The Week USA - 30.08.2019

Health & Science NEWS^21

The algae that kills dogs

Dog owners are being warned to look out

for toxic algae in freshwater lakes and

ponds, following a string of cases in which

pets died soon after taking a swim in bloom-

laden waters. Blue-green algae, known as

cyanobacteria, multiply in freshwater when

the weather is warm and the water stagnant

or contaminated with fertilizer runoff and

sewage. Once exposed to the bacteria, which

can lurk below the surface and be hard to

spot, dogs rarely survive: The blooms release

toxins that can cause liver damage and

respiratory paralysis. “A lot of times, the

neurotoxins will kill the animal before they

can get to the veterinarian,” Val Beasley, a

veterinary professor at Penn State University,

tells The New York Times. The algae can

also cause ailments in people, but dogs are

more susceptible, because they tend to gulp

down water. The issue gained attention

last week after three dogs belonging to a

Wilmington, N.C., couple died within hours

of taking a dip in a pond. In recent weeks,

family pets have also died of cyanobacteria

poisoning in Austin, Marietta, Ga., and else-

where. Dog owners are advised to steer their

pooches clear of water that smells bad or is

an odd color.

Why turbulence is worsening

Climate change is making transatlantic

flights a far bumpier ride, a new study sug-

gests. The number of passengers and crew

seriously injured worldwide from turbulence

has more than doubled over the past four

decades, to about 8,000 a year. Turbulence

is caused by wind shear, which occurs when

winds rapidly change direction or speed at

different altitudes. Researchers calculated

that the shear high up in the air current

known as the North Atlantic jet stream,

which is powered by the collision of cold

air from the Arctic and warm air from the

tropics, has increased by 15 percent since

1979. While Arctic warming has at ground
      level reduced the temperature difference that
      drives the jet stream, it has increased the dif-
      ference at 34,000 feet—the typical airplane
      cruising altitude. This has created a push
      and pull effect between altitudes, increas-
      ing the jet stream’s wind shear. Turbulence
      will likely worsen as global temperatures
      continue to rise, lead author Simon H. Lee,
      from Reading University in the U.K., tells
      The Washington Post. Still, fliers shouldn’t
      worry about the safety implications. “The
      chances of your plane going down due to
      turbulence,” Lee says, “are really nil.”

Teenage girls and social media

The link between social media use and

depression in teenage girls may be more

complex than previously thought, reports

Time.com. A new British study involv-

ing more than 10,000 youngsters ages 13

to 16 found a clear connection between

increased social media use and symptoms

of psychological distress in girls.

(The link wasn’t as clear in boys.)

But the researchers concluded

that sites such as Facebook and

Instagram didn’t directly cause

mental health issues. Instead,

nearly 60 percent of the

impact on psychological

distress in girls was attribut-

able to social media disrupt-

ing their sleep and exposing

them to cyberbullying. “The

key messages to young people are: Get

enough sleep; don’t lose contact with your

friends in real life; and physical activity

is important for mental health and well-

being,” said co-author Dasha Nicholls, from

Imperial College London. The researchers

recommend that parents keep phones out of

kids’ bedrooms at night and ask their chil-

dren whether they’re being bullied online.

Health scare of the week

Air pollution as bad as smoking

Long-term exposure to elevated levels of

air pollution can cause the same damage to

lungs as a heavy smoking habit. That’s the

conclusion of a new study that looked at the

effects of breathing in a range of pollutants,

including ground-level ozone—the main

component of smog—which forms when

pollutants from tailpipes and smokestacks

react with sunlight. The researchers exam-

ined some 7,000 adults across six U.S. cities,

including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New

York. By giving the participants regular CT

scans and measuring the levels of pollutants

in their neighborhoods, the scientists were

able to draw a link between higher concen-

trations of ground-level ozone and faster

progress in emphysema, a lung disease that

causes shortness of breath and is typically

associated with smokers. “An increase of

about 3 parts per billion [of ground-level

ozone] outside your home was equivalent

to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for

29 years,” study co-author Joel Kaufman,

from the University of Washington, told

NPR.org. Study participants were typically

exposed to average annual concentrations

of 10 to 25 parts per billion. Smog spikes

on hot days, so the problem will get

worse, says co-author R. Graham Barr,

from Columbia University. “As tem-

peratures rise with climate change,”

he explains, “ground-level ozone will

continue to increase, unless steps are

Reuters, Newscom (2) taken to reduce this pollutant.”

Ebola could soon be classified as a curable

disease, now that two experimental treat-

ments have been shown to massively cut

the death rate for patients with the hemor-

rhagic virus. Scientists have been testing

four different drugs in Congo, where a

yearlong Ebola epidemic has killed at least

1,800 people. The death rate for Ebola,

which causes catastrophic internal bleed-

ing, has been about 70 percent in the

current outbreak. But the mortality rate

went down to 29 percent for patients who

received a drug from U.S. firm Regeneron

Pharmaceuticals, and to 34 percent for

those who took a drug from Ridgeback

Biotherapeutics, which is also American.

Among patients who began treatment

soon after developing symptoms, when

the disease is easier to treat, rates fell to

6 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

The drugs use monoclonal antibodies:

Y-shaped proteins that recognize the shape

of the Ebola virus and call on immune

cells to attack it. This breakthrough could

transform the fight against Ebola. Many

infected people in Congo have been reluc-

tant to seek medical care, because they

have seen family members go into treat-

ment centers and come out dead. “Now

that 90 percent of patients can go into the

treatment center and come out completely

cured, they will start developing trust,”

Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, from

Congo’s federal medical research institute,

tells CNN.com. “These advances will help

save thousands of lives.”

Breakthrough in the battle against Ebola

A deadly bacteria could be lurking in the water.

An Ebola treatment center in Congo