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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 14, 1997)
M ay 14, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver P AGI A 4 Science le¿ ' The male ego takes another hit Researchers say mothers alone may pass on the genes which de term ine a c h ild 's in te lle ctu al power, while fathers impart those genes control ling more instinctual, ‘prim itive’ mental functions. An article in this week’s New Scientist magazine says studies in m ice are re v e a lin g that “ the mother’s genes contribute more to the development o f the ‘th inking’ , or executive’, centers o f the brain, while paternal genes have a greater impact on the development o f the emotional’ limbic brain.’’ Ongoing research at England’s Cam bridge University is explor ing what scientists cal I ‘ imprinted’ genes, and their role in reproduc tion and evolution. Imprinted genes differ from other genes in that their activation within the devel oping child depends upon the sex o f the parent from which the gene came. “ Some imprinted genes work only ifthey come from the mother,” the New Scientist article explains. "The same gene is silenced if it is inherited via the sperm rather than the egg.” Cam bridge scientists stumbled upon this fact in 1984, during re search which sought to discover if mammals could grow into matu rity when supplied with the genes o f just one parent. But they founZ such “ androgenetic (mouse) em bryos died, because certain vital genes had been switched o ff by the (donor) father.” Delvingdeeper into this phenom enon, researchers realized that cer tain genes controlling the develop ment ofthe conscious, higher’ level o f brain function — intelligence are silenced in the paternal version, but operative in the maternal one. Conversely, genes controlling more primitive lim bic function — emo tions, and the drives to eat, copu late, and compete — are silenced in the mother’s genes, but activated in the father’s. In another study, Cam bridge re searchers examined the brain de velopment o f mouse embryos, ab n o rm a lly w eigh ted w ith extra amounts o f the genes o f either one parent or the other. “ A s the embryos matured... cells that carried only paternal genes accumulated in clus ters scattered throughout the ‘emo tional’ brain — the hypothalamus, the am ygdala,” New Scientist re ports. In embryos with maternally supplied genetic material, “ cells containingonly maternal genes were absent from the emotional brain. Instead, they selectively accumu lated in the brain’s executive region (the seat o f higher, cognitive intel ligence).” O f course mice and men do d if fer. “ It is very important work, and very, very prom ising, “ says W o lf Reik, who is studying the ‘ im p rin tin g ’ phenom enon at the Babraham Institute, near C a m bridge. However, he admits that, at this stage “everyone is a little bit lost as to what it really means.” But some psychologists are al ready trumpeting the discoveries as vindication o f Freudian theory. Christopher Badcock, author o f PsychoDarwinism , believes pater nal genes help build Freud’s fa mous ‘ id’ — the instinctual, emo tional, unconscious self while the mother’s genes are behind the more rational, conscious ‘ego ’ . D uring development, “ maternal and paternal genes compete for control o f behavior,” Bad co ck writes, “ culm inating in a mind divided into two conflicting parts strikingly sim ilar to Freud’s ego and id.” Whateverthe psychological im plications, experts believe im print’ genes (o f which only three or four have been identified so far) may number in the hundreds or thousands. Improperly switched on or off, they could also be the cause o f numerous genetically inherited diseases. Researchers say more research may lead to ways o f controlling the expression o f such genes. Women’s exercising & breast cancer A new study in the May issue ofthe New England Journal o f Medicine provides the strongest evidence yet that regular exercise helps protect women from breast cancer. The re search, conducted in Norway, found that women who exercise at least four hours a week have about a 1/3 lower than usual rate for breast cancer than women who do not. Whether exercise truly prevents breast cancer, though, is less clear. Women who work out generally have other healthy habits including diet and rest. But at least a dozen studies have now found a link between exer cise and lower rates of breast cancer for women. Elderly oppose legalizing assisted suicide In the grow ing debate over eu- anasia and physician-assisted licide, how do those most often fected feel about it? A recent G allu p poll focu sin g i senior citizens discovered that ley found the idea much less spealing than the general popu- ition - being 20 % less lik e ly to jpport p hysician-assisted su i- ide than those in the general opulation The m ajority o f se- iors polled opposed p hysician - ssisted suicide "Support for legalizatio n o f h y s ic ia n - a s s is t e d uicide...am ong older Am ericans /as lower than that documented i recent surveys o f the general opulation," noted U n iversity o f Rochester researchers in a study unded by the National Institute f Mental Health. Sin ce changes in euthanasia nd assisted suicide laws w ould sp e cially affect the elderly, the tudy examined attitudes o f more han 800 U .S . senior citizens, av- eraging age 71, in a G allu p na tional poll. The researchers also looked at whether those endors ing euthanasia had other risk fac tors for suicide. The study found men, whites, and less religio us persons showed the most lenient attitudes toward suicide, w hich matches with the relatively higher suicide rates in these groups. "Ju st as other studies have shown that religio us commitment is one o f the strongest deterrents to com m itting suicide at any age, this poll o f senior citizens found religio u s commitment to the be the greatest predictor o f opposi tion to physician-assisted suicide," noted Dr. D avid Larson, research psychiatrist at the National In sti tute fo r H e a lth ca re R e se arch (N IH R ) . R elig io u s commitment affected a ttitu d e s m ore s tro n g ly than health, incom e, race gender, age, m arital status, and q uality o f rela tionships with relatives. Medicare billing changes More doctors and other health care providers have agreed to take fees set by Medicare as payment in full fortheir services, keeping medi cal bills down for senior citizens. A s o f January, 80% o f all health care providers participated in a pro gram that helps keep out-of-pocket expenses low for Medicare patients. "The rising participation rate is good news for medicare beneficia ries because it means they can see more providers without worrying about being charged more than the standard co-payment amount," said Donna Shalala, the Secretary Health and Human Services. Dr Patrick B. Harr, president o f the American Academy o f Fam ily Physicians, said one incentive for care-givers to participate is free ac cess to an electronic M edicare claim s-processing system. "I think it's becoming more o f a hassle to be a non participating phy sician," Harr said. Medicare encourages health care providers to keep patient co-pay- ments low by setting fees about 5% higher for those who cooperate. Care givers who agree to the sys tem collect 80% o f those fees from the government and bill patients for the other 20%. Those who don't participate get a little less from the government but can add up to 15% to their total bill, m aking Medicare patients pay more. For example, if Medicare sets the cost o f a doctor's appointment at $100, a physician agreeing to ac cept that as payment in full would get $84.00 from the government and $21.00 from the patient. A physician who refuses would get $80 00 from the government, but could charge patients up to $35.00 per visit. In fact, only 3 8% o f people indicating that religion played a m ajor role in their lives endorsed the statement that laws should allow physicians to assist senior citizens in com m itting suicide, w hile 6 5 % o f senior citizens who indicated that re lig io n played little or no role in their lives agreed with the statement. O lder people with poor fam ily relationships were more lik e ly to feel that suicide was a personal decision and others should not become involved. T h is fin d in g o f persons more at risk for suicide "because o f conflicted or im poverished fam il ial re latio n s...u n d e rsco re s the need" for helping older persons in a broader fam ily context, the researchers commented. Unfortunately, the G allu p poll did not include questions regard ing depression or recent stress, w hich can also affect attitudes toward suicide, the researchers noted. ■■MNHMNBUWBUWHUUHUUUM New findings on fat Fen-Phen The death o f a wom an in M assachusetts who was ta k ing diet d ru gs to fit into her w edding dress has increased scru tin y o f an unapproved but w id e ly used d ru g m ix tu re know n p o p u larly as fen-phen. Before M ary Lin n e n died in Feb ruary from a heart and lung diso rd er, the m an u fac turer w arned doctors that ta k ing its appetite suppressant, fen flu ram in e, with co m peting phenterm ine is "not reco m m ended." T h e F D A has n e ve r a p proved the d rug c o c k ta il, but doctors rem ain free to pre scribe it. L a st year 7 m illio n p re scrip tio n s were w ritten. T h e c o m b in e d d ru g is banned in Sweden and T e n n e sse e an d is p o p u la r at w e ig h t-lo ss centers such as N u tri/System Debate over the drug was rekin d led when Ms. l.in n e n 's fa m ily file d a la w su it last M onday ag ain st the m an u fac turer, the pharm acy and the doctor who p rescribed it. Stu d ie s show the drugs ta k en separately cause p rim ary pulm onary h yp ertensio n s, an elevated bleed pressure o f the lungs that can cause the heart to fa il. But because the drugs were not meant to be taken together, there is no a u th o ri tative research to gauge the