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Life & Times Transcript
6/13/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Treating depression can be a process of trial and error. Can a new test give patients hope? Roberta Lightfoot>> Well, the whole psyche gets lighter. Everything. The thought processes change. Hope comes back. It's like being myself again. The self that I forget is there. Val Zavala>> And then, these Billy goats might bring a smile to your face, but their grazing has a grave purpose. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> An estimated nineteen million Americans suffer from depression and one of the biggest challenges for doctors is finding which medication works for which patient. It's a trial and error process that can stretch out over months, if not a year. But what if there were a way to figure out ahead of time which medication works? As Hena Cuevas tells us, there's a new tool that promises to do just that. Hena Cuevas>> For the past thirty years, Roberta Lightfoot has suffered from depression. She describes it as a feeling of hopelessness, falling into a deep, dark place that's difficult to crawl out of. Roberta Lightfoot>> I'll go stretches of time when I function totally on a normal plane and then, oops, a life situation happens and the descent begins. No matter what I try to do to stop it, to put a barrier between me and the illness, the slope is too slippery and down I go. Hena Cuevas>> Nothing seemed to help. Roberta Lightfoot>> I had various kinds of antidepressants. I've done talk therapy. Everything worked to a degree and then stopped working over the years. Hena Cuevas>> Roberta is not alone. Nearly twenty million Americans suffer from depression and, among the women who do, one out of ten take an antidepressant medication such as Prozac or Zoloft. But finding the right drugs can be a long, expensive and depressing process. It can take eight to twelve weeks before a patient can detect the effects of just one drug. It's trial and error with severe side effects along the way. Roberta Lightfoot>> Side effects were horrific. Complete sexual dysfunction, tiredness, you know, just an inability to sleep properly at night or sleep too much. They had different side effects. Hena Cuevas>> Roberta was desperate. Late last year, she heard about a clinical trial at UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute. The study was headed by Dr. Andy Leuchter. Dr. Andy Leuchter>> The likelihood that a patient is going to get well with the first medication you choose is only about thirty percent, so we are facing pretty long odds in picking the right medication the first time. Hena Cuevas>> So he set out to improve those odds to discover a shortcut to the right medication. He used an old tool: a brain scan. Three hundred patients signed up nationwide, including Roberta. Technician>> "I mean, you have to fiddle with these a little bit if they're not recording perfectly on the first pass, but that's it. That's all it is, okay?" Hena Cuevas>> The first step? Take a scan of the patient's brain when they're not medicated. Dr. Andy Leuchter>> We figured that, if we went to there and looked at these signals and analyzed the energy in them, we could pick up some of the earliest changes that were due to antidepressant medication. Technician>> "This is very similar to an electrocardiogram. It's a recording from your brain instead of from your heart." Hena Cuevas>> Next step? Prescribe an antidepressant, then have Roberta come back a week later for another scan. Technician>> "With your eyes closed, could you count backwards from threes from a hundred? Just keep your eyes closed." Dr. Andy Leuchter>> If the medication is going to be successful, there are certain changes that happen really within the first few days of antidepressant treatment. The patient is going to start to feel better for six, eight or even twelve weeks way out here, but we're going to be able to pick up subtle changes in the brain's energy output within the first week. Hena Cuevas>> The scans are then compared. After only a week, any variations in brain activity reveal the medicine is working. This is long before Roberta would have noticed any change in mood. And in Roberta's case, the first drug they tried worked. Roberta Lightfoot>> Any measure of relief that I get, the whole psyche gets lighter. Everything. The thought processes change. Hope comes back. It's like being myself again. The self that I forgot is there. Technician>> "You can stop subtracting." Hena Cuevas>> If Dr. Leuchter sees no change, a different antidepressant is prescribed and the process repeated. Dr. Andy Leuchter>> We can potentially take what is now months and months of antidepressant treatment that may or may not be successful and telescope that down to just a few weeks, getting the person on the right medicine quickly and getting them over the depression a lot more rapidly. Hena Cuevas>> He believes