A. It Just May Be Mind
Over Matter
Narrator: This is Science Today. Positive
thinking and exercise have long been linked to good
health, but now for the first time, there may be
clinical proof. Neuroscientist Marian Diamond and
her colleagues at the University of California,
Berkeley discovered a link between the cerebral
cortex of the brain, which is related to motor function
and thought planning and the thymus gland, which
produces disease fighting T-cells.
Diamond: We know when people are busy and
active and thinking ahead and using your cortex,
they usually don't get sick. So one hypothesized
there had to be some kind of direct link between
these higher cognitive areas and the immune system.
Narrator: Diamond implanted thymus glands
in immune deficient mice and found their abnormally
thin cortexes became thick. This link proves the
two systems are related and may lead to controlling
immune function.
Diamond: It's been said many times that
physical exercise improves the immune system, but
nobody's ever had a system.
Narrator: Diamond says these findings may
lead to such a system. For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
B. An Enzyme Linked
To How We Age And Die
Narrator: This is Science Today. An enzyme
that repairs damaged proteins in the cell may play
a vital role in how organisms age and die. Researcher
Edward Kim of the University of California, San
Francisco's Gladstone Institute, says this enzyme,
called PCMT is widely expressed.
Kim: Meaning that even very simple organisms
seem to rely on this enzyme and within humans and
mice, this enzyme seems to be expressed in every
single tissue examined to date.
Narrator: In the lab, genetically engineered
organisms without this enzyme died prematurely because
there was nothing to repair the accumulating, damaged
proteins.
Kim: Alzheimer's Disease and other age related
diseases such as cataracts, 046 seem to be correlated
with the accumulation of naturally deteriorated
proteins. I'm not saying that defects in this enzyme
are a major cause of these age related diseases,
but they may be useful diagnostic and therapeutic
targets in the future to afford these diseases.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
C. How To Treat Obesity
In The Future
Warden: Obesity is one of the easiest diseases
to diagnose and yet it's been one of the hardest
diseases to treat.
Narrator: This is Science Today. Craig Warden,
a researcher at the University of California, Davis
recently discovered a gene that controls how many
calories we burn. This can help treat obesity, but
first Warden says there has to be more understanding
about the disease..
Warden: People have thought that obesity
is because people overeat or are lazy and so what
we're suggesting is it's not because people are
lazy, but it's because their bodies are fundamentally
different and so this then becomes like any other
common complex disease.
Narrator: Which Warden says may be treated
in the doctor's office just like high blood pressure
or diabetes. The goal is to develop drugs to regulate
the newfound gene controlling fat burning proteins.
Warden: And so that there is really great
hope that really in the next few years there will
be a whole slew of new treatments available.
Narrator: Nevertheless, Warden says it's
still important to eat a healthy, low fat diet and
get exercise. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D. How To Eliminate
A Common Allergen
Narrator: This is Science Today. The first
step in preventing asthma attacks is to eliminate
allergens. Asthma specialist Dr. Homer Boushey (BOO-shea)
of the University of California, San Francisco says
one of the most common allergens is the dust mite.
Boushey: The house dustmite is a tiny creature,
it's microscopic - it's food is the skin we shed,
so you find a lot of mites in bedding, mattresses
and so forth. So when a person gets in bed, the
mite allergens are put in the air around the face
of the patient, or it could be in the carpets, so
when you get up and walk across the room, you stir
up this mite.
Narrator: Boushey says some solutions are
covering the mattress with an anti-allergic cover
to trap the mites, washing bedding in hot water
and removing the wall-to-wall carpeting.
Boushey: Many people however, are sensitive
to many, many allergens and we can't put them inside
a plastic bubble, nor do we want to. It's for them
that controlling the domestic allergens that we
can control is important, but then judicious use
of medications is also important.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
E. Melanoma: An Encroaching
Epidemic
Narrator: This is Science Today. Melanoma,
a malignant skin cancer, is fast becoming more common.
Dr. Stanley Leong of the University of California,
San Francisco says one of the reasons may be the
fact that the ozone is becoming depleted.
Leong: For sure, melanoma is approaching
an epidemic level both in the United States as well
as the rest of the world. It is estimated by two
thousand one out of Americans will be diagnosed
of melanoma.
Narrator: The good news is more often than
not, patients have thin level melanoma, which is
easier to treat.
Leong: If a thin melanoma is removed in
general, the patient can enjoy a very remarkable
cure rate, in fact, over 90 to 95 percent of the
time, if it's a thin melanoma, the patient can actually
do very well.
Narrator: So looking out for changes in
the mole is key.
Leong: If there are any changes in the mole
one should bring this to the attention of his or
her physician and have it biopsied and analyzed.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
