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monday, January 14, 1980
daily nebraskan
page 7
Doctor says nations don't withhold medical information
By Lucy Dighia
Plunging temperatures in the cold war
between the United States and the Soviet
Union are having little effect on the ex
change of medical information between the
two countries, according to world-renowned
surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey,
DeBakey, president of Baylor College of
Medicine in Houston, spoke in Lincoln Fri
day at a conference on cardiovascular
disease and its prevention. More than 300
medical students and professionals attend
ed tfie NU-sponsored workshop at the Ne
braska Center for Continuing Education.
Now in his early 70s, DeBakey pioneer
ed the development of the artificial heart
and its transplant. He also invented a sur
gical pump that later became an essential
component of the heart-lung machine.
Such medical advances would not be
possible, he said, without the free and open
exchange of research between different
countries, especially the Soviet Union and
the United States. ,. ,
No secrets
"There are no such thing as medical
secrets," he said. "We share all of our in
formation." DeBakey said it was still too soon to tell
whether President Carter's recent re-'
strlctions on the sales of high technology
equipment to the Soviets would strangle
cooperative efforts in heart research.
MWe (the researchers) haven't been' told
of any changes ... but it's possible there
may be some," he said.
On another international matter,
DeBakey said Yugoslavian President Tito ,
seems to be recovering from circulatory
problems in his left leg.
The doctor had just returned to the
United States after an unexpected trip to
Yugoslavia to treat the ailing Tito..
DeBakey said that by the time he left,
Tito's circulatory problems seemed to be
better and his general condition improving.
Earlier in the news conference, DeBakey
.said the total replacement of a failing heart
with an artificial heart is still technically in
the laboratory stage. There are, however,
devices that can be surgically implanted to
support a heart temporarily, he said.
Just when an artificial heart will be per
fected, "nobody knows," lie said,
Coronary bypass
DeBakey was more definite when speak
ing about the value of coronary bypass
surgery.
"There is no question, the data is in,"
he said. Coronary bypass surgery is the best
way to treat those patients who really need
it.
In a coronary bypass, new blood vessels
are taken from another part of the body,
usually the leg, and grafted to the heart to
carry blood to blocked coronary arteries.
The procedure was the subject of a heat
ed debate several years ago after the release
of a Veterans Administration report on the
difference in progress of patients treated
with drugs and those who underwent
bypass surgery.
' But the study was misinterpreted, De
Bakey said, adding that bypass surgery, is
now completely accepted among know
ledgeable doctors.
Lincoln surgeons perform between 220
and ,230 bypass operations each year.
As for prevention of heart attacks and
heart disease, the doctor toid his audience
there are no concrete answers.
The old principles of good health and
nutrition are the best rules to follow, he
said.
He advised listeners to have their blood
pressure checked regularly, stop smoking
and get plenty of exercise. But before em
barking on a rigorous exercise program,
such as jogging, a person should have a
thorough physical examination, DeBakey
warned. '
1 '
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7
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Photo by Tom Gessner
Heart specialist Dr. Michael DeBakey.
Grain embargo will cause slowdown of economic activity
By Kevin Field
, January and February could bring slow
times to rural Nebraska, but not because of
the threat of recession.
The grain embargo imposed against the
Soviet Union by President Carter on Jan. 3 1
has caused the grain industry to decrease
selling. That should cause a slowdown of
economic activity within the state until
norma! pi ice patterns return, according to
a UNL agricultural economist. :
."The merchants of outstate Nebraska
could see a slow start in 1980," said Prof,
Mike Turner. -
Drastic step;
The "embargo is. the most : drastic
economic sanction against the Soviets in re
sponse to their invasion of Afghanistan.
More than 17 million metric tons of grain
previously promised will not be delivered,
In addition, Soviet fishing rights within
American waters will be curtailed and tech
nology sales will stop,
. The grain embargo will have more politi
cal effect than economic against the
Soviets, according to Turner,
"There should be temporary incon
veniences to the Soviets.They will have dif
ficulty getting adequate grain supplies in the
next six months to a year," Turner said.
But bilateral trade agreements may make it
possible for them to obtain part or all of
their needed grain supplies, he said,
. Embargo justified .
"Politically we are showing the Soviets
that the U.S. is willing to deal with their
actions. There is certainly greater justiti
cation for an embargo today than there
was in 1973 "Turner said.
The embargo should mean a decrease in
Russia's standard of living, according to
Ernst Kuhn, professor of economics. Most
of the grain would have been used for
cattle feed, he said, so without the grain,
beef production will drop.
Kuhn said the Soviet Union has a regu
lated economy and can absorb economic
shocks such as an embargo easier than an
economy operating under the free market
"system,
!Their people may be unhappy, but we
should not suspect that it will lead to an
uprising. They are nationalists too," Kuhn
said.
The negative effects of an embargo
should also be temporary in the United
States. The immediate effect of the
embargo was a removal of 17 million tons
of grain demand, causing a price drop,
Turner said, The government had promised
to remove the grain from the market to
prevent drastic drops in prices, but the
solution is not that simple, Kuhn said, portation. It is not a matter of the govern-
ment buying grain back, it depends on
Transport problems where it is in the pipeline " he said.
Many of the problems created by the
embargo are transportation linked. Much
of the . grain was already in the trans
portation pipeline and on its way to the
Soviet Union, The new supply represents a '
plug in the system, Turner said.
"I do not believe there was adequate
consideration given as to the. effect on
prices and. the complications of trans- he said.
! The increases in the commodities
market last Friday is an indication that
international traders are willing to make
offers to buy and sell, Turner said. For the
markets to get back in line, buying and sell
ing must resume in both the futures and
the cash market. That could occur within
two weeks, or it could take 30 to 60 days,
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