the scan can provide a valuable tool for doctors trying to manage patients' medication. Dr. Andy Leuchter>> So what we're looking at here is a physical test that we might be able to use to more intelligently pick the right medicine and find out earlier if that medicine is working. Sometimes I say this test could be the psychiatric equivalent of a blood pressure cuff. Hena Cuevas>> For Roberta, the scan is now one more weapon in her battle against depression. Roberta Lightfoot>> If it hits again and if it comes again, then I know what I have to do to seek help. Right now I'm functioning in my life in a way that pleases me. Hena Cuevas>> The scan is being tested by various doctors. Their feedback will determine if it becomes a permanent fixture in the treatment of depression. I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Most of us who happen to hear gangsta rap are pretty shocked at some of the lyrics, how graphic they are when it comes to sex and violence. But do these songs really have an impact on the young people who live in gang territory, or is it just entertainment? For a provocative conversation about gangsta rap, we brought three people together at our Kitchen Table. David Lehrer of CommUnity Advocates, along with commentator, Joe Hicks, and Davey D, a hip hop historian, journalist and community activist. Our Kitchen Table segment is made possible by Ralph Tornberg. David Lehrer>> What is your view, Dave, of what's going on, of the impact and the import of hip hop and if any transformation is in the works? Davey D>> Well, I mean, the way it's been framed at least in the mainstream media is that because of the Don Imus situation, suddenly there's this great interest in the content in hip hop and whatever changes are being considered, it's been framed as if it's a direct result of the Don Imus conversation. What usually takes place in these conversations is the rhetorical question of "How come hip hop doesn't police itself? Where are the rappers, etc., etc." as if there's been a great deal of irresponsibility from people in my generation. The truth of the matter is that what made the discussion around hip hop jump off was that these discussions were already taking place. Last year -- David Lehrer>> -- among whom? Davey D>> Well, amongst hip hoppers. David Lehrer>> Naturally, everybody knows the difference between hip hop generally and gangsta rap. Davey D>> Well, it's not just about gangsta rap. For people who don't know gangsta rap, it's just one sub-genre within the whole hip hop spectrum of music. Just like you might have speed metal or, you know, punk is just a narrow cast of all of rock and roll. But the problem that we've had is, yeah, there's been an overabundance of presentation of things that fit the sex and violence themes and it's having an adverse reflection on the community. It's also having an adverse influence on people who see this sort of material being presented with all the bells and whistles resulting in folks saying, "Well, I know you're telling me to talk about other things, but the people that are getting put on are the folks doing this other type of salacious material, so maybe I should follow suit." That's people we're trying to get into the music industry. So our contention, people that I work with and folks that I see, has been that there either, one, needs to be more of a balance where you have a diversity of voices so that it's not just this one viewpoint, or the other thing is you just get rid of it altogether because it's not really something that the community is embracing. The community is being used as the face of that. You know, we can go to the hood and stand there and look at the most deplorable conditions and then say, "This is hip hop." Then you go back and you repackage it and you sell it outside the community. Meanwhile, people in the community is like, "This is not me. Even if I live in horrific conditions, even if there's crime in my neighborhood, it's not something that I want to have glorified in music and have a marketing budget behind sending a signal that this is what's going on." David Lehrer>> Joe, what's your take on hip hop, being the hip hop maven you are? Joe Hicks>> I think Davey's exactly right. There are a lot of people in communities that supposedly that genre of rap represents that reject that message universally and are trying to live decent, good lives and raise kids with values. Hopefully, people get that. But see, I wonder though, with the contention that the problem is sort of a narrower problem because anybody who does, in fact, spend any time among black youth -- get on a city bus, get on a train, walk by a high school, go to an inner city basketball game -- you hear commonly the kind of reference points, the kind of language, the kind of terms that indicate that there's been a focus on the music as the problem. I think there's been a role of the music in forming a cultural strata in black urban