Show 4V NNNi The Herald Journal Logan ' Ui October 13 1996 — Page 31 Gene therapy a bright new frontier in medicine By Scnpps Howard News Service “healthier" compatriots blasting the genetic material into cells in the Impc that it will do something useful Lric Kiniec wlm heads the team at Jefferson stresses that his method can only work if the genet ics of the condition are understood in the greatest possible detail Some diseases may not be amenable to this approach One likely to prove difficult is a gene that predisposes women to breal cancer and possibly ovarian cancer The BKC'AI gene is found in about one in 900 people But it's found in one in 50 with breast cancer and one in 12 under 30 with breast cancer In Ashkenazi (north lumpcan) Jews one in five women under 40 with breast cancer have the gene That means that Ashkenazi women with the BKCAl gene have about an Ml percent chance of developing breast canecr ovei their lifetimes says Shirley Hodgson senior lecturer in clinical genetics at Guy's Hospital in Guidon “Thai compares with 8 percent to 10 percent for other women in huropc or North America" The problem for any attempt to treat the genes through carefully targeted rcpuccmcnl of the faulty components is that more than 100 different mutations have been lound scattered across the BRCAl gene Since a gene's job is to triggei the pioduclion ol a protein different BKCAl mutations generate different proteins It is not yi t dear whether all the faulty proteins work in the same way to encourage the cancer Although there is no treatment for the genetic causes of thalassemia and sickle cell anemia children can be immunized and given antibiotics to prevent meningitis and the kinds of pneumonia to which sufferers are prone The children are identified through genetic screening of high-ris- k groups now- - standard practice in many countries Any cure would probably rely on gene therapy — replacing faulty genes with healthy ones Blood conditions like sickle cell anemia are a favorite target because the damaged cells are continually replenished by the body In principle if genes are changed in the source of the cells — the stem cells — a steady production of healthy blood cells might be possible Gene therapy is still in research and has so far met with very modest success which is why the research published in the journal Science earlier this summer caused such a stir Scientists at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have been able to change up to 20 percent of the genes in red blood cells that had been affected by sickle cell disease What made the event exciting was the scientists' method of carefully crafting the new genetic material to correcl the fault It seemed to he able to change the most basic building block of the gene a single base pair with great precision This method would have advantages over most other attempts at gene therapy They involve using genetically engineered v iruscs to carry the genetic material with attendant risks of disease or simply Politically corral medicine may yet have the last laugh As the details ol genetic lode are unraveled scientists are discovering that many genetic diseases have geographic variations Cystic fibrosis which principally affects the lungs for example is caused by a mutation on a single gene Hut the latest research shows that the mutation in German and Danish cystic fibrosis sufferers is different from that in most British and Italian patients Such observations make the patterns of genetic disease potentially important for everyone Some of the gene treatments in research defend on identifying the genetic mutation precisely A way to fix a the genes in an Italian cystic fibrosis patient might not work in Denmark Perhaps the best known of such diseases is sickle cell anemia a disorder of red blood cells in which the misshapen cells get stuck in small blood vessels depriving tissues ol oxygen It occurs in one in 500 blacks and almost no one else A similar condition is thalassemia a d cell disease that allccts people of Mediterranean and Southeast Asian descent as well as blacks That these two disease exist at all is a tribute to the dangers of malaria The damaged cells make the sufferer resistant to malaria So carriers from malaria-prone regions which included the Mediterranean until this century have an advantage over their red-bloo- Make a list to help your child By Dr Yvonne Fournier Scripps Howard News Service DKAR DR lOLKMlK: I have always helped my daughter with her schoolwork very day overnight During the transition have your daughter check in with you regularly but help her learn io stick with the new process so that she can experience success on her ow n (Parents and students may send student knows what to tackle when she came home from next" school I would sit with her and see what she had to do for homework Together we would what she had to do first and then she would do it She is now in high school and I thought all those years of modeling wuuld help her learn how to do her wi-ron her own Instead she is falling apart She can't decide what to Jo unless I plan it with her How can I break this dependency on