|
A.
Being Thankful for the Little Things in Life
Narrator:
This is Science Today. If you've been feeling grumpy
lately, you may be able to turn your mood around
by jotting down a daily list of things you're grateful
for. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychiatry at
the University of California, Davis, says grouchy
study participants who did just that became more
positive, exercised more and had less health problems.
Emmons:
One of the things we're looking at to do next is to
actually come up with some way to analyze all of the
items subjects listed that they were grateful for.
But there seemed to be no limit to the range. Relationships,
probably, was the most common theme.
Narrator:
But getting people to give thanks for the smaller
things in life is not as easy as it sounds.
Emmons:
I think it's difficult in general for people - I
don't think it's the norm. That's why I think we
have to learn to be able to experience and express
gratitude. I think the norm is probably to be somewhat
dissatisfied with our lot in life and maybe that
has some sort of survival value that keeps us motivated.
But it does seem to be the case that we need to
learn to focus on the things that we do have versus
those things we would like to have but we don't.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Protein Identified that Regulates One of the Brain's
Key Messengers
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers at the University
of California, San Francisco have identified a protein
that plays a key role in releasing glutamate - one
of the brain's major neurotransmitters. Dr. Robert
Edwards, who led the study, says understanding this
process may lead to new targets for treating an array
of neuro- degenerative diseases, as well as give scientists
better insight about the function of glutamate.
Edwards: The ability of the brain
to process information is largely due to glutamate
and at the same time, it also contributes to learning
and memory and all sorts of other interesting phenomena
as well, so it's a very central - if not the central
transmitter in the brain.
Narrator: But too much glutamate has
been linked to situations including seizures, stroke
and Alzheimer's disease. So discovering a protein
that regulates this critical brain messenger may lead
to better inhibitory drugs.
Edwards:
We have some drugs that can inhibit the receptors
that glutamate binds to but those drugs, they're either
not potent enough or they're not selective enough.
So if there's some way in which we can interfere with
the release of glutamate - that might have a more
potent effect.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
New Evidence about an Old Epidemic
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Public health officials have
wondered whether another influenza outbreak could
reach such deadly proportions as the 1918 epidemic,
which killed half a million people. Now, demographer
Andrew Noymer of the University of California, Berkeley,
has findings suggesting that undetected tuberculosis
may have caused much of the mortality in 1918.
Noymer:
My results do not show that we are invulnerable
to another influenza epidemic. But what they do show
is slightly encouraging - that in the United States,
where TB death rates are much, much more lower than
they were in 1918, that there is a risk factor that
has potentially been ignored until now that was TB
co-infection.
Narrator:
Victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic died of a very
severe, secondary bacterial pneumonia, which can be
caused by TB infection.
Noymer:
There is some plausibility to this story in so far
as when people have pulmonary tuberculosis, cavities
form in the lungs and they become a breeding ground
for bacteria.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Cigarettes Linked to Ruptured Aneurysms
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A link has been found between
cigarette smoking and ruptured cerebral aneurysms,
which may help doctors decide which patients should
undergo early detection for treatment. Dr. Clay Johnston
of the University of California, San Francisco says
not all aneurysms rupture, but when they do, they're
devastating.
Johnston:
About fifty percent of people where that's occurred
will die from it and then at least half of those that
don't die will have some kind f permanent disability
from it. Occasionally we'll find these aneurysms before
they rupture. So we'll see the dilation in the blood
vessel, usually on some kind of imaging study, some
kind of scan.
Narrator:
Aside from smoking, Johnston says there are several
other risk factors for ruptured aneurysms, including
age, hypertension and drinking.
Johnston:
Family
history also, people with family histories tend to
be more likely to have one. So there's some predisposition
that you're born with, probably and superimposed on
that are things you do in your life - your other diseases,
like hypertension.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Another Reason to Continue Flossing …
Narrator:
This is Science Today. In case you need another good
to reason to floss your teeth, it now appears severe
gum disease may play a role in strokes. One way to
combat this, is to know who is most susceptible to
plaque-causing gum disease. And that's just what UCLA
periodontist, Dr. Michael Newman has done with a genetic
marker in the form of a finger stick test.
Newman:
Up until now, dentists had no way of looking into
the crystal ball to determine who was going to be
severe and who wasn't. They could sort of, but it
wasn't very accurate. Now, with this objective test,
dentists and patients can immediately know whether
they're at high risk or low risk of getting disease.
Narrator:
A gene, which produces anti-inflammatory agents to
fight off bacteria, can be detected by this test.
Newman:
And having that knowledge allows everybody to focus
the most appropriate treatment for that individual's
own needs, rather than generalizing by giving either
too much treatment or too little.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
|