communities and not just young blacks, by the way, who relate to this. But it's certainly become a part of how folks relate to each other. The "N" word is a common reference point now seemingly being appropriate as a term of endearment. At least, that's the argument. "N" word, "Ho", you know, the "B" words as they're called. Common kind of linguistic reference points. So there's clearly a larger part. For me, the question is "Well, what do you do about it?" Davey D>> This is the classic argument. Go by any high school and you hear these words. Well, go to any high school, whether you're in the suburbs or whether you're in the hood and you'll hear many curse words. You know, you'll hear the "MF" word, the "S" word, the "F" word. David Lehrer>> Independent of race or ethnicity. Davey D>> Right. And the point that I'm making is that, over the past fifteen years, let's say from 1990 to now, society in general has become more coarse. You know, the Bill O'Reilly's. They're combative and they're rude and disrespectful when they're on air and that's considered, you know, entertainment and them being very shrewd. David Lehrer>> What are you saying, then? Davey D>> So what I'm saying is that, when you go by a high school in 2007, you hear these words. I'm not surprised that they would have a coarseness to them, that you would hear these types of language because, one, the language is being marketed by corporations. David Lehrer>> Are you essentially saying that record executives are picking and choosing and cherry-picking the messages that are salacious and anti-police and sexy because they know that's what's going to sell and they could choose from a whole variety of other things which are far more comfortable and less discomforting? Davey D>> It's not just record executives. There's also the broadcasts that reach a million people a day in some cities, two million if you're in New York. They will play certain types of material. Joe Hicks>> But they're not the ones that are shaping this cultural kind of milieu that urban communities are carved in and my argument is not because you got white record executives forcing, you know, black artists to use those words. People are using those words because that's the view of what's real supposedly on the street and that's what's shaping the culture. Davey D>> But you got to always ask, "Real to who?" Joe Hicks>> Real to a lot of these kids living in these neighborhoods. Davey D>> Well, no. You got to really be focused and answer the question like real to who? I talk to young people all the time. I go to, you know, juvenile detention centers and all that. Yeah, there are people that do embrace that material, but if you have more than ten percent, they can have a huge impact especially if it has hundreds of thousands of dollars up to millions of dollars marketing it. David Lehrer>> Like you'd think that the trend is changing. Davey D>> Definitely. David Lehrer>> Within the black community, this kind of material is being rejected and now the mission is to get the broader community not to view this as exotica that has to be embraced, but it ought to be rejected as well. Davey D>> Well, I think at the very least, we have to put it in context. You know, if Arnold Schwarzenegger does a crime movie, do we walk away and see him as governor and think he's going to be a criminal? No. You know, if some of these artists are doing crime-laden songs, most of these people don't do the crimes that they talk about in these songs. You know, most of the people don't live the lifestyle that they advocate. So we have to just make it very clear that that's entertainment. It's R-rated, adult entertainment that should, first of all, not be marketed to kids and we need to put it in that sort of context and then also be able to offer to listeners other voices so that you can really put it in context and go, okay -- Joe Hicks>> -- yeah, but what's the relationship, Davey, from your perspective though? I argue, as you well know, that every urban community across this country from Boston to Baltimore to Oakland, your hometown, has a problem with violence, homicide in a disproportionate way. What's the relationship in a cultural way to the genre and the kind of thing that even some of these clowns that, you know, haven't figured a piece in God knows when and living in the hills in luxury, but still talking to Smack about -- Davey D>> -- I don't know if you can necessarily make that jump from crime that's being committed, say, in a place like Oakland with songs that you hear from these artists. I don't think the criminals or people that I talk to that I've seen in juvenile centers are going, "You know, I listened to Snoop and then ran out and then starting jacking fools." It's not like that. I think there are conditions that exist that have, you know, led people down that path. I don't necessarily think it's just the music by itself. David Lehrer>> Well, on that note, we'll end the