European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                La you health scientists pinpoint brain irregularities in addicts by Daniel Goleniak new York times radically new approach to fighting drug abuse is emerging from discoveries of brain irregularities that make certain people much quicker to become addicted than others and much harder to cure. For several years scientists have suspected that at least some drug addicts suffer imbalances in brain chemistry that make them vulnerable to depression anxiety or intense restlessness for such people addiction becomes a kind of self medication in which drugs Correct the chemical imbalance and bring a sort of Relief. Now researchers Are beginning to identify the particular imbalances associated with addictions to particular drugs like cocaine heroin or alcohol. Because scientists believe Many of these imbalances Are inherited they Are seeking to identify genetic markings and other evidence such As behavioural signs that indicate a person is vulnerable. Eventually scientists say this research will result in an entirely new strategy for fighting drug addiction Early identification of those most prone to a specific addiction and specific treatments to Correct the chemical imbalances implicated. A the new line of research is generating rising enthusiasm among Federal health officials in the United states the alcohol drug abuse and mental health administration increased its support for studies on the genetic and biological basis of alcoholism alone to $53.5 million in fiscal 1991, up from $41.7 million in 1989. Quot we already can Breed lab animals with these irregularities who selectively crave opiates or  said or. Frederick k. Goodwin administrator of the Agency. Quot there s a direct analog to humans Quot no one can yet say precisely what portion of addicts have the biological patterns Goodwin estimated that a third to half of those addicted to a Given drug May have genetic susceptibilities to it. The biological approach took a big step Forward in april when researchers reported the identification of a specific a Quot let Tita air jeep pathways to mental distress and feta and alcohol the  Gaba normally modulate an my m 0 brain. Intoxication strongly affect proof Kaaa controlled by areas Wei ngh concentration of Gaba receptor Todd dog motor coordination cerebellum information re Treaval hippocampus and cog Altiva proce be cerebral cortex. Aggression and a alcohol a Qimin a Iwig id a a Ujj a a j j  n a a Rodin in a  with Many Aff Acta on the my of a Tont and Oor Tav and of Mono Amine Oil data  which Helpa control Neurohr Nemmer. Soma audits also link these deficiencies to alcoholism. Amp i the drug Antum Brito amp Tonert a air at Mart my .  . Flow Kkt . At a Tener. To. Rage and opiates scientists suspect that depletion of opioid in tha brain la related to chronic anger and agitation. Drugs like heroin imitate these neurotransmitters and doctors suspect that Many addicts May be taking the drugs to curb aggression and control their out of control emotions. Some researchers think a receptor or a natural brain opiate is defective in addicts. Depression or extroversion and cocaine the exhilaration produced by cocaine Comet Nom excess amounts of dopamine. Between neurons. Some depressed. People with too Little dopamine May feel better when cocaine increases the Supply. Extroverts. Already stimulated by excess dopamine May seek to enhance the effect with drugs. Gene that May play a key role in some forms of alcoholism As Well As in other addictions. Of the alcoholics they studied 77 percent had the Gene. The discovery announced by the researchers at the University of Texas and the University of California at los Angeles is for a Gene linked to the receptors of dopamine a brain chemical involved in the sensation of pleasure. Such discoveries scientists say Herald biological. Markers that May one Day make possible Early identification of those most at risk of becoming addicted allowing More effective prevention or treatment. Quot my guiding Hypothesised that there Are specific neurotransmitter irregularities for each addiction Quot said or. Kenneth Blum director of the division of addictive diseases at the University of Texas health science Center in san Antonio one of those who discovered the Gene involved in alcoholism. Some conditions that Lead to addiction like depression can already be treated with medications. But some substances used to treat addicts like methadone Are themselves addictive. Scientists Are seeking to tailor new drugs that will co rect the imbalances without causing other addictions. However Many social scientists criticize the biological research saying it is wrong to focus Only on biology and ignore the social forces at play especially among the Urban poor. Quot i object to seeing the vulnerability in the persons themselves rather than in their poverty Quot said Robert Heads up on hair growth by Natalie Angier new York times in a discovery that turns the prevailing Wisdom about hair growth on its head researchers in the United states have found that the source of new hair cells lies not at the very base of the hair As scientists had Long assumed but further up the hair follicle just below the Scalp. The finding has significant implications for the study of hair loss hair regeneration and baldness. Researchers say that by understanding the origin and behaviour of the Parent cells that give Rise to new hair they can better treat hair problems and hair loss. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania school of Medicine and the new York University medical Center reported their work in the latest Issue of the journal cell. Quot this is an exciting Beautiful piece of work Quot said or. Karen a. Holbrook a professor and associate Dean of dermatology at the University of Washington school of Medicine. Quot it gives us a whole new Way of thinking about hair follicles. Its really going to change our Dogma Quot about hair growth. Scientists have Long known that hair shared with certain other tissues in the body like the blood skin and stomach lining the need for constant regeneration. That requirement meant that somewhere beneath every hair whether on the head or elsewhere there must be a Pool of immature cells called Stem cells ready to proliferate and form a new Shaft of hair. A hair is a connected strand of mature cells of which those sticking out from the skin Are already dead. But identifying Stem cells of any tissue Type is extremely difficult and so until recently scientists believed that the cells governing hair growth must lie within the hair bulb the shiny nodule seen at the Bottom of a hair when it in yanked out. One reason for their conviction is that the bulb is perched atop another vital component of hair growth called the hair bulge dermal Papilla where hair is born most  Stem cells that mature into hair cells Are found in the hair bulge not the bulb As once thought. Source University of Pennsylvania not dermal Papilla a tiny Knob of connective tissue and blood vessels that releases hormones and chemical signals to promote hair renewal. But in the latest experiments researchers devised sophisticated techniques to discriminate Between the Stem cells and other cel types. Applying the new approach they found that the Stem cells Are situated at a Jessor a sociologist at the University of Colorado. The greatest risk of drug abuse he Points out is among children who come from impoverished single Parent families in drug Ridden neighbourhoods with no Strong counterbalance from Church or school. Other objections Are Legal and ethical. Quot i d be very concerned about the Issue of consent Quot said Leonard Rubenstein director of the mental health Law project in Washington an advocacy group for the mentally ill. Quot even if the scientific evidence turns out to be Strong people have the right to refuse being tested or Given  he said he also worried that people would be denied insurance rejected for employment or otherwise stigmatized. Some backers of the new approach acknowledge these problems but say that Given the huge social costs of addiction the benefits outweigh the risks. They said biological vulnerabilities May help untangle the Puzzle of Why some people can Experiment with powerful drugs like cocaine and never become addicted while others become addicts almost overnight.  who Are biologically predisposed the first Dirik or dose of the drug is immensely reinforcing in a Way others just Don t experience it Quot said Ralph Tarter a psychologist at the Western psychiatric Institute and clinic in Pittsburgh. Quot Many recovering drug abusers Tell me the moment i took my first drug i Felt Normal for the first  it stabilizes them psychologically at least in the  Region fractions of a millimetre above the bulb a Long distance on the scale of a hair follicle. The cells Are sequestered in a Structure on the Side of the follicle known As the hair bulge. The investigators also determined that hair growth is More Complex than previously believed. To form a new hair the dermal Papilla releases a signal that cues the Stem cells in the bulge to Migrate toward the dermal Papilla. Those cells then chemically interact with the dermal Papilla an operation that promotes cel division and maturation. Eventually the new hair is pushed up and out into the world. In other words said or. Robert m. Lavker a professor of dermatology at University of Pennsylvania school of Medicine hair does not just grow up it grows Down and then up. Lavker believes that the findings will influence the quest for hair growth products. A people who now want to make products that would stimulate vigorous production of hair will now have a new area to look at a the bulge Quot he said. A if you have quiescent hair you la want to be Able to stimulate those cells that can produce All the lieutenant cells that will be going out to the front  i a Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes tuesday july 17, 1990