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A.
Nutrition and Cancer Research
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Women who are at higher risk
of cervical cancer are the focus of a dietary intervention
study at the University of California, San Diego.
Cheryl Rock, the lead researcher, says the changes
they're recommending are similar to most diet intervention
studies in cancer research.
Rock: The similarity is the eating more vegetables
and fruits. This is become almost the theme song
in nutrition and cancer research. We're changing
diet for women who have had an abnormal pap smear.
We believe that how you eat will affect whether
or not it goes away or whether or not it persists
and could become cervical cancer.
Narrator: Rock says their diet is highly
individualized and does not completely rule out
fats, but focuses more on protective foods.
Rock: Rather than saying a long list of don't
eat this and don't eat that, we'll start out with
saying eat more of this - and that's mostly vegetables
and fruits and grains and beans and all those kinds
of foods, regardless of what else you eat, seem
to be protective.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
B.
How to Prevent Some Forms of Memory Loss
Narrator:
TThis is Science Today. Although Alzheimer's Disease
is the most common cause of dementia, there are several
health problems which may affect memory as a secondary
change. Jay Luxenberg, an associate clinical professor
at the University of California, San Francisco says
in these cases, memory loss may improve with proper
intervention.
Luxenberg: For example, people with high blood
pressure have a faster decline in their memory if
they don't treat their blood pressure well. We also
know that people who have significant hearing impairment
or visual impairment have a greater rate of decline
in their memory and we always advocate that somebody
who has a reversible cause of a sensory impairment,
for example a hearing impairment that can be improved
with a hearing aid, they should go ahead and do that.
Narrator: Depression in elderly patients has
also been linked to memory loss.
Luxenberg:
When it's not treated, their memory will appear impaired
and that impairment can improve dramatically when
you treat the depression.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Scientists Discover a Major Source of an Ozone-depleting
Gas
Narrator: This is Science Today. It's been
discovered that salt marshes are a major source of
methyl bromide, a natural and industrially produced
gas. Robert Rhew, a researcher at the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography, says scientists knew more than half
of the methyl bromide in the atmosphere came from
the oceans, fumigation and vegetation burning - but
there was still a significant balance that was unaccounted
for.
Rhew: So this big missing source - we went
out to look for it and one of the places we looked
for was salt marshes because salt marshes are areas
of high, primary productivity. And it turns out that
salt marsh vegetation - or something intimately associated
with the vegetation - it's producing methyl bromide
and methyl chloride like gangbusters.
Narrator: Because these compounds deplete the
ozone, controls to regulate its production have been
developed. But Rhew stresses salt marshes are not
bad for the environment. In fact, they play a vital
ecological role. The key is balance.
Rhew: We're getting closer to understanding
the global budget of these compounds, which will in
the end affect our decisions on how to regulate it
internationally.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
.
D.
Why Sleep Should Not Be Taken Lightly
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A recent University of
California, San Diego study suggests the brain may
have an adaptive resource to make up for sleep deprivation.
But Dr. Cris Gillin, a professor of psychiatry who
led the study, says that's not to say people should
take sleeping lightly. In fact, there are many adverse
effects.
Gillin: Performance drops when people are sleep
deprived. They're at increased risk of automobile
accidents and it certainly has been implicated in
some very serious disasters in recent years.
Narrator: Still, Gillin and his colleagues
found that the sleepier a person was, the greater
the activation in the brain's prefrontal cortex, which
controls areas of judgement and working memory.
Gillin: This was unexpected to us, but it does
suggest that the brain does have compensatory mechanisms
and it's not just a simple sleep deprivation effect.
It's probably really related to the task that the
subject is performing and to a number of other variables,
such as how well they're performing or how sleeping
they are. So, I think understanding what the effect
of sleep deprivation on the brain is going to be a
complicated, difficult task with probably no simple
solution.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
How Genetics May Fit into Your Diet
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Nutritional guidelines used
to be set in terms of a universal diet for everyone.
But Christopher Vulpe, a nutrition and toxicology
professor at the University of California, Berkeley,
says researchers are finding one's genetic make-up
is going to play a bigger role in what foods and supplements
they should consume.
Vulpe:
I think of them in sort of the old idea in taking
it from Popeye - the strong to the finish because
I eat my spinach approach, which is that your diet
really determines whether you have good health or
whether you're going to develop a disease and we've
tried to come up with these dietary recommendations
that would fit every person.
Narrator: Instead, Vulpe says both genetics
and diet determine one's health
Vulpe: You know, obviously if you eat hamburgers
every day you're probably going to get heart disease,
but someone may get heart disease at thirty whereas
someone else may get heart disease at fifty. So, I
think it's a combination of what you eat and your
genetic predisposition to develop that condition.
Narrator: Aines says the steam method is just
starting to take hold and already has great public
acceptance. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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