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Prenatal Exposure to Pollutants: Influence on the Immune Response
By Roberta Attanasio The development of the immune system during fetal and neonatal life is negatively influenced by exposure to toxic chemicals, resulting in compromised immune function later in life. An example is fetal exposure to arsenic, which has deleterious effects on the immune response to influenza virus infection in adulthood. Now, results from a new study provide additional evidence for the role that exposure to toxic chemicals early in life plays in shaping the immune response to the influenza virus. The study (by researchers at the University of Rochester) focused on a mouse model and the chemical 2,3,7,8-tetrachlordibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD for short. TCDD, a known carcinogen, is a persistent environmental contaminant…
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Inflammation Drives Susceptibility to Anxiety and Depression
By Roberta Attanasio Stress and anxiety are part of life — but while a little bit of stress (good stress) may keep us active and alert, and sometimes even motivate us, the long-term type (bad stress) can have negative effects on our health. Elevated blood pressure and heart disease are just some examples of the so-called “stress-related diseases”. In addition, chronic stress increases the risk of developing depression. Scientists have known for many years that stress, anxiety and depression are linked to the inflammatory response — our first line of defense against infectious microbes. The link is provided by some of the chemical messengers, or cytokines, involved in this response.…
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Chlorovirus ATCV-1, a Green Algae Virus, May Slow Human Brain Activity
By Roberta Attanasio Chlorella viruses, or chloroviruses, infect green algae, single-celled organisms present throughout the world in freshwater ecosystems such as lakes and ponds. Now, it seems that chlorovirues also infect humans, causing changes in cognitive functions — the processes by which information is perceived, registered, stored, retrieved, and used. In other words, chloroviruses influence the ability to acquire and use knowledge. These novel findings — published on line in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (October 27, 2014) — confirm that viruses may be able to jump from one kingdom (plants) to another (animals), something that has been shown only in very few instances. For the study…
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Nanoparticles and Sunscreen Products: Toxicity to Sea Life in Coastal Waters
By Roberta Attanasio The debate on the safety of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles contained in sunscreen products is still on. Some scientists have raised concerns about the negative impact that these tiny particles — generally between one and 100 nanometers (between one and 100 billionths of a meter) across — may have on human health. Due to their small size, nanoparticles might do harm to humans by seeping through the skin and into the bloodstream. A few months ago, despite the widespread safety concerns, Paul Wright (a toxicology expert at RMIT University) told The Guardian that sunscreen nanoparticles don’t get past the outermost dead layer of human skin cells. In contrast, Paul Westerhoff (a professor at Arizona…
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Ivory Poaching Drives the Global Decline of African Elephants
By Roberta Attanasio Poaching — the illegal killing of wild animals — is responsible for the death of tens of thousands of African elephants a year. Poachers kill elephants to hack off the tusks, which are then sold to make valuable ivory trinkets, mostly for Asian markets. In 2012, Jeffrey Gettleman wrote in the New York Times that Africa is in the midst of an epic elephant slaughter. How many African elephants, then, are slaughtered every year for their ivory? Results of a new study (Illegal killing for ivory drives global decline in African elephants) published a few days ago in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show…
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Paradoxical Thinking May Lead to Conflict Resolution
By Roberta Attanasio Agreeing with people might be the best way for leading them to reconsider their beliefs. A team of scientists from Israel has recently shown that such a strategy may promote long-term conflict resolution — the study included 161 Jewish-Israeli participants, was based on the conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, and was carried out in collaboration with The Fund for Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Peace (an American nongovernment organization). According to the scientists, the Fund “felt that the Israeli–Palestinian peace process was at a dead-end, that both societies were dominated by deep despair, and that there was a need for a new psychological intervention to change the reality”. Thus, the Fund…
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Yes, Dogs Can Be Jealous
By Roberta Attanasio Dogs can be jealous — we’ve known this for a long time. However, these days, stories about the “surprising” finding of jealousy in dogs are all over the news, thanks to a research article (Jealousy in Dogs, July 23, 2014) published in the scientific journal PLOSone by Christine Harris and Caroline Prouvost (both at the University of California San Diego). About a week ago, as a follow up to the publication of the article, you could read here and there: “Darwin was right”, “Darwin proven right”. Apparently, in The Descent of Man, Darwin wrote that a dog becomes jealous “of his master’s affection, if lavished on any…
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Emotional Contagion and Social Networks
By Roberta Attanasio More than two decades ago, Gerald Schoenewolf described emotional contagion as a process in which a person or group influences the behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotional states and behavioral attitudes. However, “The science of emotional contagion goes back to 400 B.C., when Hippocrates, the founder of medicine, observed that some women seemed to transfer “hysteria” to one another. By the 1700s, researchers began to discover that people mirror the smiles and frowns they see on someone else’s face. In the late 1800s, German psychologist Theodor Lipps took the idea a step further, suggesting that this unconscious imitation was the root…
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From Old to Young: Rejuvenating Effects of Fasting on the Immune System
By Roberta Attanasio The beneficial effects of prolonged fasting — fasting that lasts 48–120 hours — have been known for several years. One of these effects is the enhancement of the cellular resistance to toxins in both experimental animals and humans. Now, results from a new study (Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression) published in the journal Cell Stem Cell (June 5, 2014), show that cycles of prolonged fasting protect against damage to the immune system and induce its regeneration, shifting hematopoietic stem cells from an inactive state to a state of self-renewal. Stem cells are cells that have the ability to divide and develop into many different…
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School Aged Children and Bullying: Influence on the Adulthood Inflammatory Response
By Roberta Attanasio Bullying can happen anywhere and to anyone. According to stopbullying.com, a federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.” Children can play many roles in bullying — they can bully others, they can be bullied, or they may actively or passively assist the bullying behavior or defend against it. Kids who bully and kids who are…
