Page 28 - aruba-today-20180824

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 24 august 2018

Carlsbad Caverns' 500K bats face threat of deadly syndrome

CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — The report from Bat Conserva- renowned bat flights in and
half a million bats that call tion International, an Aus- out of the cave.
Carlsbad Caverns National tin, Texas-based organiza- "They're extremely impor-
Park home could face the tion dedicated to conserv- tant to the community,"
threat of the deadly white ing all bat species. he said. "There's only a few
nose syndrome. Evidence of white nose places in the U.S. where
Federal agencies have syndrome was discovered you can see these kinds of
mobilized in recent weeks in New Mexico soil samples numbers."
to combat a microscopic and samples of bat dung The National Park Service
organism that could poten- last spring, but further test- teamed up with the U.S. Fish
tially kill off thousands of the ing this month determined and Wildlife Service, the Bu-
Mexican free-tailed bats it was not yet in the state. reau of Land Management
that make the national White nose syndrome was and the U.S. Department
park famous, the Carlsbad first discovered in a single of Agriculture's Forest Ser-
Current Argus reports . New York cave in 2007, vice to devise strategies to
White nose syndrome was and has since killed mil- prevent the spread of the
found in bat populations in lions of bats. The symptoms disease into New Mexico's
states across the country, were found in 33 U.S. states public lands, according
with the closest discovery in and seven Canadian prov- to an announcement last
Oklahoma and Texas. inces, moving as far west as week by the four agencies.
It's named for a white, fuzzy This Dec. 18, 2010 file photo shows hundreds of cave formations Washington state. "As the leading edge of the
growth that develops on that decorate the Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns National Park If the syndrome makes it white-nose syndrome dis-
the nose, ears and wings of near Carlsbad, N.M. to the Carlsbad Caverns, ease front advances, we
infected bats. Associated Press Neighbor said the impact do not fully know how the
"Obviously, we don't want could be devastating to fungus will behave in these
our bat colony to contract populations out east had repeatedly, which forces the local bat populations, environments, particularly
(white nose syndrome)," substantial die off." the bats to consume win- and negatively impact in the Southwest," said Jer-
said Doug Neighbor, super- The fungal infection grows ter fat stores and starve to Carlsbad's tourism industry. emy Coleman, the U.S. Fish
intendent of Carlsbad Cav- in the bats' skin tissues, rous- death before awakening in Many visitors travel to the and Wildlife Service's coor-
erns National Park. "Most ing them from hibernation the spring, according to a national park to watch the dinator for the disease.q

Study: Smokers better off quitting, even with weight gain

But a new U.S. study finds was not involved in the re- cause of the most common
you're still better off in the search. "I don't think we form of diabetes, a disease
long run. knew that with the assur- in which blood sugar lev-
Compared with smok- ance that this paper pro- els are higher than normal.
ers, even the quitters who vides." Diabetes can lead to prob-
gained the most weight The New England Journal lems including blindness,
had at least a 50 percent of Medicine published the nerve damage, heart and
lower risk of dying prema- study Wednesday. The jour- kidney disease and poor
turely from heart disease nal also published a Swed- blood flow to the legs and
and other causes, the Har- ish study that found quitting feet.
vard-led study found. smoking seems to be the In the U.S. study, research-
The study is impressive in best thing diabetics can do ers tracked more than
its size and scope and to cut their risk of dying pre- 170,000 men and women
should put to rest any myth maturely. over roughly 20 years, look-
that there are prohibitive The nicotine in cigarettes ing at what they said in
weight-related health con- can suppress appetite and health questionnaires given
sequences to quitting ciga- boost metabolism. Many every two years.
rettes, said Dr. William Dietz, smokers who quit and don't The people enrolled in the
a public health expert at step up their exercise find studies were all health pro-
In this June 22, 2012 file photo, a smoker extinguishes a ciga-
rette in an ash tray in Sacramento, Calif. George Washington Uni- they eat more and gain fessionals, and did not mir-
Associated Press versity. weight — typically less than ror current smokers in the
"The paper makes pretty 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms), general population, who
By MIKE STOBBE may seem like you're trad- clear that your health im- but in some cases three are disproportionately low-
NEW YORK (AP) — If you quit ing one set of health prob- proves, even if you gain times that much. income, less-educated
smoking and gain weight, it lems for another. weight," said Dietz, who A lot of weight gain is a and more likely to smoke
heavily.
The researchers checked
which study participants
quit smoking and followed
whether they gained
24/7 weight and developed
diabetes, heart disease or
other conditions.
Quitters saw their risk of dia-
betes increase by 22 per-
cent in the six years after
566-7183 they kicked the habit.q