N.E. Editorial Roundup
The Providence Journal, Providence, R.I., Friday, November 6, 2009:
Often, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is given for work done years ago. So it went with this year's award, to three American scientists who were just curious about how cells protect themselves when they divide. None of these scientists dreamed that their findings would have dramatic implications for the study of aging or cancer. They simply wanted to understand a basic phenomenon.
While all three are attached to U.S. research facilities, only one, Carol W. Greider, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is U.S.-born. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, of the University of California, San Francisco, came from Australia. Jack W. Szostak, at Massachusetts General Hospital, was born in London.
About 20 years ago, all three were experimenting with chromosomes. Chromosomes have protective structures at their ends, often likened to the tips of shoelaces, that get shorter each time a cell divides, until eventually the cell dies. The three researchers discovered an enzyme, telomerase, that thwarts the shortening process. Generally, it is active only at the outset of life, but it seems to be present when cancer cells proliferate. Telomerase's discovery solved a basic biological puzzle, and changed the research template for a host of diseases as well as for many questions on aging.
Americans are used to dominating the Nobel in medicine. Yet U.S. students' proficiency in math and science has been eroding, and fewer Americans are entering scientific fields. The cutting-edge research institutions here still attract top talent, but much of it is foreign-born. And the supply has slowed. Visa restrictions imposed after the 9/11 attacks have blocked many scientists from working here. Asia and Europe are proving more welcoming. Whether Americans will still lead in medical research 20 years from now is a real question.
If the federal government invests generously in basic research, the answer could be positive. It is also vital for the U.S. to boost math and science education, and to promote scientific careers.
It is encouraging that two women were among this year's winners of the prize. (Only eight women had won it previously, and never two at once.) Their success signals some progress for women in science, and could well inspire more girls to enter scientific fields.
As the health-care debate continues, Americans are mindful of U.S. medicine's great advances. But the system for delivering on those achievements falls woefully short. Many other nations can report better overall health outcomes. We look forward to the day when Americans can be as proud of their health-care system as of their researchers.
The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Mass., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 3009:
It is so easy to stereotype those suffering from drug addiction, so easy to say it could never happen to me or to anyone in my family. Last week's seminar on prescription drug abuse dashed those comforting, and misleading, thoughts.
Prescription drug abuse caused Brian Sullivan of Lowell to suffer the devastating loss of his 20-year-old son, Colm, a former Lowell High star athlete. While racked with grief over the death of his mother, Colm took a prescription pill offered by a friend. That one pill exploded into full-blown opiate addiction. Colm thought the pill was safe to take because it was a prescription drug.
Prescription painkillers have surpassed heroin and cocaine as the leading causes of fatal overdoses. They are also frighteningly easy to obtain. Young people often find Vicodin, OxyContin and other painkillers in the medicine cabinets of family and friends.
Most opiate addicts, like Colm, have long histories of academic, work and social success. A study by the Lowell Health Department recently revealed that many victims of fatal overdoses in recent years became addicted after being in auto or work-related accidents that resulted in being prescribed powerful medications. After their legal prescriptions were halted, they were horrified to discover they were addicted and could not stop using.
There are thousands of families throughout New England desperately struggling with the destruction wrought by opiate addiction. Parents take out second mortgages to fund long-term rehabilitation stays, siblings cope with the stress and family discord, grandparents are heartbroken by the knowledge. It can be happening next door without neighbors realizing, until death or arrest makes it common knowledge. The number of opiate-related deaths in Massachusetts has doubled from 363 in 2000 to more than 700 in 2008. And the number of nonfatal overdoses has skyrocketed from 8,000 in 1996 to about 20,000 in 2008.
The Sun applauds those who contributed to last week's forum and all who are striving to curb illegal opiate use. Those suffering from addiction aren't the only ones whose lives may be saved by their efforts.
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