Faculty Bibliography

NASA had rated the melatonin experiment as one of the two top priorities in the human studies aboard Mr. (John) Glenn's shuttle flight. Mr. Glenn wi ll still participate in two other planned experiments -- monitoring sleep and use of protein -- that focus on studying similarities between aging on Earth and flying weightless in space. Sleep disorders are a particular problem among the elderly and astronauts, who in adjusting to the 90 minute day-night cycles in space often take sleeping pills and sometimes stimulants. The experiments have been cited as the principal reasons Mr. Glenn is going into space for the second time. In 1962, Mr. Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, and aboard Discovery he will become the oldest person to fly in space. Mr. Glenn, an Ohio Democrat, won his seat on the shuttle flight by lobbying NASA for two years to fly as a human guinea pig for geriatric studies. Dr. John B. Charles, an official at Johnson Space Center in Houston who helps coordinate the human studies aboard the Discovery, said that in his studies, Dr. (Charles A.) Czeisler had put ''strict requirements that don't apply to people who buy melatonin off the shelf in health food stores.'' Once Dr. Czeisler's team recognized a problem, NASA decided ''the best thing was to eliminate the melatonin aspect of the experiment and continue with the circadian rhythm aspects of the study'' that are ''at least as important as the melatonin study,'' Dr. Charles said

For undisclosed reasons, Sen. John Glenn has been dropped from one of the main age-related experiments in which he had planned to take part during his return to space next week, NASA officials confirmed Tuesday. Glenn, 77, a former astronaut, will still fly aboard the shuttle Discovery on Oct. 29. The studys principal investigator, Dr. Charles A. Czeisler of Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, said in interviews during the weekend that he was surprised when he had to disqualify Glenn

For undisclosed reasons, Sen. John Glenn has been dropped from one of the main age-related experiments in which the 77-year-old former astronaut had planned to take part during his return to space next week, NASA officials confirmed yesterday. NASA had rated the melatonin experiment as one of the two top priorities in the human studies aboard Glenn's shuttle flight. Glenn will still participate in two other experiments - monitoring sleep and use of protein - that focus on studying similarities between aging on Earth and flying weightless in space. Sleep disorders are a particular problem among the elderly and astronauts, who in adjusting to the 90 minute day-night cycles in space often take sleeping pills and sometimes stimulants. The experiments have been cited as the principal reasons Glenn is going into space for the second time. In 1962, Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, and aboard Discovery he will become the oldest person to fly in space. Glenn, a Democrat, lobbied NASA for two years to fly as a human guinea pig for geriatric studies

The patient, Clint Hallam of Australia, underwent the experimental operation because he lost his right hand in an accident with a circular saw in a jail in New Zealand in 1984. Surgeons reattached the severed limb but amputated it five years later because it did not function. He received a donor hand and forearm in surgery Sept. 23. 'It is as if my arm was put on ice for 15 years and now I have it,' a joyous Hallam said in speaking publicly for the first time since the transplant operation. His right arm and hand were wrapped heavily in bandages aimed at keeping the limb stable. Asked how it felt to have someone else's arm, Hallam said: 'It's my arm, not someone else's arm.'

The patient, Clint Hallam of Australia, underwent the experimental operation because he lost his right hand in an accident with a circular saw in a jail in New Zealand in 1984. Surgeons reattached the severed limb but amputated it five years later because it did not function. He received a donor hand and forearm in surgery on Sept. 23. 'It is as if my arm was put on ice for 15 years and now I have it,' a joyous Hallam said in speaking publicly for the first time since the transplant operation. His arm and hand were wrapped heavily in bandages

Asked how it felt to have someone else's arm, [Clint Hallam] said: 'It's my arm, not someone else's arm.' Hallam said he occasionally felt a pins and needles sensation in his new hand. But [Xavier Martin] said standard medical tests show Hallam has no true feeling. Journalists at the news conference described the skin of Hallam's new hand as wrinkled. Martin said the appearance resulted largely because of the lack of nerve function to create sweating. Dermatologists are 'not concerned about this,' Martin said

The world's only person with somebody else's fingerprints is expected to leave a French hospital today with the transplanted hand and forearm he received there three weeks ago, his doctors said Thursday. The patient, Clint Hallam of Australia, underwent the experimental operation because he lost his right hand in an accident with a circular saw in a jail in New Zealand in 1984. Surgeons re-attached the severed limb, but amputated it five years later because it did not function. He received a donor hand and forearm in surgery on Sept. 23. 'It is as if my arm was put on ice for 15 years and now I have it,' a joyous Hallam said in speaking publicly for the first time since the transplant operation. His right arm and hand were wrapped heavily in bandages aimed at keeping the limb stable

The patient, Clint Hallam of Australia, underwent the experimental operation because he lost his right hand in an accident with a circular saw in a jail in New Zealand in 1984. Surgeons reattached the severed limb, but amputated it five years later because it did not function. He received a donor hand and forearm in surgery on Sept. 23. ''It is as if my arm was put on ice for 15 years and now I have it,'' a joyous Mr. Hallam said in speaking publicly for the first time since the transplant operation. His right arm and hand were wrapped heavily in bandages to keep the limb stable. Mr. Hallam ''is progressing step by step, and so far the course is good,'' Dr. Xavier R. Martin, a member of the team that performed the transplant at Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyons, said in a telephone interview. ''Obviously, he is doing well.''

A new study has found a substantial discrepancy between the number of cancers detected during life and those found in autopsies. Despite advances in medical technology, the disparity between the diagnosis of cancer before and after death was 44 percent, similar to that found in studies conducted in earlier decades, said the authors. The study, which involved 1,105 autopsies performed over the 10-year period from 1986 to 1995 at the Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans, found that 100 patients had developed 111 cancers that doctors had either not detected or misdiagnosed. In 54 of the 100 patients, the cancer had spread. In 57 of the patients, the cancer was the most probable cause of death, the authors reported yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Long known as Charity Hospital, the Medical Center of Louisiana serves a mainly indigent population, which may not be receiving adequate health care. The hospital is also a top-level trauma center. Thus, cancers and other chronic conditions could have been masked by other more acute problems, Dr. Elizabeth C. Burton and her co-authors wrote. One in five of the deceased, who were age 4 to 92 years, had cancers at the time of autopsy. But the report did not address the extent of medical care they received in life

A new study has found a substantial discrepancy between the number of cancers detected during life and those found in autopsies. Despite advances in medical technology, the disparity between the diagnosis of cancer before and after death was 44 percent, similar to that found in studies conducted in earlier decades, said the authors. The study, which involved 1,105 autopsies performed over the 10- year period from 1986 to 1995 at the Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans, found that 100 patients had developed 111 cancers that doctors had not detected or misdiagnosed