Health
The Emerging Science of Tracing Smoke Back to Wildfires
As smoke from wildfires crosses state and international borders more frequently, tracking and studying it is increasingly important for shaping air quality and health measures around the world.
An upcoming study from researchers at Stanford University offers a new way to trace far-flung smoke and pollution back to individual wildfires of origin.
What’s burning in a wildfire determines what kind of pollution is in the smoke. A forest fire burns differently from a fire in a swamp, or a fire that burns buildings. As smoke travels, its chemical composition may change with time and distance.
The findings could help officials to determine which wildfires are likely to have the biggest health consequences for the greatest number of people, and to allocate firefighting resources accordingly.
“We don’t find that fire suppression resources are often spent on the fires that are most damaging from a health perspective,” said Jeff Wen, a Ph.D. candidate in Earth system science at Stanford and the study’s lead author.
Others have done similar research before, but at a much smaller scale. The new study, not yet peer reviewed, would be the first to cover the whole contiguous United States, according to the authors.
“Historically, we haven’t really been able to study those types of questions at a broad spatial, temporal scale,” Mr. Wen said.
It’s clear that wildfires have become more frequent and intense in recent years, fueled in part by climate change’s role in drying out many landscapes. Less clear to scientists has been how smoke from these fires has changed over time. The new study shows that as fires have worsened, so has their smoke: From 2016 to 2020, the U.S. population experienced double the smoke pollution that it did 10 years earlier, from 2006 to 2010. While the study focused on historical data, some of its methods can also be used to predict where smoke from a new fire will travel.
The researchers focused on a pollutant called particulate matter, made of very small solid particles floating in the air, which can enter people’s lungs and blood and lead to problems such as difficulty breathing, inflammation and damaged immune cells.
Using their new method, Mr. Wen and his team ranked all of the wildfires observed in the United States from April 2006 to December 2020 by the resulting smoke exposure. They found that the worst fire by smoke exposure during this period was the 2007 Bugaboo Fire, which burned more than 130,000 acres in and around the Okefenokee Swamp, straddling Georgia and Florida.
This initially surprised the researchers, since Western states tend to have more large fires. But the Eastern Seaboard is more densely populated, so smoke from the Bugaboo Fire didn’t have to go far to affect many millions of people. Peatlands like the Okefenokee Swamp also tend to burn slowly, Mr. Wen said, releasing more particulate matter into the air.
The worst fires in their ranking did not match up very well with the worst fires in traditional rankings, such as acres burned or buildings and infrastructure lost. More firefighting resources were not necessarily deployed to the smokiest fires, either.
“We often suppress fires mainly because of structures and immediate threat to life,” said Bonne Ford, an atmospheric scientist at Colorado State University who was not involved in this study. While it’s important to save lives and help rural communities in immediate harm’s way, it’s “short-term thinking” to focus only on those immediately dangerous fires and ignore others that may harm many people farther away through smoke exposure.
Dr. Ford and others have studied wildfire smoke patterns, as well as the resulting exposure to particulate matter pollution. But the Stanford researchers have pulled off something new by putting the two together, she said, especially over so many years and so much land area.
One aspect of the study Dr. Ford took issue with was treating all human exposure to particulate matter in smoke the same, no matter where it happened. Some people are more vulnerable to air pollution, she said, depending on their age, pre-existing health conditions, other environmental factors and whether they can take precautions such as wearing face masks outside and using air filters inside. Future research could combine Mr. Wen’s methods with existing vulnerability indexes, Dr. Ford said.
There are also more precise ways to track and predict where smoke travels, according to John Lin, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Utah who was not involved in the study. Aside from that, Dr. Lin thought the Stanford study would be very useful in figuring out the real human toll of wildfire smoke.
Smoke traveling long distances is “the new normal,” he said. This reality challenges the ways governments have historically dealt with air quality, through regulations like the Clean Air Act. Now that pollution is increasingly crossing borders, Dr. Lin said, the way that people manage air quality should evolve accordingly.
Since the age of 13, Joseph Kowalsky has harbored a fascination with life after death, pondering ways to extend his existence indefinitely.
Today, Kowalsky, now 59, is among some 2,000 individuals who have signed up with the Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan, betting on a future where death is not the end.
Chilling prospect of immortality
Cryonics, the process at the heart of Kowalsky’s hopes, involves preserving human bodies at ultra-low temperatures in the anticipation that future science will one day revive them.
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Shortly after a person dies, organizations like the Cryonics Institute use a heart-lung resuscitator, circulate a medical-grade antifreeze in the blood and suspend the body in aluminum pods filled with liquid nitrogen.
Dennis Kowalski, current president of the Cryonics Institute (and no relation to Joseph Kowalsky), told Fox News that over 250 individuals are currently in “suspension” at the Michigan facility.
