The Wisconsin Magazine; 820

[countdown and Wisconsin Magazine theme music] Because an awful lot of women over the years have thought that they well maybe they were crazy, just not able to deal with their lives. The thing that I did notice was that I suffered from uncontrollable rages. This is what frightened me the most. The cause of those rages is something called PM astore pre-menstrual syndrome. We'll have a report on tonight's magazine. The Wisconsin Magazine for November 12 reporting from Madison. Dave Iverson. Good evening welcome to this week's magazine. In London yesterday a woman accused of killing her boyfriend was set free. The successful defense: she suffered from pre-menstrual syndrome. A report on PMS comes up in just a moment. Also tonight what to do about rattlesnakes. The state may reinstitute a bounty system to reduce rattlers in southwestern Wisconsin. And we'll travel north in our last report to

hear the horn of Frankie Cox a 73 year old musician who's played at the same tavern for 40 years. Recently it's been used as a defense in trials ranging from robbery to murder. And on the surface the plea looks like a weak case of temporary insanity. Not so says Dr. Catherina Dauphin [?] an English physician who pioneered study into something called pre-menstrual syndrome or PMS. English doctors have in fact long recognized a particular hormonal dysfunction in some women, a dysfunction that can account for the out of control actions of some of its victims. But pre-menstrual syndrome is just gaining medical recognition in this country. Carol Larson reports tonight on the effects and treatment of PMS. The hell I went through. Believe me. The thing that I did notice. was that I suffered from uncontrollable rages. This is what frightened me the most. And depression at certain times of the

month. Laurie is now 50 years old. For the last 20 years the rages, the depressions have gotten steadily worse. She asked us for anonymity because of her work. I love my work so much that I didn't take it out on the children. I'm a teacher. And I didn't take it out on the children. But you know who got it when I came home. Laurie calls herself a classic case of pre-menstrual syndrome. Laurie is only one of millions of women women who on a monthly basis experience such things as sudden weight gain, fatigue, depression, acne a wide array of symptoms that play a big part in diagnosing PMS. But the fact remains that doctors in other countries England in particular have known about pre-menstrual syndrome for over 25 years. Why doctors in this country have just recently come to recognize it takes some explaining. To talk about the history of the American medical profession is to primarily talk about men. Men who for the most part believe that a woman's monthly problems were primarily

all in her pretty little head. So prescriptions for her complaints often included distractions like fresh air and exercise. Others boosted general good health like having good breakfasts or taking vitamins, other prescriptions borderlined early psychology with doctors recommending perhaps a flirtation or on the other hand strict obedience to the husband or telling women that an evening of sex would make her feel all better. The most disturbing aspect of all these old remedies is that they are not so old. The prescriptions along with the old doctor's attitude towards women's problems are still what's practiced today. At one point doctors felt that my problems were due to an unhappy marriage. I guess I was too ignorant to realize I had an unhappy marriage until the doctor told me. I'd been put on pills. You name the pill I've probably been on it.

Presently treating Laurie for pre-menstrual syndrome is Dr. [?]. And some women are suicidal at that time. And there a lot more accidents that occur during that time you know and they get caught because of an accident. And then they find out that they got this problem. Dr. [?] practiced for eight years in England before moving to the United States. She is now one of only a few doctors here that is familiar with that wide range of pre-menstrual symptoms. Weight gain, irritability, depression, throwing out of control. They say they have no control over themselves. And over their emotions. What differentiates this from say a normal cramping or bloating or what might happen to a lot of women just for a couple of days. Only it lasts for a couple of days. That's the difference. This lasts for long time.

