Dopamin : Menyibak tabir cinta dan perilaku manusia

Bayangkan, anda memasuki ruangan dokter sambil membawa kartu cerdas berisi seluruh informasi genetik tubuh anda yang telah dikode dan diamankan dengan nomor PIN seperti anda membuka ATM. Dengan melihat data-data informasi genetik anda yang unik, dokter dapat menentukan obat yang tepat dalam dosis yang akurat secara efisien sesuai dengan kondisi anda tanpa khawatir akan terjadinya ADR (Adverse Drug Reaction), efek samping maupun ketidaktepatan pemilihan obat. Keadaan tersebut merupakan impian para ilmuwan yang bergerak di bidang farmakogenetik, suatu ilmu yang menghantarkan manusia pada "pengobatan individual/pengobatan butik" berdasarkan pemetaan lengkap seluruh gen yang dimiliki tubuh manusia. Para ilmuwan di bidang biologi molekuler yang tergabung dalam Human Genome Project (HGP) telah mengumumkan hasil sekuensing sekitar 100.000 gen manusia tertanggal 26 juni 2000. Farmakogenomik mencari korelasi yang belum terungkap antara pola-pola genom dengan manifestasi klinis. Sebuah korelasi yang jika terungkap akan dapat memberikan kemudahan bagi para dokter dan ahli farmasi untuk membuat keputusan yang tepat, rasional serta menurunkan angka probabilitas kesalahan pemberian obat, kesalahan dosis, maupun resiko efek samping karena penggunaan metode trial-and-error.

Tak ingin jauh berbeda dari impian para pharmacogenomist, para neuroscientist yang meneliti dopamin -zat kimia otak yang secara alami disintesis terutama dalam jaringan saraf dan kelenjar adrenal- semakin gencar menelusuri mekanisme dan jalur-jalur biokimia yang terkait dengan si penghantar signal antar saraf sekaligus neurohormon itu. Sebagai neurotransmitter, dopamin menghantarkan pesan dari satu sel saraf ke sel saraf yang lain sedangkan sebagai neurohormon, dopamin bekerja menghambat pelepasan prolaktin dari lobus interior pituitary.

Para neurophysiologist, computer scientist, psychologist dan economist yang berkolaborasi dalam studi interdisiplin di jurnal Nature vol. 9, Agustus 2006, mengemukakan hipotesa mengenai sel saraf dopamin otak tengah sebagai pengkode dalam menentukan pengambilan keputusan. Menggunakan monyet macaque (Macaca fasicularis) sebagai binatang percobaan, G. Morris et al. melaporkan analisis hasil penelitian mereka yang menunjukkan bahwa sel saraf dopamin dalam perilaku primata membawa sinyal yang berguna untuk mempelajari kemungkinan reward dan probabilitas pengambilan keputusan atas adanya reward tersebut. Lebih lanjut dikatakan bahwa sel saraf dopamin mengkode aksi yang akan dilakukan ketika suatu reward diberikan. Peran utama dopamin sebagai pusat reward reinforcement dan motivasi perilaku adalah daya pikat utama molekul ini sehingga membuat para ilmuwan tertarik untuk bergabung dalam studi interdisiplin untuk mempelajari lebih dalam mengenai jalur-jalur dopamin.

Secara sederhana, reward adalah segala sesuatu dimana makhluk hidup akan berusaha melakukan kerja untuk mendapatkannya. Contohnya: makanan dan seks. Fenomenanya dinamakan brain stimulation reward (BSR). Hal yang menarik dalam eksperimen BSR ialah bahwa reward itu sendiri tidak akan memberikan rasa kepuasan. Penelitian BSR digalakkan untuk menghantarkan pemahaman mengenai bagaimana otak secara keseluruhan mengatur dirinya sendiri untuk membentuk sebuah perilaku. Terkait dengan ini, sel saraf dopamin akan diaktivasi ketika suatu rangsangan reward muncul. Dopamin dipercaya oleh para ilmuwan sebagai zat kimia yang ikut bertanggung jawab menentukan perilaku pengambilan keputusan oleh otak. Ketika suatu rangsangan reward yang sama muncul kembali, ada sebuah keterulangan perilaku untuk merespon. Hal ini menyebabkan penelitian dopamin dianggap sebagai salah satu kunci dalam mengungkapkan proses learning and memory. Dapat anda bayangkan, bahwa sesungguhnya sebuah keinginan, sebuah pemikiran, bahkan sebuah perilaku, dapat ditebak dan dipetakan dengan mempelajari rangkaian molekul-molekul dalam otak.

Menelusuri fungsi dopamin selanjutnya, molekul ini berperan dalam banyak perilaku manusia dalam kehidupan. Mulai dari kecanduan, psikosis, kegelisahan, perubahan mood sampai perilaku abnormal akibat ketidakseimbangan kadar dopamin dalam otak.

Cinta dan Dopamin

Jika anda jatuh cinta, maka rasa `pleasure feelings` yang anda rasakan adalah peran dopamin. Bersama dengan meningkatnya kadar adrenalin yang mempercepat denyut jantung, serta rendahnya kadar serotonin yang menyebabkan rasa obsesif (kepemilikan), dopamin memberikan efek membahagiakan, meningkatan energi, menurunkan nafsu makan, dan mengurangi konsentrasi.

Kolaborasi anthropologist, physiologist dan neuroscientist dalam The Journal of Comparative Neurology vol. 493 Oktober 2005 melaporkan hasil riset mereka menggunakan functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) untuk memperhatikan otak 17 orang wanita dan pria saat mereka sedang memperhatikan foto lawan jenis yang disukainya. Data hasil scan menunjukkan bahwa adanya peningkatan aliran darah dalam otak serta adanya peningkatan kadar reseptor dopamin dalam area caudate nucleus dan ventral tegmental area (VTA) sebelah kanan. Menurut Dr. Helen Fisher dari Rutgers University dalam jurnal yang sama mengatakan bahwa apa yang nampak dalam alat scan tersebut adalah suatu keinginan biologis untuk fokus terhadap satu objek. Tingginya kadar dopamin diasosiasikan dengan meningkatnya perhatian, hiperaktivitas, keresahan dan perilaku goal-oriented. Dengan kata lain, seseorang yang berada dalam situasi ini akan terfokus kepada pasangannya dan kurang perhatian terhadap hal yang lainnya.

Dalam jangka waktu tertentu setelah hubungan intens/aktivitas seksual, oksitosin dan vasopressin akan mempengaruhi jalur-jalur dopamin dan adrenalin, sehingga menyebabkan kadar kedua molekul ini menurun. Mekanisme ini dipercaya menyebabkan `pleasure feelings` memudar setelah beberapa lama hubungan intens atau terjadinya aktivitas seksual. Sebuah tim kolaborasi ilmuwan dari Universitas Pisa di Italia menyebutkan bahwa, studi menunjukkan `pleasure feelings` dan `passionate` akan memudar dan hampir-hampir hilang setidak-tidaknya 2 tahun setelah hubungan intens antar pasangan terjadi. Perubahan kadar `kimia cinta` berupa dopamin, adrenalin, norepinephrin, dan phenylethylamin adalah penyebabnya sehingga suatu reward akan lebih ditanggapi secara rasional daripada mengandalkan aktifitas hormonal.

Candu dan Dopamin

Love 'as addictive as cocaine` begitu komentar para neuroscientist yang memang bisa dibuktikan oleh mekanisme molekuler. Diatas telah disebutkan bahwa `pleasure feelings` saat jatuh cinta merupakan ulah dopamin. Begitu pula mekanisme kecanduan yang diberitakan oleh Eric J. Nestler dalam Jurnal Nature Neuroscience oktober 2005. Mekanisme kecanduan terkait erat dengan jalur mesolimbic dopamin yang meliputi dopaminergic sel saraf di VTA serta daerah limbic forebrain, terutama nucleus accumbens (NAc). Jalur VTA-NAc ini adalah jalur terpenting dalam efek akut sistem reward dalam semua jenis adiksi obat. Beberapa jenis obat dan senyawa yang menyebabkan adiksi diantaranya ialah amfetamin, kokain, opiat, alkohol dan nikotin. Senyawa seperti kokain misalnya, dapat menyebabkan beberapa ribu kali peningkatan kadar dopamin dalam otak. Hal ini akan menyebabkan kecanduan dan perasaan ingin mendapatkan `pengalaman rasa` yang sama. Gangguan pada ketersediaan dopamin maupun jumlah reseptor dopamin akan dapat menyebabkan abnormalitas perilaku dan aktifitas gerak.

Beberapa area otak yang terkait dengan jalur VTA-NAc juga essensial dalam mekanisme reward dan perubahan reward secara kronik dalam kaitannya dengan adiksi. Area yang dimaksud adalah amygdala, hippocampus, hipotalamus, dan beberapa wilayah di korteks frontal. Beberapa area ini adalah bagian penting dari sistem penyimpanan memori di otak. Hal ini menghantarkan kepada pemahaman bahwa aspek-aspek penting dalam mekanisme adiksi sangat terkait dengan memori.

Selanjutnya ada suatu indikasi bahwa jalur VTA-NAc dan beberapa wilayah sistem limbik tersebut juga memediasi efek `natural addiction` terhadap `natural rewards` seperti makanan, seks dan interaksi sosial. Dalam jurnal Molecular Psychiatry, Volkow, N. D et al. melaporkan bahwa ditemukannya abnormalitas yang serupa dari hasil scan penampakan otak untuk kecanduan obat dan kecanduan alamiah (natural addiction). Meskipun demikian, penelitian lebih lanjut untuk mekanisme kecanduan alamiah ini masih perlu dilakukan, mengingat banyaknya faktor yang mempengaruhi dan heterogennya sindrom klinik yang muncul.

Eisch, A.J. dalam Progress in Brain Research melaporkan bahwa setelah pemakaian secara kronik, beberapa obat yang memiliki efek candu berkecenderungan untuk mengurangi neurogenesis (pembentukan sel saraf baru) di otak daerah dentate gyrus hippocampus orang dewasa. Sampai saat ini fungsi neurogenesis hippocampal orang dewasa merupakan subjek yang masih sangat kontroversial. Pembentukan sebuah sel saraf baru dipercaya merupakan hal yang esensial dalam pembentukan sebuah memori baru. Penemuan selanjutnya untuk memperkuat bukti bahwa penggunaan obat-obat tertentu secara kronik dapat mereduksi neurogenesis masih dinantikan. Penemuan tersebut akan berguna untuk menjawab pertanyaan mengenai mekanisme abnormalitas perilaku yang menyimpang dan ingatan yang berkurang dari banyak kasus kecanduan.