me? She has always done well in school but now her grades are suffering I feel that f have no choice but to help her "Measures time and allocates the time to complete each task well" Cflmc is after all a student's most valuable possession) "Is always prepared to answer 'If I had the question: tomorrow would I a ?au:£tpltng Mon 2£tng 118 North Main Downtown Logan 8 am - 6 pm Monday-Saturda- y q jest ions about homework education or parenting to Dr Yvonne Fournier at quiz lookiiie Fresh Fall Hair Fashions I'd like?' " Remember that this is a process As you have learned you can't turn off vour help achievable with effort" (Unrealistic goals keep a child striving for ultimate failure) “kstahlishcs priorities so that w hen one task is completed the It's possiMe to test women for the presence of the gene But this uisis a problem: without a dear preventative tieonii m for breast eanccr how would identity mg the gem- - in an otherwise healthy woman help1' Besides not everyone with the gene gets breast eiimr and not everyone with breast cancer has the gene Kegtilit diagnostic screening could spot a tumor " caily Boi "nisi mi ease breast removal docs not remove evety trace of breast material so a cancer risk icmniis Breast cancer drugs such as tamoxifen have sidi elfa is that may outweigh their benefits In practice a negative test wouldn’t rule out either the gene defect or the possibility of contracting hicasi cancer while a positive lest could affect the patient's msuiaiice policies It may be more useful to test women already diagnosed with breast cancer especially if they are Ashkcnais be cause of the high chance of contracting ovarian cancel loo if they have the gene I lie lessons learned in all these conditions are likely to prove of ever greater importance as science uncovers new ethnic and geographic concentrations of disease One of the latest discoveries is that a genetic mutation that confers resistance to HIV the vims that causes AIDS is much more prevalent in whites than blacks Such findings have not been tainted with the politics of nice and religion The guiding principle is that if medicine can use them to develop better diagnoses and treatments then scientists will keep No appointment nacaaaary and Friday tall 8 pm Fournier Learning Strategies S900 do as well as Poplar Ae Memphis TN 381 19 ) THk ASSLSSMLM: Most parents follow two selmols of thought regarding homework help Some parents believe their children should be able to Jo everything on their own while other parents believe their chil- — dren need serious parental guidance the answer falls Usually between the two In our desire to be good parents and give our children some help along the way too often we cre- ate what i call “Push Button Children " The “Push Button Child" does what he or she has to do as long as parents push the right buttons: "Do your social studies first so you can practice yocr spelling words after dinner" "We need to go to the library on Salurday to get the book for your hook report" “You need to make a 9J on this lest to maintain your A average" Many children respond beautifully to task completion but oniy once the parent has pushed the right command huiion to get them going Without the pu'h button nothing is accomplished At some point parer's need gradually reduee thesr involvement with thtir child's school responsibilities bt at 'he seme time make 'he child cwute of to where the buttons are ar--j h push them on their own It's n as easy as it sounds because a child who las neve: pushed h s ! or her own hu':-"1is ginr g to sss-lanc- e n wrh-"ufeel saft m r t A - r- - k VVJV- -- ? ' M i ' li r A- - - If' -- AnlVv 'Y v- 7 " Ai -r -- - - V' y- - - J&t' - Vv ' Ilf ’iLt - X- ' t - i S —t 4 - 7 " jp fc k “ Vf ' - ' : - i - f t 'r: - "F m a v' : i '''aW w - r- - ' y-- ' ' '1 r-- 'i 4 tl- i -- i of cotse The key s is When is y child 'eady pu'-- r her own batons' By the 'ire chiid is in middle sehi-- l y-u- r se vou shoud begin to iderofy push hul'on and r: ‘vc the eh'd toward Ixa'ni'g to push the buttons alone- - wii j-- r ‘ help make your child a self- starter a sc If monitor and WHAT If) DO With y ur child make a lisr of the eha’ae-itrisiicof an inJtrdert erd r rid responsible siudcM that an mdepenier' and resrsi-bJstudent is no' riicec'i'y one or she w ho has perfect t'aJswh-He u'Ucr-stands a srudent is simply ard the p carries it ou' well wrh a minimum of inli'vcri'i'W’ hor txampit ar :r Jep ' den' and responsive s'uJc'-- sl! ttcv r she deal wrh con'e' ha‘ ate ($fM jjXttWiJLi ifc a v i : ' ' 'JA £ s I ti-c- ’ i c t dns J f t tkv The sndtrs-:n- tan thing is mot hui tht n-- ’n e "'p'lhi-'- fat tha ‘n i' (jfK vtflKir ” £ -I trie tailing apart S 1 may ‘ n-- ' Sets clear j g i als RCOPY - sde'!t "i c1 :fi Iv sprcialtzed ireatment tht neonatal rviensive care drxtrws Care result are bi a j have phy'SKi'iofncv that are different than PrvmateiT rjfu'n tra'-v- of th - othe' exerrr1’ ‘ms the amazing pinbibties v'V'''" a-- such as peca'MC ba'Mcs Bt'O1 even 15 weeks eaHv sv wherv doctors i ''’ tr'd trv unc — - f- - I - - n hosptti lo'er— J ’ s c v 11 pi'1' wni I t ie"'' ' ' v I i Ml HC KMOUNTAIN M IHCRE ate J |