A. Growing Old Gracefully
Narrator: This is Science Today. Getting
old, doesn’t necessarily mean getting frail. Health
and Aging expert Anita Stewart of the University
of California, San Francisco says the majority of
the elderly population’s frailty is due to a lack
of exercise.
Stewart: The most important thing now is
to start developing programs to make older people
aware of the value and importance of physical activity
and exercise and maintaining fitness in a multi-dimensional
sense..strength, endurance, flexibility, so that
their line of decline is set out later, so they
are not frail until they’re much, much older.
Narrator: While Stewart admits most older
adults, particularly women, were not raised in the
fitness-crazed environment of today, the benefits
of exercise are hard to ignore.
Stewart: There is some research that suggests
that by maintaining fitness, you can offset the
point of disability by almost twenty years, so that’s
a pretty big incentive.
Narrator: For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin
B. A Race-Specific
Cancer Test
Narrator: This is Science Today. Detecting
prostate cancer in African American men, who have
a higher risk of the disease, may be more efficient
if ethnicity is taken into account. Urologist Joseph
Presti of the University of California, San Francisco
says a seldom used screening test called PSA Density,
seems to detect cancer in black men more effectively
than the standard blood test, simply called PSA.
Presti: We don’t know exactly why, I mean,
what this study showed was that we could not rely
just on PSA in and of itself to determine who needs
a biopsy.
Narrator: Presti says that’s because although
an elevated PSA level in general results in cancer
one out of three times, the PSA density test, when
race specific, has different results.
Presti: Again, only one in three white men
had cancer, however when we looked at blacks, it
was one in two. So, we don’t know why this happens,
but the observation does appear to be a real one.
That it’s a more efficient test in black men.
Narrator: For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin.
C. Teen Health: Invest
in Our Future
Narrator: This is Science Today. A University
of California, San Francisco study reveals the adolescent
population in this country is rising and will continue
to do so until the year 2050. But Psychologist Elizabeth
Ozer, who led the study, says there will be a demographic
shift in that population, which may lead to a decline
in health.
Ozer: There’s a much larger percentage of
adolescents who are coming from minority families,
single parent families and families living in poverty.
Adolescents who are poor, are less likely to have
good nutritional habits, a lot of that is due to
economics, are less likely to visit a doctor and
if you’re going to say what’s the number one predictor
of health, it’s your economic status.
Narrator: Because of these statistics, Ozer
says policy makers should pay more attention to
what she considers an ignored population.
Ozer: I mean, they’re here, there’s more
of them than ever. The problems that begin in adolescence
are preventable.
Narrator: These problems include preventable
unhealthy behaviors, such as cigarette smoking,
drug abuse, unsafe sex and unsafe driving. For Science
Today, I’m Larissa Branin.
D. The Facts About
Emergency Contraception
Narrator: This is Science Today. A recent
national survey on unplanned pregnancies showed
that nearly half the women polled would opt for
emergency contraception pills. Public health expert
Suzanne Delbanco of the University of California,
Berkeley says these little-known oral contraceptives
are often referred to as "the morning after pill"
Delbanco: We’ve tried to move away from
that term because that somehow connotes that someone
needs to use it the morning after, when in fact
they can be used right away after unprotected sex
or as far as 72 hours after unprotected sex.
Narrator: Delbanco says although these pills
have been around for over twenty years, it’s not
something many women know about.
Delbanco: It’s a little unclear as to why
that is. It’s mostly because the use of oral contraceptives
in this way has been very limited, mostly used on
university campuses and in emergency rooms for rape
victims.
Narrator: These pills are not to be mistaken
for the more controversial drug RU486, which is
still awaiting FDA approval. For Science Today,
I’m Larissa Branin.
E. Keeping Tobacco
Industries Coughing
Narrator: This is Science Today. A major
tobacco company’s six billion dollar settlement
with 22 states over the cost of smoking-related
illnesses set a legal precedent. But Dr. Stanton
Glantz of the University of California, San Francisco
says while the settlement sounds like a lot of money...
Glantz: It really isn’t. Because the tobacco
industry causes about 50 billion dollars a year
in medical costs, and another 50 billion dollars
a year in lost wages. 0:11
Narrator: Glantz, the author of The Cigarette
Papers, a national expose on the tobacco industry,
says although cigarette makers usually outgun plaintiffs
in court, the public should continue litigation.
Stanton: I would expect the industry will
win some, I would expect that the public will win
some, but rather than having one, big blow-out,
it should continue on in an incremental manner where
the individual cases go to trial or settle out.
But the kind of arrangements that have been proffed
so far are good deals for the industry, it would
cost it some money, but it wouldn’t fundamentally
change things. 0:26
Narrator: For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin
