Courses Wayne State University College of Lifelong Learning Interdisciplinary Studies Program Changing Life on Earth, GST 2020, 4 cr     Section 981 (face-to-face Wednesdays 6:00 - 8:30 PM in     222 Cohn on campus) and Section 990 (online) Health Concepts and Strategies, GST 2010, 3 cr     Section 981 (face-to-face, Wednesdays 8:40 - 10 PM in 222     Cohn on campus) and Section 990 (online) Health Concepts and Strategies for Elder Care, GST 1990    Section 981 (2 credits) and Section 982 (4 credits)	Instructor
	David R. Bowen 2311 A/AB Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48202 Schedule (link not working yet)	Daytime tel: (313) 577-1498 Evening tel: (248) 549-8518 At Ford: 313-390-2155 FAX: (313) 577-8585 Home Page:     http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen Email: d.r.bowen@wayne.edu

Health - GST 2010	Genetics theme GST2020 Evolution theme GST 2020	Back to course welcome page
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Last updated: 11/18/01

Agenda 10
Wednesday November 14
Health Concepts and Strategies, GST 2010
Changing Life on Earth, GST 2020
Attached Directed Study, GST 1990

Update after class on 11/14: Quiz 2 is postoponed one week until Wednesday 12/5.

1. Announcements
   1. Handouts:
      1. Agenda 10 for Wednesday November 14
      2. Revised Assignments schedules, one for each course
   2. No class next week (11/21). WSU schedules this Wednesday as a Friday, so go to your Friday classes. Also, Tuesday 11/20 is scheduled as a Thursday.
   3. New features on the course home page (http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/gewf01)
      1. Vocabulary list for GST 2020
      2. Remaining Essay questions for GST 2010
      3. Remaining Quiz questions for GST 2020 are being posted
      4. Online grade reports (see link under "Online tools" on the course home page). You must have filled out the Online Course Information Form and chosen "Yes" for Online Grade Reports and given yourself a password, in order to get these reports. Contact me if you want these set up for you.
         
