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A.
Americans Reduce Risk of Death from Heart Disease
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Americans are living healthier
lives and reducing their risk of heart disease.
That's according to a recent study conducted at
the University of California, San Francisco. Doctor
Lee Goldman, the study's lead author, says Americans
are living longer because they are smoking less,
eating healthier and lowering their cholesterol.
Goldman:
We looked to see whether these changes in risk factors
really made a difference and also whether the investments
made to change those risk factors were worth it. We
found that the investments required, both in terms
of public health campaigns and medical treatments
to reduce these factors were well worth the cost.
Narrator:
Despite these recent successes, however, Goldman
warns that the battle against heart disease is far
from over.
Goldman:
The study is really more of a congratulatory
pat on the back. One of the reasons why people sometimes
give congratulatory pats on the back is because
you're trying to encourage people to keep up the
good work rather than telling them that the job
is finished.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Natural Fertilizer Discovered in the Deep Ocean
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Nitrogen is the most abundant
element in our atmosphere and a primary nutrient for
all green plants. Usually, organisms get this essential
element from other sources and yet, there are some
organisms that can convert nitrogen gas from the atmosphere
for use in their system. Jonathan Zehr, a professor
of ocean sciences at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, says this conversion is called nitrogen-fixation.
Zehr: In the oceans we're particularly
interested in where organisms get nitrogen and how
they get nitrogen because in the larger parts of the
ocean, there are vanishingly low concentrations of
nitrogen.
Narrator: Zehr discovered that the deep
ocean is actually teeming with nitrogen-fixing bacteria,
which is an important finding because microscopic
plants in the oceans depend on nitrogen and this affects
fish yields.
Zehr:
But on top of that, the availability of nitrogen controls
how fast these little plants grow and how much carbon
dioxide they can fix - which has implications for
the global greenhouse effect and how much carbon dioxide
the oceans may be able to absorb.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
The Best Prevention of Head Injury is Protection
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Of the various popular sports
that American children are involved with, bicycling
and basketball cause the most injuries in children.
And yet most of these injuries - especially those
to the head - can be prevented. In fact, Dr. David
Hovda, director of the UCLA Brain Injury Research
Center, says protection is better than anything else
in terms of preventing serious head injury.
Hovda:
Unfortunately, we've seen a number of kids that
that have been hurt either riding bicycles or rollerblading
that didn't think it was fashionable enough to wear
a helmet at that particular time.
Narrator:
Hovda says falls from bicycles or while rollerblading
can be especially dangerous, since they often combine
two dangerous movements: acceleration and rotation.
Hovda:
The reason why this rotation is so deadly is that
it takes the nervous tissue and it twists it and the
greatest amount of torque happens in the middle part
of the brain which is where a lot of the real critical
areas are in terms of life support, heart rate and
respiration.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
The Body's Response to the Flu Shot
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Hopefully by now, those at
highest risk of influenza have already rolled up their
sleeves and received their flu shot. Mary Lynch, a
professor of nursing at the University of California,
San Francisco, says it typically takes at least two
weeks before the body can generate an appropriate
antibody response to the bug.
Lynch:
So that if you're exposed to someone with the
flu, if you got the flu shot yesterday and that person
has the flu today, you're still likely to get it.
On the flip side, if you had the vaccine three weeks
ago and someone coughs at you and they have the flu
vaccine, you're more likely to be protected.
Narrator:
But the flu vaccine does not provide 100 percent protection
because the older we get, the less efficient our bodies
respond to vaccines.
Lynch:
But what we have seen in individuals with chronic
illnesses and older individuals is that receiving
the flu shot may prevent some of the more serious
complications.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Training Paramedics to Safely Treat Seizures
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Some city paramedics are trained
to administer drugs to treat life-threatening seizures
before patients arrive to the hospital. Doctor Brian
Alldredge, a neurology professor at the University
of California, San Francisco, recently found this
practice to be safe and effective, and says with a
little work, more paramedics can easily learn the
emergency procedure.
Alldredge:
The training involved in administering the medication
is pretty basic. Most paramedics could learn that
pretty quickly. The drugs themselves aren't very expensive,
so in terms of overall cost, the primary cost would
be training the paramedics to recognize these acute
seizures and know when to intervene.
Narrator:
And most paramedics, Alldredge says, are eager to
learn the treatment.
Alldredge:
Paramedics are very receptive. Paramedics are a group
of people who like to intervene. They like to help
people -- that's why they're out there driving through
red lights through the city streets. It's because
they want to get to the scene, they want to get there
quickly, and they want to do something that's gonna
help patients.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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