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Show A6 August 2010 RESEARCH www.dailyutahchronicle.com ATV-caused injuries increase Grant will fund autism research Danielle Hardy STAFF WRITER The department of neurosurgery recently released a study that shows spine and head traumas caused by all-terrain vehicle accidents are increasing. "Because of our easy access to public land with attractive riding areas, Utah and other western states have a higher percentage of the population who own and operate ATVs," said Dennis Jolley, who works in the public affairs department of the Clinical Neurosciences Center. The number of accidents involving ATVs in Utah is rising faster than the national average. There are close to 90,000 registered ATVs in Utah alone— evidence of their increase in popularity since their release in 1971. Utah's easy access to public land persuades out-ofstate tourists to rent ATVs while visiting. Research conducted by Michael Finn and Joel MacDonald shows that in 2001, there were 495 deaths and LI million emergency-room visits as a result of ATV injuries in the United States. The projected nationwide cost for ATV-related injuries is $3.24 billion annually. University Hospital is a Level-1 Trauma Center and sees the worst spine and brain traumas throughout the region. More than half of the patients who enter the emergency room for ATV accidents were not wearing helmets, making them more likely to have traumatic brain injuries. Rollovers are the most common form of ATV accidents in Utah, followed by collisions with stationary objects. ATVs have a high center of gravity, high ground clearance and short wheel bases, resulting in an unstable design. "Safe operation of an ATV requires leaning one's body weight into turns to shift the center of gravity to the inside Danielle Hardy STAFF WRITER A 198os U study of families with autistic children has allowed researchers to focus on those same children a quarter of a century later, through the Autism Speaks grant. The $450,000 grant will permit researchers to follow up with 241 autistic adults who were studied 25 years ago as children by U and UCLA researchers. The researchers' goal is to catch a glimpse of the individuals over time to better understand autism in adulthood. Not much is known about the effects of autism in adulthood, including necessary support services, as well as struggles with employment and social interaction. "What's needed is a large, population-based sample to better understand the issue," said William McMahon, professor and chairman of the U School of Medicine's department of psychiatry. "With the Autism Speaks grant, we can start to provide more information for this area of need." Autism is a major public health concern. Not only is it lifelong, but its prevalence is also increasing, McMahon said. In 1980, autism was found in four of every io,000 children. Today, it is found in one out of every ioo chil- JEFF MCGRATH/The Daily Utah Chronicle Spine and head traumas caused by all-terrain vehicle accidents are increasing. The number of ATVs being puchased in Utah is up this year. There are close to 90,000 registered ATVs in Utah. of the turn," MacDonald said. Since doing away with the ATV threewheel design in the 19805, manufacturers have made no significant modifications to improve ATV stability and have not announced any plan of doing so. MacDonald said he became interested in investigating ATV head and spine injuries when he noticed the high number of patients entering the emergency room as a result of ATVs. He saw the lasting impacts that the injuries can have on patients and their families. d.hardy@chronicle.utah.edu dren, he said. To kick off the start of the new project, a meeting was held last Friday at the Carmen B. Pingree Center for Children with Autism, to discuss the new study and give an update about autism research. Carmen Pingree discussed her experiences she has had with taking care of her autistic child, who is now 35. "People have no idea how many barriers there are to just show up to an event," Pingree said. "It's a difficult thing." Pingree told how her son has experienced many health concerns, including seizures and vision problems. Many parents attended the meeting to hear the updates on autism research. Additional intellectual disabilities occur in only 25 percent of individuals with autism, and parents who have one child with autism having a 15 percent increased risk of seeing it within their later offspring, McMahon said. "It is my hope that we can look back once in a while and see how far we've come," Pingree said. "We look for a brighter future where more is known about autism." Researchers hope for participation from family members in order to progress their investigations. d.hardy@ chronicle.utah.edu Early muscular atrophy diagnosis aids treatment Deborah Rafferty STAFF WRITER U researchers, along with other institutions working for Project Cure Spinal Muscular Atrophy, have made progress in developing treatments to help children affected by the disease. Research is funded by Families of SMA. SMA is a recessive genetic disease, which will progressively degenerate motor nerves and weaken muscles, said Dr. Kathryn Swoboda, U associate professor for the department of neurology and pediatrics and principal investigator for Project Cure SMA. Since it is a recessive disease, in order for the child to be affected by it, both parents must carry the gene for the disease. It is estimated that one in 4o people carry the gene and one child in io,000 births will have the disease. "Most (children with SMA) die in infancy," Swoboda said—a reason many people have not heard of the disease. There are three basic