News Briefs
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 6, 2002 9:00 p.m.
Patient with artificial heart dies after 56
days
The world’s fourth artificial heart recipient died at the
UCLA Medical Center on Dec. 12. Though the artificial heart
continued to function well, due to persistent multiple organ system
failure, support was withdrawn at the family’s request.
UCLA’s AbioCor patient underwent the procedure Oct. 17 and
remained alive with the artificial heart for 56 days, according to
Dr. Hillel Laks, the principal investigator for the UCLA Total
Artificial Heart Program.
“The patient and his family showed great courage,”
Laks said. “His participation in this clinical trial was of
enormous value in proving the effectiveness and reliability of this
artificial heart.”
The patient is survived by his wife, seven children and 10
grandchildren.
“We hope that part of his legacy will be that he reached
out to help others by taking part in this groundbreaking research
and that his participation will ultimately help benefit
mankind,” said the patient’s wife.
UCLA Chicano studies releases anthology
UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center has published
“The Chicano Studies Reader: An Anthology of Aztlan,
1970-2000.” The anthology brings together 20 groundbreaking
essays from “Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies,” the
journal of record in the field. Spanning 30 years, these essays
shaped the development of Chicano studies.
“”˜The Chicano Studies Reader’ honors the
collective spirit of the journal it draws upon,” said Chon
Noriega, associate director of UCLA’s Chicano Studies
Research Center and anthology editor. “Five editors re-read
the 30-year run of “˜Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano
Studies’ and spent the better part of a year discussing the
selections and how to group them in a way that would stimulate
debate.”
George Sanchez, president of the American Studies Association,
said the new anthology should be required reading for any
undergraduate or graduate course in ethnic studies.
Researchers discover effects of placebo
UCLA researchers are the first to report altered brain function
in people who respond favorably to placebo treatment for major
depression. The findings show these changes are different than
those found in people who respond to antidepressant medication.
The study used quantitative electroencephalography imaging to
examine brain electrical activity in patients treated for
depression with placebo, and others treated with antidepressant
medication.
Patients who responded to placebo ““ an inert substance,
such as a sugar pill ““ showed increased activity in the
brain’s prefrontal cortex, while those who responded to
medication showed suppressed activity in that area.
“What this study shows, for the first time, is that people
who get better on placebo have a change in brain function, just as
surely as people who get better on medication. We now know that
placebo is, very definitely, an active treatment condition,”
said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, lead author and director of adult
psychiatry at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital.
These findings eventually could help determine which treatments
work best in individual patients, and also could aid development of
new medications. Overall, 52 percent of subjects receiving
antidepressant medication responded to treatment, while 38 percent
of those receiving placebos responded.
Reports from Daily Bruin wire services.