Candy dan dopamin

Jika anda menginginkan sebuah permen yang pernah anda rasakan sebelumnya, reward yang ditimbulkan ketika anda ingin merasakan nikmatnya pengalaman mengunyah permen tersebut juga adalah peran dopamin. Ketika manusia lapar dan melihat makanan, sel-sel dopamin akan teraktivasi. Kalau anda memakan makanan yang sangat lezat dan pada waktu yang lain anda melihatnya kembali, sel-sel dopamin anda akan teraktivasi hingga mengumpul dan menjenuh. Riset selanjutnya dalam kaitan antara dopamin dan makanan dilaporkan oleh Volkow.N et al. dari Brookhaven National Laboratory yang membawa kemungkinan baru dalam strategi pengobatan obesitas/ kegemukan. Ditemukan adanya abnormalitas kadar reseptor dopamin dalam otak orang-orang yang kegemukan. Dengan menggunakan PET (Positron Emission Topography) dan senyawa radioaktif, dilakukan pengukuran kadar reseptor dopamin dalam otak 10 orang pasien obesitas dan 10 orang dengan berat normal. Hasilnya menunjukkan kadar reseptor dopamin yang lebih rendah pada pasien obesitas dibandingkan dengan orang normal. Gene-Jack Wang dari laboratorium yang sama mengemukakan bahwa cara memperbaiki kembali fungsi dopamin dimungkinkan sebagai salah satu strategi dalam pengobatan pasien obesitas.

Crazy dan Dopamin

Ingatkah anda pada kegilaan nobelis DR. John Nash dengan tokoh halusinasinya yang di abadikan dalam film `Beautiful mind`? Pada pasien schizophrenia, kadar dopamin meningkat berlebihan, sehingga menyebabkan otak berhalusinasi. Schizophrenia adalah gangguan jiwa psikotik paling lazim dengan ciri hilangnya perasaan afektif atau respons emosional dan menarik diri dari hubungan antarpribadi normal. Sering kali diikuti dengan delusi (keyakinan yang salah) dan halusinasi (persepsi tanpa ada rangsang pancaindra). Psikiater asal Scandinavia, Dr. John Carlson, menyebutkan bahwa banyak ilmuwan top dunia dalam sejarah ternyata mengidap Schizophrenia. Riset di laboratorium dengan menggunakan aneka macam tehnik kedokteran nuklir diantaranya pemakaian radioisotop untuk menentukan bagian-bagian pada otak yang berkaitan dengan schizophrenia semakin digalakkan. Riset dipusatkan pada penelusuran mekanisme dan daya kemampuan otak untuk menimbulkan dopamin. Menurut dugaan, abnormalitas pada schizophrenia terjadi dalam bentuk rantai panjang serta komplek yang dimulai dengan perubahan pirosin menjadi dopa, dopa menjadi dopamin, dan dopamin menjadi noradrenalin. Masing-masing mata rantai ini terjalin menggunakan enzim yang spesifik. Ketika adanya gangguan saat proses konversi kritis ini berlangsung, maka memungkinkan terbentuknya ketidakseimbangan kadar dopamine sehingga menimbulkan gangguan perilaku dan mental.

Lain halnya dengan Parkinson, kadar dopamin pada pasien yang menderita penyakit ini menurun berlebihan, sehingga menyebabkan otot motorik kehilangan fungsi normalnya. Gejala yang ditimbulkan akan berupa tremor/dyskinesia (distorsi dalam menjalankan otot volunter). Arvid Carlsson, ilmuwan asal Swedia, adalah orang yang mengarahkan pemahaman mengenai dopamin dan penyakit parkinson. Ia membuktikan bahwa di dalam daerah ganglia basalis otak manusia terdapat kadar yang tinggi dopamin. Sebelumnya, para ilmuwan masih meyakini bahwa dopamin hanyalah suatu prekursor bagi neurotransmitter noradrenalin. Carlsson berhasil mematahkan anggapan ini, karena ia menemukan bahwa dopamin terkonsentrasi di daerah otak yang lain dari tempat noradrenalin, sehingga ia berkesimpulan, dopamin adalah neurotransmitter tersendiri yang terpisah dari noradrenalin. Atas penemuannya ini, ia dianugrahi nobel di bidang kedokteran tahun 2000.

Riset Carlsson mengenai dopamin meningkatkan pemahaman mengenai obat-obat Parkinson dan beberapa obat lain. Ia berhasil menunjukkan obat-obat antipsikotik yang banyak dipakai untuk mengobati pasien skizofrenia, mempengaruhi transmisi sinaptik dengan memblok reseptor-reseptor dopamin. Temuan Carlsson juga memiliki makna penting bagi pengobatan depresi, salah satu penyakit kejiwaan yang paling banyak dialami manusia. Ia berkontribusi bagi pengembangan obat-obat antidepresi generasi baru, yaitu kelompok SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) seperti Prozac (flouxetine) yang sempat terlaris di Amerika (pada awal tahun 1990-an mencapai omzet 1 milyar dollar AS, walaupun kemudian popularitasnya mulai menurun karena diperdebatkan sebagai "kapsul kepribadian", yang membuat pasien yang meminumnya seolah-olah mengalami perubahan kepribadian).

Selain Schizophrenia dan Parkinson, ketidakseimbangan kadar dopamin dalam otak juga diduga mempunyai korelasi dengan penyakit Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) dan autisme, dimana keduanya memberikan gejala abnormalitas pada perilaku pasien.

Memoriku Dopaminku

Bagaimana seorang pelukis handal dapat melukis wajah seorang gadis memikat hati yang lama tak ditemuinya atau bagaimana seorang penulis merincikan kembali pemandangan gunung Fuji dengan sentuhan emosi dan cuaca saat itu. Kedua kejadian tersebut berkaitan erat dengan sistem reward dan memori.

Menulis seperti halnya melukis, dimana keduanya menaburkan ingatan-ingatan akan kata maupun bentuk rupa. Ketika anda melukis, anda menggunakan banyak area di otak bagian belakang tempat korteks visual dimana suatu gambar dibentuk. Baik dengan kuas maupun pena, imagi-imagi akan keluar dari lokus-lokus memori.

Suatu memori mengkorelasikan anda tidak hanya kepada bentuk gambar masa lalu, namun juga bentuk emosi masa lalu. Riset-riset untuk mengungkap misteri penyimpanan memori menjadi topik bahasan yang menarik untuk para ilmuwan. Perlombaan mengkorelasikan kimia otak seperti dopamin, noradrenalin, ratusan enzim dan ribuan gen-gen pengkode menjadi tema-tema di laboratorium neuroscience tersebar di berbagai negara.

Pengungkapan tabir mekanisme dopamin bermanfaat untuk strategi penanggulangan penyakit yang disebabkan oleh abnormalitas dopamin. Disamping berperan penting untuk mengenali wilayah abu-abu misteri proses daya ingat, penyimpanan memori, penentuan sebuah keputusan hingga membentuk suatu kebiasaan perilaku.

Andaikata mekanisme jalur-jalur dopamin dalam otak manusia terungkap transparan, bukan tidak mungkin suatu saat nanti akan ada pasien meminta dokter untuk memberikan resep meningkatkan `pleasure feelings` setelah 3-4 tahun usia pernikahan, dimana kadar `love chemistry` saat itu telah menurun. Di lain sisi, bisa jadi masyarakat membutuhkan parameter tambahan berupa pengukuran kadar dopamin sebagai salah satu syarat kandidat presiden. Para pengusaha mempunyai cara yang lebih mudah untuk meningkatkan kinerja para anak buahnya dalam mengambil keputusan, para psikolog harus berfikir lebih keras untuk menjadi lebih cerdas menanggulangi berbagai masalah baru dalam perilaku manusia, dan para sastrawan akan sibuk merekonstruksi kembali definisi dan makna cinta.

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Alzheimer's Disease

What is Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disorder that slowly kills nerve cells in the brain. First identified in 1907 by the German physician Alois Alzheimer, the illness afflicts some 4 million Americans today. At least one in 20 adults aged 65 and older suffers from the disease; one study found that some 47 percent of those over age 85 have Alzheimer's disease.

Symptoms
At first, people suffering from Alzheimer's disease develop almost imperceptible personality changes and memory loss. They seem more easily tired, upset, or anxious. Their memory loss differs from normal age-related memory problems (see chart A). They can't cope well with change: they can follow familiar routes but traveling to a new place confuses them and they easily become lost. They grope for the words they want in conversation. Often, they try to cover up their memory lapses by denying forgetfulness or by blaming it on events or people.

Later, memory losses worsen, and Alzheimer's patients may repeatedly ask the same questions. They can't make good decisions but may become angry when family members try to help with such accustomed tasks as balancing the checkbook or filling out tax forms. Driving becomes more dangerous, because they can't react quickly or appropriately to traffic dangers, and the freedom to operate a motor vehicle may become a thing of the past. At this stage, people with Alzheimer's disease begin to forget the names of longtime friends. Social life becomes more difficult, and they may become more isolated.

In the early stages of their illness, people with Alzheimer's disease are particularly susceptible to depression. Their condition may also be aggravated by reactions to medications or an unsuitable living environment, and the erosion of their intimate relationships may increase their suffering.

Dementia-a syndrome characterized by deterioration of reasoning, judgment and impulse control as well as changes in memory and personality-becomes more apparent in the next stage. A number of illnesses may cause dementia, but among older people Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause. People afflicted with dementia lose the ability to read words or music. They can no longer identify the date or season. As they lose recent memory, they seem to lose entire blocks of time, forgetting, for instance, who the current president is. Emotional problems may become more severe as the person with Alzheimer's disease tries to make sense of failing reality. They may have long crying spells, become increasingly agitated, anxious, suspicious, and develop paranoid notions about things being stolen or hidden, or about their food being poisoned. Their sleep may be disrupted, and they may wander at night.

In later stages, people with Alzheimer's begin to lose physical coordination and need help with dressing and bathing. More and more often, they can't identify their family and friends, though they may still smile, laugh and enjoy company. Physical impairments can increase until walking is impossible. Eventually, the Alzheimer's patient completely loses touch with reality, and requires constant care.

