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Showing posts from September, 2020

Dr. Jane Goodall discusses need to combat climate change especially now, and why our great apes are also at risk during COVID crisis

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Dr. Jane Goodall, who fits the only definition of "living legend" I know, spoke to the National Press Club during a Youtube interview today. She talked at great length with NPC president Michael Freedman regarding her decades-long work including as a ground-breaking primatologist renowned for research on wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. She made headlines in the 1960s, not only for her ability to communicate with chimps but for being a female doing important scientific work. National Geographic, in 1963, published the first cover story on Goodall and her research,“My Life Among the Wild Chimpanzees”, reaching millions on both sides of the Pond. In "NPC, A Virtual Newsmaker: Jane Goodall ", the British scientist, now a vibrant 86, shared that she supports the next generation of women following in her footsteps but hopes everyone will be careful. If one is researching elephants, for example, be mindful that such work can be dangerous. Remember to respect that a wild a...

Vitamin B1 loss related to alcoholism, leads to dementia

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Vienese researchers have found that alcoholism and extreme alcohol consumption, evident in five percent of the Austrian population, leads to B1 loss and excess iron in the brain. The iron deposits contribute to dementia. In a release, a team at Medical University of Vienna state: "A common consequence of chronically high alcohol consumption is a decline in cognitive function, which can even progress to full-blown dementia. However, we do not yet fully understand how alcohol damages the brain. A research group led by Stephan Listabarth from MedUni Vienna's Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Division of Social Psychiatry, has now developed a hypothesis whereby iron deposits in the brain – resulting from alcohol-induced vitamin B1 deficiency – can be regarded as key factors in cognitive decline. The work has now been published in the leading journal "Alzheimer’s and Dementia". Researchers find that thiamine can be useful in offsetting the ill effects. In the ...