Duration and the time at which the symptoms occur differentiates pre-menstrual syndrome from other problems reported by women. First off most women report they have no problems relating to their periods. These fortunate women account for over half the female population. Second and the most familiar are those who suffer dysmenorrhea spasmodic pain, cramping, aches, symptoms now attributed to a hormonal imbalance that occurs around the time of menstruation, the blood flow. Severe problems created at that time are treated with supplements of the hormone estrogen. PMS has now created a third group women with that wide range of symptoms: asthma, depression, styes around the eyes, extreme mood changes, and the list goes on. But even with what appears to be a random list of symptoms there is a connecting thread: the time. The symptoms occur 1 and or 2 weeks every month prior to menstruation. The key is that it is cyclical. The key to the diagnosis is cyclic occurrence of events.

When problems occur is the common thread. Diagnosing whether a woman has PMS then depends on the time consuming process of tracing a monthly pattern. There are a lot of various symptoms that could indicate PMS. But there also are some that happen again and again for instance... Maureen is not a doctor but is on the staff of the Bread and Roses Woman's Health Center in Milwaukee, one of only two places in the state that screen women for PMS. What I would do would be to talk with the woman and find out what symptoms were occurring. And then to see if there was a pattern at all with those symptoms because a pattern because... Here is the pattern. Starting from the first day of menstruation which lasts an average of five days a woman's so-called month lasts an average of twenty eight days. One of the crucial days being the 14th or the halfway mark when ovulation takes place. After that point for the next 1 to 2 weeks is when PMS

patients say their problems start, when they suffer headaches or irrational behavior, when they attempt suicide or strike out at others. And the behavior continues until the twenty eighth day when the cycle is over. This behavioral calendar matches a woman's hormonal calendar. At ovulation when the egg is released from the ovaries a woman's hormonal system switches from the secretion of estrogen to the excretion of progesterone meaning women with problems could be suffering a hormonal imbalance instead of the long believed psychological imbalance. There's an awful lot of women over the years that thought they were, well maybe they were crazy. just not able to do with their lives. Carolyn Keith is the coordinator of the Bread and Roses health center screening program. to give physicians as much credit as I can most of them are men and I do think it's very difficult for men to understand what it feels like to have a menstrual cycle let alone to have a menstral cycle that's out of whack

and causes whatever this cluster of severe symptoms that come and go. I think it's always easier for any of us to understand something we've experienced ourselves. The screening program got started after a short notice in a local paper brought in hundreds of calls. Through those interviews the screenings were also able to help substantiate another possible hormonal pattern that an individual's PMS problems start or get worse after certain events. Things like a pregnancy, an abortion, a tubal ligation, a woman having her tubes tied for birth control, or going on and off the birth control pill. All of which could alter a woman's progesterone levels. Progesterone is a very potent hormone but a tricky one to deal with because it is excreted from the ovaries in spurts. There is no telling from a blood test if the patient is getting the right amount to keep her functioning on an even keel. One minute you have enough. Twenty minutes later no progesterone will show up at

all. Research from England points to PMS being a progesterone deficiency thereby treated with progesterone supplements. And the results have been very good. Patients who've been seeing psychiatrists for five years have suddenly found out that they do need to see psychiatrist. Dr [?] has treated several patients even violent ones with progesterone supplements. But if finding a doctor who knows about progesterone and PMS was hard, finding a pharmacy that carries it may be harder. This is one of only two in the city of Milwaukee that stocks progesterone in a natural form. And only natural progesterone seems to work. Synthetic hormones do not appear to help PMS patients. In pre-menstrual tension syndrome there is a lack of progesterone put out by your body and this is just a supplement. There are no known side effects. It's a natural product and it's... No side effects unless you're talking about cost. Natural progesterone costs

about $1 a capsule. Those with pre-menstrual syndrome now have a name for what they suffer each month and a possible treatment. But the problem remains that the medical community is still unfamiliar or sometimes unwilling to recognize the problem or the cure. Ironically recognition of the problem also causes another problem mostly for feminists. Even though less than one in every ten women may have PMS it raises the old raging hormones argument of are women fit to hold responsible positions. I think that those who want to believe that women are incompetent to hold significant jobs will keep right on turning up another argument to use. They're not going to be stopped [simultaneous talking] If they're not using this one they'll use another one. Meanwhile women with PMS are getting help. I just feel so so much better than what I have felt for such a long time and so much more