Reversible Dementias

Anyone who suspects a loved one may be suffering from Alzheimer's disease should not jump to conclusions too quickly. Many other illnesses mimic Alzheimer's disease. Physicians must rule out these treatable conditions before diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. They include:

• Depression
• Reactions to medications or to drug interactions with other medicines
• Chemical imbalances, caused by poor nutrition or illnesses such as pernicious anemia (vitamin B12 deficiency), diabetes, an imbalance of sodium or calcium, or decreased or increased thyroid levels
• Heart and lung problems that deprive the brain of adequate amounts of nutrition or oxygen

Head injury from falls; exposure to environmental pollutants such as lead, mercury, carbon monoxide, some pesticides and industrial pollutants; chronic alcoholism, or illnesses such as meningitis. Dementias arising from many of these causes may be as irreversible as Alzheimer's disease.

Not all true dementias are caused by Alzheimer's disease. Brain damage caused by impaired circulation-called multi-infarct dementia-causes between 12 and 20 percent of dementia in older people. Other conditions, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also cause progressive dementia.

Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease

Research on Alzheimer's disease has established that all people with the disease develop characteristic microscopic changes in the brain, called "plaques" and "neurofibrillary tangles" which develop as brain cells die. The ultimate reason for the premature death of brain cells isn't yet known. However, because plaques or tangles develop deep within the brain, doctors don't normally test for them. As a result, physicians must carefully review a person's symptoms and take a thorough medical history. Psychiatrists and other physicians will only diagnose probable Alzheimer's disease after a thorough medical, psychiatric and neurological evaluation has ruled out other conditions that mimic the disease. At the best established medical centers with Alzheimer's disease specialty programs, clinical diagnosis can be quite accurate-90 percent or better.

Research Looks for Causes

The tangles and plaques of Alzheimer's disease appear inside the nerve cells in large numbers in parts of the brain that regulate thinking, learning, sleep, and memory. When magnified, these tangles look like pairs of filaments that have been twisted around each other. The plaques are made of a protein called amyloid which is surrounded by what appear to be debris from dying cells.

Psychiatric researchers have focused on amyloid in plaques because this protein has been associated with several other diseases such as tuberculosis, Hodgkin's disease and cancer. Some researchers think amyloid regulates growth in nerve cells and could be part of the cells' attempts to defend themselves. Others have found that abnormal proteins associated with amyloid are toxic to nerve cells. They think amyloid may contribute to brain cells' death. Finally, researchers have found amyloid in the skin and intestines of some Alzheimer's disease patients, but not in healthy people, leading some doctors to hope they may some day diagnose Alzheimer's disease by detecting amyloid in other parts of the body.

Other studies also have focused on imbalances in calcium. If Alzheimer's disease changes the calcium regulatory system, it may cause too much calcium to build up in brain cells and, eventually, kill them. Also, the presence of abnormally high concentrations of aluminum in the brain tissues of some with Alzheimer's disease has led some researchers to investigate a possible link. Researchers speculated that aluminum-ingested along with food and drinks stored in aluminum cans-might be causing or aggravating the illness. Research has suggested, however, that if there is any connection, it probably stems from Alzheimer's disease making brain tissues more permeable to aluminum, rather than from aluminum causing the illness.

Still other studies have found imbalances of certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. People suffering from Alzheimer's disease have low levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which are critical to the proper functioning of memory, thoughts and other higher intellectual functions. Alzheimer's patients also have low levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter that regulates aggression, mood and sleep. Scientists think a serotonin imbalance could contribute to the sleep disturbances, mood changes and aggressive behavior that appear in some Alzheimer's patients.

Finally, researchers have found that some Alzheimer's disease victims have low levels of norepinepherine in their brains. Deficiencies in this neurotransmitter can contribute to anxiety, depression, excessive sleepiness, and difficulty in focusing attention.

Treatments May Be on the Horizon

What do these findings mean? Some have guided studies to develop medicines that alleviate symptoms of Alzheimer's disease by bringing acetylcholine, serotonin or norepinepherine back into balance.

Scientists have seen mixed results in medications' ability to halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Some increase the amount of acetylcholine in the brain, but offer only modest improvements in mental alertness and memory. Others keep existing acetylcholine from degenerating, improve visual and verbal memory and help certain types of learning.

More recently, researchers have learned that a chemical known as Alcar (acetyl-l-carnitine) imitates the action of acetylcholine in rats and seems to slow the death rate among nerve cells. While it is too early to tell if this avenue of research will lead to a treatment, Alcar studies are continuing in the U.S. to learn whether it can reduce Alzheimer's symptoms.

Coping: A Team Approach Works Best

Even though scientists don't fully understand how Alzheimer's disease begins and what causes its symptoms, patients and their loved ones can do much to cope with the illness and its effects.

Choosing Your Physician
One of the most important steps is finding a qualified physician. Older people have special health needs, so family members should seek medical care from a physician who understands and has expertise in the health of the elderly. The doctor may be a primary care physician, a neurologist or a psychiatrist who has an interest in geriatrics.

A psychiatrist is often the first choice when Alzheimer's disease begins with its prominent changes in personality, mood, or behavior. As a medical doctor with specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional illness, a psychiatrist also knows how to identify physical ailments that may require attention from other physicians. A psychiatrist can also identify and treat major depression, an illness that is common among Alzheimer's victims and their families (see Chart B). If unrecognized and untreated, depression can mimic or intensify other problems. A psychiatrist can modify treatment to meet each individual's needs.

In addition, psychiatrists have expertise in prescribing and monitoring psychiatric medications that help manage the behaviors that can develop from Alzheimer's disease. The prescription written by the psychiatrist or other physician is designed to control symptoms without causing unnecessary side effects. Families should make sure they understand why these medications are prescribed and which side effects to watch for and report.

Symptoms of Depression That Can Mimic or Complicate Alzheimer's Disease:

• Unexplained weakness or fatigue
  • dizzy spells
  • low energy
• Stomach aches
  • indigestion
  • constipation
  • urinary disturbances
• Change in eating habits
  • appetite and weight
• Sleeping disturbances
• Slowed or more agitated movement
• Slowed speech
  • softened lowered or monotone voice
  • incomplete responses
• Feelings of tension
  • anxiety
  • irritability
• Loss of initiative
  • inability to enjoy activities once enjoyed
• Indecisiveness
  • apathy
  • boredom
  • indifference
• Poor attention and concentration
• Tendency to cry and become upset over minor issues and events
  • low self-esteem
  • feelings of worthlessness
  • hopelessness
  • helplessness
  • inappropriate guilt
• Thoughts of suicide

Check-List of Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms

• Loss of short term memory occurs: person can't learn new information
• Loss of long-term memory occurs: person can't remember personal information such as birthplace or occupation
• Judgment is impaired
• Aphasia develops: patient can't recall words or understand the meaning of common words
• Apraxia develops: patient loses control over muscles and can't, for example, button shirts or operate zippers
• Patients lose spatial abilities and can't assemble blocks, arrange sticks in a certain order or copy a three-dimensional figure
• Personality changes: patient may become unusually angry, irritable, quiet, confused

Presence of any or all of these symptoms is not a sure indicator of Alzheimer's disease; only a complete examination by a psychiatrist or other physician can confirm the diagnosis.

Counseling and Support Are Vital
Psychiatric medications should not be the only treatment. Both patients and loved ones may need the help of support groups and counseling.

By taking advantage of group support, education and-if needed-psychotherapy, patients and loved ones can prepare themselves for the disease and its progression. They can learn ways to manage the emotional and behavioral changes that accompany this disease. For example, they can learn to alleviate negative behavior by responding to the underlying causes, such as fear or low self-esteem. They can also identify and cope better with feelings of loss and grief related to permanent changes in a loved one's function and personality.

A person suffering from Alzheimer's disease and his or her family or friends should not feel they must cope with this illness alone. Numerous organizations across the country provide friendship, support, and fellowship. Community resources can help patient and family as they struggle with the emotional and behavioral roller coaster, the medical and social service maze, and the legal and financial intricacies that accompany Alzheimer's disease.

With proper diagnosis and intervention, Alzheimer's disease patients and their loved ones can help prolong the time during which people with Alzheimer's can enjoy productive, fulfilling lives. With a solid understanding of the illness, the patients and their loved ones can cope more effectively with the symptoms and avoid some of the complications that may come with the disease's later stages.

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Short RNA Strand Helps exposed Skin Cells Protect Body from Bacteria, Dehydration and even Cancer

Every minute, 30,000 of our outermost skin cells die so that we can live. When they do, new cells migrate from the inner layer of the skin to the surface of it, where they form a tough protective barrier. In a series of elegant experiments in mice, researchers at Rockefeller University have now discovered a tiny RNA molecule that helps create this barrier. The results not only yield new insight into how skin first evolved, but also suggest how healthy cells can turn cancerous.

Hundreds of these tiny RNA molecules, called microRNAs, are expressed in skin, "But there was something curious about one in particular, microRNA-203," says Rui Yi, a postdoc who works with Elaine Fuchs, head of the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development. "As an embryo develops, the expression of microRNA-203 jumps very quickly over just two days. From being barely detectable at day 13, this microRNA becomes the most abundant expressed in skin," says Yi, whose work will be published as an advance online publication in Nature March 2. MicroRNAs, which were discovered in mammals in 2001, regulate genes outside of the cell's nucleus.

Yi and Fuchs, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor at Rockefeller, found that during the 13th day of development, mouse skin is primarily composed of undifferentiated stem cells. Two days later, these stem cells exit the inner layer of the skin and begin to differentiate into cells that form the outermost, protective layer. MicroRNA-203's expression skyrockets precisely during this period, suggesting that it plays some key role in the barrier's development.

In order to figure out its role, Yi and Fuchs needed to pinpoint exactly where microRNA-203 is expressed. Other microRNAs have been found to be specific to heart and muscle tissues; some exist almost exclusively in the brain. However, this microRNA was found only in very specific types of skin -- stratified epithelial tissues, to be exact -- and only in this skin type's outer layers. What's more, this expression pattern is identical to that found in humans, zebrafish, chickens and the like -- in other words, vertebrates that evolved more than 400 million years apart.

"If it has been expressed in this very specific tissue for a long time and across several species, it means that it probably plays an important role there," says Yi. To find out its function, Yi, in one set of experiments, used a genetic technique to precociously express microRNA in the inner layer of the skin, where stem cells proliferate at a fast clip. In a second set of experiments, he blocked microRNA-203 from functioning in the outer layer using an antagomir, a molecule that binds directly to microRNA-203 and shuts down its ability to carry out its function.

