News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 35

INSIDE NEWS-PRESS SECTION DearAbby2D Bridge 2D Horoscopes 2D Day Breaks 4D Comics 5D TV6D sic; low FEATURES EDITOR: HEIDI RINELLA, 335-0367 (Monday Friday, 9 a.m. 5 p.m.) MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1994 Conquering Nature forces us to pause and reflect I usually don't care much for winter weather, but last week's blast of snow, wind and ice that froze East Coast was, in many ways, wonderful. -i It slowed people down, prevented as usual and made people talk to each other. You could probably say that about the earthquake in California as well. Both were chaos me In the age of information overload, you've got to sort i i through all the clutter jir tilt 2 srzr Mother Nature's nudge to help us stop and think about what's important in life.

In the nation's capital, one of the century's coldest weeks forced the mayor to declare a state of emergency, By JIM GREENHILL News-Press staff writer here's this classic Robert De Niro cameo in the movie "Brazil." As De Niro walks along a DINAH ENG street, pieces of paper trash -are picked up by a breeze and blown toward him. They cling to his clothes. Distracted, De Niro tries to JX knock away the accumulating sheets, but fails. De Niro falls to the sidewalk, covered in paper. A crowd forms.

A figure that could be some paper monster struggles on the concrete, limbs flailing desperately. Wind disperses the trash De Niro is gone. Swallowed by clutter. Which is a feeling Fort Myers resident Kathi Reichenbecher knows well. Wy -Y "My husband still has his father's who passed away 13 years ago grammar school and high school schoolbooks.

We're actually looking to buy a bigger house because we have so much junk." It's not just paper clutter that threatens to consume us late 20th-century info hunter-gatherers. It's noise clutter, film clutter and now as if we were coping OK and needed new challenges floppy clutter. You wake to a radio yelling at you to trade in your car before you miss the lowest prices ever. At breakfast, your milk carton wants help finding a missing child, your cereal box wants $9.95 and 16 UPC fcl YY See CHAOS 4D I Tips for getting organized 4D FIGHTING BACK shutting down all businesses in the District of I Columbia, and sending "non-essential" government employees home I so that a power crash would not domino through a large part of the Eastern seaboard. All week long, the icy roads accommodated little traffic as few went to work on time, or at all.

For the most part, I had little trouble navigating the snow-covered streets. I just took my time, which irritated some drivers around me to no end. One morning, on a road that nor-'. mally was three lanes wide, the snow had drifted over one lane, causing sane drivers to stay in two lines. But, of course, there were those who insisted on making three lanes where only two existed, resulting in three accidents within a two-mile stretch.

I couldn't help but think that the way we drive reflects the way we approach life. There are those who go slowly, no matter how many horns are honking behind them. Those who speed, no matter the posted limit. Those who try to make a third lane when there isn't one. Of course we don't drive the same way all the time.

When the weather changes, and road conditions with it, we adjust the turn of the wheel. Same with life. Getting to work at a different time every day, depending on the road conditions, made me slow down in other ways. The mad rush of this city disappeared in the beauty of trees with frozen icicles suspended on branches. We spend so much of our days working for other people to earn a paycheck, working to please family and friends.

But when do we do our soul's work when do we really live in the moment and feel that what we are doing is very much a part of our soul's reason for being? Being snowed in meant life couldn't go on as usual. Businesses couldn't open. Children couldn't go to school. Parents had to stay home and talk and talk and talk with their children. Those who lived alone had to come to terms with being alone, or find someone to talk with.

Suddenly, you realize you don't have to have a list of 30 things to do in the next half hour. You remember that a schedule is something you made up for yourself. You stop before saying, "I hate to lose another day because you find that another day of being snowbound is really another chance to live life a little differently. -'Dinah Eng is Special Sections Editor at Gannett News Service. Comments about this column can be sent to her at Gannett News Service, 1000 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, Va. 22229-0001. I HOW TO STOP JUNK MAIL: Write to the Mail Preference Service, do Direct Marketing Association, 6 E. 43rd New York, N.Y., 10017. Provide your name and complete address.