confident about the future. And very grateful. Dr. Katharina Dalton the English physician who has studied and treated PMS patients will be in Madison next week. For more information on her speaking schedule and on PMS call PMS action in Madison. The number 6 0 8 2 5 5 2 2 4 4. In a moment snakes in the grass. A story about timber rattlers lurking along the Mississippi bluffs and Frankie a trumpet player who is entering his fifth decade of playing at the same north woods tavern. First though a correction on last week's story on small breweries. We mentioned that Schlitz was now closed. But Schlitz of course continues to brew nationwide and still maintains its Milwaukee headquarters. Only its Milwaukee brewery is permanently shut down. The temperature will dip below freezing tonight and throughout Wisconsin. That will please

more than just cold weather sports enthusiasts. It also means that people along the Mississippi can relax a bit. No more snakes in the grass till next summer. Wisconsin's rattlesnake population may lay low during the winter months but come summer they'll be out in force again along the bluff country of southwestern Wisconsin. Local residents may be out in force too. They want state and local government to do something about the snake problem. But not surprisingly there's a difference of opinion about how to handle Wisconsin's rattlers. It's late summer Chris Ostoff is hunting timber rattlesnakes something he's done for the past 20 years. He crawls and pokes around the bluffs of southwestern Wisconsin that overlook the Mississippi River. Snakes are that form of life people love to hate. Expressions like snake in the

grass or lower than a snake's belly. A test of the unpopularity of this lowly reptile. Besides who do you think offered Eve the apple in the Garden of Eden. On a recent hunt Osthoff killed 35 snakes in just two hours. It seems that in the hot summer months the snakes that usually stay high in the Crawford County Hills invade the small towns that are scattered along the Mississippi. Them hills are bare and it's too hot on the hills for the snakes. They gotta come down where the shade in when they get down to the shade they're practically in town. Well it might seem like a poorly written monster movie script. One town hit hard by the snake invasion is Ferryville. We have found them right in the roads on the sidewalks. [Lee Crum]: A lady went to put mail in the post office box. There was a snake coiled right under the post office box. You always got to be careful where you walk cause you might step on one or step close enough to one to scare him so he'd bite ya.

[Bonnie Lewis] Well we was standing over there on the other side of the house putting up the awning and I just happen to look down the steps and here come one up the steps. So we killed that one and then I walked around here and I was just going to step over the fence a spray and there laid one all curled up. Of course, it scared me. That's right. Perhaps the problem becomes most acute when children are involved. I make them play right around this area but I don't let them back up in the hills anywhere cause I am afraid they might run into one. My kids wouldn't know a rattlesnake if they stepped on one I don't think. You know I've seen it already where a mother had a little baby laying out in the lawn on a blanket and then a big ole rattlesnake crawls underneath the blanket and stuff. But it [unclear] they got it the baby off without getting bit. Most people are lucky. A check with area hospitals shows few people have ever been bit and state records dating back to 1900 show no one has ever died from a rattlesnake bite. Nonetheless people are upset and they're pushing the state legislature to reinstate a bounty on timber

rattlers. The Senate passed such a measure and it's now before the state assembly. The bounty plan is opposed by the DNR. This means of controlling populations has never proven to be efficient at all. DNR spokesman spokesman Jim Hale. The case of snakes it's quite certain that some species of snakes which are not rattlesnakes which are non-poisonous which are beneficial and especially the other species of rattlesnake the massasauga is apt to be killed. But the timber rattler is fair game all year around the massasauga or swamp rattler is an endangered species and killing them is against the law. Since both snakes are found in southwestern Wisconsin Hale feels bounty hunters might confuse the two and kill the wrong one. In shape and appearance they are somewhat similar. However the timber rattlers tend to grow larger. Up to 3 and a half feet. And swamp rattlers seldom exceed two feet in length. The timber rattler is

