M ay 14, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
P AGI A 4
Science
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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
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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
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Drop-in HIV Testing
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620 SW 5th, 3rd Fir., Portland B ^ ^
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Noon to 4 p.m.
HIV test?
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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
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