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A.
Why Men Should be Eating their Vegetables
Narrator:
This is Science Today. There's yet another reason
why you should be eating your vegetables, especially
if you are a man. Nutritional scientist Leonard
Bjeldanes of the University of California, Berkeley,
has identified that a chemical called DIM - produced
when digesting greens such as broccoli and kale
- can stifle the growth of human prostate cancer
cells.
Bjeldanes:
DIM is the first example of a naturally occurring
anti-androgen from plants that we know of. So this
is quite remarkable.
Narrator:
Early stage prostate cancer is responsive to the male
hormone androgen and is typically treated with anti-androgen
drugs. This makes the finding of an anti-androgenic
chemical in Brassica plants, such as cabbage and bok
choy, a promising find.
Bjeldanes:
When we treated our tumor cells with the DIM again,
it very strongly and very potently blocks the expression
of that protein in these tumor cells. And what we
think is going on is that you eat these plants over
a period time and your tendency to develop cancer
is less.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Promising Psychotherapies for Treating the Depressed
Elderly
Narrator:
This is Science Today. There's a specific kind of
depression called major depression with executive
dysfunction. Patricia Arean, a psychiatrist at the
University of California, San Francisco, is studying
this in the elderly and describes typical symptoms.
Arean:
They find themselves having a hard time making decisions,
they tend to be the type who might stay in bed a lot
of the day when they're faced with a problem, they
really sort of don't know what to do - they have more
than depression, a feeling of apathy and sort of really
have a hard time getting going.
Narrator:
Since these elderly patients don't tend
to respond well to antidepressants, Arean is studying
two types of psychotherapies that have shown promise.
Arean:
This
includes problem solving therapy and supportive therapy.
In psychotherapy, particularly for this population
who isn't that responsive to medications, allows patients
an opportunity, in both therapies, to discuss what
it is that needs to happen to kind of change their
situation.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Cautionary Advice about Rapid Weight Loss Products
Narrator:
This is Science Today. You've probably seen or heard
about those rapid weight loss products on the market.
While they may seem tempting to some, University of
California, Berkeley nutrition expert, Joanne Ikeda
says people should be immediately skeptical when they
see product claims for rapid weight loss in a short
period of time.
Ikeda:
An ideal weight loss program - your goal would be
one to two pounds a week, so the most you would lose
in a month is eight pounds maximum. The other claim
that's often made for these products is you won't
have to change your eating or exercise habits. That
you can go right on living the same lifestyle, eating
the same food you've always eaten, sitting on the
couch most of the time watching TV and the fat will
melt off your body. Now, I'm sorry but the law of
physics said that that's not going to work.
Narrator:
Narrator: Rapid weight loss is also dangerous, so
Ikeda stresses it's buyer beware! For Science Today,
I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Improving Methods of Dealing with Research Animals
Narrator:
This is Science Today. The University of California
Center for Animal Alternatives is a systemwide center
dedicated to improving methods of dealing with animals
in research, education and testing. Lynette Hart,
who directs the center, says there are many ways this
can be accomplished.
Hart:
Including replacement alternatives, but also just
refining the way we care for animals. Husbandry, improving
all aspects of animal care, utilizing more alternatives
for teaching so that fewer actual animals are used.
Narrator:
This includes
state-of-the-art software programs and other specimens,
which are used by students and faculty at the UC Davis
School of Veterinary Medicine to study comparative
anatomy.
Hart:
Each week, they have one hundred different kinds of
specimens and microscopic slides and different things
that are actually very tactile that they can examine
during their laboratory each week. We're using these
kinds of specimens that are reusable, rather than
having to kill any animals for that purpose.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Reducing Carcinogens at the Barbecue Grill
Narrator:
It's barbecue season, so now's a good time to think
about healthy cooking. This is Science Today. Researchers
have long been studying carcinogenic chemicals called
heterocyclic amines, which result from over-cooking
beef, pork, poultry and fish at high temperatures.
In fact, scientists have identified 17 different heterocyclic
amines that may pose a human cancer risk. Mark Knize,
a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, has been studying these chemicals.
Knize:
In fact, one of them that we isolated and identified
here at the Lawrence Livermore Lab actually causes
breast cancer in female rats and colon cancer and
prostate cancer in male rats and those are just the
kinds of cancers that people on a Western sort of
a diet, which is high in meat, high in fat - those
are the kinds of cancer they get.
Narrator:
Knize and his group discovered that altering your
cooking preparation may dramatically reduce production
of heterocyclic amines.
Knize:
There
are several things you can do - flip the meat every
minute, or microwave first for one and a half minutes
or two minutes and then cook it. Or you can marinate.
All these things affect the amount of the hertocyclic
amines and it seems a good idea to reduce your exposure.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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