Tremendous
need for
research

From page 33
agree because there was no money
mit.

This was in the days of Malawi,
Central Africa, in the "SOs.
Chalmers’ grandparents settled
there around the turn of the cen-
tury; his grandmother was the
first white woman to put down
routs in the country.

The Chaimers family lived on a
large tobacco estate, and Andrew
became friends with the native
children from whom he learned
Chichewa, one of Malawi's two
official languages.

Fearing he would forget Engtish,
his parents enrolled him in school
al the tender age of 34%; he began
university at only 15.

He went on to study in
Capetown, Vancouver (where he
moved in 1967), Toronto and at
the prestigious Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn. .

Today, in addition to heading
UBC's division of rheumatology,
Chalmers leads the Faculty of
Medicine's undergraduate pro-
gram.

“There is nothing more of a
turn-on than turning on young
people’ to medicine, he says.

Why rheumatology and = arthri-
tis, typically thought of as an old
person’s disease? It’s a field that
attracted few doctors when
Chalmers was a medical student.

“There clearly was a need for
it. | also liked the relationship
part of it,’* he says. ‘You basical-
ly take care of people forever,
because arthritis doesn’t go away,
And I liked the fact that there are
lots of things you can do to make
people’s lives work better...

“Pve always like the academic
life, and there stil! is, and will be,
a tremendous need for both
clinical and basic research in
rheumatology. There's also a huge
job in teaching patients, the
public, docters.”’

In addition to seeing patients,
Chalmers is involved in a major
study looking into the potential of
the rubella (commonly known as
the German Measles) vaccive to
trigger arthritis in aduls.

The towering stack of mestical
journals on his dee src of
enormous advances i: drug tiera-
py, and Chalmers finds it tough
keeping abreast of the growing
mound of literature.

Some of those discoveries —
like interferon — have proven
disappointing in the treatment of
arthritis. But others, like
cyclosporin, traditionally used in
preventing the rejection of organ
transplants, are showing more
promise.

However, not all of the answers
lie in drugs.

Chalmers has spoken out loudly
and clearly on the benefits reaped
by people who learn to manage
their iliness themselves.

**Most people believe that if the
circumstances aren't right, you
can't possibly have a sense of
well-being,’’ he says. “I really
believe very strongly that well-
being — that sense of feeling
whole about yourself — is a very
importam part of dealing with ill-
ness.

“I's something that you gener-
ate and it’s available to anyone.
It’s remarkable that you can be
deathly ill, but if you're dealing
with your well-being you can be

sick and well at the same time...

“And | think it’s a shame that
sometimes people have to ge’ sick
to recognize the importance of
that and generate it.”

giving
we |

Noutend peegeane to toe

wid ott

tis Society’s Self Management

go {to the doctor less, require
less medication, and that their
disease develops more slowly. ing neces

new drug — what we've done
is give them some control of proper shoes and inserts
their lives and improve their
well-being.”

a frustrating

Andrew Chalmers - in his own words

Tell me more about the Arthri- disease? “*Yes and no. There’s fike a misacle. For you and [, “Arthritis doesn’t work the
no question it’s frustrating. But it sounds trite or trivial.”

same way AIDS does, but it’s a

program: “We know that peo- J think what makes it less Why have there been such ad- disease where the immune
ple who get onto this program

frustrating is the fact that it’s vances in treatment recently? system isn’t functioning right,
feasible to make enormous dif- “Vo think in the next five years just as AIDS is. In order to
ferences to people without do- there is going 10 be an explo- understand how the immune
ily a whole fot...for sion because of all the techno- system goes wrong in AIDS,
ft's not like we've given them a example, by making sure logy that’s come out — actual- people have developed very
someone with painful feet has ly a lot of it in relationship to sophisticated methods of look-
in AIDS research. A lot of it is ing at the immune system. Be-
their shoes. Now all of a sud- now being applied to the ar- fore ‘the explosion of research

den you’ve got someane who thritis field, and it’s going to that came with AIDS, we really

Welcome

to the

Library
Grand Opening.

AN,

can walk. For that person, it's make a big difference.

didn’t have the technology.”’

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2 PM
NORTH VANCOUVER CITY LIBRARY invites
you to the Grand Opening. After a traumatic
renovation, the dastardly deed is done. Come
and see the new elevator and improved
quarters for both children’s and adults’
departments.

ENTERTAINMENT

Members of the Capilano Chorus:
Barbership Singers

Birds of a Feather: Jolly Buskers

Book Draw/NNC. Library Book Bag Draw
Refreshments

North Vancouver
City Library

121 West 714th Street
Mon.-Fri. 9:30-9:00 Sat. 9:36-5:00

Sunday, September 1, 1991 - North Shore News - 37