Word: bloodstream
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...prosecutors and state legislators have lost patience with what they regard as the softhearted and sometimes softheaded approach of social-service workers. Nineteen states now have laws that allow child-abuse charges to be pressed against any woman who gives birth to a child with illegal drugs in his bloodstream. In some cities local prosecutors have charged such mothers with a felony: delivering illegal drugs to a minor. The means of delivery: the umbilical cord. Floridian Jennifer Johnson, one of the first women convicted in such a case, was sentenced to mandatory drug treatment and 15 years of probation...
Within days after the viral burst, the researchers measured a rapid increase in the bloodstream of the number of anti-HIV antibodies. These Y-shaped bits of protein sought out the virus and targeted it for destruction. Once the antibody attack reached full scale in the seven test subjects, the level of HIV in the bloodstream dropped precipitously. In the majority of cases, the researchers could detect little or no virus two to three weeks later. "In other words, the normal immune system can shut down the AIDS virus," says Dr. Stephen Clark, who organized the study at the University...
Recent quitters frequently feel an almost uncontrollable urge to gorge on sugary, high-carbohydrate foods. This too is probably due to the powerful influence of nicotine. In smokers, the drug lowers the level of insulin in the bloodstream, which in turn decreases the craving for sweet-tasting food. Grunberg has shown in laboratory animals that removing nicotine causes insulin levels to rise, prompting greater consumption of sweets. This sweet-tooth effect is far more pronounced in female animals than in males, which may explain the difference found between the two sexes in the CDC study. But researchers are baffled...
Ingested or inhaled, lead enters the bloodstream, where it inhibits the production of hemoglobin, which red cells need to carry oxygen. It also locks on to essential enzymes in the brain and nervous system, inactivating them. Symptoms of lead poisoning include abdominal pains, muscular weakness and fatigue; severe exposure can cause nervous-system disorders, high blood pressure and even death...
Does an effective treatment for lead poisoning exist? Yes, provided it begins before too much damage is done. Doctors get the lead out with a process called chelation, using drugs that bind to the metal in the bloodstream, allowing it to be flushed out in the urine. The drug of choice has been calcium-disodium EDTA, but it is usually administered intravenously over several days in a hospital. The Food and Drug Administration has approved for + use in children an oral drug called DMSA, which does not require hospitalization. But effective as chelation is, doctors point out that medical treatment...