In the first set, he found that the stem cells proliferated significantly less than they did when microRNA-203 wasn't expressed, and, as a result, the mice formed very thin skin -- hardly a protective layer at all. The stem cells, the researchers saw, lost their ability to proliferate not because microRNA-203 killed them off but because it suppressed the activity of a molecule called p63, whose job is to keep cells, primarily stem cells, proliferating. In the second set of experiments, Yi found that the cells in the outer layer proliferated significantly more than they did when microRNA-203 was expressed. The reason: because microRNA-203 wasn't available to shut down p63's busy work.

"We found that microRNA-203 acts to stop the translation of the p63 protein," says Fuchs. "The result is a swift transition from proliferating stem cells within the innermost layer of the epidermis and terminally differentiating cells as they exit this layer and move outward to the skin surface."

The findings have intriguing implications for cancer, since p63 is found in excess in cancer cells. "As a next step, we are going to examine whether low expression of microRNA-203 is associated with squamous cell carcinomas," says Fuchs, "and whether by putting back microRNA-203 we can inhibit the growth of these cancer cells."

How Worms Protect Their Chromosomes : Thereby hangs a surprising tail

A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has discovered that the roundworm C. elegans constructs the protective tips of its chromosomes — known as telomeres — with a little more panache than do mammals, a finding that could deepen our understanding of the interrelationship of aging and cancer.

In a study reported in March 7 issue of the journal Cell, researchers in the laboratory of Jan Karlseder, Ph.D., Hearst Endowment Associate Professor of the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, showed that unlike mammals, who normally terminate both ends of every chromosome with a string of DNA rich in the base guanine (G), C. elegans can also decorate a telomere with a different motif, a strand abundant in the base cytosine (C).

Karlseder says discovering this deviation from the standard G-tail issued to mammals was completely unanticipated. “Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes like a glove,” he said. “In mammals telomeres have a single-stranded overhang with a TTAGGG sequence about 150 bases long. We found that in worms there can also be a single-stranded overhang of a C-containing strand.”

Safeguarding the ends of linear chromosomes is essential for any animal’s survival. “Telomere loss can lead to chromosome fusion,” explained Karlseder. “If that happens when a cell divides its chromosomes could randomly break, leading to a condition known as genome instability, a major cause of cancer.”

Telomeres are the object of intense investigation because these structures represent the physical link between cancer and aging research. Normally, telomeres shorten as cells divide, acting as a kind of cellular clock ticking down a cell’s age: when they shorten to a critical point the cell dies. However, in cancer, the clock runs backwards and telomeres aberrantly elongate, turning what could be a cellular fountain of youth into a potential malignancy.

Karlseder and lead author Marcela Raices, Ph.D., discovered the unique C-tails in collaboration with Andrew Dillin, Ph.D., associate professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory. The team first found that not only did worm telomere tails come in two flavors but that each was uniquely attached to the chromosome. Double-stranded DNA terminates with mirror-image ends, like right and left hands. In mammals, G-tails extend from the “right hand”— or 5’ end. But worm C-tails hung off the DNA “left hand” or 3’ end.

They then identified two novel worm proteins that bound preferentially to either C- or G-tails. They capped the study by showing that worms lacking either protein exhibited abnormal telomeres, suggesting that each protein — like a somewhat similar protein found in mammalian cells — is part of the machinery regulating the length of C- or G-tailed telomeres.

Using roundworms enabled the experimenters to streamline analysis of these proteins in an animal. “C. elegans is an established model to study aging,” said Karlseder. “We can screen the whole worm genome relatively cheaply in a few months. The same experiment in human cells would take years and probably ten times the money. We want to exploit the C. elegans system and then translate our findings into a human system.”

Raices, a postdoctoral fellow in both the Karlseder and Dillin labs, also praises worms as a model system. “We think that experiments in C. elegans will allow us to study differences in telomere replication and processing, questions that have been extremely challenging to investigate in human cells. Telomere regulation is extremely important in many human cancers.”

An obvious question now emerging from the study is whether C-tails are unique to worms or whether they have been overlooked in mammals. “It is premature to think that C-tails do not exist in human cells,” said Karlseder. “We may find them in mammalian cells under certain circumstances, and if so, they could play a role in telomere maintenance and in cancer.”

In fact, some investigators propose to stop a cell from becoming cancerous by blocking the enzyme that synthesizes telomeres. Karlseder emphasizes that knowing every strategy used by cells to build a telomere is necessary for that approach to work. “Many people in the field think of the overhangs as the most important part of a telomere,” he said. “If we knew how those overhangs were generated and maintained, we could exploit this for cancer therapy.”

Reaktor nuklir: solusi energi masa depan

Energi nuklir saat ini merupakan energi yang sangat berpengaruh dalam produksi listrik berbagai negara di atas bumi ini. Kebutuhan yang mendesak akan devisa dalam bentuk hard currency untuk membiayai pembangunan akan memberikan prioritas tinggi pada pemanfaatan sumber daya fosil, terutama minyak dan gas bumi sebagai komoditi ekspor dan mendukung industri petrokimia, khususnya pupuk yang merupakan komoditi strategis dalam pembangunan pertanian. Apabila untuk memenuhi kebutuhan ini berbagai sumber daya diatas tadi terus dieksplorasi, maka dapat dibayangkan betapa keroposnya mental manusia untuk menggapai masa depan yang cerah. Dalam konteks situasi tersebut diatas dan mengingat pula bahwasanya energi nuklir merupakan energi berskala besar dan penyediaannya dapat digunakan untuk jangka panjang serta pemanfaatannya selalu tertumpu pada perkembangan teknologinya yang terbukti aman, handal. relatif ekonomis, bersih dan berwawasan lingkungan.

Pada periode pertama penggunaan energi nuklir adalah untuk tujuan militer seperti halnya sebuah reaktor pendorong kapal selam (submarine) milik AS, yang dikenal dengan nama Nautilus, dan senjata mematikan seperti bom atom yang pernah dijatuhkan di Hiroshima dan Nagasaki pada akhir perang dunia II. Ketika reaktor Calder Hall, yang merupakan reaktor nuklir pertama di Inggris beroperasi secara komersial pada bulan Oktober 1956, reaktor ini menghasilkan listrik untuk disambungkan ke jaringan listrik, sekaligus menghasilkan energi panas yang dibutuhkan oleh pabrik proses olah ulang bahan bakar di wilayah itu. Setelah lebih dari 40 tahun, empat unit reaktor Calder Hall dengan kapasitas masing-masing 50 MWe masih beroperasi sampai sekarang. Sejak saat itu pengembangan reaktor nuklir lebih diperluas, di mana energi panas yang dihasilkan dalam reaktor langsung dimanfaatkan.

Dulu, dengan alasan harga minyak dan gas yang murah, hanya seharga 7 dolar AS per barrel, tidak ada yang mencari energi nuklir. Tapi dengan meningkatnya harga minyak tiap barrel menjadi 18 dollar AS dan terus meningkat hingga saat ini mencapai 100 dolar AS per barrel, energi nuklir jauh lebih menguntungkan. Saat ini terdapat 45 negara di dunia yang menggunakan energi nuklir dan ada sekitar 420 mesin reaktor listrik di dunia. AS sendiri menghasilkan 210 reaktor atom dan memproduksi sekitar 16 persen dari 367 ribu megawatt listrik dunia. Inggris dan anggota kelompok 8+1 juga memakai listrik bertenaga nuklir. AS dan Inggris menggunakan lebih dari 30 persen listrik dari energi muklir. Dengan demikian, Rusia pun, yang mempunyai 26 persen cadangan energi dunia, lebih dari 30 persen keperluan energinya diperoleh dari energi nuklir. Negara-negara lain secara keseluruhan belum dapat menghasilkan para ahli yang mampu menguasai masalah nuklir untuk produksi reaktor nuklir. Sekarang ini, kebutuhan Iran akan listrik sebanyak 40 ribu megawatt, dan sampai 10 tahun ke depan keperluan itu bisa mencapai ke 80 ribu megawatt.

Dengan generator awal yang bisa menghasilkan energi listrik sebesar 2,5 persen, Iran masih berada di bawah negara-negara maju di Timur. Untuk mendapatkan 1.000 megawatt listrik dari pembakaran energi fosil dalam sehari, 70 juta ton gas dioksida akan mengisi angkasa, yang kemudian menimbulkan masalah-masalah lain seperti polusi. Karena itu, diperlukan energi nuklir. Pilihan akan pemanfaatan energi nuklir berdasar pada sebuah kebutuhan mendesak akan energi dan kebutuhan hidup manusia dari kebutuhan makanan sampai pada kelistrikan tanpa menjadikan bahan nuklir itu menjadi persenjataan yang dapat mematikan umat manusia. Berbagai manfaat yang diambil oleh ketersediaan bahan bakar dialam khususnya energi nuklir memberi manfaat yang begitu luas bagi kehidupan manusia yang sudah barang tentu ada efek lain yang sedang terus diminimalisasi, yaitu efek dari limbah nuklir.

Ditemukan, Gurita Berkaki Enam

Para peneliti kelautan Inggris menemukan apa yang mereka yakini sebagai temuan pertama gurita berkaki enam atau hexapus yang kemudian dinamai Henry.

Hewan laut yang unik karena memiliki lebih sedikit kaki dibanding gurita normal yang berkaki delapan (octopus) itu diyakini merupakan hasil dari cacat kelahiran atau kelainan genetik dan bukan karena kecelakaan.

"Kami meneliti berbagai temuan dan bicara dengan banyak pengelola taman air, dan tak seorangpun pernah mendengar atau menemukan gurita berkaki enam," ujar Carey Duckhouse, supervisor dan perawat hewan di Blackpool Sea Life Centre, Inggris.

Henry ditemukan dalam perangkap lobster di pesisir Wales utara dua minggu lalu. Bersama delapan ekor hewan laut lainnya, ia kemudian dipindahkan ke Sea Life. Waktu itu tidak ada yang menyadari bahwa gurita itu berkaki enam. Baru ketika Henry masuk ke tangki kaca, pegawai Sea Life mengetahui jumlah kaki yang dimiliki gurita itu.

Gurita memang diketahui memiliki tiga jantung dan darah berwarna biru, namun tak pernah ada yang berkaki enam.

