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A.
Laser Dentistry: Something to Smile About
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Laser dentistry is an exciting
innovation in dental care -especially for patients
who may cringe at the sight and sound of the drill.
Dr. Daniel Fried of the University of California,
San Francisco's Division of Preventive and Restorative
Dental Sciences, says within the past five years,
the first FDA-approved lasers in dentistry have
been used to treat gum disease and cavities.
Fried:
The primary advantage of using a laser is that there's
no noise and vibration associated with the laser like
the drill. And that actually translates to pain. So
there's less pain associated with the procedure -
it's not completely painless, but there is considerably
less pain.
Narrator:
Fried and
his colleagues have been studying the laser's ability
to render tooth enamel resistant to acid dissolution,
which could lead to tooth decay.
Fried:
So that's another advantage - you can render the walls
resistant to further acid dissolution. So you could
treat high-risk areas like in you molars, you have
these little pits and fissures and that's primarily
where dental decay occurs today.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Concern over Fine Particle Air Pollution
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A recent NYU School of Medicine
study has found that fine particle air pollution significantly
raises the risk of dying of lung cancer or other lung
and heart diseases. While the Environmental Protection
Agency has issued rules regulating this type of pollution,
Lara Gundel, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, says there's been some debate.
Gundel:
Because the generators of the particles are typically
industries and they would like to have as little regulation
as possible. They don't want to have onerous regulations.
So there has been controversy about what level should
be regulated and what's the scientific basis for the
regulations in the Clean Air Act.
Narrator: At the Lab, Gundel has developed
a novel air sampler that may shed more light on these
atmospheric pollutants.
Gundel:
I
guess the innovations we made were a way to separate
the gases and particles accurately and then to be
able to collect and measure the particles and the
gases separately and accurately.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Fish Consumption and Mercury Contamination
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention data indicates that 10 to 15 percent
of American women of childbearing age have mercury
blood levels that exceed current EPA safe levels.
This data compelled the FDA to warn pregnant women
about which fish to avoid to reduce mercury contamination.
Russ Flegal, an environmental toxicologist at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, says mercury
bio-accumulates and so it's the large fish that have
the highest concentrations of mercury.
Flegal:
And those are the food fish that people eat. 034 Of
the fish, swordfish is the one that typically has
the highest concentrations of mercury and there are
warning out on swordfish that you should only eat
it once or twice a month at most because of the high
levels of mercury in it.
Narrator:
But Flegal says that doesn't mean people should avoid
eating fish.
Flegal:
Fish is a terrific source of protein and so to say
that people shouldn't eat fish, the disadvantages
of that may outweigh the advantages of getting that
protein source. You simply need a balanced diet and
need to make sure you're eating different types of
fish with different levels of mercury in them.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
A Changing Medical Landscape for HIV Patients
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Thanks to anti-viral drugs,
people who are HIV positive are living longer than
ever before. Dr. Michele Roland of the University
of California, San Francisco is conducting a long-term
study to find out whether organ transplants are safe
and effective in HIV-positive patients who have other
medical problems.
Roland:
The fact that we're looking at transplantation
for people with HIV is sort of indicative of a broader
issue for people with HIV. And that is that as our
therapies are improving and people are living longer,
we're seeing a population that's aging. And an aging
population develops an increasing number of medical
problems.
Narrator:
According to Roland, this means that doctors must
change the way they treat their patients with HIV.
Roland:
And we're dealing with having to, as HIV care providers
who have specialized more and more in a non-general
medicine field, kind of go back and relearn our general
medicine so we can treat people with these common
diseases.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Researchers Aim to Develop Treatment that Blocks Addictive
Behaviors
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Drug addiction has always been
very hard to treat-partly because the science behind
it is still poorly understood. Now scientists at the
University of California, San Francisco have discovered
one reason drugs can take such a strong hold on an
addict's brain. Dr. Antonello Bonci found in test
subjects that a significant change occurs in the brain
after just one exposure to cocaine.
Bonci:
What is also incredible for us is that this phenomenon
lasts for up to five days. And this very short exposure
to cocaine, we have estimated that the rat and the
mice will experience cocaine in their blood for a
few hours.
Narrator:
This change creates a kind of cellular memory, which
allows the brain to make decisions based on getting
more of the drug.
Bonci:
The idea that we want to emphasize is that if we can
understand the series of events that change, maybe
we'll be able to design drugs that will interfere
with the development of the addictive behaviors by
blocking the functional changes.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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