Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1991. január-június (45. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1991-06-06 / 23. szám
8 AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ Thursday, June 6. 1991. ORVOS ACSALÁPBAN PARKINSON KÓR Egy 73 éves férfi érkezik. Mankón biceg, nagyon lassan mozog. A tekintetében, az arcán a lelki rezdülések nyoma sem látszik. Csak idegen segítséggel képes leülni. Részvétlenül mered maga elé. Kezei nagyon erősen remegnek. A férfi Parkinson-kórban, a leggyakoribb degenerativ idegbetegségben szenved. Abban a betegségben, amelyben az agynak egy kis régiója, a Substantia nigra satnyul el. Az elsatnyulás okát a tudomány mindeddig nem ismeri. Egyet azonban tudnak a tudósok: ott található az a központi hely, amely felelős egy igen fontos közvetitőanyag, a dopamin termeléséért. A Parkinson-betegek elsősorban dopaminhiányban szenvednek. Amikor Walter Birkmayer bécsi ideggyógyász-professzor 1961-ben bevezette a dopamint pótló L-Dopa készítményt a Parkinson-kor kezelésében, végre kaptak az orvosok egy fegyvert, amely - főleg kezdetben - nagyon hatásos volt. Am minél hosszabb ideig kaptak dopamin-pótlót a betegek, annál inkább hozzászokott . szervezetük, és a saját dopamin-termelés, amely természetesen a kezelés előtt is nagyon gyenge volt, egyszerűen megszűnt. Az adagot egyre növelni kellett, különböző mellékhatások jelentkeztek, és végül már a legnagyobb, még elviselhető L-Dopa adag sem segített. Két óra telt el. Betegünk szinte a felis- merhetetlenségig megváltozott. A 73 éves férfinek nem kell mankó, fel-alá sétál. Két órája még teljesen részvétlen volt, most udvariasan, vidáman beszélget orvosával, sőt, annak felszólítására még ugrik is egyet. Mintha csoda történt volna. A csodát egy teljesen űj kezelési mód okozta. A dopamint nem helyettesítik, hanem helyette a szervezetet arra kényszerítik, hogy több saját dopamint termeljen. A kényszerítő anyag egy koenzim, az NADH. Erről az anyagról már régóta tudnak, a Parkinson-kórral kapcsolatos gyógyitóhatását azonban csak most ismerték fel. A terápia jelenleg kísérleti stádiumban van. Még nem tudni, vannak-e az NADH-nak mellékhatásai, vagy hogy milyen mértékű, milyen fokú a megszokás. A gyógyszer még nem került kereskedelmi forgalomba. Eddig 200 beteget kezeltek NADH-val. Mindegyiknél észleltek pozitív hatást. A betegek néhány infúzió után felkeltek, fel-alá sétáltak, aktivan részt vettek a környezet életében. Legalábbis néhány napig. Aztán meg kellett ismételni a kezelést. (Reform, Budapest) NB 1 LABDARUGÓMÉRKŐZÉSEK EREDMÉNYEI 28. forduló junius 1. PÉCS - HONVÉD 2:1 BÉKÉSCSABA - VASAS 0:1 TATABÁNYA - RÁBA ETO 4:0 DEBRECEN - VIDEOTON-WALTHAM 3:0 SIÓFOK - MTK-VM 0:0 SZEGED - VÁC ( 1:0 U. DÓZSA r VOLÁN , 3:1 FERENCVÁROS - VESZPRÉM 2:2 THE HUNGARIAN AMERICAN OBSERVER BY ELECTIONS IN HUNGARY On April 14. a second round of parliamentary by-elections had to be held in Budapest's ninth electoral district, in the capital's 7th precinct, and in Komarom- Esztergom County's third electoral district because of a low turnout at the first round of voting, on March 24, 1991. The two parliamentary seats being contested became vacant when László Deáki, a deputy of the Alliance of Free Democrats (AFD), died in a car accident in December 1990 and Gabor Demszky, another AFD deputy was elected Mayor of Budapest in January 1991. Under Hungarian law, Demszky could hold only one office. The candidate of the Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP) won the Budapest by-election, where just over 25% of the voters cast their ballots, after voting-hours had been extended from 6 PM to 8 PM. In Komárom- Esztergom County, the vote was declared invalid, since less than 11% of the electorate had gone to the polls. The two rounds of by-elections on March 24 and April 14 gave voters the first opportunity to express their opinions since the 1990 parliamentary and local elections put an end to more than four decades of communist rule in Hungary. In the parliamentary elections of March and April, the Hungarian Democratic Forum (HDF) had won the most votes and had subsequently formed a coalition government with the Christian Democratic People's Party (CDPP) and the Independent Smallholders Party (ISP). At the local elections of September and October 1990, most