2004-7-5
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob
Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Sarah Long. First this week: saying goodbye to a young
voice against muscular dystrophy.
VOICE ONE:
Then, a related report on the scientific interest in a small
child with big muscles; he has earned the name "Superboy."
VOICE TWO:
And, learn how some American schools are trying to help students
control their weight.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Last week, in the American state of Maryland, more than a
thousand people attended the funeral of a local poet. The mourners
included former President Jimmy Carter. Oprah Winfrey of television
talk-show fame was also there; the poet had appeared on her show.
They all gathered to say goodbye to Mattie Stepanek. He was
thirteen years old. In his short life, he wrote five books of
poetry. Three became national best sellers. In all, his books have
sold more than one million copies.
VOICE TWO:
But Mattie Stepanek also became known for his work to support the
Muscular Dystrophy Association. This group looks for ways to cure
forty disorders. These all weaken the muscles that hold together the
bones of the body.
More than one million children are
affected in the United States alone. Mattie Stepanek was one of
them. He had a rare form of muscular dystrophy, called autonomic
mitochondrial myopathy. This genetic disorder made his muscles
extremely weak. It attacked his heart rate, breathing, blood
pressure and ability to process food.
He died on June twenty-second at Children's National Medical
Center in Washington, D.C.
The same disease that killed Mattie also killed all three of his
brothers. His mother, Jeni, has an adult form.
VOICE ONE:
Mattie Stepanek began to write poetry at age three, after one of
his brothers died. A small publishing company printed two-hundred
copies of his collected poems in two-thousand-one. The book was
called "Heartsongs." Before long, people across the country wanted
copies.
Mattie made public appearances and was in the media. But he spent
a lot of his time in hospitals. He used a wheelchair he named
"Slick." And he had to be connected to feeding and breathing
devices.
VOICE TWO:
We might think of his life as terribly sad, but Mattie did not
appear to. He told people that his purpose in life was to bring
peace to the world. And he got to meet another peacemaker, Jimmy
Carter. They wrote to each other for three years.
At the funeral last week, the former president called Mattie the
"most extraordinary person" he has ever known. A flag of the United
Nations covered the boy's coffin.
Mattie Stepanek also recorded his poems. Listen now as he reads
from one called "About Things that Matter."
(MUSIC)
"A person by my name and being existed With a strong spirit and
an eternal mindset To become a peacemaker for all By sharing the
things that really matter."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The same week that Mattie Stepanek died, there was news that
might offer some promise for people with muscular dystrophy.
Medical researchers reported on
the case of a healthy but unusual little boy in Germany. At birth,
he was not nearly as soft as most newborns. The medical team
immediately saw the big muscles on his body. But the doctors and
nurses were more concerned about his health. His arms and legs made
sudden movements that were not usual for a baby.
The team at Charite University Medical Center in Berlin called on
Markus Schuelke, a brain specialist who works with children. Doctor
Schuelke examined the baby. But tests did not show anything wrong
with the baby's brain.
The boy appeared perfectly healthy. And, within a few months, his
legs and arms moved normally. No one could explain the large and
well-developed muscles, however.
VOICE TWO:
Doctor Schuelke and several other scientists did blood tests on
the boy for the next four-and-a-half years. Se-Jin Lee was one of
the first researchers whom Doctor Schuelke asked about the case.
Doctor Lee teaches molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Several years
ago, he led a study of a protein that limits muscle growth. The
protein is called myostatin.
In that study, the researchers created a group of mice with
damaged myostatin genes. The mice developed two times the muscle
mass as a group of mice with normal genes. Other scientists later
proved that abnormal myostatin genes produce a kind of extra strong
cattle. These cows are called Belgian Blues.
Scientists involved in the study of myostatin developed a theory.
They thought a lack of the protein would affect humans in the same
way as other animals. But no scientist could prove it. Until now.
VOICE ONE:
Markus Schuelke, Se-Jin Lee and other doctors reported their
findings in the New England Journal of Medicine. They say the boy
from Germany is the first human found with such a case.
They say both copies of his myostatin gene, one from his mother
and one from his father, are abnormal. As a result the gene does not
produce myostatin. And the scientists say the little boy is very
strong. At four-and-a-half, he could hold two three-kilogram hand
weights with his arms extended out to his sides.
The scientists also tested the boy's mother. She had been a
professional athlete. They say she too appeared muscular, but not as
much as her son. The report says the doctors did not know who the
father was. But several members of the family were reported to be
unusually strong.
VOICE TWO:
Researchers at the drug company Wyeth also took part in the
study. Wyeth is testing a drug to block myostatin production. The
company hopes this might serve as a treatment for one kind of
muscular dystrophy.
The doctor will continue to study the so-called "Superboy." They
say he is healthy. And they say he seems like other kids his age --
in every way but one.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
We have talked a lot lately about the increasing numbers of
overweight people around the world. Today we are going talk just
about young people. In the United States, for example, the
government says almost one-third are overweight or close to it. That
is a national average. A recent study in Arkansas found that forty
percent of public school children there are overweight or obese --
severely overweight.
Being overweight increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes
and other problems.
VOICE TWO:
American health experts say most children these days do not get
enough physical activity, either in school or at home. But many
schools are trying to do something about the obesity problem.
In the northwest, schools in Spokane, Washington, have a fitness
and wellness program for all students. It starts early and continues
through high school. The program teaches children to exercise and
care for their health.
VOICE ONE:
On the other side of the country, education officials in Virginia
are considering several measures to improve student health. One is
to offer physical education classes daily to more students. Another
is to measure student health, then report the findings to the
parents, like in Arkansas.
That southern state has become the first in the country to
require yearly weight examinations for all schoolchildren. Parents
will receive yearly reports on their children's body-mass index.
This number shows weight in relation to height.
VOICE TWO:
In recent years, a lot of schools have added food and drink
machines to help raise money for education. But now schools are
under pressure to remove the machines or limit sales of unhealthy
foods.
Some schools have given students devices to measure how much they
walk each day. And a new private school is to open in September in
California. The Academy of the Sierras says its goal is to help
obese students lose weight and improve their health.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson and Caty
Weaver, who was also our producer. This is Bob Doughty.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more news
about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.