Ternyata Tidak Sulit Membuat Etanol Sendiri

Membuat biofuel dalam hal ini etanol untuk mensubstitusi bahan bakar minyak khususnya premium ternyata tidak sesulit yang dibayangkan. Industri kecil skala rumahan pun bisa memproduksinya sendiri, syaratnya hanya ketekunan. Lebih menguntungkan lagi, biofuel ini bisa digunakan untuk campuran premium 5 - 10 persen.

Caranya, ubi kayu atau singkong yang segar dikupas kulitnya, dicuci lalu diparut. Selanjutnya dilikuifikasi atau ditambahkan enzim amilase dan dipanaskan hingga suhu 90 derajat celsiun selama 30 menit sambil terus diaduk.

Selanjutnya bubur ubi itu didinginkan, dan tambahkan enzim glukoamilase (atau istilah lain disakarifikasi) dan dipanaskan lagi hingga suhu 60 derajat Celsius selama 2 jam. Selanjutnya pada suhu 32 derajat Celsius, ditambahkan ragi. Kemudian difermentasi pada suhu kamar selama 72 jam. Langkah selanjutnya penyulingan, dengan pemanasan minimum 80 derajat celsius. Jadilah etanol dengan kadar 96 persen.

Agar kadar etanol bisa naik sampai 99,5 persen dan bisa digunakan untuk substitusi premium, perlu didehidrasi dengan teknologi molecular sieve.

Ternyata Tidak Sulit Membuat Etanol Sendiri

Membuat biofuel dalam hal ini etanol untuk mensubstitusi bahan bakar minyak khususnya premium ternyata tidak sesulit yang dibayangkan. Industri kecil skala rumahan pun bisa memproduksinya sendiri, syaratnya hanya ketekunan. Lebih menguntungkan lagi, biofuel ini bisa digunakan untuk campuran premium 5 - 10 persen.

Caranya, ubi kayu atau singkong yang segar dikupas kulitnya, dicuci lalu diparut. Selanjutnya dilikuifikasi atau ditambahkan enzim amilase dan dipanaskan hingga suhu 90 derajat celsiun selama 30 menit sambil terus diaduk.

Selanjutnya bubur ubi itu didinginkan, dan tambahkan enzim glukoamilase (atau istilah lain disakarifikasi) dan dipanaskan lagi hingga suhu 60 derajat Celsius selama 2 jam. Selanjutnya pada suhu 32 derajat Celsius, ditambahkan ragi. Kemudian difermentasi pada suhu kamar selama 72 jam. Langkah selanjutnya penyulingan, dengan pemanasan minimum 80 derajat celsius. Jadilah etanol dengan kadar 96 persen.

Agar kadar etanol bisa naik sampai 99,5 persen dan bisa digunakan untuk substitusi premium, perlu didehidrasi dengan teknologi molecular sieve.

Kelelawar Melayang Seperti Serangga

Dari segi ukuran, kelelawar mungkin terbang seperti seekor burung. Namun, caranya melayang di udara dalam waktu lama ternyata lebih mirip serangga.

Hewan malam yang lihai terbang di kegelapan itu memanfaatkan mekanisme arodinamika yang sama seperti serangga. Seperti dilaporkan dalam jurnal Science edisi terbaru, kekelawar mengandalkan pusaran udara horisontal yang disebut LEV (leading edge vortex) untuk menjaga tubuhnya tetap mengambang.

Tim peneliti gabungan dari Swedia dan AS mengungkap rahasia terbang melayang kelelawar setelah mempelajari dalam lorong angin. Para peneliti menaruh umpan di dalam ruangan dan melepaskan kelelawar. Kemudian, mereka merekam cara terbang kelelawar saat mendekati umpan menggunakan asap, laser, dan kamera yang dapat merekam gerakan sangat cepat.

Dari gerakan partikel-partikel asap, disimpulkan bahwa gaya dorong yang dihasilkan LEV menyumbangkan 40 persen gaya yang dibutuhkan untuk melayang. LEV terbentuk saat kelelawar mengepakkan sayapnya ke bawah. Hal tersebut menghasilkan gaya dorong ke atas yang cukup kuat sehingga kelelawar tidak jatuh saat melakukan gerakan lambat atau melayang, misalnya untuk mendekati mangsa.

Trik tersebut telah lama terbukti dilakukan serangga dan belum banyak terkuak peranannya untuk hewan bersayap yang lebih besar. Pada burung, LEV juga diketahui berperan penting, khususnya saat melakukan pendaratan sehingga nyaris tak pernah gagal. Pada kelelawar, teknik tersebut baru kali ini terbukti.

Kelelawar dapat mengendalikan posisi melayangnya menggunakan jari-jari yang menempel di membran kulit sayapnya. Gerakan jari akan mengubah sudut sayapnya, seperti fungsi flap (sirip) pada sayap pesawat terbang. Serangga tidak mungkin mengendalikan posisi melayang dengan trik yang sama seperti ini karena sayapnya kaku. Namun, serangga tetap dapat melakukannya dengan menggerakan sayap sangat cepat.

"Ini merupakan suatu informasi yang penting untuk mengetahui bagaimana menghasilkan sistem kendali berdasarkan bentuk sayap," kata ketua tim peneliti, Anders Hadenstrom daru Universitas Lund, Swedia. Temuan tersebut mungkin dapat dimanfaatkan untuk meningkatkan kemampuan sayap pesawat terbang, misalnya pesawat-pesawat kecil untuk pemetaan.

Setelah 116 Tahun, Fosil Reptil Diketahui Palsu

Setelah diperlihatkan kepada pengunjung selama 116 tahun, fosil reptil laut di sebuah Museum Inggris akhirnya diketahui sebagai pemalsuan yang disengaja

Hidayatullah.com--Darwin Day, atau Hari Darwin, diperingati layaknya hari besar suci di Eropa dan Amerika Serikat. “Perayaan Hari Darwin, Pengakuan Dunia Ilmu Pengetahuan dan Kemanusiaan” , demikian papar situs www.darwinday.org. Situs itu menampilkan pula berbagai acara yang bakal diselenggarakan di berbagai negara pada atau seputar tanggal 12 Februari 2008 nanti dalam rangka merayakan hari lahir bapak evolusi dunia, Charles Darwin.

Namun, bagi kalangan intelektual yang memahami kekurangan dan kelemahan ilmiah teori evolusi, perayaan ini dijadikan ajang penyebarluasan informasi tentang kekeliruan ilmiah teori evolusi di hadapan ilmu pengetahuan modern. Tidak hanya itu saja, teori evolusi sampai sekarang memang masih dipenuhi silang pendapat di kalangan evolusionis sendiri, termasuk pemalsuan beragam fosil oleh evolusionis sendiri.

Pemalsuan selama 116 tahun

Dinosaur exposed as fake (Dinosaurus diungkap palsu), demikian judul situs berita tersohor Inggris, BBC, 8 Desember 2000. Laporan itu memberitakan fosil reptil laut yang dipajang di Museum Nasional Wales di kota Cardiff, Inggris. Setelah diperlihatkan kepada pengunjung selama 116 tahun, akhirnya diketahui fosil itu adalah pemalsuan yang disengaja.

Makhluk yang telah menjadi fosil itu sebelumnya diyakini sebagai spesimen sempurna reptil laut bernama Icthyosaurus. Namun, ketika pegawai museum hendak meremajakan kerangkanya, fosil yang telah dipajang seabad lebih itu diketahui palsu.

Fosil campur aduk

Fosil itu bukanlah berasal dari satu binatang utuh, melainkan gabungan dari dua hewan laut yang berbeda. Selain itu, pada bukti evolusi palsu itu terdapat tulang palsu yang terbuat dari plester.

Ditemukan bahwa bagian tengkorak fosilnya disambungkan pada kerangka selebihnya dengan merekatkan di dalam beragam jenis bebatuan, kata para ahli yang menelitinya. Makhluk ini adalah pemberian seorang pengumpul fosil bernama Samuel Allen pada tahun1884.

Kepergok secara tidak disengaja

Penipuan tersebut terbongkar setelah pihak museum memutuskan bahwa plester yang retak perlu diganti. Di saat itulah ditemukan bahwa ternyata tengkorak kepalanya adalah milik hewan Icthyosaurus communis yang terekat pada batu berwarna abu-abu. Akan tetapi, bagian tubuhnya terekat pada batu berwarna coklat muda, dan diketahui milik binatang berbeda, namun mirip, Leptonectes tenuirostris.

Tulang belulang selebihnya dibuat dari plester dan ditempelkan pada batu tersebut agar tampak asli. Selain itu, salah satu siripnya juga palsu.

Menanggapi temuan ini, pejabat pelestarian di museum itu, Dr. Caroline Buttler, berujar, "Kami telah yakin selama ini bahwa itu adalah spesimen sempurna dari seekor Icthyosaurus." Icthyosaurus adalah reptil laut raksasa purba yang menyerupai ikan dan lumba-lumba.

Pemalsuan Zaman Viktoria

Meskipun fosil tersebut masih akan dipajang di museum, namun statusnya kini telah berubah. Fosil ini dijadikan contoh bagaimana orang-orang yang hidup di zaman Viktoria (sekitar tahun 1840 – 1900) memalsukan pajangan.

Seputar pemalsuan ini, Dr. Caroline Buttler, mengisahkan lebih lanjut:

"Tapi ketika plester itu mulai retak dan rontok dan kami menguliti lima lapisan cat, kami temukan [spesimen] itu adalah pemalsuan sengaja. Ini gabungan dua jenis berbeda dari Icthyosaurus ditambah upaya cerdas menambah bagian-bagian palsu."

"Sangatlah mengejutkan untuk menemukan bahwa makhluk itu tidaklah sebagaimana yang tampak selama bertahun-tahun tapi karya amburadul," kata Dr Buttler. Ia menambahkan, "Tapi Anda harus menyalahkan orang-orang zaman Viktoria yang telah melakukan pemalsuan seperti itu dan telah membodohi kita selama bertahun-tahun ini."

Demikianlah, bahkan pakar fosil sekalipun sulit untuk membedakan barang palsu dan asli. Diperlukan 116 tahun untuk membongkar pemalsuan ini, itupun diawali oleh ketidaksengajaan, dan bukan pemeriksaan sengaja untuk mengetahui tingkat keaslian fosil itu.

Lalu, bagaimana dengan nilai ilmiah teori evolusi yang juga didasarkan oleh rekonstruksi fosil-fosil?.

