Sound Medicine for August 10, 2002

Sound Medicine -- August 10, 2002

Barbara Lewis and Dr. Kathy Miller talk to physicians and experts about:: An astronaut's fitness plan; Dr. David Wolf, astronaut; PUVA treatment for psoriasis

Listen to the show:
Real Media | Windows Media

An astronaut's fitness plan

Bill Evans, PhD, is a NASA researcher studying ways for astronauts to maintain muscle and bone strength during prolonged space missions. He adapted his findings for non-astronauts in his book, Astrofit: The Age Reversal Program Used By Astronauts Now Adapted For Everyone. Evans now works on NASA's Mars Project discovering ways to keep humans healthy in space for as long as three years. Evans says the nine-month trip to Mars would transform the healthiest astronaut into a person as weak and fragile as an 80-year-old. Evans discusses the debilitating effects of nearly zero gravity on the human body.

Techniques to reverse these effects Dr. Evans explains E-centrics, resistance exercise that includes the slow lowering of weights. He also details components of an optimum diet, which includes protein and carbohydrates. He talks about the effects of the proper exercise in both astronauts and earthbound elderly clients.

Resources: Dr. Evans' book, Astrofit: The Age Reversal Program Used By Astronauts Now Adapted For Everyone, is available at Amazon.com.; NASA offers lots of interesting information about the body in space, including recent articles and educational materials for teachers.; Visit NASA's Mars Project Web site for more information about this undertaking.

Dr. David Wolf, astronaut

Indianapolis native David Wolf, MD, says it took years for him to physically recover from his 128-day mission aboard the space station MIR. Dr. Wolf explains what his experience as an astronaut has taught him about health, both in space and on earth. He's interviewed by co-host Dr. Kathy Miller and science writer Eric Schoch, who covered Dr. Wolf's space voyages in the past. Wolf is scheduled for another space mission this Fall.

Wolf describes his upcoming work on the space station and the devastating physical effects of space on his body. He explains the life of an astronaut in space, including nutrition and changes in bodily functions. As for his reseach, he talks about human-tissue culture experiments in zero gravity and the implications of this study regarding diseases such as AIDS and cancer.

Resources: NASA's home page is a good place to search for info about space travel or health issues in space.; Read a quick biography of David Wolf.; Read CNN's 1998 coverage of Wolf's first spacewalk on the MIR space station. Includes audio clips of Wolf in space.

PUVA treatment for psoriasis

All summer we've been warning you about the dangers of the sun and its cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. Now we talk to Dr. Jeff Travers about how UV rays help people with psoriasis. Dr. Travers is chairman of the Department of Dermatology and Kemper-Norins Investigator at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Travers describes the nature of psoriasis, a hereditary auto-immune disease, and how the "psoralen plus UVA" (PUVA) treatment works. Patients take a psoralen medication, which is taken up by the body's T-cells, the immune cells causing the psoriasis. When the patient is exposed to the UVA radiation, the psoralen absorbs the UVA, which in turn kills the T-cells, halting the psoriasis.

Treatments last for a six- to eight-week period. Because psoralen causes such sensitivity to sunlight, patients undergoing PUVA are advised to stay out of the sun. For this and other reasons, PUVA is used only for severe cases of psoriasis.

Resources: The New Zealand Dermatological Society provides a good overview of the PUVA treatment.; Get basic information about psoriasis at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases; The International Psoriasis Community Web provides detailed information on current treatments for this skin disease.

We're pleased to thank our founding sponsors: IU Medical Group, Clarian Health and Wishard Health Services.

Upcoming program:
Do you have a question about steroids? Dr. Greg Rowdon, a primary care sports medicine physician at Methodist Hospital will be our guest.

email: soundmed@iu.edu
phone: (317) 274-IU4U

Read our Privacy Policy

Health Quiz —
Cooking to kill E. coli

Meat safety has been in the news lately. Major beef producer ConAgra recently recalled about 19 million pounds of ground beef due to potential contamination by a dangerous strain of the bacteria E. coli. Proper cooking will kill E. coli and other dangerous bacteria.

To what temperature should ground beef be cooked to kill E. coli and other dangerous bacteria?

A. 140 degrees F
B. 160 degrees F
C. 200 degrees F

Find out!

Medical mystery —
A scary gene?

Are you scared of spiders? Do you laugh at movie monsters that make your spouse's hair stand on end? We all have different reactions to scary things. Do those differences depend on our experiences? Or are genetics involved, too?

Are your fears at least partly determined by your genes?

Find out!

Weekly Notebooks —
Physical effects of space travel

  • Weeks into a prolonged space flight, astronauts' muscle cells will atrophy.
  • Calcium will be leached from their bones at a greatly accelerated rate.
  • Normal bone growth will be upset, leaving their bones pitted with craters and liable to fracture.
  • The astronauts' balance will be extremely compromised.
  • Their blood volume will be reduced, and their heart muscle will shrink.
  • Their immune systems will be upset, and minor infections may pose major threats.
  • Their bodies will be bombarded by radiation, greatly increasing the risk of cancer.

Source: Astrofit, by Bill Evans, PhD