaaI ivvi Safety top containers for medicines may have reduced accidental poisonings among kids, but they have causer alarm among the elderly. Many older patients simply can't open them. They give up in disgust and skip needed medication. Or, once a top is removed, they leave it off for easier access to the contents, whfch often deteriorate rapidly on exposure to air and moisture. Ironically, what prevents a situation for a child can be a direct threat to the life of an elbillaA businessman" Character assassination. Such distortions, which permeate America's favorite viewing fare, are in many ways more dangerous than slanted TV news reporting. Because, Stein points out, even the most inane and repetitious TV shows are laced with .these political and social messages, which get repeated over and over. And the messages carry over into how people come to regard real businessmen in the real world. A popular variety or adventure show or a lovable sitcom will invariably draw a larger audience than an address by a president of the United States," Stein notes, unless the president happens to be announcing his resignation." And the impression the audience receives sticks with it. Boo the villain. Businessmen play several different roles on television, says Stein, all of them unflattering. Sometimes especially in comedies they're portrayed as pompous fools. On adventure shows, however, virtually every businessman is a criminal in disguise. So much so, in fact, that Stem calls the suit "the inevitable badge of crime" on TV. Bad reception. Stein states that the caricatures of business and businessmen beamed nightly into your living room reflect the sincere beliefs of the people who create them. He talked with many television writers and producers and found their personal views of businessmen to be overwhelmingly negative. They actually believe businessmen are generally villainous people. So read The View from Sunset Boulevard, published by Basic Books. Inc. It's worth an evening off from television to discover a whole new outlook on what Ben Stein calls, . .the dominant communications mode in America." . derly person," says Dr. Frederick T. Sherman of the Jewish Institute for Ceriatric Care, New Hyde Park, N Y. Clearly there are ways for both potential catastrophes to be pre- vented." How? Either you or your physician can ask the pharmacist to package medication in an easy-ope- n container. But physicians often don't realize that an elderly patient might have trouble, and patients don't know that they can request another type of container. Now you know. There's one home remedy which is turning out to have scientific values. It's chicken soup, sometimes called "Jewish penicillin." At UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, Dr. Irwin Ziment found that Mobir Although great protectors of life and limb, car seat belts may give you a pain in the stomach. One victim was Dr. David Klurfeld of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia, who found himself with a sharp pain in the lower right abdominal area that could have been from appendicitis or hernia. After these were ruled out, Dr. Klurfeld himself found the problem: A rectangular plastic slide on his seat belt was pressing sharply on his right side. Moving the slide cured the stomachache, Dr. Klurfeld reports. Bo A Mofcd Orf Corporation. ISO Eatt 42 Street. New York. N HMLIWWIH V 10017 1979 Mobil Corporation lT - h 4? f: Wave Your Numb Fingers People with Raynaud's phenomenon suffer from finger blanching, numbness, redness and throbbing pain when exposed to cold water, cold temperature, emotional or other disturbances Taking a tip from skiers who warm their cold hands by whirling their arms, Dr. Donald R. McIntyre of Rutland, Vt., asked his Raynaud patients to try waving their arms vigorously. Using a motion much like that of an underhand softball pitcher, they swung their arms downward behind the body and upward in front in a continuous, sweep. By emphasizing the downward motion, patients could take advantage of gravitational and centrifugal forces to get more blood into their fingers. Attacks reversed within 3 minutes, reports Dr. McIntyre in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 10 Otwervaftont. I Seat Belts and Stomach Pain 360-degr- Jewish Penicillin i organisms. . These Tops Are More "It's the businessman. It's always the chicken soup with plenty of pepper and garlic, and maybe even some curry powder could do as good a job as expectorant drugs for people with bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. It increases secretions to help clear the airways. At Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Dr. Marvin A. Sackner found that hot chicken soup speeds nasal mucous flow during the common cold, helping to get rid of disease PARADE MAY 13, 1979 r. 1 |