         NOTE: I have had several comments: this system currently reports grades for all three courses, even if you are not taking all of them. Ignore the sections that for the courses you are not taking.
   4. Tutoring available through ISP, Fall 2001 semester
      1. Writing and basic computer skills: contact the tutor, Ms. Lakeshia Murray, directly at 313-345-5541 (Home) or 313-283-7411 (Cell phone)
      2. Math and basic computer skills: Swathika Vathanam 313-832-8380, tutor3040@yahoo.com
   5. Caryn Day, a face-to-face student in GST 2010, is in the hospital with ulcerative colitis. She may be able to return to class after Thanksgiving. I brought a "Get Well" card to class if people want to sign. Online students: If you email me a "Get Well Caryn" message, I will send them on to her.
   6. GST 2020.
      1. The third textbook, Diversity of Life, in the Starr-Taggert series, is in at the WSU Barnes and Noble campus bookstore. The bookstore manager said they are already starting to return unbought copies, but that this would be one of the later ones returned. Buy this within the next week or two, or risk having to find it elsewhere. Those of you that have tried know that this type of textbook is difficult to buy through regular commercial channels. Telephone: 313-577-2436. Hours: Mon & Tue: 9 - 6:30 / Wed & Thu: 9 - 6 / Fri: 9 - 5 / Sat: 11 - 3. Make sure that you have all three textbooks before they get sent back!
   7. In the news - from The New York Times, 11/14/01, Pg:
      1. Genetic screening might help women avoid breast cancer, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and conducted by Dr. Mary-Claire King, a geneticist at the University of Washington. According to the article in the Times, there are two genetic mutations which can lead to breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2. Women with the BRCA2 mutation can reduce their risk for breast cancer by about two-thirds by taking the prescription drug tamoxifen while they are still healthy, but this drug does not help women with the BRCA2 mutation. (Remember that breast cancer is not the major cause of death for women, or even the second or third.)
      2. A major study following people with risk factors for heart attack (caused by loss of blood flow to the heart) and stroke (caused by loss of blood flow to the brain) shows that these people can reduce their risk by one-third by taking the prescription drugs known as "statins" (the example used in the study was simvastatin or Zocor). The risk factors included in the study were diabetes, previous heart attack or stroke, angioplasty, coronary bypass surgery, narrowed arteries in the legs or neck, or angina, a particular type of chest pain. The study demonstrated also that statins, or at least simvastatin, is safe. Patients already using other therapies such as aspirin get additional benefits from simvastatin. The study showed no benefits from anti-oxidants though to protect the heart, such as Vitamins C, E and beta-carotene. (The article did not mention whether or not those without these risk factors can benefit from anti-oxidants.) This study is notable for the large number of  people studied (20,000) and the long time for which they were followed (average of 5.5 years).
2. GST 2020, Changing Life on Earth.
   1. Three points from from earlier chapters:
      1. In multicelled organisms, each cell contains all of the DNA for each type of cell. Our skins cells, for example, contain the genes for our liver, and vice versa. Only the genes for that organ are expressed, or else abnormalities come into being. This is the basis for cloning - making a new organism from a single cell. the new organism is genetically identical to the "clonee," but will start out in the infant or single-celled stage and will have to grow normally, and will have a completely different environment.
      2. For each species, the same substance has slightly different forms; human hemoglobin is not exactly the same as chimpanzee hemoglobin, for example. The genes are slightly different.
      3. Some genes can affect the way that other genes work. for example, one gene may promote a reaction, while a second can block it. A mutation in the second gene can result in an excessive rate of the reaction. A reaction with several steps can have separated genes promoting each step, and a deficiency in one of those genes can affect how all of those other genes work. In general, most traits are controlled by enough genes that human variation seems almost continuous. Height, eye color and hair color are examples.
   2. Chapter 15 - Controls Over Genes
      1. Cancer is a breakdown of controls over genes resulting in uncontrolled cell division, cells with no recognition proteins, and otherwise malformed cells.
      2. Genes are very specific in what they control - step in a certain reaction, or perhaps even only at certain times or under certain conditions.
      3. Regulatory proteins (gene products) can promote (speed up, positive control) or inhibit (slow down, negative control) a reaction.
      4. Some genes promote or repress the existence of other genes, acting through regulatory proteins that can bind to the repressed gene, or bind to the repressor protein, blocking repression. These genes affect what RNA is transcribed. Sometimes entire chromosomes are turned off; this is the case for one of the two X chromosomes in female mammals, on a random basis that can vary from cell to cell.
      5. Some cells have to react to rapidly changing conditions, like the e.coli in our intestine, which are part of our digestive system, and have to promote or repress digestive enzymes depending on what wee have eaten and how long ago. Prokaryotic cells (no nuclei) live under similar conditions. Other cells live under more constant conditions.
      6. Genes can also act through hormones. Hormone production is regulated by genes, and in turn can promote or inhibit gene expression.
      7. Another layer of controls comes in during translation, and affect what proteins are produced from the RNA.
      8. Vocabulary:
         1. genetic control
         2. promote
         3. repress
         4. clone
         5. cancer
   3. Chapter 16 - Recombinant DNA and Genetic Engineering
