A.
Can Triglycerides Levels Predict Heart Disease
in Men?
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A new study
suggests measuring levels of triglycerides, the
most common fat in the body, are no help when it
comes to predicting heart disease in men. Dr. Andrew
Avins, of the University of California, San Francisco,
says their findings contradict previous research,
which indicated patients who had high cholesterol
on top of high triglyceride levels, were at greater
risk of heart disease.
Avins:
We
could find only very limited value in men for measuring
triglycerides in order to get a good assessment
of what an individual's risk for coronary heart
disease.
Narrator:
Because triglyceride levels remain controversial,
Avins suggests focusing instead on lowering high
cholesterol levels and other indisputable risk factors
of heart disease.
Avins:
Once
the risk has been reduced substantially, the additional
benefit of reducing triglycerides, even if it were
valuable - that value is much diminished because
of all the other things we've done. So I would encourage
doctors and patients to maximize all the well proven
methods for reducing coronary heart disease risk.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A WISE Approach Towards Teaching Science
Narrator:
This
is Science Today. Students can get "wise" to science
with a curriculum called the Web-based Integrated
Science Environment, otherwise known as WISE. Marcia
Linn, a professor of education at the University
of California, Berkeley, co-developed the WISE curriculum
and says the program pioneers educational uses of
the World Wide Web for middle and high school science
instruction.
Linn:
When we first started, we really
just weren't sure how students ever made sense of
science. We really looked at what's wrong with the
way that the science curriculum is and how could
we infuse technology effectively to improve the
situation.
Narrator:
WISE uses technology such as the
Internet and software programs to get students to
develop an in-depth understanding of fewer topics
through visual representations, on-line discussions
and critiques. Linn calls this the lifelong learning
approach.
Linn:
Our research suggests that the students
who've had the lifelong learning curriculum are
more successful on the topics that they've studied.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Merging Two Ideas about the Inner Earth into One
Theory
Narrator:
This is Science Today. The Earth's
mantle begins about twenty-two miles below our feet
and travels on another 18 hundred miles. Since no
one has ever drilled more than ten miles into the
Earth, mantle analysts have to rely on indirect
observations. Louise Kellogg, a geophysicist at
the University of California, Davis, says different
observations led to a difference of opinion among
seismologists and geochemists. So Kellogg used both
lines of thinking to come up with a new theory about
the inner Earth.
Kellogg:
We brought all the observations together
into a single model in which, basically the very
deep mantle has a somewhat different composition
from the overlying mantle.
Narrator:
Based on their findings, Kellogg
suggests debate about the mantle may be due to seismologists
tapping into one level of composition and geochemists
into another.
Kellogg:
And so now there's a lot of effort going into
understanding the deep mantle. And so I think what
people are going to do is try and focus some effort
on regional studies of specific slabs and try and
look for evidence for a layer and the deep mantle.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Using a Protein Antibody to Help Shrink Tumors
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Cancer researchers at the
University of California, San Francisco, have found
encouraging results treating patients with advanced
colorectal cancer using low doses of an antibody
of a protein called vascular endothelial cell growth
factor, or VEGF, along with chemotherapy. But Dr.
Emily Bergsland says their results are preliminary
and that researchers still have a lot to learn about
the biology of VEGF.
Bergsland:
We need to learn more about the safety
and also its efficacy. We need to look at it in
larger groups of patients before this becomes a
regular part of our practice in oncology.
Narrator:
Their results suggested there might be increased
activity in tumor shrinkage when chemotherapy is
combined with a VEGF antibody.
Bergsland:
I think it represents a step in the right direction.
We're moving towards understanding how cancer develops
and how tumors grow and metastasize and ultimately,
hopefully, we can tailor therapy based on an individual
patient's tumor type. And that is the long-term
goal.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Caesarean Sections are on the Rise
Narrator:
This is Science Today. After years
of decline, Caesarean sections are on the rise and
are increasing in first-time moms. But for first-time
mothers over forty, this is not surprising. A University
of California, Davis study found moms over forty
are twice as likely to have Caesarean sections and
experience more complications than first-time mothers
in their twenties. Dr. William Gilbert, who led
the study, says these findings will support more
clear-cut expectations.
Gilbert:
So that women over forty having their
first baby would expect that they're probably going
to have some kind of intervention. The outcomes
are good, however knowing about that intervention
is probably important.
Narrator:
The higher rates of complications
in older women include hypertension, gestational
diabetes, and early labor.
Gilbert:This
information hopefully will allow us to counsel women
who come in either preconceptually or early in their
pregnancies on the potential risks and pregnancy
outcomes.
Narrator:
One aspect of the recent increase in C-sections
in first-time moms may be that the rates of first-time
moms in their forties are also on the rise. For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
