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A.
Hospitals Set to 'Get with the Guidelines'
Narrator:
This is Science Today. The American Heart Association
has launched a hospital-based program called 'Get
with the Guidelines' to help health care workers
manage risk factors in heart disease patients. This
would include administering cholesterol, or lipid
lowering medications. Dr. Gregg Fonarow, director
of UCLA's Cardiomyopathy Center, says the program
is actually based on the success of their own system.
Fonarow:
We were able to markedly improve the use of
lipid-lowering medications, in patients hospitalized
with cardiovascular disease. For example, eighty-six
percent of the patients at UCLA were discharged
on lipid-lowering therapy.
Narrator:
In a recent study, Fonarow reported that nationwide,
only thirty-two percent of heart-attack survivors
received these medications upon discharge from a
hospital.
Fonarow:
And the "Get with the Guideline" program
ensures that these therapies get started. Patients
are treated no matter who they're individual physician
may be or what type of hospital they're treated
at.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Three-dimensional Look at the Sea Floor
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A new, three-dimensional laser
imaging instrument developed by researchers at the
University of California's Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, is providing scientists with a detailed
look at life on the sea floor. Jules Jaffe, the project
director, says conventional systems with two-dimensional
cameras are limited because of their lack of range
and depth.
Jaffe: We've been operating
a system called 3-D sea scan, which is basically a
pretty powerful laser, coupled with some scanning
mirrors and a very wonderful camera, much like the
camera in your desktop scanner. This one's more sensitive
of course, and it works at a higher speed.
Narrator: The apparatus itself looks
like an underwater manta ray and is towed by the scientists
when taking pictures.
Jaffe:
We've seen
these wonderful sand waves, we're imaging coral reefs,
we have pictures of sea grasses. I believe the whole
future of imaging will be going three-dimensional,
so we see ourselves as sort of pioneers in optical
oceanography, but also in the general area.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Seizing an Opportunity in Preventive Services for
the Elderly
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Older women who receive medical
interventions only under their doctor's orders are
less likely to have mammograms, even though they are
at higher risk for breast cancer. On the other hand,
Dr. David Reuben, a gerontologist at UCLA, says older
women who are pro-active in preventive services, including
keeping current on their flu shots and taking hormone
therapies, are more likely to get regular mammogram
screenings.
Reuben:
The bottom line from this study is that health
care providers need to seize the opportunity when
an older woman is going in for one of any number of
preventive services, to say, this is a good time.
The patient's all ready thinking about preventive
services, what else is missing?
Narrator:
Reuben says HMOs do better than fee for service Medicare
or other kinds of commercial services when it comes
to paying attention to preventive services.
Reuben:
In fact, we've seen in this study, that preventive
service rates are better in managed care and this
is a lesson that fee for service needs to learn -
is to focus on this.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
How Mild Concussions May Affect the Developing Brain
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers at UCLA have found
that mild traumatic brain injury may impair the ability
of a child's brain to develop to its fullest potential.
Dr. David Hovda, director of UCLA's Brain Research
Center, says the reason behind this loss may be related
to an interference with the regulation of the brain's
NMDA receptors.
Hovda:
This NMDA receptor has been altered. And so by blocking
it to protect the cells from dying, you may be actually
retarding the ability of the brain to recover its
plastic response.
Narrator:
A plastic response refers to the brain's ability to
experience ongoing growth. Hovda says the majority
of mild concussions may not cause that much of a deficit.
Hovda:
However, if the injury is severe enough that it could
actually cause a disruption for weeks to months, then
there may be a critical period of time when the brain
will not be able to take advantage of either new educational
opportunities or new experiences.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Living Wills: Is the Policy Ahead of the Science?
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Over the last decade, there's
been a major push in this country to advocate the
use of advance directives - or living wills - but
according to Peter Ditto, a psychology and social
behavior professor at the University of California,
Irvine, the policy has gotten ahead of the science.
Ditto:
Every major medical organization suggests that
people should complete these, but nobody had really
looked to see whether they accomplished the things
that they were supposed to accomplish. Can people
really make decisions for a future self that's very
different from where they are now? Can other people
understand people's wishes?
Narrator:
According to Ditto's findings, the answer is - not
really.
Ditto:
Now that doesn't mean that a longer-term discussion
or some other sort of intervention might not do better,
but it means that the simplest version of this isn't
working the way that advance directives aren't accomplishing
what they're supposed to accomplish.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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