      1. We have developed a toolkit of enzymes from many different species, for modifying DNA by inserting DNA from one organism or even species into the DNA from another. This technique is called "recombinant DNA" and is developing into a major new technology and industry.
         1. Restriction enzymes cut DNA a specific locations, for example after specific sequences of bases.
         2. Reverse transcriptase is an enzyme that constructs DNA from RNA, in cases where we can't get the recombined DNA to work properly.
         3. Primers are synthetic base sequences that pair up to form START tags for protein translation. These can be used to make many copies (amplify) of a given DNA sequence, to produce the proteins rapidly.
            1. This technique is one step in one one method for "DNA fingerprinting." DNA from a crime scene is amplified, then sorted by type. The resulting pattern, matched against a DNA sample from a suspect, conclusively identifies the crime scene DNA as coming from the suspect, or conclusively demonstrates that it came from someone else.
         4. One result is that diabetics, instead of injecting insulin derived from pigs, can now inject human insulin made by e.choli bacteria that have had the gene for human insulin spliced into their bacterial DNA. this is a much better treatment.
      2. Another new technique is automated DNA sequencing, in which the base sequence of DNA is identified. DNA is separated into two strands, and random lengths are copied. By comparing the different lengths, the base sequence for the entire DNA molecule can be known.
         1. The entire human genome was sequenced this summer, in a dramatic race between a private company (Celera Genomics headed by Craig Ventner) and a consortium of government and university laboratories (Human genome Organization or HUGO headed by Francis S. Collins). In the end, it was a virtual tie, with each group making important contributions. We do not yet know the function of each protein resulting from the code, but there is no doubt that this well lead to major advances in diagnosis of genetic disorders, and in new treatments.
         2. One medical technique that is now feasible is screening patients for harmful genes.
      3. Both plants and animals can now have genes transferred across species, which is not possible in nature or with breeding techniques. We now have unprecedented power over the genes of every species, including the human species.
         1. Genetic therapy of various types becomes conceivable. The simplest would be changing genes in just-fertilized ova while they are still in the single-cell stage. The most complicated type would be trying to change all of the DNA is all of the cells of a patient.
         2. Transferring traits from one species to another is being done, but will undoubtedly increase rapidly. "Supermice" have been bred that grow faster than others, and strawberries have been experimentally protected from frost by deleting the gene responsible for ice formation from a bacterium, then spraying the strawberries with the altered bacteria.
         3. Cloning is another use of this - transferring the DNA from one organism into the nucleus of a body cell, and then inducing the new cell to grow. Many attempts are needed, but this can now be done in many species.
         4. Tremendous controversy is swirling around this area. On the one hand are those who promise tremendous benefits, while on the other hand there are those who are concerned about possible mishaps. And all of this is so new and so different that we have little experience upon which to draw.
   4. Unit III - Evolution. Evolution is changing of gene mix or frequency or percentage from one generation to the next
      1. Variations in genes exist, and result in variations in phenotypes
      2. Some of the resulting phenotypes are more fit than others - better equipped to survive and leave offspring
      3. The genes that result in those phenotypes will increase in frequency (percentage)
   5. Chapter 17 - Principals of Evolutionary Thought - how did life come to be?
      1. Aristotle thought species were distinct, but puzzled by cases that did not seem to be distinct, i.e. sponges looked like plants
      2. Age of exploration expanded idea of world, large numbers of new species
      3. Biogeography - most species restricted geographically but some distant species resembled each other.
      4. Only available theory was Biblical Creation with unchanging species. In 18th century, morphologists compared anatomies of animals, found many similarities and puzzles, such as pelvic bone for snakes and tail parts for humans. Why did these exist?
      5. Geologists found fossils in deep layers of the earth - simpler forms lower down. Also some similarities for fossils and existing species
      6. World-wide differences - how could creation at one time and place have done this?
         1. Novel hypotheses were constructed - species had changed over time
      7. Cuvier and catastrophism - fossils had not yet been found for all species
      8. Lamarck and inheritance of acquired characteristics, change towards perfection by striving for improvement
      9. 1831 Charles Darwin, voyage of the Beagle around the world.
         1. Finches on Galapogos Islands showed variations in beaks with food source, number of finches of one type would change if that food became plentiful or scarce
         2. Read theory that earth was millions of years old that much time was required to account for mountains, valleys, and rock formation
         3. Also Malthus and shortage of resources. Darwin suspected that many species could produce mor4e offspring than could survive.
         4. Knew about artificial selection by breeders, in pigeons for example
      10. Theory of Evolution, Darwin gathered evidence for ten years, without publishing, 1859 Origin of Species. Alfred Wallace also had theory, but not as much detail.
          1. Factors in the environment would select for adaptive traits
          2. An initial problem was the lack in "the fossil record" of transitional forms between species, although many have been found, and we now understand why more have not been found