types of SMA. The most severe form of the disease, Type 1, affects 6o to 70 percent of children who carry it, Swoboda said. Of the children affected by Type I, 90 percent of them die in the first two years of life. Children with Type 2 SMA have the ability to sit up, and those with Type 3 are able to walk. Those affected by Type 2 and Type 3 can live well into adulthood. "The difference between the one who dies and the one who is able to walk is the number of backup genes they have," Swoboda said. The backup genes can be manipulated to help better protect the children and lessen the effects of the disease. Swoboda and her team of researchers are currently conducting a clinical trial called Stop SMA. In this trial, if there is already a child in a family affected by SMA and there is another affected pregnancy, researchers will have the newborn tested at birth for the disease, Swoboda said. If the child has SMA, then researchers will begin proactive treatments and therapies, she said. Researchers will then watch the child's progress for the next two years. "The main therapies for SMA are for the children to maintain a healthy diet and receive respiratory therapy," Swoboda said. "Many children will sleep with a BiPAP mask to help maintain their breathing during the night." "These therapies will make a huge difference in the child's life," Swoboda said. "The survival rate increases dramatically, and more children are living longer." However, Swoboda said many children remain weak despite treatments. "There are five new drug therapies that will be coming into clinical trials sometime in the future," Swoboda said. "The next clinical trial will be a newborn pilot, which will test all newborn children for the disease. In doing so, the hope is they will be able to identify the problem early and begin treatment before the disease can progress." Swoboda said SMA can be a model for other genetic diseases, and if physicians detect the disease early, they can begin treatments to help as soon as the patient is affected. Proactive treatments are the future of medicine. Swoboda hopes that in io years there will be a test for diseases, such as Parkinson's, that would tell patients if they had the disease so they could begin treatment. "It is much harder to treat the cascading illness," Swoboda said. "Early identification would lead to proactive treatments." d.rafferty@ chronicle.utah.edu Spinal Muscular Atrophy 1 in 40 people carry the gene one child in 10,000 births will have the disease. There are three basic types of SMA. Type 1, affects 60 to 70 percent of children who carry it, Of the children affected by Type 1, 90 percent of them die in the first two years of life. Urban planners hope to reduce vehicle use Matthew Colson STAFF WRITER MORGAN MCELROY/The Daily Utah Chronicle New study aims to help urban planners design pedestrian-friendly communities and reduce vehicle use. A study to be released in the summer issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Planning Association seeks to provide planners and policymakers with data relating the effects of community design to automobile use. "The implications of the study cut across a lot of areas people care about: air quality, safety, physical activity," said Reid Ewing, professor of city and metropolitan planning and co-author of the article. The effect of built environments—streets, homes, businesses and other structures—is widely studied and a focus of many urban planners. Travel choices affect both the carbon footprint of a city and the health of its residents. The study attempts to bring together 15 years of individual research studies conducted throughout the country. The researchers performed a metaanalysis of more than 200 primary studies from which they compared, combined and calculated new statistics. The purpose of the study is "to quantify things planners have been advocating for 4o years," Ewing said. As a reaction to urban and suburban sprawl, planners have been advocating the moderation of high-density developments through a balance of workplaces and housing, interconnected streets, sidewalks and other methods of what they refer to as smart growth. "Urban sprawl creates a lot of vehicle miles traveled and air pollution, (which) leads to traffic accidents and physical inactivity," Ewing said. In the past, opponents of smart growth measures argued that the public and economic markets support the homogenous developments of suburban sprawl. However, "it may be easier to create smart growth than we imagined," Ewing said. "The more important variables are easy to sell to the public—like diversity and land-use mix." The study suggests that easy access to everyday destinations reduces automobile travel and encourages walking. "The majority of Americans want a walkable community," Ewing said. See VEHICLES Page A8 Malaria treatment improved Deborah Rafferty STAFF WRITER Researchers at the U, in collaboration with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, found that adding antioxidant therapy to traditional treatment for cerebral malaria can help prevent long-term cognitive impairment in mice, said Guy Zimmerman, professor and associate chair for the department of internal medicine. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and was published online June 24 in PLoS Pathogens. "It's a staggering burden," Zimmerman said of the cerebral malaria and the effects it has on society. "Malaria is a major global health issue (and it) is such a common disease worldwide." As many as 400 million people are affected by malaria across the world, with 2 million deaths from the disease each year, he said. FULL STORY ONLINE )) www.clailyutahchronicle.corn |