A.
Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson’s Disease
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Patients with Parkinson’s
disease, who develop side effects from their medication,
may benefit from deep brain stimulation surgery,
or DBS. At the University of California, San Francisco,
Dr. Phillip Starr has performed hundreds of DBS
operations at the university’s treatment center
for Parkinson’s disease, which is the largest in
Northern California.
Starr:
A deep brain stimulator is basically a brain pacemaker.
It’s a device where there is a wire electrode permanently
implanted into the brain that is connected via wires
that go under the scalp to a pulse generator and
battery control unit that is implanted in the chest.
Narrator:
Once implanted, the microelectrodes deliver
signals to the brain that suppress the symptoms
of Parkinson’s disease.
Starr:
Those main symptoms are tremors, muscle
rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty walking.
All of those symptoms will improve, although they
won’t be completely made normal by brain stimulation.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I’m Larissa Branin.
B.
A National Committee Reviews Mold Growth in Buildings
Narrator:
This is Science Today. There’s long been some evidence
that dampness and mold growth in buildings are associated
with various health effects, including asthma. Scientist
Bill Fisk, the head of the Indoor Environment Department
at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, took
part in the National Academy of Sciences committee
to review all the scientific literature on the subject.
Fisk:
The bottom line, major finding is that
dampness and mold in buildings is an important public
health problem and it’s also a health problem that
we know how to reduce today. The key to doing that
is to change how we design, construct, operate and
maintain buildings.
Narrator:
Although the committee could not determine if the
health effects were caused directly by mold growth,
they do think it’s a big contributor.
Fisk:
But we haven’t done the detailed studies
to say it’s clearly mold and it’s not bacteria or
it’s not chemicals. So we certainly need a variety
of research.
Narrator:
The committee identified a long list of
research needs pertaining to damp buildings and
mold. For Science Today, I’m Larissa Branin.
C.
Understanding the Underlying Biology of Disease
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A consortium led by scientists
at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, are
looking into providing the earliest possible diagnosis
of human infection – whether it’s a new or known
disease or from a bioterrorist threat. Ken Turteltaub
is leading the Lab’s Biodefense Division’s study
of pathomics.
Turteltaub:
Pathomics is the idea that we need to understand
more about the underlying biology, the way that
pathogens work and really use that to develop new
methods to detect and measure pathogens in people
and in animals.
Narrator:
Currently, there’s an emphasis on bioterrorism
– helping with fundamental science and applying
that towards protecting the public against bioterrorist
concerns.
Turteltaub:
But there are major spin-offs from this – that we
also want to help the rest of the scientific community
to use and do some research ourselves on. And that
is the overlay of the bioterrorism problem with
just disease diagnosis, because it’s all relevant.
The challenge is where we put our heads together.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I’m Larissa Branin.
D.
Schizophrenia Study Links Ethnicity to Low Rates
of Drug Adherence
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Despite improved drug therapies
for schizophrenia – a serious mental illness that
affects more than two million Americans – a recent
study found only forty-one percent of patients take
their antipsychotic medication on a regular basis.
Dr. Dilip Jeste, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience
at the University of California, San Diego, says
while it’s been known that African Americans were
significantly less likely to adhere to their medication,
their study identified for the first time a low
rate among Latinos.
Jeste:
It is a clearly worrisome finding that both African-Americans
and Latinos have a low rate of adherence. It’s not
clear what is the explanation – the explanation
could be biological and or psychosocial.
Narrator:
Biologically, Jeste says there is evidence
that certain side effects of medications are more
common in certain ethnic groups.
Jeste:
What is needed is an understanding what are the
factors associated with non-adherence in Latinos
and then try to find ways in which we can improve
the adherence rate in that group.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I’m Larissa Branin.
E.
A Study Looks into HIV and Hepatitis C Co-Infection
Rates
Narrator:
This
is Science Today. There are three common types of
Hepatitis – namely, A, B and C. Hepatitis A is a
mild illness, which people usually get from contaminated
food. Hepatitis B is more severe and can lead to
a chronic disease that can be acquired sexually,
perinatally or through sharing needles. And finally,
there’s Hepatitis C, a chronic infection, which
is usually acquired through injection drug use.
Bangsberg:
About
ninety percent of people who will use injection
drugs will become infected with Hepatitis C.
Narrator:
Dr. David Bangsberg, director of the University
of California, San Francisco’s Epidemiology and
Prevention Interventions Center, has conducted a
study of HIV-infected urban poor in San Francisco.
Bangsberg:
The main finding was that Hepatitis C is very common.
Seventy percent of the people have a Hepatitis C
infection and that while Hepatitis C was very common,
Hepatitis C treatment was very rare and among those
people with Hepatitis C infection and HIV infection,
only four percent of those individuals received
Hepatitis C treatment.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I’m Larissa Branin.