Pemanis Buatan Pemicu Berat Badan

Memakai pemanis buatan non kalori akan membuat lebih sulit untuk mengurangi berat badan ketimbang memakai gula, demikian penelitian terbaru

Para ilmuwan Purdue University di West Lafayette, Indiana, melakukan studi dengan menguji tikus yang diberi pemanis buatan (sakarin) dan tikus yang diberi glukosa, sejenis gula alami.

Dalam perbandingan yang dilakukan terhadap tikus yang diberi susu dengan glukosa, tikus yang diberi susu dengan sakarin mengkonsumsi lebih banyak kalori dan berat badannya serta kandungan lemaknya bertambah.

Para peneliti mengatakan makanan manis dapat mendorong tubuh menyerap banyak kalori, tetapi bila pemanis buatan tidak disertai dengan sejumlah kalori yang cukup, tubuh akan menjadi bingung, yang mana bisa mendorong naiknya nafsu makan dan energi yang terbuang lebih sedikit.

“Studi dengan jelas menunjukkan bahwa mengkonsumsi makanan yang diberi pemanis sakarin nonkalori dapat mendorong meningkatnya berat badan dibanding mengkonsumsi makanan yang sama dengan kalori tinggi gula,” peneliti Purdue, Susan Switchers dan Terry Davidson menulis dalam jurnal Behavioral Neuroscience, yang dipublikasikan oleh American Psychological Association.

“Hasil ini nampaknya sangat tidak diharapkan oleh para peneliti kesehatan manusia dan praktisi perawat kesehatan, yang sudah sejak lama merekomendasikan penggunaan pemanis rendah non kalori untuk mengendalikan berat badan.”

Pemanis buatan lainnya seperti ‘aspartame’ yang juga terasa manis tetapi tidak mendorong pertambahan kalori dapat berdampak sama, kata para peneliti.

“Dengan meningkatnya penggunaan pemanis non kalori dalam lingkungan makanan masa kini, jutaan orang sedang terlena pada kesukaan akan rasa manis yang tidak mengandung kalori atau nutrisi,”para peneliti menambahkan.

Penelitian ini adalah yang paling akhir untuk menguji pertanyaan apakah pemanis buatan yang digunakan dalam minuman ringan dan makanan dapat membantu atau merintangi upaya dalam mengurangi berat badan. Beberapa studi telah menawarkan hasil yang bervariasi.

Tanggapan industri

Penelitian baru ini mendapat kecaman dari industri makanan. “Studi ini sangat menyederhanakan penyebab obesitas.” Beth Hubrich, seorang ahli diet bersama Lembaga Pengawasan Kalori, sebuah asosiasi industri mewakili perusahaan-perusahaan makanan dan minuman rendah kalori, mengatakan dalam sebuah pernyataan.

“Penyebab kegemukan ada banyak faktornya. Walaupun survei telah menunjukkan adanya peningkatan terhadap penggunaan makanan bebas gula selama bertahun-tahun, takaran (porsi) makanan juga telah bertambah, aktivitas fisik telah menurun dan asupan kalori secara keseluruhan telah meningkat,”tambah Hubrich.

Lembaga tersebut juga mengatakan penemuan studi pada hewan tidak dapat diterapkan pada manusia, sebagaimana diakui para cendekiawan.

Davidson mengatakan lewat email bahwa implikasi dari pernyataan lembaga tersebut bahwa mereka juga tertarik pada kesehatan masyarakat nampaknya tidak jujur.

“Jika mereka jujur, orang mungkin berharap mereka akan diperingatkan oleh adanya penemuan dari percobaan hewan atau manusia yang menyimpulkan bahwa produk mereka mungkin memberikan kontribusi pada wabah obesitas yang berlanjut pada penyebaran dan merusak,” kata Davidson.

Poster Memperolok kota Mekah di Berlin

Seolah tak belajar dari pengalaman sebelumnya, kelompok seniman di Jerman membuat pameran dengan memperolok kota Mekah. Kabah disebut 'batu bodoh'

Hidayatullah.com--Masih subur saja kebencian yang dikait-kaitkan dengan Islam. Setelah pemuatan kartun bergambar Nabi Muhammad di Denmark dan rencana penayangan film “anti-Quran” di Belanda, kini muncul poster memperolok kota suci Mekah di Berlin, Jerman.

Sebuah galeri seni di Berlin, Jerman, menutup sementara pameran poster setelah salah satu poster yang dipajang memperolok-olok kota Mekah, yang merupakan tempat paling suci bagi umat Islam. Keputusan ini dikeluarkan menyusul ancaman yang diduga datang dari orang Islam.

Pameran ini diorganisir kelompok Denmark, Surrend, dengan alasan bahwa mereka ingin menentang ekstremisme agama. Poster yang dipajang itu menunjukkan pada gambar Kabah tertera tulisan 'batu bodoh' dalam bahasa Jerman.

Poster yang termasuk di antara 22 karya seni ini juga menunjukkan para jamaah Muslim sedang berjalan mengelilingi Kabah dan tulisan pada gelembung ucapan yang menyebutkan 'Zionis menduduki pemerintah', yang mengacu pada judul pameran.

Para seniman Denmark ingin membuat satire tentang teori konspirasi bahwa orang Yahudi berada di balik segalanya. Suatu pandangan yang lazim dianut neo-Nazi dan di sebagian belahan dunia Arab.

Islamofobia: Apartheid Gaya Baru

Islamofobia, adalah apartheid gaya baru di zaman modern. Demikian kesimpulan para cendekiawan Muslim, termasuk Harun Yahya

Hidayatullah.com--Bukanlah suatu kebetulan jika Islam dimusuhi di mana-mana. Ada “proyek yang terencana” oleh musuh-musuh Islam dan pejuang aparteit dalam rangka memadamkan cahaya Islam.

Islamofobia adalah model terbaru dari apartheid dan diskriminasi. Untuk mengetahui sejauh mana hal itu terjadi di Eropa, kita tidak perlu menelaah berbagai laporan berbagai komisi Eropa, sebab setiap saat datanya bertambah, sehingga tidak perlu lagi dilakukan berbagai infestigasi dan sensus.

Salah satu alasan untuk melenyapkan Islam dari dunia Barat adalah anggapan bahwa Muslim fundamentalis atau ekstrim (begitu istilah Barat) semakin berkembang dan jumlahnya terus bertambah. Anggapan itu diperkuat dengan “tuduhan” lain, bahwa kaum muslimin tidak mendukung konsep demokrasi.

Satu hal yang perlu dipertanyakan, bahwa kaum Muslim yang hidup di Barat yang memiliki loyalitas dan kepatuhan pada aturan dan perundangan yang berlaku layak dianggap ekstrim, sementara mereka sendiri yang melakukan berbagai tindakan tidak logis tidak dianggap ekstrim?

Sebagian kaum orintalis yang memang tidak memahami Islam secara benar atau bahkan sebagiannya adalah memang anti Islam selalu menyebarkan isu dan ide demikian ke tengah masyarakat dunia sehingga kaum Muslimin dimana saja berada selalu dibatasi ruang gerak dan kekuasaannya.

Babak Baru Barat vs Islam

Baru-baru ini, sejumlah cendekiawan Musli seperti; Urhon Behesyti, anggota Yayasan Ats tsaqalain, Belanda dan mantan dosen di Universitas Routerdam, Sayyid Dzahirul Hasan Naqawiy, Imam Masjid Pusat Kajian Islam dan Masjid Ar Rasul, San Khozeh, Amerika, Abdul Halim Musa, Imam Jumat di Mesjid Washington juga Harun Yahya, seorang intelektual dari Turki, Ahmad Bahrainiy, Ketua Pusat Kajian Islam di Washington, Naqi Hasan Kirmani, seorang intelektual dan peneliti ilmu-ilmu Islam dan dosen Universitas London serta Ir. Ashghar Ali, intelektual ternama di India, memberikan keterangannya tentang ‘tsunami Barat’ terhadap ini.

Abdul Alim Musa mengatakan, setiap tindakan yang melecehkan kesucian Nabi besar Muhammad saw akan memberikan dampak dan konsekunsi negatif. Namun pada saat yang sama juga menjadi faktor pendukung perkembangan dan pesatnya Islam di Barat.

Imam Jumat di Masjid Washington itu menegaskan, bawha Bush dan Zionisme-Israel berkali-kali melakukan penyerangan dan pelecehan terhadap kesucian Islam, namun apa yang mereka lakukan itu bukan hanya tidak memberikan faedah apa-apa kepada mereka sendiri bahkan menjadi pendorong agar Islam lebih dikenal di tengah masyarakat Barat.

Sementara itu, Urhon Behesytiy anggota Yayasan Ats tsaqalain, Belanda mengatakan, diantara hal yang perlu mendapatkan perhatian kita adalah, bahwa Barat dengan menggunakan berbagai cara dan fasilitas serta rekayasa dan tipu daya, diantaranya media massa telah melakukan berbagai penyerangan dan pelecehan atas budaya Islam yang kaya.

Sebaliknya, Semakin banyak yang menyerang Islam, semakin banyak orang yang ingin mengenal Islam dan memeluk agama Islam, ujar Ahmad Bahrainiy, Ketua Pusat Kajian Islam di Washington.

Faktanya, ujar Sayyid Dzahirul Hasan Naqawi, di Amerika, pasca tragedi 11 September Islam meskik semua media menggambarkan wajah Islam yang menyeramkan, namun banyak dari kaum muda Amerika dan non-Amerika justru mempelajari Islam.

Sementara itu, cendekiawan Muslim Turki, Harun Yahya mengatakan, “Barat haruslah dibagi pada dua kelompok, sekelompok kafir dan materialisme dan kelompok beragama. Kelompok pertama inilah yang memiliki permusuhan tidak hanya pada pemeluk agama Islam, namun dengan seluruh nilaii keagamaan meanapun. Mereka menginginkan agar masyarakat kosong dari berbagai nilai-nilai keagamaan dan hal ini akan menjadi pasar yang baik untuk memasarkan keinginan mereka mengumpulkan berbagai kekayaan materi.”

