In Brief Medical News ----------------------------------------------------------------- Natural substances may fight nerve damage A Johns Hopkins animal study suggests that a protective natural substance reduces pinched nerve damage and speeds recovery of the injured nerves. The finding may help to develop a treatment for sciatica and other common nerve injuries in people. The sciatic nerve, the body's largest nerve, was compressed in a large group of rats to stop most of the blood flow through the nerve. The study's results showed the nerve suffered less damage and recovered faster in those animals given an antioxidant called deferoxamine. Antioxidants protect the body against oxygen-containing molecules called free-radicals, which damage tissues. Stopping blood flow to tissues causes damage, but restoring blood flow unleashes a flood of oxygen that can cause further damage. The results are published in the April 5 issue of Annals of Plastic Surgery. "These findings suggest that this antioxidant protects the nerve from injury when blood circulation stops and restarts and yields a quick recovery from peripheral nerve compression injury," says Kyle D. Bickel, a study co-author and an assistant professor of plastic surgery and orthopedic surgery. The Hopkins team tested the nerve tissue, in part, for malondialdehyde, a potentially damaging oxygen molecule that the scientists recently found to be a reliable indicator of tissue damage and recovery. Deferoxamine has been shown to reduce damage from blood flow stopping and restarting in other organs, including the heart, skeletal muscle and spinal cord. This study is believed to be the first time that deferoxamine has been shown to protect a peripheral nerve, or a nerve that connects the brain or spinal cord to distant parts of the body. Sudden or long-term compression of peripheral nerves in humans often is caused by slipped discs, fractures, dislocations, tumors and clots and other problems. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Other News ----------------------------------------------------------------- Expose wins SAIS-Ciba Prize in journalism Inside Algeria," an extensive look at the difficult political situation in Algeria, won the first annual SAIS-Ciba Prize for Excellence in International Journalism. The 16-part series, written by Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for The Independent newspaper of the United Kingdom, combined on-the-spot reporting with analysis, historical and investigative journalism. His dispatches, which took great courage to produce, provided readers with firsthand accounts of the brutal rapes, killings, suicide bombers and ambushes that have paralyzed Algeria, as well as the effect of the conflict between 'Islamist' killers and military death squads on ordinary citizens. Fisk will receive the SAIS-Ciba Prize at a noon presentation on Tuesday, April 16, during a one-day conference that will explore the media's impact on international events and technological changes affecting the international news media. Richard Holbrooke, recently retired assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian affairs, will deliver the keynote address. The conference will take place in the Kenney Auditorium at SAIS, 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. in Washington. The SAIS-Ciba Prize for Excellence in International Journalism is awarded to a journalist whose work in the previous year had the greatest impact in bringing to public attention a topic of international importance. In the 1995 competition, the first year of the prize, entries from 28 countries in more than 10 languages were received from print, radio and television media. "The SAIS-Ciba Prize is intended to recognize outstanding journalism that enhances public understanding of important international issues," said SAIS Dean Paul Wolfowitz. "'Inside Algeria' is a striking example of reporting that draws attention to an important emerging issue and deepens the public's understanding of the stakes involved in that issue." Fisk wrote about the 1992 decision by the Algerian government to cancel upcoming elections when it became apparent that Islamic fundamentalists would win. The outcome has been a brutal 'civil war' between the government and religious groups resulting in human rights abuses by both sides. Fisk's entry was selected by a distinguished panel of jurors who included Tahseen Basheer, former Egyptian ambassador to Canada and official spokesman for Egypt under Presidents Nasser and Sadat; Nayan Chanda, deputy editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review; Maria Jimena Duzan, Colombian journalist, editor and author; John Hughes, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former editor of The Christian Science Monitor; Bridget Kendall, Washington correspondent for the BBC television and radio news; Don Oberdorfer, award-winning former diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post; and Paul Wolfowitz, dean of SAIS. In addition to the $15,000 first place prize, nine Certificates of Recognition for Excellence in International Journalism were awarded to Norma Percy, Paul Mitchell and Angus Maqueen, of Brian Lapping Associates, for the television series "The Death of Yugoslavia" (U.K.); David Rohde, of The Christian Science Monitor, for his series of articles on Bosnia (U.S.); Yevgenia Albats, of Izvestia, for three articles on Chechnya (Russia); Tim Sandler, of the Boston Phoenix, for his article on "Africa's Invisible Slaves" (U.S.); Leo De Bock, of Belgian Public Television, for the documentary "The Dammed"(Belgium); Ginger Thompson and Gary Cohn, of The Sun (Baltimore), for "Special Report: Battalion 316" (U.S.); Waldemar Milewicz, of Polish Television (News), for "Chechnya: Six Days of War" (Poland); Salima Ghezali, of La Nation, for "Those Murdered Bodies" (Algeria); Steve Coll and David Ottaway, of The Washington Post, for "Rethinking the Bomb" (U.S.). ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Schools win innovative programming award The schools of Medicine and Continuing Studies have won first place in the 1996 National University Continuing Education Association Innovation Program Awards Competition. The association--founded in 1915 to promote expanded opportunities and academic excellence in continuing education-- represents more than 400 colleges and universities nationwide. The two schools received the award for "The Business of Medicine," a collaborative 12-credit graduate certificate program. Designed originally to provide Hopkins physicians with the business skills necessary to compete successfully in a rapidly changing healthcare environment, the program has since expanded to include physicians, nurses, and healthcare administrators from other institutions as well. Stanley C. Gabor, dean of the School of Continuing Studies, notes that Hopkins is the first university to customize a credit-bearing interdisciplinary curriculum relating business and management to vital healthcare issues. Since "The Business of Medicine" certificate program began in fall 1994, more than 200 physicians and senior healthcare administrators have enrolled. -----------------------------------------------------------------