1999 Winning Essay - Tucson
Congratulations to the Tucson Winner of the 1999 Essay Contest!
How Biomedical Research Using Animals Has Benefited a Pet, Me, or Someone I Know
By Alexis - Catalina Foothills High School
My grandfather Phil was a wonderful man. He was also a very lucky man. He survived four heart attacks (one of which occurred while on the operating table during abdominal surgery), plus five major heart surgeries. My grandfather had his first heart attack in 1967 at age 47. He then proceeded to have one quadruple bypass, one bypass surgery with seven different bypasses performed (the large number of bypasses was due to the fact that some were bifurcated), two balloon angioplasties, and most recently a stent implantation. My grandfather defied the predictions of his physicians, and let a long and productive life, living way beyond the estimations of his doctors. Just last year, he died three weeks short of his 76th birthday.
Phil had his first balloon angioplasty a year or two before I was born. If it had not have been for that relatively common procedure, he may not have made to my naming (a Jewish custom for newborn girls) due to the large amounts of plaque buildup already in his arteries. I remember that as I was growing up, every now and then he would be "sick" and have to go to the hospital, but being a young child, my mother and grandmother (who is a registered nurse) did not want to scare me by telling me that he was having heart surgery. No matter how serious the surgery was, he was always there at my ballet and choir recitals, no wanting to worry me with how serious the surgery was. At one point, he took me to a Redskins football game in Washington D.C. in November, less than a month after being in the hospital. As I got older, I began to ask what was going on, and that was when he showed me his scars. It was after his first bypass surgery, and the long "T" running down his chest scared me beyond belief. Only recently did I realize that the horrendous scar was one of the reasons that he was able to be around for so long.
The other bypass surgery and balloon angioplasties made it possible for him to be there next to me for my batmitzvah, and then two years later for my younger sister’s. The day before he died, he fulfilled a dream of his when he drove down with my grandmother from their winter home in Scottsdale to see me perform with my school in the Rodeo Parade. After the parade, I went to Scottsdale with them, supposedly for the weekend. The next morning, he had a heart attack in bed and died a few hours later in a nearby hospital.
I just learned of this contest recently, and I thought there would be no better way for me to fully understand how lucky my grandfather was then to research the procedures that kept him with us for so long.
Balloon angioplasties were used to clear the arteries around my grandfathers’s heart of plaque. A tube was threaded through the femoral artery with a small balloon attached to the end, which was then inflated inside the artery. The balloon pushed the plaque buildup to the artery walls to allow the blood to flow more freely. The stent was then implanted to make sure the veins and arteries stayed open to promote circulation. Balloon angioplasties were first performed on animals, mainly New Zealand white rabbits and Yorkshire swine. With the rabbits, the procedure was done using either the iliac or femoral artery. Researchers who were examining different aspects of the procedure chose animals with different characteristics. One study I read about used rabbits with a high cholesterol diet, another study fed the rabbits a diet with a high fat content. One study even studied the effects of cocaine on post-operative swine. Other animals were also used in perfecting balloon angioplasties, such as adult mongrel dogs and Sprague-Dawley rats. In dogs, the surgery was done via the femoral artery, while the carotid artery was used in rats. Many of the same animals that were used for angioplasty research were also used for the development of stent implantation. Stents were first introduced in 1969 by Dottter who used the popliteal artery in dogs. Most recently, the femoral artery is the area most stent implantation in swine is done through the descending thoracic aorta.
The research for these procedures has been going on for many years now, but recent findings on the use of certain drugs incorporated with the surgeries and new technologies in surgical procedures and equipment is becoming so advanced that it could have prolonged my grandfather’s life for a few additional years. New studies are even looking at ways in which these procedures are damaging, and are looking for new ways to perform these procedures to minimize the harmful side effects.
My grandfather was an amazing man, who did not let his illness prevent him from enjoying life. According to his doctors, he was a medical miracle, but he was also a fighter. Over the last few years, I learned to truly appreciate my grandfather, and over the last week, while researching these procedures, I learned to appreciate the miracles which Phil’s doctors spoke of.
I’ve been interested in a career in medicine for a long time now, but only recently did I become serious about becoming a doctor. One of the many reasons for my determination would be my grandfather’s indirect influence. After learning exactly how much the doctors did for my grandfather, it made me want to help others as much as those doctors helped my family. It would be so rewarding for me to know that in the future, I might be able to give a little girl her grandfather back just like Phil’s doctors did for me. From the researchers who discovered the surgeries, to the doctors and nurses who performed them, their work helped sve my grandfather’s life numerous times.
When trying to answer the initial question of this essay, "How has biomedical research using animals benefited an animal, you, or someone you know," I would have to say that it has benefited at least two of the three parties in question by prolonging life for the patient and for the benefit of his family, who was able to love him longer.
WORK CITED
American Heart Journal vol. 127, no 1, Jan 1994, pps. 198-202, Donald T. Nardone, M.D., David L. Smith, M.D., et.al.
American Surgeon vol. 60, no. 5, May 1994, pps. 353-355, Tarek A. Salam, M.D., F.R.C.S., Brandford Taylor, B.S., et.al.
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