Baraya, utamana jajaka nu masih "jomlo", aya beja yeuh: cenah numutkeun
hasil panalungtikan upama lalaki kawin geus "aki-aki" budakna boga resiko
autis leuwih gede.
salam,
mh
========
Study Finds Older Fathers Are More Likely to Have Autistic Children
VOA News. 18 September 2006
VOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. Im Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And Im Faith Lapidus. This week -- a report on the link found between
older fathers and the risk of autism in children ...
VOICE ONE:
And the story of how scientists genetically engineered normal cells to
fight cancer.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Findings from a new study suggest a link between a man's age and the
chances that his children will develop autism. Researchers found that men
age forty and older had autistic children almost six times as often as
fathers under the age of thirty.
Men in their thirties were about one and one-half times more likely to
father an autistic child as dads in their twenties and teen years.
The study found no link between autism and older mothers.
VOICE ONE:
The study involved children born in Israel in the nineteen eighties. The
findings come from the records of medical examinations for
seventeen-year-olds for required military service.
The records for more than one hundred thirty thousand teenagers included
the ages of both their father and their mother.
Within this group, the records showed that there were one hundred ten
cases of autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder is the name
for autism and related conditions. The rate of cases was eight out of ten
thousand people.
VOICE TWO:
The scientists discuss several possible genetic causes for the age effect
they documented in fathers. They say people should keep in mind, however,
that social environments influence the age when a man fathers children.
It differs across societies and can change as conditions change over time.
Abraham Reichenberg of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the
Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London, led the study. The
findings appeared earlier this month in the Archives of General
Psychiatry, published by the American Medical Association.
In the last twenty years, more and more children have been identified as
autistic. The researchers say the increase is partly the result of more
knowledge about autism and changes in how doctors identify it. But they
note that it could also represent an increase in this disorder.
VOICE ONE:
Ryan Taylor was diagnosed with autism in 2004; he is shown with his
father, Craig, at their home in Connecticut
Ryan Taylor was diagnosed with autism in 2004; he is shown with his
father, Craig, at their home in Connecticut
What exactly is autism? This is not an easy question even for experts to
answer. A recent press release from the National Institute of Mental
Health, in the United States, described it as a mental disorder. Some
people, though, object to such a description. Other materials from the
institute have called it a brain disorder.
Autism appears in early childhood. Autistic children experience delays in
the development of social and communication skills. These social and
language problems usually appear around three years of age.
The disorder is found more often in boys than girls, but girls often have
more severe effects.
Autistic children often appear emotionally withdrawn from other people.
They may also show limited interests and repeat the same actions over and
over again, like rocking back and forth.
Scientists are trying to better understand autism as they search for its
causes and for effective treatments.
VOICE TWO:
On September seventh, the National Institute of Mental Health announced
the start of three major studies of autism. These are being done at its
research program at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,
Maryland.
One study aims to define differences in autistic children with different
developmental histories. Another study will measure the effectiveness of
an antibiotic medicine as a treatment for one kind of autism. And the
third study will try to find out if chelation [pronounced key-LAY-shun]
treatment is effective against autism.
Chelation removes heavy metals from the blood. This treatment is used for
children with lead poisoning. But many parents seek it for autistic
children to try to remove mercury from their blood. They believe that
many cases of autism were caused by vaccines that contained thimerosal, a
mercury-based preservative. That theory is debated.
VOICE ONE:
Researchers will carry out a controlled study to test the effectiveness
and safety of chelation for children with autism spectrum disorders.
Institute officials note that chelation does not target mercury alone. It
can also remove minerals that the body needs, such as calcium, iron and
zinc.
Federal officials say most vaccines for children age six and younger now
contain either no thimerosal or very small amounts. This has been true
since two thousand one, they say, but an exception is inactivated flu
vaccine. Currently there is a limited supply of thimerosal-free vaccine
against influenza, for use in children six months to twenty-three months
old.
VOICE TWO:
The National Institute of Mental Health says autism may represent several
different diseases. Autism presents itself in different ways and is part
of a larger group of disorders. These are often called autism spectrum
disorders. They also include Asperger's syndrome and pervasive
developmental disorder.
Institute officials say autism spectrum disorders are currently reported
to affect as many as six out of every one thousand children.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
You are listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have successfully used
genetic engineering to treat the deadliest form of skin cancer.
The journal Science reported the results of a study of patients with
advanced melanoma. Steven Rosenberg led a team at the National Cancer
Institute. The study involved seventeen patients. The disease had spread
through their bodies. Other treatments had failed.
The researchers changed the genetic structure of the patients own white
blood cells to get them to recognize and attack cancer cells. Two
patients are now free of melanoma. They are alive a year and a half after
the experimental treatment began. All of the other patients have since
died.
VOICE TWO:
Using a person's own white blood cells to treat melanoma is not a new
idea. But what doctors have done until now is to look for the most
aggressive cancer-killing cells that a patient already has. They grow
more of them in the laboratory and return them to the patient's body.
But this treatment is said to work only for melanoma. And it can only be
used for patients who already have specialized cells that can recognize
cancers.
Not very many patients with advanced melanoma produce enough
cancer-fighting T-cells naturally in their blood. So Doctor Rosenberg and
his team decided to make cancer-fighting cells in their laboratory.
VOICE ONE:
To do this, the scientists removed normal T-cells from the blood of the
patients. Then they infected the cells with a retrovirus.
The retrovirus carried special genes. These genes produce T-cell
receptors. Once inside the body, the receptors are able to seek out and
work against the melanoma cells.
The team also has found T-cell receptors that can find other common
cancers. The head of the National Institutes of Health, Elias Zerhouni,
said the results represent the first time gene therapy has been used
successfully to treat cancer. Scientists say they hope this kind of gene
therapy could also be used for breast and lung cancer, among others.
VOICE TWO:
The study showed that engineered cells can stay in the body and, in some
cases, shrink large cancers.
Other scientists praised the work of Doctor Rosenberg and his team. But
they also said the rate of survival with this method must be improved.
Studies continue toward that goal, including the use of total-body
radiation to improve the effectiveness.
In the late nineteen eighties, many scientists believed genetic
engineering might help fight a number of cancers. Laboratory studies
appeared to offer hope. But most human tests were unsuccessful.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver and Jerilyn Watson and
produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And Im Faith Lapidus. Transcripts and audio files of our programs can be
found at voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for more news
about science in Special English on the Voice of America.
=====
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