   6. Chapter 18 - Microevolution - evolution within a species

      1. Details of most traits vary among individuals

      2. Three types of traits -basic similarities within a species, but variations

         1. Morphological traits - body plan (e.g. two legs, two arms, one head, upright posture)

         2. Physiological traits - how body works

         3. Behavioral traits - what species does - e.g. baby imitates faces

      3. Five sources of variation

         1. Gene mutation

         2. Crossing over during meiosis

         3. Independent assortment during meiosis

         4. Fertilization

         5. Change in chromosome number/structure

      4. Alleles (one of two or more different forms of a gene) are inherited

      5. Gene pool - set of all genes (alleles) in a population

      6. Genetic equilibrium is when the mix of alleles remains constant from one generation to the next. Five conditions:

         1. No mutations

         2. Large population

         3. Isolation from other populations (of same species)

         4. Gene has no effect on survival or reproduction

         5. Mating is random

      7. Mutations create new alleles or even new genes - about one per 100,000 to 1,000,000 gamete-genes

         1. Lethal, neutral, positive

      8. Seven statements of the theory of evolution - Pg 

      9. Examples of directional selection (most important)

         1. Peppered moths on tree trunks

         2. Pesticide resistance

         3. Beak strength

         4. Antibiotic resistance

         5. Stabilizing selection - acts against extremes

         6. Gallmaking fly

      10. Disruptive selection - acts against middle

          1. African black-bellied seedcracker

             1. Small bills favored early in season when there are many soft seeds

             2. Later in season, more large seeds, large bills favored

      11. Sexual selection - for mating displays

          1. Sickle cell anemia - heterozygotes favored

             1. Slow down circulation, slow spread of parasite in blood through malaria

             2. Sickle cell disease less serious, some other genes helping

      12. Inbreeding reduces genetic mixing, variation, can lead to predominance of harmful mutations

      13. Population becomes more fit for that environment as it evolves

   7. Possible exam questions

      1. Vocabulary
         1. acquired characteristic
         2. fitness
         3. natural selection
         4. theory (in science)
         5. adaptive
         6. fitness
         7. heritable
         8. selection
         9. natural selection
         10. sexual selection
         11. genetic drift
         12. microevolution
         13. gene flow
         14. species
         15. speciation
      2. List and describe the three categories of traits
      3. List and describe the five sources of variation
      4. Describe the theory of evolution - what does it say?
      5. Give three examples of evolution "at work"
      6. Describe how the theory of evolution explains the formation of new species
      7. What factors can move species further apart after they have initially split apart?
      8. Describe three types of speciation
      9. Compare and contrast microevolution and macroevolution
      10. What is the importance of fossils for the theory of evolution? What do fossils show about evolution?
      11. List four types of evidence for evolution and describe these types. How do they support the theory of evolution?
      12. Suppose that a series of species has many homologous structures, but at some point there is a morphological divergence. What conclusion can be drawn about the divergent trait? What conclusion can be drawn about which of these species must have evolved later? Explain your reasoning.
      13. Describe what is meant by "plate tectonics." How does this support evolution?
3. GST 1990
   1. The Chapter "Aging and Activity" by Walter M. Bortz II, in The Practical Guide to Aging underscores (and slightly changes) the advice on exercise in the GST 2010 text. According to Bortz, a geriatrician (medical doctor specializing in conditions of the elderly), the elderly and those younger people seeking to assure a healthy old age) should be concerned exercise in the following areas:
      1. Aerobics for a healthy heart, circulatory system and lungs, agrees with
      2. Muscle strengthening to counteract frailty and assure independence, agrees with
      3. Flexibility to maintain range of motion, agrees with
      4. (not in ) Balance exercising, primarily the "flamingo stand", standing on one leg, then the other, for a count of 30 on each leg, twice a day every day. The sense of balance can otherwise degrade with age, loss of balance causes over one million fractures per year in US. Bone fractures are frequently the first in a chain of events leading to becoming wheelchair-bound and perhaps even bed-ridden, and losing the ability to care for yourself.
      5. (Not mentioned in The Practical Guide) Retaining bone mass, especially for women, can be helped by walking, but avoid high-impact activities which "shock" the joints and can lead to damage.

      Quoting Dr. Bortz: "For the young, physical exercise is an option. For the old, it is an imperative. A young person has seemingly endless reserves of vitality and endurance and as a result is able to withstand a variety of threats with casual indifference. This is not so with older people. When challenged, persons in the 70s and beyond are simply at greater risk for harm, which earlier would have been easily avoided. Until recently this greater vulnerability has been held to be an inevitable consequence of aging, and therefore not amenable to active intervention. New information has created a major change in this impression. A variety of studies have clearly linked a great proportion of the susceptibility to the disease and frailty of older people to lack of physical exercise."

