A.
The Facts about Bipolar Disorder
Narrator:
This is Science Today. It's estimated that over
two million Americans are affected by bipolar disorder
- a serious brain illness characterized by extreme
shifts in mood, energy and functioning - from a
manic state to a depressed state. Dr. Adam Travis,
a psychologist at the University of California,
San Francisco, says estimates of the illness are
probably conservative, since up to seventy-five
percent of cases go untreated.
Travis:
Effective treatments exist, but unfortunately often
the illness is not recognized either by the patient
initially or by providers. Often times it's misdiagnosed
and untreated, the symptoms tend to worsen. Fifteen
to twenty percent of untreated cases end in suicide.
Narrator:
While the disease is genetic for the most part,
it's not one hundred percent.
Travis:
It
suggests there are other factors. There are psychological
and social factors and maybe other biological factors
that contribute to the development of the disorder.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Recent theories about the
importance of meat eating to human evolution may
not sit well with vegetarians. But Katherine Milton,
a professor of biological anthropology at the University
of California, Berkeley, says her research suggesting
meat was vital for human development doesn't reflect
today's vegetarian diets.
Milton:
I'm simply talking about this transition period
that we went from being something that wasn't human
- that didn't have a big brain, that wasn't dependent
on culture as its overall adaptive zone and niche
- to fully modern humans with incredible sorts of
technologies.
Narrator:
Unlike the plant-based diets of our early ancestors,
Milton says today's vegetarian diets can be completely
adequate, thanks to a modern knowledge of nutrition,
as well as traditional food recipes.
Milton:
In many different cultures in the world, they take
the plant foods in their environment and they work
with them over generations until they create these
nutritionally balanced diets that keep people healthy
and thriving.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Does Gender Affect Knee Injury?
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Injury is almost inevitable
for professional athletes, but a group of researchers
at the University of California, San Diego are looking
into why women injure a ligament in the knee more
than men. Robert Pedowitz, an assistant professor
of sports medicine, is studying inter-collegiate
male and female basketball and soccer players to
see if these differences are inherent or if they're
learned at an early age.
Pedowitz:
It's really at the heart of the question and one
of the things that we're looking at with our research
is specifically, differences between highly trained
athletes.
Narrator:
Although it's expected that at that level of competition
men and women would have equivalent skills, Pedowitz
noted some subtle differences.
Pedowitz:
For example, if you look at men and women basketball
players, there's a difference in the way that women
land from a jump and bend their knees and then turn.
The question is whether those differences could
be changed by training or teaching of children at
a very, very young age and we don't know that yet.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
How Older Women Can Prevent Disease
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Estrogen replacement therapy
is not an easy choice for many women. While the
hormone does relieve the discomforts of menopause
and helps prevent osteoporosis and heart disease,
it's risk of uterine and breast cancer has made
many women leery. Diana Taylor, an expert in women's
health at the University of California, San Francisco,
says the best bet to stave off disease is to make
lifestyle changes.
Taylor:
Since we don't want to do harm, that women do things
that are natural before they start thinking about
using something that may cause another disease.
The things that women could do would be to increase
exercise, decrease fat in your diet. The other is
to not smoke or to quit smoking. Those three things
would probably do more to prevent disease and to
improve our health.
Narrator:
Recently, short-term studies were conducted which
found some new designer estrogens strengthened thinning
bones without increasing the risk of breast cancer.
Taylor:
So there's some new research on the horizon that
may help us to have it all.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
A Biological Basis for Human Bonding
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A hormone well known for
inducing labor may also influence human attachment
and bonding. Rebecca Turner, a professor of psychiatry
at the University of California, San Francisco says
previous studies have shown a bonding behavior in
animals. So the question is, can oxytocin influence
human emotion and behavior?
Turner:
The reason we ask that question is because there
are oxytocinergic neurons throughout the brain and
the limbic system, which is responsible for emotion
and in autonomic centers that control emotion.
Narrator:In
a carefully monitored study of twenty-six women,
researchers did find oxytocin levels were associated
with the ability to maintain healthy interpersonal
relationships.
Turner:
I think one of the applications of this work is
in the area of psychopathology. If this hormone
is involved in the ability to seek pleasure from
relationships, then maybe it's something that can
be used in treatment.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