Teh Hitam Baik Mencegah Diabetes

Kebiasaan minum teh hitam sangat bermanfaat untuk mencegah penyakit diabetes mellitus. Demikian hasil penelitian terbaru dari Universitas Dundee

Hidayatullah.com—Sebuah penelitian terbaru membuktikan, kebiasaan meminum teh sangat bermanfaat bagi kesehatan. Para ahli dari Universitas Dundee melalui hasil penelitian terbaru mengindikasikan, meminum teh hitam dapat dijadikan salah satu cara mencegah penyakit diabetes mellitus.

Sebagaimana dilancir BBC, Senin (3/3), peneliti Skotlandia berhasil menemukan sejenis senyawa terkandung dalam teh hitam yang memiliki potensi besar mengatasi penyakit diabetes tipe 2, atau jenis diabetes yang paling banyak diderita saat ini.

Menurut mereka, senyawa khusus ini mampu berperan seperti halnya insulin dalam tubuh. Ahli dari Universitas Dundee dipimpin oleh Dr Graham Rena bersama tim dari Crop Research Institute ini mengungkapkan bahwa senyawa dalam teh hitam yang disebut Tehaflavin dan Teharubigin dapat meniru fungsi insulin dalam tubuh.

“Apa yang kami temukan dalam senyawa ini mampu menirukan fungsi insulin pada protein yang dikenal dengan nama foxos,¨ ujar Dr Rena yang mempublikasikan temuannya dalam edisi terbaru jurnal Aging Cell.

¨Foxos sebelumnya telah menjadi dasar yang menjembatani hubungan antara diet dan kesehatan dalam varian organisme yang luas termasuk pada tius, cacing dan lalat buah. Tugas kami sekarang adalah melihat apakah temuan ini dapat diterjemahkan ke dalam sesuatu yang berguna bagi kesehatan manusia,¨ ungkap Dr Rena.

Dr Rena menegaskan, penelitian lebih jauh mengenai temuan ini perlu dilakukan. Oleh sebab itu, ia menghimbau masyarakat tidak serta merta mengonsumsi teh hitam sebagai cara mengobati diabetes.

¨Masyarakat tak perlu menjadi panik untuk meminum teh hitam dalam jumlah banyak dan berpikir bahwa teh dapat mengobati mereka dari sakit diabetes. Jalan kami masih panjang untuk sampai pada teknik pengobatan baru atau rekomendasi diet ,¨ terangnya.

¨Riset kami mengenai kandungan dalam teh ini masih bersifat pra klinis dan tahap eksperimental. Pasien yang mengidap diabetes sebaiknya melanjutkan pengobatan mereka dengan arahan dari dokter mereka,¨ tambahnya.

Walau begitu, kata Rena, ¨Ada sesuatu yang sangat menarik dari bagimana kandungan alami dalam teh hitam ini menimbulkan manfaat, baik dalam kaitannya dengan diabetes maupun kesehatan secara umum.¨