This won't stop all A the bulk mail you get, but will help slow the flow. I HOW TO STOP PHONE SOLICITATIONS: Write to Telephone Preference Service, do Direct Marketing Association, 6 E. 43rd New York, N.Y., 10017. Provide your name, address and complete phone xy 1 1 JT GARTH I I '''fir FRANCIS I I a V- News-Press Heart patients may someday grow own blood vessels By LAURA BEIL Dallas Morning News The idea of angiogenesis excites researchers because the current treatment methods usually require a stay in the hospital and often the artery becomes clogged again over time. Giving injections of growth factor directly to the heart, the scientists found they could restore circulation to some heart muscle after as little as seven days of treatment.

Epstein is now trying to see whether the growth factors will work after only one to three days. Getting results in a brief time is important, he said, because the chemical could have some serious side effects. "It's very hard to do good in medicine, and it's very easy to do bad," he said. vascular disease, the arteries supplying blood to the heart build up with plaque that accumulates inside vessel walls. As the heart muscle is gradually cut off from its blood supply, a person can suffer from chest pain and eventually a heart attack.

During this time, the heart begins to grow new vessels extending into the weakened areas of the heart in what Epstein calls "nature's own attempt at bypass surgery." But these new vessels aren't enough to counteract the disease. So Epstein and his colleagues are giving the process a boost. His experiments use substances produced naturally by the body, called growth factors, to prompt the heart to start growing new vessels. After testing the idea in dogs with obstructed arteries, Epstein reported recently that growth factor treatments restored about half of the animals' maximum circulation to blood-starved areas of the heart. Epstein discussed his research during the American Heart Association's Science Writers Forum, an annual briefing about heart and blood vessel research.

He expects to start testing the technique in people in the next year or two. If the human experiments pan out, it means that in several years some patients may be spared from having to undergo coronary bypass surgery or angioplasty. Those two common methods treat narrowed arteries by either rerouting blood flow surgically or blasting the diseased vessel open. Imagine a person with hardening of the arteries walking into a doctor's office, and with a series of injections, starting to grow new and healthy blood vessels that detour around the diseased ones. The process is called angiogenesis, and it may be coming to a physician's office near you.

"So far, we're encouraged," said Dr. Stephen Epstein, chief of cardiology at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. In one of the most common forms of cardio BOTTOM DRAWER Broadcast news Show canceled Quick fix LCj- TV tonight BEST BET: POOR SALES: Top ticket SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT: See a variety of animals recovering from LaToya Jackson's Feb. 13 Northern Exposure," 10 p.m. on CBS.

Shelly and Holling become proud parents of a performance at Harborside Convention Hall has been can Myers on Channel 12. Storer Cable for Boca Grande, Englewood and North Port on Channel 11; Charlotte Harbor, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda on Channel 32; and Lehigh Acres on Channel 27. ROSEMARY GROUPER 34 pound grouper 1 teaspoon dried rosemary I teaspoon olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle with rosemary. Heat oil in YY injuries under the devoted care of staff and volunteers at baby Oh, you just have to tune in to find out if it's a girl or a boy.

VCR ALERT: "The Cosby Mysteries," celed because of poor ticket sales. Harborside director Don Bottorff says he was unable to get materials to promote her show because her management office was closed during her NEWS ON CABLE: WBBH-TV, Channel 20, will branch out to cable, starting tonight. The Eyewitness News Network's live newcasts will be carried simultaneously at 7 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight Monday through Friday on four cable systems. Here is the lineup by system, city and channel: Cablevision Industries for Cape Coral and Golden Gate on Channel 11.

Colony Cablevision for Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers Beach, Marco Island, Naples, Naples Park, San Carlos Park and Vanderbilt Beach on Channel 10. Jones Intercable for Fort 9 p.m. on NBC. Bill Cosby returns to TV this time as a foren- CROW -Care and Rehabilitation of Wildlife -on Sanibel Island. There's a tour at 11 a.m.

today, which includes a video and short lecture along with a guided tour of the facility. Admission is $3 per person and children younger than 12 are admitted free. For more information, call a small nonstick skillet. When skillet is smoking, add fish and brown for 1 minute. Turn, and salt and pepper the cooked side.

Brown second side for another minute. Lower international appearances. That resulted in poor sales. Bottorff says he might reschedule the show at a later date. LaToya Jackson sics expert who's near-ing retirement but can't keep his hands off of one more case.

Cynthia Geary (Shelly) 1 Tickets can be returned to the point of purchase for refunds heat and cook 5 more minutes. Serves 2..