Pericarditis Can Fool Doctor; Prostate Troubles 'Common'

              M a r c h 2 5 , 1 9 7 0
G R E E N V I L L E P I E D M O N T , G R E E N V I L L E , S O U T H
A number of physicians are at-tending
the 14th Annual Greenville
Post Graduate Seminar at Greenville
General Hospital today through
Thursday. Among those speaking this
morning were Dr. Charles Moore, Dr.
SEMINAR TOPICS
Edgar Hull, both of New Orleans, La.;
and Dr. Kenneth Walton, Atlanta,
Ga.; shown above with, second from
left, seminar president, Dr. Gordon
Howie of Greenville. (Piedmont photo
by James Wilson)
Pericarditis Can Fool Doctor;
Prostate Troubles 'Common'
By MIRIAM GOODSPEED
Pericarditis has many
disguises and prostate glandular
malfunctions primarily strike
men over 40, 100 physicians
were advised at the first morn-ing
session of the three-day 14th
annual Greenville Post-Graduate
Seminar for practicing physi-cians.
A total of 250 doctors from
a 10-state area are expected
to register by Wednesday's
session for the seminar at
Greenville General Hospital. It
is being sponsored by Greenville
General Hospital, its general
practice division and the Green-ville
County Medical Society.
"Our speakers are men of
outstanding reputation, our at-mosphere
is informal and our
subjects are those daily
problems met by the practicing
physician, regardless of his
particular interest or specialty,"
explained Dr. M. Gordon Howie,
president.
Dr. Edgar Hull, professor of
medicine and dean of the
Louisiana State U n i v e r s i t y
Medical School, opened the
seminar this morning with a
discussion of "Pericarditis
1970."
Pericarditis is an in-flammation
of the sac sur-rounding
the heart, very similar
in type to pleurisy, which is
the inflammation of the sac
around the lungs.
"In pericarditis," Dr. Hull
pointed out, "the sac can fill
with either fluids or a thick
rind of calcium and fibrous
tissues.
"Either variety causes the
heart to become compressed
and the blood c i r c u l a t i o n
through the heart to become
impaired."
He added that the type of
disease resulting in the thick
rind around the heart can be
cured through surgery. The fluid
in the sac can be treated by
tapping it with a needle and
drawing it out and also through
the use of various antibiotics
such as penicillin or some of
the streptomycins.
Dr. Kenneth Walton, professor
and chairman of the department
of urology at Emory University,
Atlanta, who spoke on "The
Prostate, The Good and The
Bad," pointed out that death
caused by prostate trouble rises
from third place for men over
40 to first place for men over
80.
"The gland begins to develop
at puberty in the male because
of hormone activity.
"It is common for the prostate
to cause inflammation problems
after the age of 20, and it
becomes an extremely common
disease among older men.
"Both benign and malignant
coditions begin to occur in the
male over 40, although science
does not know why at this
time," Dr. Walton explained.
Cancer of the prostate is the
third most common cancer in
the male over 40, with lung
cancer in highest ratio and
cancer of the colon second, the
doctor said, but prostate cancer
rises to first for men over 80.
"Even those men over 50 in
good health may sooner or later
have trouble."
The prostate gland, located
at the base of the bladder, is
a very necessary part of fertility
in the male, and infertile men
often have an inactive prostate
gland or one with an obstruction,
but, for some reason, as a male
ages, this same necessary gland
becomes an increasing problem,
Dr. Walton told his colleagues.
The earliest symptoms of
trouble include frequent urina-tion
right after rising in the
morning, then frequent urination
at night, followed by urinary
problems as with pressure the
bladder becomes less elastic and
more sensitive, he said.
He cautioned that these same
symptoms could arise from
other problems as well, but that
prostate trouble was usually a
progressive thing of about five
years duration. A carcinoma
(type of cancer) would progress
far more rapidiy, usually in a
matter of months.
He added that malignancies
were very commonly discovered
— up to 50 per cent in those
over 85 and 14 per cent in
men over 60 — in examinations
after death.
He advised r e c t a l ex-animations
as being a very im-portant
diagnosis aid in any
examination of the prostate
area.
The seminar will continue
through 4 p.m. Thursday, under
the leadership of Dr. M. Gordon
Howie, president.
Other speakers include Dr.
John J. Canary, professor of
medicine and director 0/ the
d i v i s i o n of endocrinology,
Georgetown University Medical
Center, Washington, D.C.; Dr.
Charles B. Moore, professor of
medicine, Tulane University,
and chief of cardiology, Oschner
Clinic, New Orleans.
Also Dr. Harris D. Riley Jr.,
professor of p e d i a t r i c s ,
University of Oklahoma Medical
Center; Dr. James Harkess,
professor of o r t h o p e d i c s ,
University of Louisville, Ky.;
Dr. Vince Moseley, coordinator
of the South Carolina Regional
Medical Program, Charleston;
Dr. Walter Newman, associate
professor of pharmacology, The
Medical University of South
Carolina, Charleston; and Dr.
Claude Frazier, editor, Allergist,
Asheville, N.C.