CHECKUP SLEEP APNEA LINKED TO BRAIN PROBLEMS, STUTTERING.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

UCLA scientists have discovered that patients suffering from the nighttime breathing disorder called sleep apnea show damage in brain areas that regulate breathing and speech. Researchers also found that 40 percent of these patients stuttered as children, suggesting that the disorder may be caused by faulty brain wiring early in life.

For decades, scientists attributed sleep apnea to a narrowing of the airway, caused by enlarged tonsils, a small jaw or excess fat in the throat. The MRIs of the brain structures in men diagnosed with sleep apnea showed dramatic tissue loss compared to men who did not suffer from the disorder. The amount of brain damage also correlated to the severity of the patient's disorder. People who suffer from sleep apnea often display other traits that suggest subtle brain damage, including problems with memory, thought and motor skills.

The speech impediments reported by nearly 40 percent of sleep apnea patients may provide an important diagnostic clue for assessing and treating sleep apnea, researchers said.

People with sleep apnea struggle to breathe during sleep. The loss of oxygen and constant struggle to breathe increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and other heart-related ailments. About 4 percent of Americans suffer from the disorder.

FOLIC ACID GOOD FOR HEART High blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine are a clear and present danger to the arteries, and lots of people should be taking folic acid to protect themselves, a British researcher says.

The warning is based on a survey of more than 100 studies on the association between homocysteine and cardiovascular disease by Dr. David Wald, a specialist registrar in cardiology at Southampton General Hospital. Those studies show that ``homocysteine is a cause of cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke,'' Wald says. It is a view that differs from that of the American Heart Association and other authorities who say that a cause-and-effect relationship between high homocysteine levels and heart risk has not yet been established.

CELL TALK: UCLA researchers have discovered a way to examine how cells communicate in live mice using a protein that makes fireflies glow and a device similar to a home video camera.

Communications between cells trigger the changes that regulate a healthy body. Disease can be caused when the signals go awry. The team's findings could speed development of new drugs for cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurological diseases.

The team, led by Dr. Sanjiv Gambhir, associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology, used an optical camera that converts light into electrons. They then placed luciferase, the protein that makes fireflies glow, into cells that were injected into the mouse. Every time two proteins communicated with each other, the luciferase was activated and produced brilliant flashes of light in the mouse.

In the past, researchers extracted individual cells from an animal and used a microscope to study how the cellular proteins communicated with each other. This new technique allows them to watch the cells communicate in their natural setting.

``Our technique enables us to listen in on multiple conversations in cells taking place deep within a living animal,'' Gambhir said.

PARTICIPANTS SOUGHT: UCLA is seeking women to participate in a study on premenstrual syndrome that will determine if those who suffer from PMS have different levels of progesterone metabolites in their blood or cerebral spinal fluid.

Researchers are looking for women between the ages of 18 and 40 who have PMS as well as those with no symptoms for the control group. Eligible participants should not be pregnant and should use a nonhormonal form of birth control, such as condoms, a diaphragm or IUD. Participants will keep a daily diary, have blood drawn several times and have two spinal taps performed.

Patients will not be responsible for the costs of the tests or the office visits and will receive $340 at the end of the study. For more information, call [phone].