A. Immunotherapy:
Cancer Treatment Of The Future?
Narrator: This is Science Today. In cancer
research, doctors and scientists have been looking
more at immune-based therapies which stimulate a
patient’s own immune system. Dr. Stanley Leong of
the University of California, San Francisco, says
what needs to be developed now are markers to determine
if a patient will respond well to immunotherapy.
Leong: So that with these markers, we can
actually screen right in the beginning and divide
the patients into groups in that way, we would be
able to find out that certain patients can be treated
right away with immunotherapy.
Narrator: Leong says this is important for
those patients who may not do well with chemotherapy.
Leong: One of the potential problems with
having being treated by chemotherapy first, prior
to immunotherapy is that chemotherapy itself, is
immuno suppressive, so it’s a two edged sword. If
the chemotherapy works, that’s worth it, on the
other hand, if it doesn’t work then the side effects
are significant enough - including immunosuppression.
Narrator: For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin.
B. How To Prevent
A Very Common Disease
Narrator: This is Science Today. One of
the most common chronic diseases is gum disease,
which affects half the world population. UCLA Professor
of Periodontics, Michael Newman says it’s also one
of the most preventable.
Newman: Brushing twice a day, flossing once
a day is good, using an approved fluoridated toothpaste
is excellent..and most importantly, is to see the
dentist regularly because plaque in everybody ends
up hardening to form tartar and calculus and that
has to be removed professionally.
Narrator: Newman helped discover a genetic
marker which can determine who’s more susceptible
to periodontitis, which can lead to severe disease.
This is done with a finger stick test.
Newman: Up until now, dentists had no way
of looking into the crystal ball to determine who
was going to be severe and who wasn’t. They could
sort of, but it wasn’t very accurate. Now, with
this objective test, dentists and patients can immediately
know whether they’re at high risk or low risk of
getting disease.
Narrator: For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin.
C. Breaking The Patterns
Of Overeating
Narrator: This is Science Today. The next
time you reach for that big bag of chips, you might
want to make sure you get a bowl to put them in.
According to behavioral scientist Margaret Chesney
of the University of California, San Francisco,
people who actually put food on a plate and sit
down to eat tend to consume less than those who
don’t.
Chesney: If you do what we might call grazing
or free range eating, where you’re just wandering
around the kitchen eating out of the box, people
will lose track of how many Triskets they’ve had
and then all of a sudden, it’s half the box is gone.
Narrator: To avoid overeating, Chesney recommends
people have healthier snacks, such as fruit, late
in the afternoon.
Chesney: So they’re not so ravenous and
certainly to encourage people to take responsibility
for what they’re eating and put it on a plate and
we’ve all experienced this and there is this tendency
to pull that box out of the cupboard and start munching
away.
Narrator: Although there are other psychological
factors involved in overeating, such as stress and
depression, Chesney says behavioral medicine can
make a difference by altering habit-forming patterns
such as grazing. For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin.
D. Indoor Pollution
And The Rise Of Asthma
Narrator: This is Science Today. Over the
past decade the number of asthma sufferers has jumped
by 61 percent afflicting more than 14 million Americans.
But why are people becoming more allergenic? Asthma
specialist Homer Boushey (Boo-shea) of the University
of California, San Francisco says a lot of attention
has been focused on indoor air pollution..
Boushey: Not pollution from industrial activity,
but pollution from domestic patterns of life.
Narrator: These include the presence of
pets, house dustmites and cockroaches. The most
common of these three allergens is the dustmite,
which Boushey says flourishes in the American home.
Boushey: Before 1950, indoor carpeting was
a mark of wealth and wood floors were common. Well,
it’s kind of the reverse now, carpeting is most
common, wall-to-wall and carpeting over concrete
is the worst thing for an asthmatic because not
only do mites live well, but other molds and allergens
do well in the humid air trapped under the carpet
and it’s very hard to clean it out.
Narrator: Instead, Boushey recommends linoleum
or wood flooring. For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin.
E. The Differences
& Similarities Of Dementing Illness
Narrator: This is Science Today. Alzheimer’s
Disease is the most common form of dementia in old
age, comprising well over half of all dementing
illnesses. But Calvin Hirsch, a professor of epidemiology
at the University of California, Davis says there
are other types of dementia.
Hirsch: Some called schemic vascular dementia,
which is a result, presumably of small strokes affecting
the brain and dementia can cause from a variety
of more obscure diseases, as well as from the effects
of too many years of heavy drinking. There are multiple
causes.
Narrator: But what’s becoming more apparent,
Hirsch says, is the fact that many of these dementing
illnesses are inter-related.
Hirsch: For example, people with schemic
vascular dementia, dementia from multiple, small
strokes have a higher than expected prevalence of
the pathological changes that are seen in Alzheimer
Disease.
Narrator: Hirsch says this means an insufficient
amount of blood flow to the brain because of atherosclerosis
may be one of the factors predisposing one toward’s
Alzheimer’s disease. For Science Today, I’m Larissa
Branin.