Georgie Havens interview by Jami Price and Tonia White

My name is Georgie Havens and I was born in Suiter in 1928. My parents were Beatrice and M.C. Stacy. My mother ran a boarding house at Suiter and my father worked for the Virginia Hardwood Lumber Company. My mother was a very strict, religious person, and my father went along with her.My Grandmother and Grandfather Stacy were from Wise County. Mother’s father died when she was a baby. She was Quillen and her mother married again and moved to Indiana. My grandparents were farmers. I don’t know what they were like. I never did get to meet part of them.
I had nine brothers and sisters. There’s six of us girls and three boys and we’ve all retired now. We’re all living and we’re all retired now. None of us got away with nothing.The girls didn’t gang up on the guys. We had one brother that always aggravated us girls more than the rest of them.We made our own toys. We played jack rocks. We made our own little playhouses, and we did swimming. Of course, we worked in our gardens for our mother and we helped our parents. Jack rocks is a game with little metal peices and there’s a ball with it. You can get them in stores now.
Some chores around the house were washing dishes, cleaning house, and where we used to live, we had to carry water. All nine of us had things we had to do.
We lived in different homes. We lived in a boarding house when I was little, then we moved in with Virginia Hardwood Company to up to Wolfe Creek and we had a home on wheels run on a railroad track. Then we moved out of that when the Virginia Hardwood Lumber Company went into Burkes Garden. We moved back down Wolfe Creek into a three bedroom home and then from there down to this here where I’m living now.
I lived in the house on the track for about three or four years. It was pretty neat and different. It was heated by coal, and we cooked on a coal cookstove.In our garden, we grew every kind of vegetable you could name. We used to bury our cabbage. My favorite meal was dinner. Mother did all of the cooking, and of course we helped some, but she was an excellent cook. We ate just ordinary country food, what we grew in our garden.My first school was a one-room school at Suitor and from there I went to a Bogle school. No, from there I went to Bastian, from there I went to a Bogle school, one-room up Wolfe Creek and then on up the head of Wolfe Creek to a white school house. From there back to Bastian, back to Rocky Gap, back to Bland. We had seven different classes. You learned the four R’s there pretty good, reading, writing, and arithmetic. We had some very strict teachers at that time. Which they were allowed to spank then and they don’t now.
I had a couple of favorite teachers. Ora Gray Stowers is one of my favorite teachers. She’s still living. And then Harry Foglesong, of course he’s passed away now. We walked to school the biggest portion of time. Then they started running the schoolbus out of Wolfe Creek and we rode to Rocky Gap on it. I got into plenty of trouble at school. I wasn’t a troublemaker. I just stood up for my rights.In school, I played basketball and softball. That’s all we had. Back then you didn’t have no other sports but basketball and softball. We played, when I was at Rocky Gap, we played Bland and Ceres.Then when I moved, went to Bland, we played Rocky Gap, Ceres in softball. And then we played Parisburg and Narrows and Pembrooke, Ceres, Rocky Gap in basketball. Bland and Rocky Gap were as competitive as they are now.We celebrated Christmas. Our mother did all this baking and breads and cakes and candies and salads. On Halloween we dressed up and went out on the town. Get in a little trouble over it. We dressed up in long men’s underwear and stuffed and powdered our face in Halloween. But we got whipped over that. Or we slipped off and done that and our mother got mad and we got it when we got home. We never egged houses or did that stuff with toilet paper, but I’ve had it done to me. Turn over outside johns. Of course you don’t have that many now.
When you went on a date, you had to take your whole family with you. On my first date, I think I was about sixteen or seventeen. And then you had to take somebody with you when you went out on a date, even to a movie. It wasn’t awkward to take people with you on dates. You just had a lot of fun. The first movie I ever saw was a western.
This is how I met my husband. Back then you had birthday parties and he walked me home for the first time. We went from one home, everybody that had a birthday, why they’d have a little party and everybody, all the young people would go and he walked me home one night. I was married in Bland. It was just a simple wedding. It wasn’t a church wedding. We went to a parsonage and got married. Back then you didn’t have too many big weddings like they do now. We didn’t go on a honeymoon. I had to work and he did too. My husband’s name is Jewell P. Havens.
I have five children. I have two girls and three boys. My oldest daughter is a retarded child and she lives in Galax. Kathy lives in Lebanon. She owns the Waffle & Egg at Claypool Hill. Perry is the oldest son and he lives in Baptist Valley and he’s a foreman over coal mines, deep mines for Consolidated Coal Company. Stacy’s kind of a foreman in for American Power Company in Princeton. And Tony works for GIV. It was easier to raise children back then than it is now. You don’t have as many drug problems and things like they do now.
Growing up in Rocky Gap was tough. It was all right, I guess. When we went to Rocky Gap, it was a bigger school and you know at first kinda scary, cause we’d been going to one-room schools. But you got used to it and you learned to hold your own.
I don’t remember what the enrollment was at Rocky Gap was when I got there, but the grade school had a four-room white building, right up from that church down there and that’s where most of the grades went. And then from the, in the up of the brick part, they had fourth grade was in one room. The fifth and sixth was in one I think. Anyway, the high school, they didn’t have but two rooms for high school. There wasn’t that many.
Of course, back then you didn’t have but four high school grades. Eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh.There wasn’t as much prejudice and discrimination back then as there is now.The only businesses I remember being in Rocky Gap or in Suitor was just sawmills and garment factories. Well, the garment factory didn’t come in here until the early fifties.
Back then, you hardly ever got to go to a movie, but people got together and when we moved here boys came in here with music, and they played and a bunch of girls got here. We made our own fun.The weather was bad in the wintertime. Snow and big ice and when the creeks froze over, you could skate on them. We had to walk to school in the snow, rain, and flood.
For Christmas, we didn’t have many toys, but we had plenty of food. Mother always seen we had a ham and all kinds of cakes and bread, rolls, salads, and all that stuff. We had plenty of food. We always had a Christmas tree. We roamed the mountains and got it. We put homemade stuff on the Christmas tree, sycamore balls. We dip them in flour, and hang them on the tree. Stuck popcorn on the tree and crepe paper. We had our own decorations.
We also celebrated Easter. We had the Easter egg hunts at home and all the kids would gather around, and of course, we lived close to where two of my sisters lived and they had children. We’d all hide eggs. We didn’t have sunrise services in church until we moved here.
The first president that I can remember is Roosevelt. My favorite movie star was Clark Gable, everybody said my husband looked like him. My first movie costed a quarter. ome of them were ten cents. You could go to a western for ten cents. The crash of the stock market affected Bland County. When we lived in Suitor, people would come by when we lived up there and they didn’t have nothing to eat or nothing and Mother would feed them. It didn’t really impact us.
Franklin Rooselvelt helped the country during the Great Depression. He was the cause of the CC’s coming in here and giving work to the different places and young men around here. His programs helped the people of Bland County. I remember when Franklin Roosevelt died well because I was outside hanging clothes. It stunned the world when he died. Just like it stunned the world when Kennedy got killed.
I guess I was about twelve years old when I got my first radio. Mother got a little tiny one when we first got electricity. We had kerosene lamps and when I was about twelve and we moved up Wolfe Creek, they put lights up there. And that’s when we got out first radio. We’d take it to bed with us and listen to the Grand Ole Opry. One of my favorite shows was the Squeaking Door. There was a lot of daytime programs to listen to in the summertime. Little Orphan Annie was in the funny papers. Dagwood and Blondie, they were in there and Little Orphan Annie and I can’t remember all of them.
We didn’t get a telephone until after the kids left home. Electricity changed our lives. We was thrilled about it. We got a refrigerator. We had ice water and tea. Of course, we had tea back them, but it wasn’t iced tea. We was real thrilled over it. Electricity made a big difference to Bland County. Bastian had electricity before we did up Wolfe Creek. We had a party line for about two years and then I got off of it. I didn’t like it, everybody kept butting in on you.
I got my first television in 1956. I remember that. That’s when our house burned down. We got a second-hand TV and when the house burnt, it burned with it. One of the first shows I watched was Lawrence Welk. TV has changed things in a lot of ways. It’s made things worse for kids cause they watch all this stuff they shouldn’t watch. It’s getting to the place where you can’t even watch TV.
I lived up Wolfe Creek when I heard that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I can just barely remember that. I think I was about twelve years old. I had two brothers that went and fought in World War II. I had one who went before the Korean started. During the war, my sisters made candy and sent it to my brothers. Mother sent stuff to them while they was overseas. It was a sad time. Of couse, our mother prayed for each one of then. It was really a sad time.
I am not the youngest in my family. I have one brother that lives in Chester that’s younger. And then I have a sister in Florida that’s the baby.
There was rationing. You had food stamps for sugar, stamps for shoes, for shortening, and a lot of things you had to have stamps for. Gas, even after the restrictions went off of gas. You could get gas for twenty to twenty-five cents a gallon.
I think the biggest portion of people supported the war. People around here didn’t support the Korean War. None of my family fought in the Korean War. My husband was really for President Eisenhower because he was a veteran. I guess he was all right.
Times in the fifties were on the average. Of course things change from the fifties to the sixties. It was sad when President Kennedy got killed. Of course he done things in office that this one’s doing too. Nothing was said about it. Kennedy is not any different from President Clinton. He knew what he was doing same as the other one did. But that was his private life. He’s done good so far as president. I think they should leave him alone until he finishes his term and then do something about it.
The shape of this country is today in my opinion is bad. They’re leaving out God on every corner and getting worse. Things have changed for the worse.
I’ve drove schoolbuses, I’ve drove coal trucks, and log trucks. It was scary. I drove with my husband. School buses, that’s a nerve-racking thing. The kids on the bus behaved pretty good. I’ve done I guess a little bit of everything. I sewed in the sewing factory. I worked at ABB at Bland. One year I was out of work and I picked turkeys for the Blessing Brothers, when they had a chicken-picking place over there. I worked for them.
My mother ran a boarding house and it was work. You tried to feed one hundred people three meals a day. She hired help to help with it . I helped out a lot. Of course, we were little. My older sisters helped. We did washing for the lobby. You had the big boarding house and you had the lobby across from it. We lived there for about a year. It was a fairly big boarding house. She had about on average one hundred.
Virginia Hardwood came in here in the early twenties and people from everywhere, cause there wasn’t no work for nobody, so they came in here and they built all these homes up here. I guess around ninteen thirty, maybe forty somewhere around here. They lived in them. This was the club house and over there were my sister lives, they called it the lobby, and then on the other end of the camp there was another boarding house and a lobby, besides the one that was up Suitor. Of course, they closed that one out up Suitor in about thirty four. They had a company store. They had a doctor, and then we had a doctor down in Bastian, Dr. Walker. Dave Shufflebarger had a store. The Kidd brother had a store. The Blessing brothers had a store. There was a Bland Supply where the train brought all the supplies in and left them. That was located where the Church of God is. R.E. Kidd had a Chevrolet dealership. A lot of homes, but a lot of them are torn down or burnt down.
The CC Camp came in and a lot of people came in on that, and we had a post office. We had two churches, which we’ve got three now in the community. It’s just a lot of things like that. It’s good to go back and see, but a lot of them’s torn down.When Virginia Hardwood moved their sawmill, that closed us down.They sold a lot of these houses in 1944, and people bought them and torn them down, and rebuilt them. My dad bought this one here for eight hundred dollars. Somebody bought the lobby next door and Daddy bought the land off of them. He gave them three hundred dollars for the land. The houses sold for real cheap, but they was more or less boxed up. You had to redo them. This room was the dining room, and that was the kitchen. My mother rearranged, and made that bedroom and this a kitchen.When I was young, this place was full of kids. We had a two-room school down here and it was full. We went to school from nine to three. My husband was in the army and he attended school down here in Bastian. He never did go to high school.
When me and my family lived in the cars, there was three other families, and then there was five or six familes that lived in smaller cars. When Virginia Hardwood broke up, the people went back to where they was from. A lot of them went to Kingsport, some to North Carolina, places like that. In the cars, we had a partition to make each room and each room had eight windows in it. We had two bedrooms. One of them, Mother and Dad’s had a kitchen in it. Then in between them we built a living room, and then when we got ready to move, we’d tear that living room out, and we’d take the things that were on the wall and benches and everything and put them in the middle of the floor and then the train would come by and hook it up and move it on to the next campsite. We moved around in it. The train would hook up to them and move them on to the nest campsite. We went to three different campsites like that. We did stay in Bland County when we moved. When we lived in those cars, two of my sisters was married and one of them lived in a car like that. There was three or four families in cars like that and then there was aboiut six or seven families in one-room shacks. They would have three and build a room in between them then. Virginia Hardwood furnished the cars, because we worked for them. When we lived there I was between eight and ten. I still went to school then. First time we had to walk five miles to school, and then when we moved on up a little further, and went to a one-room school. We had to walk about three miles and then we moved onup the head of Wolfe Creek, and to walk about three or four miles. When we moved back down Wolfe Creek and we went to Bastian. We had to walk about five miles and then the bus started running to Rocky Gap and we went to Rocky Gap then. There were other kids living in the cars too. Everybody around here worked for the Virginia Hardwood Company. One person wasn’t no better than anybody else.
We canned out of our garden every year. You picked berries in the summer-time and cherries. We raised our own hogs, and we had a cow, and we had chickens. It was a milking cow. I was always there when they killed the hogs and the chickens. I’ve killed many a chicken. I always wrung their head off. I never really affected me. We raised ducks too. We had a black cat. We had our own fun. We swang on grapevines, and we had a seesaw. And we make our own merry-go-round. We went fishing. We fixed our own pond, and had our own swimming hole. Of course we had to work hard before we could play.
We played Annie Over. Somebody would get on one side of the house, and somebody on the other, and you had to catch that ball before it hits the ground. And you run around the house and tag them. You holler ?Annie Over?. We also played whip-crack. You line up in a line and the person on the end really got it. You run with them and you come around and snap them. When we was in the Bogle school, we was little then, and we used to play in the leaves. We had ballgames and jackrocks. We never did have roller skating. We’d skate on the ice with our shoes or we’d get an old peice of board and use it for sledding. When the snow came, we had snow cream. It’s like ice cream. You’d make it out of snow, and put sugar and flavoring in it. You can’t do it now, you got too many chemicals in it. We also had our own ice cream maker, and we’d make homemade ice cream.
We’d read a lot. We read anything we could get our hands on. Mother didn’t allow us to read funny books. Mother didn’t think we should read funny books, but we’d hide them and read them. here was a series of mystery books that had a lot of sequels, and my sister always got them. She’d borrow them from other people. We read them a lot. We was great readers, and I still do a lot of reading. I do a lot of quilting, too and puzzles.
My mother did a lot of sewing. She made curtains, sheetsm pillowcases, skirts, and blouses out chalk sacks. She did’t use patterns. She made her own. Mother would get colored feed sacks, and if she got two alike, we’d get a skirt out of it. One time she got three or four of them, and made new kitchen curtains.In Bland County there were a few well to do people, but most of them were just average. They was poor, and yet they wasn’t poor. And there was some that really needed help.
My father stayed home and worked. In the later years, when Virginia Hardwood moved into Burkes Garden, he went over there and cooked for them. He worked for the Blessings until he was about seventy years old or seventy five, and then he lived with my brother in Chester. They had a restaurant, and he cooked for them. And then he came and lived with me for about a year before he passed away. He was ninety years old when he passed away. Died with a broken hip; set up gangrene. Mother was the backbone of our family. She sold Macness products for years. Macness products was something like Raleigh. They sold flavoring, tonics for livestock, pie filling. Like Blair product.
We got a Sears Roebuck catalog every year. We kept it in the outhouse. We’d go out there and relax a while. Mother ordered a lot out of it. I did after I had kids. I ordered a lot of their clothes from Sears. In fact, I still trade at Sears. I think I still have the last one that Sears ever sent.
When we had the boarding house, we had lots of help. A lot of my father’s neices and nephews would help. About half of the people that stayed there were regular. You paid twenty five cents a week for room and board. You got to meet a lot of interesting people. There was two boarding houses in Bland County. There was two here and one up Suitor. And then one up at Crab Orchard. There was a lot of people that worked for Virginia Hardwood. You had to have people in the mountain, people that worked down here, people in the company store, people in the doctor’s office, people in the script office. People from everywhere came here to work at Virginia Hardwood, and then the CC’s came in here in the thirties, and that made everything grow a little more.
I remember the first time I ever went to the doctor. I had a boil on my elbow. I was about ten years old. I can remember the doctor that set my knee when I was about six years old. I busted it up Suitor, and he came and fixed it.
I was twenty when I got married. A lot of people got married young back then. I had two sisters that were up in their twenties when they got married, and my brother was up in his twenties when he got married. Three of my sisters were about seventeen when they got married. People didn’t date a long time before they got married back then. I went with my husband for about fifteen months before we got married. here wasn’t much divorce back then.
My mom was very strict when it came to dating. Ten o’clock we had to be at the house. You had to go to church every time the church doors open, boyfriend or no boyfriend, you went to church. Mother was very religious. She believed in morning worship, before we went to school. She believed in night worship, before we went to bed. She was strict all the way around. I think it helped the family out. Cause I have one brother retired from teaching. I have one sister retired from nursing. I have a sister retired from being a beautician. Josephine is the only one that never did work a public job. She worked for about a year and then quit. She’s the laziest one in the family. My first public job was in the sewing factory, sewing buttons on dresses in Bluefield, making button holes.Then I went to work at a hosiery mill, before I was married. I worked in Bluefield my junior and senior year, and then I went to work at the hosiery mill. In high school, some of the students had jobs. Some of them went to business school,then some of them went into nursing, and some of them went to factory workers.
I didn’t go to college. It was rough trying to go to college back them. There was a business school in Bluefield and Bluefield College and Bluefield State, but it was mostly black. There wasn’t that many black people in the community. We had one family that lived in Bland. There wasn’t no black people in Bastian, and then up Dry Fork. That one in Bland, he was treated just like us. We didn’t have too much contact with the ones up Dry Fork.

narration by Jessica DeHart