music. Thank you, Joe, and thank you, Dave, for joining us today. Val Zavala>> So you still haven't cleared the brush around your house? Well, you might take a cue from the Getty Center. They've found that, when it comes to brush clearance in this high-tech world, the best solution is low-tech. Hena Cuevas explains. Sarah Bunten>> "Okay, boys, you ready?" Hena Cuevas>> When Hugh and Sarah Bunten visit the Getty Museum, they come with their goats. Hugh Bunten>> We came in an eighteen-wheeler. If they're going to be more than an hour in transit, we go that way so that everybody gets a window seat and there's no pushing and shoving. Hena Cuevas>> They all have names: Red, Dwayne, Anakin. Sarah Bunten>> And there's Mr. L.A. He's a real ham. He likes his picture taken. Hena Cuevas>> This is the fourth year they've traveled all the way from Oregon to tackle the steep hills surrounding the Getty. They're part of the museum's preparations for fire season. The campus is a hundred ten acres and, according to ground supervisor, Yas Osako, it's a lot easier for the goats to clear away the brush. Yas Osako>> We have a brush crew that goes in and does that work, but on these really steep areas, we thought that it would be a lot safer if we didn't have our guys go in there and do it, and use the goats to get those real steep areas. Hena Cuevas>> They're steady eaters, packing away between four to five pounds of vegetation a day. Hugh Bunten>> They've got a beer drinker's liver, so a lot of things that other animals can't eat, they can eat. Hena Cuevas>> And they can be a handful. Sarah Bunten>> It's just a lot of patience because they are like very small kids and you want to tell them yes most of the time. You don't want to always tell them no. Hena Cuevas>> Hugh keeps them in line with some help from his herding dog, Steve. Hugh Bunten>> So when they go for forage, I know where the best stuff is, so I take them. They follow me. They trust me. Then when we have any kind of security issue, they come to me. Hena Cuevas>> But every once in a while -- Hugh Bunten>> (Laughter) He can't see around the boxes. Jack, come on. This way. Come on. Hena Cuevas>> To protect the goats, Hugh and Sarah stay with them twenty-four hours a day. They even sleep outside in a tent. Sarah Bunten>> Some nights, we have good nights and we'll sleep and other nights we get up and the coyotes have been all over and the dogs are barking and we have to come out with our light and make sure they're not in with the goats. So, yeah, some days you don't get as much sleep. Hena Cuevas>> The Buntens travel with their goats eating their way through California before fire season begins. The dangerous months are June through September. But Bunten says that clearing the brush this way won't prevent a fire. However, it will slow it down considerably. Hugh Bunten>> This is a fuel break, not a fire break. We change the composition of the fuel to allow firefighters to stop a fire. Hena Cuevas>> According to Bunten, interest in his goats is growing in Los Angeles County. In fact, Griffith Park which just lost over eight hundred acres in May in a large brush fire wants to bring the goats in so they can start working on the brush before fire season begins. Sarah Bunten>> The goats are beginning to be looked at as a tool. Before, it was hard to get your foot in the door because the fire guys, you know, weren't sure if they could do it. But Los Angeles County has been so progressive in that way to get their foot in the door and to say, yes, goats are part of the tool. Hena Cuevas>> What do you enjoy the most about doing this? Hugh Bunten>> These guys (laughter). I like them a lot. They never lie to you. They're pretty straight up guys. They respond real well. I think it's a respect kind of thing. Hena Cuevas>> They're at the Getty for three weeks. Then they're off to another gig. But Osako says they mostly likely will be back. Yas Osako>> We've had them for four years now, so they're right around the corner here. Hena Cuevas>> So maybe next time Mr. L.A. and the rest of the gang might be able to catch an exhibit or two. I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> How do families with a brother, a husband, a son in Iraq cope with the terrible news that he's been killed? Well, more than thirty-five hundred families have had to face that kind of loss, but some of them have found a measure of comfort through the kindness of a stranger. Every day, Leonore Rae Smith steps into her studio at her home in Pacific Palisades. She'll spend five to six hours a day here seven days a week. Her motivation? Words like these. Leonore Rae Smith>> "I met a wonderful woman named Kay and she showed me the lovely painting you did of her son. It's so wonderful and brought tears to my eyes. What an awesome thing. I was wondering if you would perhaps consider a portrait of my son. He too died in Iraq. Please let me know." Val Zavala>> For the past several