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A.
Good News for Hair Dye Users
Narrator: This is Science Today. Contrary
to previous studies, researchers at the University
of California, San Francisco found no association
between hair dye and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Elizabeth
Holly, a professor of epidemiology, led the study,
which included over four thousand participants,
most of whom were women.
Holly:
We looked at all different kinds of hair dye use.
We looked at the temporary colors or hair darkeners,
we looked at semi-permanent colors, we looked at
permanent dyes and we also looked at exclusive use
of each of these products because we wanted to know
if it was one type of a product more than another
that might be related to the incidence of lymphoma.
Narrator: Holly's study also dispelled a
former theory that the dark hair dyes posed a greater
risk of cancer.
Holly: This is a nice New Year's present
for people - to be able to know that when they're
dyeing their hair they don't have to worry about
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Narrator:
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is the fifth leading
cancer among both men and women - and its incident
rate is increasing every year. For Science Today,
I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Gene Related to a Common Dementia
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A mutated gene has been linked
to several neurodegenerative diseases. Kirk Wilhelmsen,
a professor of neurology at the University of California,
San Francisco says this gene produces tau protein,
which is most commonly found in frontotemporal dementia.
Wilhelmson: Frontotemporal dementia is a dementing
illness like Alzheimer's Disease in which there's
a deterioration of function but the pattern of how
the function begins is different. It probably is the
second most important cause of dementia and it turns
out that when you have frontotemporal dementia, it's
much more likely that you'll have another family member
with that disease than if you have Alzheimer's Disease.
Narrator: Because the tau gene has a very complex
regulation, which involves several other genes, researchers
are looking to find out just what those genes are.
Wilhelmsen:
It's hopeful that if we can find drugs that affect
these interactions and effect the biology of the tau
gene, then in fact we can treat more than one disease.
In fact, maybe many diseases.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Sending Out the Wrong Smoke Signals
Narrator: This is Science Today. Cigar smoking
has almost doubled over the last decade. Lisa Bero,
a researcher at the University of California, San
Francisco says the media are playing a big part in
the upward trend.
Bero: In this particular study, we've looked
at only newspaper articles so far. We looked at who's
quoted in the articles, who talks at all in the articles
and we have celebrities and we have a lot of people
from the cigar industry. But less than a third of
the articles mention anyone from the public health
community so that view of cigars isn't getting out
in these lay press articles.
Narrator: Since young people are the one growing
group of tobacco users in this country, Bero says
cigar smoking health hazards, such as cancer and heart
disease, should be included in these articles.
Bero: And the other big health effect is the
passive smoking effects, because the toxic substances
in cigar smoke are actually greater than in cigarette
smoke. And that hasn't cropped up in any of the sample
of articles that we've looked at so far.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
The Future of Vision Correction
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Laser technologies have revolutionized
the field of vision correction. Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler
of UCLA says laser procedures for astigmatism and
near-sightedness surpass standard laser refractive
procedures in terms of efficiency and patient comfort.
Wachler: More people can expect to get good
vision the next day and go back to work. It's something
that five years ago; we would have had a hard problem
offering it to the same range of people.
Narrator: Dr. Boxer Wachler has been using
a new 'laser disc' technology to correct astigmatism
with or without nearsightedness.
Wachler: I'm finding when I say that now we
can correct astigmatism, most people are very surprised.
They didn't know that we had that capability, but
we do and it's very effective. When we look to the
future, There are going to be new techniques and technologies
that include lasers and some non-laser technologies
to correct people's visual problems. And I think we'll
be seeing shortly a laser approved to correct farsightedness.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
The Positive Effects of Coping with Disease
Narrator: This is Science Today. Hope and determination
are key factors when it comes to surviving a serious
illness. Dr. Ernest Rosenbaum, an oncologist at the
University of California, San Francisco, has done
a lot of research on the will to live.
Rosenbaum: The bottom line is that we are all
going to face crises in life. Major illnesses, major
problems and it's how we deal with these problems
that we can affect the outcome. The outcome should
be hopefully, a better quality of life. Survival,
or prolonged survival or cure. But you can't get to
those levels until you take care of your inner fears,
your anger, your isolation, your denial of problems.
Narrator:
Rosenbaum says patients who can do this, can increase
their chances of survival and improve quality of life.
Rosenbaum: You can be angry about being ill,
but that's an event in life. Cancer occurs. Heart
attacks occur. How you deal with them that gives you
the best chance of getting something out of life and
quality of life.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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