TONIGHT: Science in Alaska lecture by Drew Kelly of UAF on therapeutic hypothermia

Wednesday, Feb, 3, 7 p.m.
Anchorage Museum auditorium

Science for Alaska has hosted three lectures in Anchorage at the Anchorage Museum, featuring experts from the UAF, UAA and UAS campuses. Cindy Knall and Gwen Holdmann spoke Jan. 27 and Jan. 20, respectively. The last talk in the series is by Kelly Drew on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at the Anchorage Museum auditorium at 7 p.m.

Drew's topic is "Raising the dead: Hibernating animals give scientists clues to help victims of cardiac arrest." That talk will be Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Anchorage Museum.

In the United States, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest strikes more than 300,000 people a year. Yet no more victims survive today than did 50 years ago. Right now, therapeutic hypothermia -- the process of lowering a patient's body temperature until the danger passes -- is the only treatment currently shown to improve survival of cardiac arrest patients.
A hibernating animal's demand for oxygen is extremely low -- 2 percent of what they might require in a resting state, and their body temperature can plummet to below-freezing temperatures. For this reason, these animals may hold the clues needed to make therapeutic hypothermia a more effective treatment. Researchers in the Drew lab at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Arctic Biology, study how the brain regulates hibernation. Understanding this state of suspended animation in hibernating animals may one day lead to the means to mimic this state in humans. Could hibernation be what you might need to one day save your life?

For more information on the program, call (907) 474-5082 or check out the Science For Alaska Web site.