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Journalism of Courage
Live from animal kingdom: Deer tape their private moments
• Scientists at the University of Missouri have placed cameras on deer, turning them into roving videographers. The goal is a new kind of reality TV and track animals’ movement in the wild.
The researchers, who did much of their original work within the Missouri Conservation Department, performed a preliminary test in 2002 with two animals in 10 acres of fenced-in woods. The male wore the camera on his antlers; the female, in a tasteful bag around her neck. When the deer visited a corn feeder, a nearby receiver and VCR wirelessly downloaded down the video. Researchers have used lightweight global positioning systems devices and have fitted wireless cameras on them. But the wireless deercam offers new insights into deer life, said Joshua J Millspaugh, associate professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Missouri. The tiny computers on each animal will gather one another’s video and pass it along to the base station in what might be called a deer-to-deer network. The new equipment package weighs less than two pounds, said Zhihai He, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Missouri who is developing the system. The video and location information would also help researchers understand disease transmission among deer and the landscapes features that make some stretches of highway particularly dangerous for wildlife-car collisions.
A new use for Botox: Treating facial Neuralgia
• BOTOX may do more than just get rid of wrinkles. In addition to providing relief from eye spasms and migraines, Botox, formally botulinum toxin A, has been found useful in treating intense facial pain called Trigeminal Neuralgia. In a study published in the October 25 issue of Neurology, the drug provided partial or complete relief to the 13 patients tested.
Until now, anticonvulsant drugs or neurosurgery have been the only treatment for the disorder though neither of them is universally effective.
Dr Stephen Dr Silberstein, a co-author on the paper, said he would recommend Botox even though it had not been randomly tested in controlled clinical trials. ‘‘The purists would say you shouldn’t do something not proven in a double-blind study,’’ Dr Silberstein said, referring to a research in which one group is given the medicine and another group is given a placebo.
The Botox treatment requires injections of 10 units four to five times a year. Botox costs about $5 a unit, according to Dr Silberstein, who is a professor of neurology at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
Most patients in the 60-day study, reduced their consumption of pain medication by 50 percent; some stopped it. While acknowledging that the study was small and not a randomised trial, Dr Silberstein says the treatment is safe and effective.
‘‘The only side effects are not from the drug,’’ he added, ‘‘but from using it improperly.’’
Heart health: Scientists shed light on secret of olive tree
• Researchers may have pinned down one important reason for the positive effect olive oil appears to have on cardiovascular health- it contains a natural anti-inflammatory chemical.
In a report that appeared in the September 1 issue of Nature, the substance, which researchers call Oleocanthal, has the same anti-inflammatory effect as drugs like Ibuprofen and Aspirin, which can inhibit harmful effects of enzymes called cox-1 and cox-2.
Now, researchers are speculating that the health benefits that are widely linked to the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in olive oil in various forms, may stem at least in part from the same mechanism.
‘‘There is evidence that chronic low-dose, anti-inflammatories have health benefits that range from reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke and certain cancers – breast, lung, colon – to reducing the risk of terminal dementias such as Alzheimer’s,’’ said Paul A S Breslin, a co-author of the report and researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.
‘‘Olive oil contains an Ibuprofen-like anti-inflammatory that may turn out to convey similar benefits,’’ he continued.
The extra-virgin olive oil, according to Dr Breslin, has the most benefit, but consumers do not necessarily need to buy the most expensive brands.
‘‘What matters is that it is an extra-virgin olive oil that has a good throat sting indicating it has high levels of Oleocanthal,’’ he said.
