Documentary on pain was well timed

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32405, 18 September 1970, Page 4

Documentary on pain was well timed

Bully for the NJZ.B.C. I The corporation has been criticised often enough for the timing of its programmes, but the screening of Wednesday night’s documentary, “The Mystery Of Pain,” immediately before “Peyton Place” was ideal. As a documentary, this ! was not one of the more memorable efforts from C.B.S. News. But some interesting facts emerged. Relief from pain, we were told, was still in the Model T stage—like medicine before the discovery of antibiotic drugs. “We are only beginning to understand what pain is all about—there is a long way to go,” said the commentator, Gary Herman. According to Dr John Bonica, of Washington, who has written a massive text book on the study of pain, not nearly enough was being done in this field. Research was small in comparison with other major areas of study. Pain was the red light in the body signal system; a warning not to go ahead but to slow down or disengage, said Dr Arnold Friedman, a New York City specialist All this was very interesting, but what really caught the attentiton was Dr Niels Jorgensen’s techniques to overcome the age-old bogy of tension in the dentist’s chair.

He injected small amounts of barbiturates into his patients to produce a relaxed state bordering on amnesia; the patients had no distinct recollection of what .was going on, but remained conscious and co-operative. A patient treated this way was likely to come back to the dentist cheerfully again, said this British specialist. His methods are meeting with a great deal of resistance from dentists. We can’t think why. “Some feel a little pain is good for you,” said the bland commentator. But most viewers would probably agree with Dr Jorgensen when he declared, “pain is not good for anybody.” The programme divided the study of pain into three categories—muscle spasm, headaches, and anxieties or tension. Of particular note was the appearance of Dr Janet Travell, a former White House physician, who made world headlines with her treatment of the late President Kennedy’s back ailment.

She demonstrated the use of a coolant spray on the skin to allow the muscle to be stretched without reflex action. Once the muscle was stretched back to full length, the spasm was gone. If there was any criticism of this documentary, it was that too much of the time was taken up with views from specialists. There was little action, and case histories could have been followed to advantage.

But it is consoling to know that there is an army of research workers concentrating on the problem. * ♦ *

For the not-so-handy men, Len Elliott’s programme was rather frustrating viewing. Just as we were getting to grips with jammed cupboard doors (“not much in that,” said Len) he moved on to board grooving, quickly followed by boring holes in glass, fishing hints, fancy moulding, and back to fishing.

As this was condensed into the space of a few minutes, it was all rather confusing for the amateur anxious to master one of these skills. Mr Elliott covered far too much in the time at his disposal. * * ¥

“God Defend New Zealand” has been the innocent victim of many verbal tugs-of-war as to whether it deserves to be recognised as the Dominion’s national anthem. We wonder how many opponents of the piece were won over by the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band’s swinging rendition on “The Country Touch.” This instrumental effort, delivered at a brisk pace,: certainly injected new life into the old tune. It would even make “Waltzing Matilda” sound staid.

The folk singer, Christine Smith, was the outstanding performer in a show which introduced Ken Lemon, an Auckland vocalist with a pleasant voice. Wednesday’s programme also marked the television debut of Happi Hill, the effervescent Canad-ian-born broadcaster, whose voice became well known on Christchurch commercial radio after the war. He was cast in one of his old roles —as a square dance caller. ¥ ¥ ¥

We seem to have seen this week’s “Hawaii Five-O" situation before, although it must be admitted that picking off a diver in the middle of his graceful descent from the high board was a new and bizarre method of execution.

The glamorous policewoman, Joyce, was not the first to attempt to eliminate a colleague while under the influence of hypnosis. But, predictably, the evil professor stopped the bullet as the programme lumbered towards its end. The scenic backdrop for this series is new and exciting, but the same cannot be said about the plot. The programme suffers because its characters follow paths already well trodden by other, subtler, agents.—PANDORA.