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A.
Nicotine Causes Selective Degeneration in the Brain
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers have found for
the first time that nicotine causes selective degeneration
in the brain. In fact, UCLA neuroscientist Gaylord
Ellison, who conducted the study, says it's the
most selective degeneration in the brain he's ever
seen, in that only one tract of the brain is affected.
Ellison:
It's only one tract, but when I say one tract,
I'm talking about millions of axons. It's one tract,
but it's an important tract.
Narrator:
It's called the fasciculus retroflexus, a region
of the brain just above the thalamus, and it has
two halves. One half Ellison discovered in previous
research, is damaged by drugs such as amphetamines,
cocaine and ecstasy. Now, Ellison's research team
has found that nicotine causes neurotoxicity in
the other half.
Ellison:
So perhaps by understanding better these two
halves of the neurotoxicity, one could develop strategies
for reducing neurotoxic effects on one side versus
the other.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Women & Heart Disease: A Devastating Lack of Awareness
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Less than ten percent of women
nationwide consider heart disease the biggest threat
to their health, even though it ranks as the leading
cause of death among women. Dr. Rita Redberg of the
University of California, San Francisco, has conducted
previous research on women and heart disease and found
women are not as diligent about protecting their hearts
as they are about preventing breast cancer.
Redberg: Women are much more
likely to die of heart disease. In fact, one in three
women will die of cardiovascular disease in this country.
Where it's about one in nine for breast cancer, which
is commonly what women will cite as their biggest
health fear.
Narrator: Because heart disease is largely
preventable, Redberg emphasizes that understanding
personal risk is of utmost importance.
Redberg:
Because there are a lot of things that people can
do to prevent heart disease. But if you're not thinking
that heart disease is ever going to be an issue for
you, then you're not as likely to engage in preventative
type behavior. And unfortunately, it's true for most
of us that heart disease will be an issue.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
The Pluses and Minuses of Biotechnology
Narrator:
This is Science Today. The recent annual biotechnology
conference has once again thrown a spotlight on one
of the industry's most controversial issues - genetically
altered food. Critics call it "Frankenfood",
while supporters says certain genetically engineered
crops may help developing nations stave off malnutrition.
Norman Ellstrand, a professor of genetics at the University
of California, Riverside, says the truth is really
somewhere in between.
Ellstrand:
Any new technology's got its pluses and its minuses
and we've seen this repeatedly over the last century.
Pesticides, for example, have resulted in the feeding
of millions of people and at the same time, they're
dangerous compounds and we have to respect them.
Narrator:
Ellstrand says what's needed are better regulatory
controls for genetically engineered crops, since they
can easily swap genes with wild relatives or other
varieties, causing very difficult weeds or trouble
for endangered plant species.
Ellstrand:
Such that endangered species begins to evolve to look
and act like the crop over generation over generation.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Do Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Reduce Breast Cancer?
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Cholesterol-lowering drugs
known as statins have been found to have a protective
effect on osteoporosis-related fractures. Dr. Douglas
Bauer of the University of California, San Francisco,
led an extensive study on statins and says these findings
may lead to new therapies. But first, more research
is necessary - especially since it seems osteoporosis
may not be the only disease that statins have a beneficial
effect on.
Bauer:
In one of the studies that we found, there was over
a seventy percent reduction in breast cancer in women
that were taking statins compared to those that weren't.
But this wasn't specifically designed to look at the
relationship between statins and breast cancer - and
these type of studies need to be confirmed in larger
studies that are specifically designed to answer that
question.
Narrator:
It's an intriguing question that holds many possibilities.
Bauer:
I think the potential here would be that one medication
could be used for a variety of different chronic,
very common conditions. Which might potentially lower
the cost of treatments and certainly lower the number
of side effects that people have to take if they're
only taking one pill instead of multiple pills.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Understanding What Causes Severe Head Injury
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Head injury is not simply a
blow to the head - it's rather a violent movement
that suddenly stops and causes the brain to move back
and forth. According to Dr. David Hovda, director
of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center, this type
of injury is usually not as severe as when the head
is rotated at the same time it's being moved back
and forth.
Hovda:
An example is that if you had somebody who was
falling and who instinctively was looking in the other
direction as they were falling and was rotating their
head violently at the same time their head had moved,
they can actually have a more severe head injury.
Narrator:
That's because the greatest amount of torque occurs
in the middle part of the brain where a lot of critical
areas are.
Hovda:
Parents are often so shocked when they come into the
emergency room to see their child - they say, "well
they were just on a small bicycle" and they weren't
going but two or three miles an hour. How could this
be so life threatening? Well, it has to do with physics
- how much force the head must endure, not to mention
that your moving.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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