years, Leonore has been putting paint to brush and brush to canvas, taking the photographs that mothers, fathers and wives send to her of loved ones killed halfway around the world. Leonore Rae Smith>> I originally called Camp Pendleton and told them that I would be happy to do this. It just spread and now I get them from all over the country. One tells another one, they go to a memorial and someone has a painting and they say, "Where did you get it?" and so forth. "Dear Leonore, thank you so much for the portrait of my son. It means so much. You took so much care in painting Dave's picture. Your kind and generous heart will never be forgotten. God has blessed you with many talents." I can't finish it. You can finish it. Now, see, you've got me blubbering all over the place. I hope you turn this off in between (laughter). Val Zavala>> Often she meets the family in person. Rochelle drove down from northern California with her two daughters. She was expecting a third when her husband was killed. Leonore Rae Smith>> I just hear from many of them many times. Not just once, but they call me and we have a relationship really, you know. Val Zavala>> What do you talk about when they come to visit? Because they're virtual strangers really, in a way. Leonore Rae Smith>> Oh, they're perfect strangers really, but I don't feel like they're strangers. I feel like they're my children, you know. Val Zavala>> This is the portrait of Corporal Riley Baker when it arrived. Even in photographs, you can see the impact it had on his mother. Leonore Rae Smith>> You know, I think that it's some kind of a solace to them to know that somebody cares, particularly nowadays where people are -- you know, the papers are so full of anti everything and the people in the military don't feel that way, of course. Val Zavala>> But at the same time, you know, they've been asked to do a lot now with the extension, you know, so a lot of them are, you know, justifiably angry and frustrated. Do you see any of that come out or is it mainly sadness? Leonore Rae Smith>> No, I never see that. I don't think it's in the military. It may be every place else, but I don't think the military is like that. Val Zavala>> Leonore grew up in Texas. When she was only nine, she won a drawing contest, but her talents weren't confined to painting. In her twenties, she was a performer in Hollywood and then New York. Leonore Rae Smith>> I was a dancer, a singer. I was in show business on Broadway and concerts and Carnegie Hall and all that stuff. But then I ended up marrying my husband and being a stay-at-home wife and mother (laughter). Val Zavala>> Military service runs in her family. One relative was killed in World War II. Twenty-seven others served, including her husband Paul. Leonore Rae Smith>> And my husband, to whom I was not married at the time, went in the day after Pearl Harbor. They all did. I mean, our country, to be attacked like that. You know, it's different now, but in those days, everybody just wanted to do anything they could. Val Zavala>> Today she feels the same way. At age eighty-nine, she's doing the most personal thing she can to help and it does help tremendously. Leonore Rae Smith>> "Dear Leonore. I had to express to you how very much your painting of my son Spencer meant to me. It took me two days of staring at the package thinking and wondering what it looked like and knowing it would bring me to tears. When I finally got the courage up to open it, I was overwhelmed. I just sat down in the entry hall and cried." Val Zavala>> Leonore estimates that she's painted about ninety portraits. Sadly, there are many more requests in the wings. Leonore Rae Smith>> "Dear Leonore. How are you? I think of you every day. How could I not when I see and feel the love of my son Scott through your gift. We are very proud, as you can imagine. I miss him terribly. Can't wait to meet you someday. Thanks for all your support." Val Zavala>> There's no charge for these beautiful paintings that can take a week or two to complete. It's enough for her to know that, in living rooms across the country, her art is making a difference. Leonore Rae Smith>> "It's so real. It's as if you gave me part of my son back. It is almost as if you caught his spirit and enveloped it into the portrait. I seem to be happier and sure he is okay wherever he may be. He is somewhere doing another work for God. The portrait greets me every morning when I cross the front door, and it says goodnight on my way to bed. Thank you for giving me some joy in my life where there's been so much sorrow. I will treasure it all the days of my life." Val Zavala>> As I mentioned, Leonore has plenty more portraits to do, but I'm sure she and the families would appreciate any help that artists would like to give. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. Thanks for watching. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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