' a THE OTHER PRESS page 5 Misrepresentation and misinformation about herpes has prompted Dr. Stephen by Gabrielle Korn Sacks, director/founder of the University of British Columbia Herpes Clinic, to inform the public of today’s most misunderstood disease in his book The Truth About Herpes, What. Everyone Should Know. ‘| think it’s only logical to read this book like it’s logi- cal to fasten your seat belt in the car,’’ said Dr. Sacks. “It’s just reasonable to arm yourself with informa- tion, so that either if you get herpes, you can deal with it better or if you don’t get it, you can help someone who does or try to prevent your- self from getting it.’’ The misunderstanding of herpes has occurred because it has become a “’media event’’ according to Dr. Sacks. His book is an at- tempt to put herpes back into perspective. “There’s no question that herpes has been blown out of proportion, but | don’t think the numbers (of suf- ferers) has,’’ said Dr. Sacks. ““Most cases are mild and for the most part a_nui- sance,’’ he added. ‘‘It has been misrepresented, by creating images that make people think they’re going to walk the street and drop dead from herpes, where in fact they may walk down the street and maybe have to itch themselves. ’’ : One of the more serious problems. with herpes has been the failure of proper diagnosis. Physicians who are less informed about sex- ually transmitted diseases (STD) will not likely recog- nise a herpes virus whereas a doctor at an STD clinic who has often seen this kind of disease will. As well as thoroughly explaining the herpes virus, - its symptoms, the diagnosis and process of transmission, Dr. Sacks covers such topics as herpes of the newborn, itslink to cancer, its relation to Acquired Immuno-Defi- ciency Syndrome (AIDS) and the psychological problems of herpes sufferers. Diagnosing herpes can be a lengthy process even by well-trained physicians. ‘‘A negative culture of a herpes sore doesn’t necessarily mean that it is her- pes,’’ said Dr. Sacks. ‘‘It may just be that culture that was negative and so several cultures should be taken.’’ ~ Doctors truth about herpes I THINK ITS ZQUA TAMonAé 7 “AND 7 Oz SY ANYTHING fa on INVOLVING 7 Dr. Sacks said that what scares him the most is that after a patient is told the culture is negative, the sore is ignored and eventually, it is transmitted to someone else. e Increases awareness one’s own body is what Dr. Sacks emphasises. ‘‘’Some- Canadian Allan MacEachen, Deputy Prime Minister and Secre- tary of State for External Affairs and Donald Johns- ton, Minister of State for Science and Technology and for Economic and Regional Development, announced that a new Agreement on Cooperation between Cana- da and the European. Space Agency (ESA) has been signed. The Agreement was ‘signed by Mr. Johnston and by Mr. Erik Quistgaard, Director General of ESA, at of thing mild could also be herpes, such as a recurrent itch somewhere in a place you don’t normally look,’’ he said. . : Dr. Sacks dedicates his final _chapter to therapy which exists now, as well as to therapy which is being space pact the European Space Re- search and Technology Cen- tre in Noordwijk, the Ne- therlands. ‘‘Canada’s cooperative re- lationship with ESA began when the first Agreement came into force in 1979,’’ Mr. Johnston said. ‘‘This country will continue to work closely with ESA‘s eleven member states to foster the development and application of space technol- ogy and to open new indus- trial opportunities for all of tested for the future. There | is no knoWn cure for herpes, However, drugs and vac- cines are being tested for their effectiveness. “We have drugs now,’’ said Dr. Sacks, ‘‘that have been shown to shorten the duration of recurrent her- pes. Also, for someone who signed wi As part of Canada’s coop- eration with ESA, Canadian industry participates in gen- eral studies and programs such as the large telecom- -munications satellite (OLYMPUS) -planned _ for launch in 1986 and _ the European earth observation satellite (ERS-1). ESA was founded in 1975 to promote peaceful cooper- ation among European states in the application of space research and technol- ‘get outbreaks twice or three times a month, there are drugs that suppress the her- pes, if taken every day.”’ As well, Dr. Sacks added that vaccines to promote immunity have been im- proved in their delivery sys- tem, which permits more direct results. th Europe ogy. Recent Agency accom- plishments include the de- velopment of the Ariane commercial launch vehicle and the scientific laboratory SPACELAB, which comple- ted its successful first mis- sion on the last Shuttle voyage November 28 - De- cember 08, 1983. The mem- ber states include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Nether- lands, Spain, Sweden, Swit- zerland and the United Kingdom. : Computer dating: it’s fun and convenient too Another Friday night, no where to go, what to do and who to do it with? These questions challenge thous- by Heather Oddie reprinted trom The Bricklayer ands of single men and women very often and cause a great deal of despair and | loneliness. Spending even- ing after evening alone or in Teeter er er fsa a singles bar Idoking: for a companion can be devasta- ting : Computers and personal dating services boast the capacity to provide a solu- tion to thousands of lonely persons. ‘Matching com- patible people by a compu- ter is definitely gaining pop- ularity here’’ says Mr. Jim Macek, manager of a Cal- gary based organization. It has become a convenience and the attitudes of people are changing. People using these servi- ces are in many different fields,from farmers to law- yers. The computer puts you in contact with many com- patible people, increasing your chances for a stable re- lationship. Modern society has pre- sented mankind with many new and exciting’ ideas and computer and personal dat- ing services fit into’ this category. Single people quite often reach a stale- mate when searching for new relationships and_ this service could be very helpful to anyone with the imagina- tion to give it a chance.