By Sarah, Junior at Flowing Wells High School

Animal research is a very controversial practice. Almost everyone had a pet that was his best friend at one time or another, and most people have kind feelings toward animals. I have had many pets and at times love them as much as the people in my life. However, people who object to animal research on the basis of their feelings, often do not consider the lives of the people who would not have been saved without that same research. Therefore, I understand why there is a need for animal research. A high school counselor who has become my mentor is an example of a life saved by very recent animal research.

My counselor, Beverly Dutz, suffers from Arterial Venus Malformation, AVM, in the right occipital parietal area of her brain. AVM is a disorder in which the arteries feed directly into the veins without feeding any tissue or dispersing through capillaries. Many people die at birth because of this disease; however, because of low blood pressure and a strong will to live. Mrs. Dutz has lived to adulthood. During her years in high school, there were various small signs of this disorder, but they were dismissed as inconsequential.

While Mrs. Dutz was pregnant with her second child, she began to get extreme headaches and an increasing haziness in her peripheral vision. Because of this, her body miscarried her baby The doctors stated that these symptoms were only side effects of the pregnancy.

During the seventh month of her third pregnancy, as she was out shopping with her family, she suddenly felt something snap in her brain; it had started to hemorrhage. Mrs. Dutz collapsed and was paralyzed. She also began to vomit. A CAT scan was performed and soon after she slipped into a coma. Three days later she awoke, and was told that her baby would have to be removed and she would most likely die during the operation. Her baby was successfully removed but Mrs. Dutz’s death was still predicted to be soon and sudden by the doctors.

Her students raised $4,000 for her and her family. She decided that she must live for her students and loved ones. Beverly Dutz began to call all over the country in search of some hope for her survival. Finally a doctor mentioned Dr. Allahandro Bearenstein who had been doing AVM research on dogs for ten years. Because of that research, he was able to successfully shrink or destroy large pockets of AVM. By the time Mrs. Dutz had called him he had progressed to researching on humans, but it was still in the experimental stages.

In Dr. Bearenstein’s procedure a thin tube is inserted up the femoral artery. A small amount of super glue is then inserted to close off the artery. Mrs. Dutz had one of the largest AVM pockets Dr. Bearenstein had ever seen. She had seven arteries feeding into her veins. This surgery is successful unless too many surgeries are performed too closely together, which would result in brain hemorrhage and the patients die. This is one of the many things that was learned from Dr. Bearenstein’s canine research. Mrs Dutz was the one thousandth human recipient of this procedure. She had three successful operations and came back in September of 1986 to have her fourth artery shrunk. During the procedure the artery moved and was ruptured by the tube. Her brain hemorrhaged again and she was paralyzed from the waist down because of a blood clot that was lodged in her spine. After six months she was able to walk, to the surprise of all her doctors. In January of 1988, her fifth brain embolism was performed. It was also successful. Unfortunately, it was too dangerous to operate on Mrs. Dutz again.

An new procedure to remove embolisms externally is currently being developed by a doctor in Phoenix. He developed this procedure by testing the operation on mammals also suffering with AVM. On June 13 of this year, Mrs. Dutz will go to Phoenix to receive four craniotomies over a period of four to six weeks. She will only be the ninety-eight human recipient of this experimental operation and there are some serious risks involved. However, Mrs. Dutz believes that she will live.

Animals are often mistreated and abused but animal research is not an example of that mistreatment. Thousands of people like Mrs. Dutz live only because of animal research. A further example of this is my mother. She would not enjoy the same quality of life if it were not for animal research done on diabetes to discover insulin. Animal research is a vital part of medical advancement. Through it not only are lives saved, but it can also bring about early detection and a clear diagnosis. Mrs. Dutz is quoted as saying, "It is not fair that I owe my life to dogs, but a dog enhances one, maybe two lives. I hope that I’ve enriched many more human lives. That is the reason animal research is acceptable, because the gain greatly outweighs the loss.

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