VOLUME 53, ISSUE 10
MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2019
WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG
MEDICINE
PHOTOHONG TEASE OPINION: KONG POLICE GOESBRUTALITY HERE
School of Medicine Initiates Phage Study The treatment will target alcoholic liver disease with minimal side effects BY ZHOUying lin
CONTRIBUTING writer
Taking the data from the College Board’s 2015 Total Group Profile Report, there is a noticeable gap with average scores depending on the test taker’s race. Further analyzed by a report from the Brookings Institute, the data reinforces longtime concerns that Scholastic Aptitude Test scores reflect race inequality. As a result of this and
In a recent UC San Diego School of Medicine study, successful mice trials for a new treatment show promising results on the use of phage therapy to target alcoholic liver disease. The researchers have been conducting such trials since Spring 2017. Bacteriophages, or phages, are naturally present viruses that infect and “eat” bacteria. Unlike antibiotics, which also destroy bacteria in a “kill-themall” manner, phages target a particular kind of bacteria strain with minimal side effects. Since phages live on bacteria, the phage degrades when the host bacteria dies. Due to the high specificity of the target bacteria, phage therapy is still a limited application in practice, which makes it a field of massive study for researchers. At present, the most commonly used treatments for alcoholic liver disease include liver transplantation and corticosteroids, a hormone used to reduce liver inflammation. However, liver transplantation is not a readily available option as the national waitlist for a healthy liver is approximately 14,000 people long, and surgeries are offered at a select few medical centers. Likewise, corticosteroid treatment is not a guaranteed solution as the effects of the treatment vary among different individuals. Liver damage accumulates over years of alcoholism. Once severe symptoms begin to show, up to 90 percent of patients die within 90 days of a diagnosis of severe alcoholic liver disease, known as alcoholic hepatitis. With a focus on the relationship between liver disease and intestinal microorganisms, the Dr. Bernd Schnabl Lab at UCSD has identified and correlated bacterial infection with liver disease in their previous study. Yi Duan, a postdoctoral student in Schnabl’s lab group and the first author of the research paper, spoke to the UCSD Guardian about the correlation between liver damage and phage treatment. “Alcohol can directly damage liver cells, therefore typically the liver injury in those patients was considered to be caused mainly by alcohol, not by bacteria infections,” Duan said. “Because of this, phage treatment was not considered as a treatment for alcoholic liver disease before.”
See TEST, page 3
See PHAGE, page 3
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San Diego celebrates Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival by the sea // Photo by Hannah Rosenberg
RESEARCH
UCSD Researchers Evaluate Risks for Cannabidiol By SEPAND ROUZ
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CONTRIBUTING WRITER
he Center for Medical Cannabis Research at UC San Diego has been researching the risks and unclaimed benefits of using Cannabidiol, which is more commonly known as CBD. Recent findings from the CMBR have found a wave of interest regarding internet searches and unregulated tests regarding CBD oils. Since Proposition 215 passed in 1996, medical marijuana has been accessible to medicinal users without any penalties. Following 2016’s Proposition 64 that legalized marijuana for everyone in California, research regarding both medical and recreational use of the drug has been on the rise. Currently, the CMBR awarded five teams grants to research a variety of different uses for CBD oils, including to treat cases of arthritis, alcohol dependence, and the abuse of other substances. More studies are being planned by the CMBR to see the benefits of CBD oils in a controlled research environment. Igor Grant, the director of CMBR, has pushed towards more research opportunities regarding the benefits of CBD oils. “Within the medical community, there is a lot of interest in the role of medical cannabis and CBD,” Grant said. “There is a hope that it could be yet another useful agent in some of these conditions, which are difficult to treat or disabling.” Concern surrounding the benefits of CBD oils are starting to make the public interested in investing and trying out CBD oils at home for various illnesses. According to another UCSD study, CBD oils are being used to treat both alcohol dependence and physical pain illnesses
like arthritis. The Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health allows food to be sold with marijuana contents, which makes it easier for people to get access to CBD oils without a prescription. With more access to CBD oils, people are more interested in trying this method for various conditions. According to a study by UCSD, people are more willing to try out CBD oils and marking it as the “cure-all drug.” However, researchers at Harvard University state that there are health benefits to using CBD oils, but it is not by any means a cure-all drug. Even with this mixed information, there has been a massive increase in searches regarding the usage of CBD from 2017 to 2019. John W. Ayers, Vice Chief of Innovation in the Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health at UCSD, voices how the public has gotten more interested in researching CBD oils for medical purposes. “CBD has become insanely popular,” Ayers said. “Three years ago, there was essentially no one searching about CBD online, but now there are an estimated 6.4 million unique searches each month.” The main area of concern with CBD oil is that people are trying it in place of conventional medicine, with no indication if the oil is working. While CBD oils have benefits in treating seizures in children with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, when it comes to pain relief, CBD oils need to be tested further to see if it is a viable option. At this time, UCSD recommends not to try CBD as a replacement for medicine in cases that haven’t been tested in a clinical trial.
UC SYSTEM
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UC to Consider Changing SAT/ACT Requirement for Application
Lanlily Nguyen
The potential change will be considered once the UC task force finishes their assessment of standardized testing
Feminism PAGE 6
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BY andrew ha
Associate News Editor The University of California has created a task force to research the effectiveness of standardized tests to gauge prospective students’ academic ability. Requested by UC President Janet Napolitano in July 2018, the task force will release their recommendations sometime in the 2019-2020
school year. Over 900 universities throughout the country have already removed the standardized testing requirement and made the exams optional for prospective students to submit with their application. Many universities have dropped the requirement, citing that test scores often are skewed unfavorably towards low-income or minority students.