risk o f ta kin g fen-phen. "There's no question that fen -p hen p ro d u ce s p rim a ry p u lm o n a ry h y p e r t e n s io n ," said Dr. L e w is R u b in , d ire c tor o f p ulm onary and c ritic a l care at the U n iv e rsity o f M ary land M edical System in B a lt i more. "There is no question that either drug alone can pro duce pulm onary hypertension. What we don't know at this point in tim e is the m agnitude o f the risk o f ta k in g these drugs together." When food hits the body, the ca lo rie s can be stored aw ay in fat c e lls or burned to produce heat - a process that takes place in s p e c ia liz e d ad ip o se tissu e ca lle d brow n fat. L u c k y in d i v id u a ls are thought to have an e xcess o f brown fat, a llo w in g them to eat w hatever they want w ithout g a in in g w eight. A nd obesity experts hoped that i f they co u ld "turn up the heat" or stim ulate the brown fat's heat p ro d u cin g a b ility , it could help steer ca lo rie s aw ay from becom ing excess pounds. Now , two new studies in the current issue o f N ature.su ggest that the re la tio n sh ip s between food, fat storage, and h eat-pro d uctio n are more c o m p le x th an p r e v io u s ly thought. Th e protein that is respo n sib le for sw itch in g ca lo rie s from tF? fat storage track to the heat- p ro d u cin g track is calle d u nco u p lin g protein, or U C P I . Th e pro tein is found in side m ito ch o n d ria, e n e rg y -p ro d u cin g pow er houses found in side c e lls - and in extra am ounts in brown fat. But when a team o f research e rs g e n e t ic a lly e n g in e e r e d "kn o cko u t" m ice that lacked the protein, the results were su rp ris in g . A s expected, the m ice were unable to generate body heat and were se n sitive to co ld . But in stead o f ch an n e lin g those excess ca lo rie s into body fat, the mice were an ythin g but obese. Indeed, they were ju st as lean as m ice that had U C P I , and did not eat any more than norm al m ice, a c co rd in g to researchers. It's pos sib le that a second u n co u p lin g Gun violence is an epidemic • Turn in a gun for a $50 merchandise certificate OREGON 1997 GUN TURN-IN Did you know..... oc ! X 59% of Americans say they eat too much fat? Smokers earn less money by about 4% - 8%? 35% of Americans have high blood pressure and don't know it? 40% of Americans spend 10 hours a month doing vol unteer work ? 59% of Americans use a daily'to-do' list? Drinking water while you exercise keeps your heart rate down. In case you're interested. 3 1 8 Jti u North Portland Mt. Olivet Baptist Church 8 5 0 1 North Chautauqua 5 © CZ5 ■ 3 g O -o o 3 ©- —i I o* B © n n ¿ £ rt> ft Southeast Portland Eastport Plaza 4000 S.E. 82nd Ave. oc £ r- Know for sure» w t= u. QJ J i Drop-in HIV Testing for Gay & Bi Men 620 SW 5th, 3rd Fir., Portland B ^ ^ $20 donation 223-5907 ext. 172 Is Saturdays, May 10 & 17 Noon to 4 p.m. HIV test? Tuesdays • 6-8pm • CAP protein, calle d U C P 2 , m ay have tak-en o v e r fo r the m is s in g U C C P I , a cco rd in g to an ed ito r ia l by J u le s H ir s c h , o f R o ck e fe lle r U n iv e rsity in New Y o rk . U C P 2 is found in both brown and white fat, the type o f fat most com m o nly found in adult an im als - in clu d in g hum ans. The o bvious next steps are to make kno cko u ts o f U C P 2 (the gene) and to determ ine whether U C P 2 (the protein) is n o rm ally in vo lve d in b urning aw ay extra calo ries, and w hether it's d y s functional in the obese, " H irsch wrote. "In spite o f these fin d in gs, the long search to find the heat producer that keeps its lu cky possessors - svelte is far from over." In the second study in m ice, researchers knocked out the a b il ity to m ake eninephrine (adrena lin e ) and n ore pine ph rin e, two substances that p lay a key role in the sym pathetic nervous system , w hich co n tro ls the balance en ergy production and fat storage. The com pounds stim ulate food in take , a ctivate b row n fat to product heat, and can regulate heat loss by co n strictin g blood vessels. T h e g e n e tic a lly e n gin ee red m ice became se n sitive to co ld , ate more food, but again - did not gain w eight because o f an unexpected and u nexplain ed in crease in m etabolism , acco rd in g to researchers from the U n iv e r sity o f W ashington in Seattle. "O u r research su gge sts that obesity is not lik e ly to in vo lv e defects in the sym pathetic ner vous system or adrenaline." I Southwest Portland United First Methodist Church S.W. 18th Ave. and Jefferson St. 'fiialatin/Clackamas County Legacy Meridian Park Hospital ' 19300 S.W. 65th Gresham Gresham Fire Dept. Station #4 N.E. 192nd and Halsey c ¡2 e ss 2. B Speak to Your Brothers is a program of Cascade AIDS Project © © e © E £ POLICE SUPERVISED NO QUESTIONS ASKED Èxchange a gun for a $50 gift certificate. X © ft 3 70 Ê Ck. 3 70 • FOR MORE INFORMATION 3 CALL 221-1054 -o R . w y i i w dsfpircipwui os$ * J°J unii * u? UJ|U • ^unpidd ire si ^3 u ^| oia uno §
