Remarkable Research Es/ZKED Ed
D / /E
,ĞĂǀLJ ƌĂŝŶĨĂůů ŝƐ ŵĂŶ͛Ɛ ŽǁŶ ĨĂƵůƚ
ďĞƌƌLJ Ă ĚĂLJ ŬĞĞƉƐ WĂƌŬŝŶƐŽŶ͛Ɛ ĂǁĂLJ
Feb. 16-‐ An increase in heavy rainfall is at least ƉĂƌƚůLJ Ă ĐŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶĐĞ ŽĨ ŚƵŵĂŶ ŝŶŇƵĞŶĐĞ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ĂƚŵŽƐƉŚĞƌĞ͕ ĐůŝŵĂƚĞ ƐĐŝĞŶƟƐƚƐ ƌĞƉŽƌƚ ŝŶ Ă new study. Using a newly designed computer pro-‐ ŐƌĂŵ͕ ƐĐŝĞŶƟƐƚƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƟŐĂƚĞĚ ǁŚĞƚŚĞƌ ƚŚĞ ƌĞ-‐ ĐĞŶƚ ǁŽƌůĚǁŝĚĞ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ ŽĨ ƉƌĞĐŝƉŝƚĂƟŽŶ ĐŽƵůĚ be explained by a natural variability in the at-‐ mosphere. The answer is no. According to the computer, the increase made sense only when ƚŚĞ ĞīĞĐƚƐ ŽĨ ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞ ŐĂƐĞƐ ƌĞůĞĂƐĞĚ ďLJ ŚƵŵĂŶ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ǁĞƌĞ ĨĂĐƚŽƌĞĚ ŝŶ͘ As became apparent in previous studies, the likelihood of extreme rain-‐ or snowfall on ĂŶLJ ŐŝǀĞŶ ĚĂLJ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ EŽƌƚŚĞƌŶ ŚĞŵŝƐƉŚĞƌĞ has increased by seven percent over the last 60 years. “What is most important about this study, is that this seven percent is well outside the bounds of natural variability,” notes researcher Francis Zwiers, who took part in the study. Although global war-‐ ŵŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ŚĞĂǀLJ ƉƌĞĐŝƉŝƚĂƟŽŶ seem to be correlated, we ŶĞĞĚ ƐƟůů ŶĞĞĚ ƚŽ ďĞ ĐĂƌĞĨƵů when drawing conclusions, ƐĂLJƐ ĐůŝŵĂƚĞ ƐĐŝĞŶƟƐƚ DLJůĞƐ ůůĞŶ͘ ͞ ĞĐĂƵƐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ĮŶĂŶ-‐ cial aspect, it’s suddenly going to be in everybody’s interest to ďĞ Ă ǀŝĐƟŵ ŽĨ ĐůŝŵĂƚĞ ĐŚĂŶŐĞ͘ tĞ Ƶƌ-‐ gently need to develop the science base ƚŚĂƚ ĐĂŶ ĚŝƐƟŶŐƵŝƐŚ ŐĞŶƵŝŶĞ ŝŵƉĂĐƚƐ ŽĨ Đůŝ-‐ ŵĂƚĞ ĐŚĂŶŐĞ ĨƌŽŵ ƵŶĨŽƌƚƵŶĂƚĞ ĐŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶĐĞƐ of bad weather.”
&Ğď͘ ϭϯ Ͷ EĞǁ ƌĞƐĞĂƌĐŚ ƐŚŽǁƐ ƚŚĂƚ ƉĞŽƉůĞ who regularly eat berries have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
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During the two-‐year study, 50 thousand wom-‐ en and 80 thousand men were asked to write ƵƉ ƚŚĞŝƌ ĨƌƵŝƚ ŝŶƚĂŬĞ͘ hƐŝŶŐ ƚŚŝƐ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ͕ ƐĐŝ-‐ ĞŶƟƐƚƐ ĐĂůĐƵůĂƚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŝŶƚĂŬĞ ĂŵŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ŇĂǀŽ-‐ noids, an important dietary component which can be found in berries, chocolate, citrus fruits and tea. The results were remarkable. Of all the male subjects who developed Parkinson’s disease during the two years of research, the top 20 ƉĞƌĐĞŶƚ ǁŚŽ ĐŽŶƐƵŵĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ŇĂǀŽŶŽŝĚƐ were about 40 percent less likely to develop ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶĚŝƟŽŶ ƚŚĂŶ ƚŚĞ ďŽƩŽŵ ϮϬ ƉĞƌĐĞŶƚ o f ƉĂƌƟĐŝƉĂŶƚƐ ǁŚŽ ĐŽŶƐƵŵĞĚ ƚŚĞ ůĞĂƐƚ ĂŵŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ŇĂǀŽŶŽŝĚƐ͘ ŵŽŶŐ ĨĞŵĂůĞ ƉĂƌƟĐŝ-‐ ƉĂŶƚƐ͕ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶƐƵŵƉƟŽŶ ŽĨ ŇĂǀŽŶĂŝĚƐ ǁĂƐ ŶŽƚ correlated with Parkin-‐ son’s disease. However, ǁŚĞŶ ƐƵďͲĐůĂƐƐĞƐ ŽĨ ŇĂ-‐ vonoids were examined, ƌĞŐƵůĂƌ ĐŽŶƐƵŵƉƟŽŶ ŽĨ anthocyanins, which are mainly obtained from ber-‐ ries, were found to be associat-‐ ed with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease in both men and women.