yellowish or brawny snake with alternating bands of black and yellow or brown across the across the back on a massasauga you have a series of blotches. They're irregular shape. They're not bands. They have rows of blotches down the sides also the timber rattlers do not have. If the law passes bounties will be the responsibility of county government. Before they were repealed in 1975 a dead rattlesnake could fetch up to $5. Now in an era of budget cutting big bounties seem to be slithering away. I would suggest 75 cents on grown snakes and we would not pay anybody at all on small snakes or baby snakes. I don't know. Peoples going to hunt em for that kind of money what the bounty supposed to be on em. And it used to be a dollar and they're talking 75 cents now you know. So I don't know. I know I wouldn't hunt em for that.

Honestly I hope it doesn't go over $1 on the one snake. And I hope that they will not pay anything on a baby snake. I do not want this to become a lucrative business. I want it only to become a control. [people talking in background] For those who endorse the bounty plan the only effective way of dealing with the snake problem is exterminating every timber rattler they see no matter how much money the bounty is worth. But the DNR suggests a more humane solution. If you can remove or at least clean the weeds and reed pile or wood pile so it's neat. If you can close up holes that may be present under outbuildings if you can cut down the real heavy weed patches. In other words do two things at once by this sort of activity you're

eliminating places where snakes can hide. You're also eliminating habitat for the small mammals and other creatures that the snakes are preying on. The timber rattlesnake is well entrenched and will be with the Mississippi River people for quite a while. For the time being the frustration continues. On a hot summer day folks will still find a rattler curled up on a front lawn or slithering down Main Street. There may be no magic solution but many people in Crawford County think the bounty is the first positive step. The bill to reinstate rattlesnake bounties is still before the State Assembly. Apublic hearing on the measure is scheduled for sometime in December. The year was 1941 Franklin Roosevelt was just elected to a third term and a horn player by the name of Frankie Cox started what was to become a 40 year gig at a Superior Wisconsin tavern. We've gone through eight presidents since Franklin Roosevelt. But Frankie Cox still occupies the same stage. He

is 73 now. But every Friday and Saturday night he lures people to the dance floor at Tony's just as he has for 40 years. [trumpet playing] He's the second coming of Satchmo. Absolutely. Greatest trumpeters Frankie he's good. I think that the times are

going backward to the sounds of the big bands and like our band isn't big but we play tunes that big bands play. Right along with em just the same as if you were out there yourself.

Especially if you get so you know the people. You know em and you know the tunes tunes they like. And you know the tunes they want. And you play their tunes and some nights people are very generous with their praise and things like that. And to a musician that means a lot. You can't beat it. You can't find it anywhere else either. You can't beat Frankie. He is number one. When Frankie plays I'm here. Isn't he great? Oh! He's got to be the Louis Armstrong of our time. He's got to be the greatest. He gives it a lot of class and style. The old fashioned music and and everything. I think it's really wonderful.

People like that keeps you young, you know. You stay home and sit in a rocking chair you get old pretty fast. [trumpet playing] If I had it to do all over I'd probably do everything the same way I did. I think if you can please people and make them enjoy it. And they come up and they well we'll see ya Frankie.

You know, shake hands with them. It gives you a lift. It gives you a lift. He could have played with Frankie Carle. He could have played with Raymond King. He could have played with anybody. But he didn't. Frankie Cox celebrates life by playing the trumpet. Another man who celebrated life died in Madison this week. Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky. Rabbi Swarsensky appeared on this program earlier this year. He talked about the important role custom and tradition play in life as well as in death. Rabbi Swarsensky's message was one of compassion

concern and celebration. His was a message of life and he'll be missed. We emphasize the fact that life was worth living and life is worth living not for the dead but for all those who came afterwards and so because we value life so highly we certainly would not tolerate any idea or any way of handling it that a human being was dead should now all of a sudden he was here yesterday be thrown like an old piece of junk on the cosmic ash heap if I may say so and bingo and gone he is. This idea we cannot accept therefore through our customs and this is my point we celebrate life. [music]

[trumpet music]