   2. Choices for topics
   3. Choices for books / articles
4. GST 2010, Health Concepts and Strategies. We will review the reading assignment, which is Chapter 13, Exercise for Health and Fitness (FULL) and Chapter 14, Weight Management.
   1. But first, about diet. Someone's Essay 1 (I am not naming names here) said that the food industry is more or less forcing us to eat unhealthily. That is a common view, and while I disagree, I did not grade down for that view, and certainly it is not inconsistent with the textbook. But here I want to give my view.
      1. Who is in charge of your health, anyway, you or them?
      2. Exactly how are they forcing us to eat unhealthy food? Simply by selling and advertising it? Almost all of the chains sell and advertise at least some healthy foods.
      3. The market system will sell us whatever we actually buy, as much as we want, whether or not it is good for us. Consider two fast-food chains, say "A" and "B". Both originally sold burgers that were pretty much the same, and so had sales and profits that were pretty much the same. But then A started making their burgers with a little less fat. So, given their choice, people buy more of B's burgers (we are programmed, presumably by our evolutionary history to love fat!). B's profits go up, A's go down. Any CEO, or even a wannabee, could tell you the outcome - put that fat back in! So fat content ratchets up, step by step, until the cost of additional fat is not counterbalanced by additional profits, or until some regulation is encountered. Companies that don't operate this way go out of business. This is the way our market system works, and we should never expect companies to behave any differently. If public opinion is strong enough, some companies do figure this out, and then acting in the public interest can become a market advantage.
      4. Where the market fails is in not providing enough information about fat and its effects, to enable us to make informed choices in our best interests. Nutrition values for fast foods are available, but not easy to get, and the harmful effects of fat are not known widely enough, and their importance is not appreciated (parents - teach your children!). But it is not in the interests of either A or B to tell us the bad news about their products. Let us suppose again that A was absolutely honest, and B shaded the truth a little - people still buy more of B's burgers, thinking that they aren't quite as bad. Nutrition content information ratchets down, step by step, down to the minimum required by law. So the way to make the market work is through regulation; requiring all sellers to provide accurate and accessible information. That, I think, is the solution to our problem, not blaming companies for doing what they are designed to do, which is to sell us whatever it is that we really want to buy. Heck, they'll even put it in a plain brown wrapper if we are too embarrassed to carry it out of the store!
   2. Some healthy foods (samples provided), continued
      1. McCormick "Salad Toppins", which I use as a substitute for peanuts (I l-o-v-e peanuts). Probably healthy because they are harder to eat in mass quantities than are peanuts.
   3. Other ideas (sorry, no samples)
      1. Sans Sucre sugar-free low fat mousse (chocolate, lemon, French vanilla, mocha cappuccino, cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, key lime, strawberry) - these really taste good.
      2. Cerreta's sugar-free candies, http://www.cerreta.com/. The best I have tasted.
   4. For this and the next class (11/28), for those who want to try one or the other, I will bring my blood pressure kit and my blood glucose testing kit. For the blood pressure, you will need to be able to roll up a sleeve, so dress appropriately. For blood sugar testing, there is a drop of blood drawn with a prick - not painful, really, but you can definitely feel it. The lancets that draw the blood are not recycled. Both of these activities are strictly voluntary. My blood pressure and blood glucose readings agree with the ones I get from my doctor.
   5. Becoming healthy. Probably each of us does something that is healthy, and probably no one does everything, and I don't think it is realistic that anyone will do everything listed in the textbook. Also, the textbook may have left out some important items (e.g. balance exercises), and more will be added as our knowledge improves (many of the news stories on the Agendas are about health). A reasonable goal is to become more healthy, to take the next step, and then hopefully the one after that, and so on.
      1. If you have a goal that will take a while to get started on, such as starting an exercise program (consult doctor if indicated, pick a program, get any needed equipment or clothing, fit into busy schedule, etc.), also start something that you can start right away (using stairs instead of elevator, not taking the closest available parking spot at work stretching in the morning). Starting this short-term project will motivate you to continue setting up the longer-term one.
      2. Pick steps that are significant, but that you are pretty sure that you can succeed at. Success is motivating.
      3. Pick steps that you think you will enjoy, or at least tolerate, and switch if you don't enjoy or tolerate them.
   6. Cardiovascular Health
      1. Leading cause of death in US, one-half of all deaths. If you think you are concerned about your health, and you are not concerned about cardiovascular disease, you're fooling yourself.
      2. Circulation plan (PowerPoint)
      3. Risk factors
         1. Tobacco use - smokers have more heart attacks, and they are more severe
         2. High blood pressure
         3. High cholesterol levels (some cholesterol is necessary). New Guidelines May 15, 2001 from Framingham Heart Study, risk caclulator at http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/atpiii/calculator.asp
            1. LDL / HDL
            2. Diet lowers LDL, exercise and weight loss raise HDL
            3. Now recommending drug treatment for high cholesterol levels
         4. Obesity
         5. Diabetes
      4. Contributing factors that can be controlled
         1. High triglyceride levels
         2. Social factors: stress, hostility and anger, suppressing distress, depression and anxiety, social isolation, low socioeconomic status
      5. Major risk factors that cannot be changed
         1. Genetics
         2. Aging (risks increase dramatically if you are greater than 65)
         3. Being male
         4. Ethnicity (African-Americans have the highest rates)
      6. Forms of cardiovascular disease
         1. Hypertension - high blood pressure
         2. Atherosclerosis - hardening of the arteries, caused by plaque deposits that narrow the arteries and make them less elastic
         3. Angina - chest pain, tightness in the chest, feeling of pressure behind the breastbone, shoulder, neck, arm, hand, back
         4. Heart attack - loss of blood flow to the heart
            1. Arrhythmias - irregular heartbeat
            2. Prompt hospital treatment can save lives - within two hours
         5. Stroke - lack of blood flow to brain - treat with same urgency as a heart attack
         6. Congestive heart failure - heart cannot meet demand, fluids back up
      7. Controlling risk
         1. Diet
         2. Exercise
         3. Avoid tobacco
         4. Know and manage blood pressure and cholesterol levels
         5. Manage stress and anger, especially if they are chronic or frequent