|
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.
B.
An Evolutionary Look at Diet
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.
|
