European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 2, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Army shifts from Star wars to cancer research with $210 million Grant Byra Crowden Washington Bureau army officials have launched their first tentative probes against an enemy that kills thousands of americans each year a breast cancer. The army was recruited for this fight in the closing stages of congressional wrangling Over fiscal 1993 spending. Sen. Tom Harkin a Lowa who has lost two Sisters to the disease and chairs the Senate panel that controls spending for medical research found a Small research appropriation in the military s budget and won support for boosting it to historic Levels. Quot Dowe want to spend $200 million on Star wars against a non existent enemy or to fight a very real enemy that is going to kill 46,000 american women this year a Harkin asked fellow senators. Although a 1990 agreement prevented Congress from moving defense Money into Domestic programs the so called Quot fire Walls did t prevent the appropriation. Among other sources the funds came from strategic defense initiative outlays which later were. Restored by Senate backers of the Reagan Era initiative. A a a an 89-4 vote resulted in the army getting $210 million to conduct breast cancer research. The National cancer Institute s budget for breast cancer research is estimated at $196 million. The move nearly doubled the budget for the army s medical research and development come at fort Detrick. My. Officials there announced last month that they contracted for help in deciding How to proceed. Army officials signed a $325,000 contract with the National Academy of science s Institute of Medicine to study current research and make recommendations on How the army should proceed in the cancer Battle. The Institute will Convene a panel of experts to conduct the research said Chuck Dasey a spokesman for the army s medical research organization. Quot the magnitude of the appropriation required that we move carefully and deliberately to come up with a Good strategic approach Dasey said. Quot it is a Large amount of Money and we re required to spend it in a Field we re not familiar  the Battlefield and military training environment Are usual subjects for army medical research Dasey said. He said the command includes about 3,000 people half of whom Are military working in nine research laboratories. While the army is seeking expert opinion it s not shying away from the new responsibilities. Maj. Gen. Richard Travis commander of the medical research and development come rejected an Early offer from the National cancer Institute. Quot we proposed that we use the $210 million on research and to convert one of their old labs into a new cancer lab a said Nancy Volkers a National cancer Institute spokeswoman. Quot they ejected our proposal but said they Are still interested in our input a she said. According to a member of Harkin s staff the senator is pleased with the army s Progress. Quot he has a lot of experience with farming out research dollars through the peer review process a said Alex Sachs. Quot historically this is the first time breast cancer research has been funded near the Levels that advocates such As senator Harkin have been calling for a Sachs said. Quot he Hopes it s the Start of total  Cost of cure 1992 Federal spending for major diseases research a a treatment time prevention i 1 in millions cancer $15 $1,878 $157 to it $2,050 million aids a $1,262 i$312 total $1,967 million $393 heart in a disease 1533 i $5 $726 total $764 million $282 diabetes i $11 $15 a budgeted for fiscal year 1992 total $308 million source . Public health service aped Dpi Gasero cats Are paying the Price for living with humans their brains Are shrinking by Jeff Nesmith Cox news service in a finding that probably will not Surprise any dog lovers scientists at the University of Tennessee have discovered that the brains of cats Are shrinking. The modern House cat has significantly fewer brain cells than the wild creature from which it evolved says or. Robert Williams a Neur biologist at the University s medical school. And or. Williams adds the reason for this unusual reverse spin on evolution May be the cat s association with humans. In fact having a smaller brain May actually give the House cat an advantage it needs to get along with human beings. Or. Wiliams compared brain of modern House cats with those of a Spanish Wildcat that appears to be almost identical to the animal that was tamed by the ancient egyptians More than 3,500 years ago a sort of Quot living  the Spanish cat has 50 percent More a brain neurons than the House cat he said. Further it appears that most of the brain cells lost by the House cat Are those that give the Wildcat sharper vision in Daylight. Or. Williams said House cats Are not Quot domesticated animals in the sense that dogs and sheep have been domesticated a distinction that he thinks May help explain Why their brains appear to have shrunk. Quot they Are kind of a special animal that co habits with human beings but by to it s not fair to say they have Ever really been domesticated Quot he said. When the first House cats moved nto the human environment they chose to live in a very stressful situation Given the volatile unpredictable nature of human society or. Williams believes. That would mean that in order to improve its chances of surviving the House cat needed to produce and rear Large litters. Since brain tissue has High nourishment needs something had to give. By producing offspring with significantly fewer brain cells a Mother cat could support More Kittens. Therefore the cat got rid of the cells that its ancestors had needed to Hunt for food in Daylight and it became a More nocturnal creature. Quot maybe by becoming More nocturnal it avoided confrontations with the humans it chose to live with Quot it added. To your health no known cause for Lou Gehrig s disease by or. De Smith Cox news service q could you please Tell me if Lou a a Gehrig a disease and myasthenia Gravis Are similar or related in characteristics handout comelous Gehrig a disease or Amy trophic lateral sclerosis is caused by a failure of a group of nerve cells in the spinal Cord called the a Anterior Horn  it was named after baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig whose career was Cut Short when he was found to have als. Cause of this disease is unknown. The condition usually begins with shrinking of Muscles in parts of arms or legs farthest from the Torso. Forty percent of cases begin with shrinking and weakening of Muscles in the hand. Cramps Are common and May precede actual weakness. Ultimately Muscles in the head and neck can be involved resulting in dysfunction of speech and swallowing. The sense of touch Eye movement and urinary function Are usually not involved. The Onset of this ailment is usually in Middle or late adult life. There is no effective treatment for this progressive disease. Myasthenia Gravis is caused by a misdirected attack of the body s own antibodies against the mechanism that connects the nerves of the body to the Muscles called the Quot neuromuscular  at this Junction the nerves release a chemical that receptors on the muscle s. Surface pick up and interpret As a message to contract. Receptors on the muscle Are. Destroyed by bad antibodies and the muscle never gets the message that it should contract. The cause of the production of these misdirected antibodies is unknown. Myasthenia Gravis occurs most commonly in women Between 20 and 40. However it can occur in any sex and at any age. It usually affects the Muscles of the head and neck including the Muscles of the eyes. Medications Are available that help this condition greatly. The thymus is an Organ that usually shrinks to extinction. At the time of childhood it is located in the High Chest. In some adults it has not shrunk and if removed will Clear up the symptoms of my in 80 percent of cases. A i work outside and have rough hands. Is there anything i can do wearing gloves in the cold weather will go a Long Way to help. Skin moisturizers such As la Biderm and vaseline intensive care a also help. If you have open cracked wounds a visit to your family doctor might be needed. I once had a construction Man As a patient who expressed the same complaint you did. As we looked into things we found that he was allergic to Cement mix. Using gloves and some cortisone Cream helped greatly. Has been practising ,0fnal Medicine in Mesa. Thi stars and stripes a tue Ida.  2.1993