SPECIAL
ISSUE
"5 '(rsT K
1500
VoLLXXVI
No. 42 Omaha, NE
Eden Alternative helps elders maintain health by Carol Katzman When Lazar Kavich was recuperate ing in the Rose. Blumkin Jewish Home, his eon and daughter-in-law, i Larry and Andi Kavich, brought their dogs, Sophie and Chloe, to visit. Though the senior Kavich was unable to return home, and died July 1,1996, Larry recalls how his father's eyes would light up with every visit. It seemed only natural when Federation Foundation Director Marty Kicks approached the Kavich family with a "small project" that they would jump at the chance to provide a human touch to the environment of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. As part of the changeover to the Eden Alternative, a method of eldercare which revolves around the needs of the residents and includes home* like touches such as gardens, pets and visits from children, the Kavich family L a M y ond ^ ^ H Kavich are helping residents of the Rose Blumkin Jewish will assist by purchasing the first two H o n M 5 a s B a r t o f (be E d e n Alternative, an "elder-centered" philosophy dogs ever to live in the Home and w h i c h creates a homelike environment in nursing homes with gardens and underwrite the cost of their care and ^ ^ (mm children and pets, like the Kavich's dogs Chloe and Sophie. maintenance. The funds will come
Israel in the gene era by Wendy Elliman
JERUSALEM--^ has been 40 years since Molecular Human Genetics Research Facility at research into gene therapy began, and nine since the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa. "One current Technion project is a joint venture the first repaired human genes were transferred into the first human patients. In that time, over with GENSET in Paris, analyzing human genes to 2,000 people have received gene therapy, 30 gene find links with common diseases, aiming to develtherapy companies have been established world- op drugs to cure them. Another is a study of genetwide, and more than 200 gene therapy protocols, or ic anomalies among Israel's Arab population, where first-cousin marriages are common and treatments, have received FDA approval. But these figures can mislead. While many who genetic diseases found in 40 percent of them." Even when a gene is identified, however, its have received gene therapy have been significantly helped, none has been permanently cured. A world- defects are hard to find. A complex gene, like that wide biomedical effort is now underway to make responsible for cystic fibrosis, can go wrong in hungene therapy viable—and Israel, with its treasure- dreds of different places (almost 400 so far, and still counting). In Israel's rich and varied genehouse of ethnic groups, is an important player. "There's no doubt gene therapy will work," says pool, researchers are tracking down faulty genes Dr. Michal Roll, Research and Development and seeing why they go wrong. Prof. Orly Reiner at the Weizmann Institute of Director at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem. "The ideas are there. Science in Rehovot, for example, has cloned and As we unravel more of the basic biology, we'll learn identified a gene responsible for lissencephaly, a to construct healthy genes, get them to the right severe mental retardation that occurs in one of place, keep them there, get them working and, if every 30,000 live births. She is now examining the * role played by this LIS1 gene and its biochemical necessary, shut them off." Early optimism that this would be simple, howev- pathways in the developing brain. Not all mutations, however, carry the same risk. er, has long since faded. Finding genes and their faults has been likened by Dr. Francis Collins of. Cohen-Elbaz is leading a multidisciplinary study the NIH to "searching for a burned-out light bulb of degrees of risk associated with different misin a house somewhere between the. East and West prints in the familial breast cancer gene. Targeting coasts of North America, without knowing the high-risk Israeli Ashkenazi women (among whom state, much less the town or street the house is on." breast cancer is 50 percent more common than in And that's only the first hurdle. Nature throws Israeli Arab women) Cohen-Elbaz is working with up highly effective biological blocks to the critical oncologists, clinical geneticists, psychologists and second stage: getting healthy gene snippets to a epidemiologists, reviewing family medical histoprecise target cell or organ, where they must work ries, diet and lifestyle, aiming to build an effective prevention program. in the right way. Where prevention fails, the aim is cure, and a Scaling these hurdles is a worldwide endeavor, spurred by the Human Genome Project, the monu- key to gene therapy cure is getting the repaired mental $3-biDion 15-year effort launched by the U.S. gene to the right place. "Genes can't be injected," in 1989 to find, identify and decipher the structure of says Prof. Ariella Oppenheim of Hadassah's hemaeach of our 100,000 genes. Ks an endeavor in which tology department. "They need special delivery Israeli researchers are making a special contribution. . vehicles." "Israel's population constitutes a rich human labOne of the more promising such vehicles is the oratory for molecular geneticists, because it's far virus (an organism thatfs Bpent millennia refining easier to trace genetic anomalies in inbred groups itself to do exactly what gene therapists want: with homogenous pedigrees, such as Yemenite and insert itself into cells. To become gene therapy's Moroccan Jews, Druse and Arabs," says Prof. delivery boys, however, viruses must be stripped of Nadine Cohen-Blbaz, head of the Tamkin (Continued on page 11)
from the Lazar Kavich Foundation, originally established by the family in his memory. Ricks, who knew of the Kavich family's love of animals, knew that this *was a perfectmatch," according to Larry Kavich. 'This small act of bringing mature dogs with sweet temperments into the Home can make the difference in some resident's day, or even life," he said recently. "Marly Kicks had a clear understanding of what my parents would have liked to do with that fund. Setting up the Home with these dogs will return tremendous rewards." Though the Home has already sent two of its registered nurses, Darlene Golbitz and Janet Herman, to be trained at the Eden Alternative's site in upstate New York, the staff and board of directors are looking forward to the arrival this Sunday of the creator of this method, Dr. William Thomas. (Continued on page 9)
Prostate disease: feared, common and sort of predictable by llene Springer (JFL)—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...they all lived to be very old, the Bible tells us. And we know a lot about their spiritual lives, their wiveB, their trials, their achievements. What we don't hear about is their prostate disease, which, according to experts, all men will experience if they reach a certain ripe old age. So we can assume that the Patriarchs, as noble as they were, suffered some of the same exasperating and frightening symptoms as modern Jewish men face today. •" What is the prostate? The prostate gland, functioning as part of the male reproductive system, is a golf-ball-sized gland that surrounds the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder) and is located in front of the rectum. This gland's main role is to squeeze fluid into the urethra during ejaculation, joining with the sperm to make up the semen. The fluid actually protects the sperm from the acidic environment of the vagina, increasing the odds of a sperm reaching the egg. So whafs the problem? From age 25 or so, the prostate gland continues to grow gradually—and it doesn't quit. Most men before the age of 40 do not develop problems, but it is the continuous enlargement (which crowds the urethra and other nearby organs) that does eventually cause symptoms, most commonly known as benign prostatic hyperplasia. If you're 40 or older, you may notice it getting more difficult to urinate, reducing your steady urine stream to an annoying trickle. This irritates your bladder, making you feel like you have to go more often, especially at night If you notice these symptoms, don't just accept this as a part of growing older.. .and see your doctor. There is treatment, drugs and surgery, if necessary. The good news is that this type of prostate problem does not lead to prostate cancer. (Continued on page 6)