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Sound Medicine -- October 18, 2003

Hosts Barbara Lewis and Dr. Ora Pescovitz talk to physicians and researchers about:

Antioxidant Berry Research

Prion Diseases

Real Media | Windows Media

Antioxidant Berry Research

A few years ago, vitamins C, E and beta carotene were touted as containing essential antioxidants. Now, common berries are the rage. Blueberries, cherries, black raspberries, as well as some exotic varieties, all contain vital antioxidants. Antioxidant vitamins have potential health-promoting properties and may reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

Dr. David Bell is associate professor of physiology and biophysics at the Fort Wayne Center for Medical Education, one of the IU School of Medicine's regional campuses. Dr. Bell's lab is studying some of these berries and is one of only a few research groups to do so.

Resources:

Learn what antioxidant vitamins are and why they are healthy.

Learn about some antioxident properties of the elderberry, as well as some of its other health benefits.

Anthocyanins protect many body systems, and they have some of the strongest physiological effects of any plant compounds, according to this article.

Prion Diseases

Mad cow disease among cattle, and chronic wasting disease affecting deer and elk, have recently caused concern in the medical community. These fatal illnesses are prion diseases. Prions are mutated proteins, but not all scientists accept they are the cause of disease.

To what extent can prion diseases in animals be transmitted to humans? This is a question that fascinates researchers and unsettles the general public. Dr. Martin Farlow, professor of neurology and vice chair for research in the department of neurology, separates the facts and fiction of prion diseases.

Resources:

What are prions, and do they even exist? This article investigates these questions.

Learn more about how prion diseases can adapt to other species.

Peruse some useful questions and answers about Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ("mad cow disease").