parties had had a very poor showing. Some 80% of the winning candidates had run as independents, most of whom had been former local council officials and communist party members. Low turnout Nearly all multiparty elections held so far in postcommunist Hungary have had one thing in common: namely, a low turnout. In fact, the number of voters who have made the effort to go to the polls has progressively decreased, contrary to the popular belief that Hungarians would become more interested in politics once the democratic process got under way. This voter apathy would seem to suggest that Hungarians are disappointed with democracy itself. Some recent surveys conducted by the Szonda-Ipsos Media Opinion and Market Survey Institute re - vealed that Hungarians were displeased with the overall performance of Prime Minister József Antall; asked to evaluate Antall's popularity, the respondents gave the Premier an average of 48 points on a scale of 100. The same institute asked the same question in other East European countries as well as in the Soviet Union; in Poland, Lech Walesa was awarded an average of only 49 points on the same scale. Some experts argue that the poor performance of the Prime Minister and his cabinet is to blame for the electorate's apathy. But no one really knows why Hungarians are not voting, because no public opinion survey has yet specifically addressed that question. In the past, journalists blamed low turnouts at elections on the fact that candidates were not very well known. This was not the case in the recent by-election in Budapest, where two of the eight candidates were known to most Hungarians but nevertheless received fewer votes than the relatively little-known candidates. According to opinion polls conducted before the by-elections, the HDF had been losing in popularity; thus, it was eager to do well in Budapest's 7th precinct, which is traditionally AFD territory. As its candidate, the Forum chose Gyula Grosics, the goalkeeper of Hungary's legendary "golden" soccer team of the 1950s. Grosics, who under Stalinist rule had been the pride of the Hungarian nation, was undoubtedly remembered by retired people, who make up a large percentage of the population of Budapest's 7 th precinct. In his campaign speeches, Grosics promised the pensioners adequate health care and at least one hot meal a day. Grosics's main rival was the actor Ferenc Bessenyei, who ran as an independent candidate supported by the ISP. In the second round of elections, Bessenyei withdrew his candidacy to give Grosics a better chance of victory. However, Grosics gained only 16% of the vote, finishing well behind the winning HSP candidate. Before the elections, the AFD must have felt confident of victory, since it fielded Rudolf Groo, a little-known chemical engineer who had served on the previous local council formed in 1985 and dissolved in September 1990, and who is said to have little charisma. The Alliance of Young Democrats (AYD) ran Zoltán Illés, a former State Secretary for Environmental Protection, who had gained some political experience within the Green movement. Groo and Illés won 24.77% and 15.68% of the vote, respectively. The HSP's winning candidate was the printer Paul Fillo, who promised to represent both workers with families and pensioners. From 1985 to 1989 Fillo had been a deputy of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party, representing the same Budapest electoral district where the by-election was being held. Hungary’s chief meets some fellow writers President Árpa’d Göncz of Hungary was in New York recently, beating the drum for American investment, meeting politicians and businessmen. But, being also a playwright and translator, he took time for breakfast with leading American writers at the home of the restaurateur, George Lang, who is taking over Gundel's, Hungary's most famous restaurant. The writers included Robert Caro, Jules Feiffer, David Halberstam, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. and E.I. Doctorow. Mr. Göncz translated Mr. Doctorow's "Ragtime" and "World's Fair" into Hungarian, and the two became friends. During his visit Mr. Göncz saw President Bush, gave some speeches and picked up a Humanitarian Award from the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture.