Cryonics involves preserving human bodies at ultra-low temperatures in the anticipation that future science will one day revive them. (Cryonics Institute)
Could defying death be affordable?
The Cryonics Institute is just one player in a burgeoning industry.
Alcor, the world’s oldest cryonics company, which is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, boasts a state-of-the-art facility where more than 200 individuals are preserved.
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For those opting for whole-body preservation, the price tag is $200,000, while brain-only preservation costs $80,000.
Alcor CEO James Arrowood dispels the notion that cryonics is solely for the wealthy, highlighting that many clients use life insurance policies to cover costs.
Over 250 individuals are currently in “suspension” at the Michigan facility, the president of the Cryonics Institute told Fox News. (Cryonics Institute)
“About 80% of people who sign up are middle-class,” Arrowood told Fox News.
He pointed out that the clientele includes notable figures such as baseball legend Ted Williams, whose head and body were cryopreserved separately.
Skeptics cast doubt
Critics dismiss cryonics as speculative and unproven, labeling it an “iceberg scheme” lacking scientific backing.
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“It’s a sad case of people being beguiled by a very understandable dream of resurrection,” Clive Coen of King’s College London told Fox News.
The neuroscience professor raised concerns over the damage inflicted during the preservation and revival process, warning that “there will be billions of mini-strokes in every millimeter of brain tissue” due to the inability of antifreeze to traverse the brain’s complex landscape.
Hope springs eternal for death defiers
There is currently no scientific evidence or successful case of a human being revived from a cryonically preserved state.
For those opting for whole-body preservation, the price tag is $200,000, while brain-only preservation costs $80,000. (Cryonics Institute)
Despite the skepticism, Joseph Kowalsky, who formerly worked with the Cryonics Institute, remains undeterred.
“Worst-case scenario, I’m still dead … And the upside? It could be a potentially life-saving medical technique,” he said.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews/health
As science and ethics continue to grapple with the implications of cryonics, individuals like Kowalsky illustrate a deep-seated hope for defying mortality, one frozen body at a time.
Andres del Aguila and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
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Most of the 38 million people living with diabetes in the U.S. use daily injections or insulin pumps to keep glucose at safe levels — but new research suggests that a third option could be just as effective.
In a study led by Dr. Irl B. Hirsch, M.D., medical director of the Diabetes Care Center of the University of Washington Medical Center, an inhaled form of insulin — similar to an asthma inhaler — worked just as well as injections or pumps to control type 1 diabetes.
The research was presented last week at the American Diabetes Association (ADA)’s 84th Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida.
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The clinical trial tested a product called Afrezza, an inhaled insulin made by MannKind Corporation in California.
Afrezza, the only inhaled insulin on the market, has been available since getting FDA approval in June 2014.
An inhaled form of insulin worked just as well as injections or pumps to control type 1 diabetes in a recent study. (iStock/MannKind)
Benefits of a third option
“In those with type 1 diabetes, insulin is required for survival,” Hirsch told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“With continuous glucose sensing, glucose control has been dramatically improved — but not everyone reaches the target with multiple injections or pumps, and there are many pros and cons with each therapy,” he said.
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With pumps, people must wear the device, which can lead to skin problems.
They also have to purchase extra accessories.
Blood glucose levels can also drop with exercise, Hirsch warned, which can be problematic.
Afrezza, an inhaled insulin pictured here, is made by MannKind Corporation in California. (MannKind)
“Injections overall can be more convenient for some, but they don’t do as well as pump patients,” he said.
With Afrezza, the product is inhaled into the lungs before meals, and the fast-acting insulin minimizes the glucose spike often seen after eating, Hirsch noted.
“Patients with type 1 diabetes should consider this as another option for their mealtime insulin, and talk to their doctor about this choice.”
During the 17-week study, researchers evaluated the results of 141 adults who were assigned to either use the Afrezza inhaler or continue with traditional methods of injection or pump delivery.
At the 17-week mark, all participants switched to the inhaler for another 13 weeks.
Dr. Irl B. Hirsch, M.D., medical director of the Diabetes Care Center of the University of Washington Medical Center, led the new study. (MannKind)
All groups were assessed with continuous glucose monitoring at the start of the study, at 17 weeks and again at 30 weeks.
Among the inhaled insulin group, 30% of participants reached their target glucose levels (less than 7% blood sugar) compared to 17% of the people using injections and pumps.
There was no difference in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) between the groups.
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“In general, there was no difference in our primary endpoint, HbA1c, a reflection of average blood sugar,” Hirsch said.
“But that alone is misleading — many patients did better with their glucose control, while others did worse.”
With Afrezza, the product is inhaled into the lungs before meals, and the fast-acting insulin minimizes the glucose spike often seen after eating, a doctor said. (MannKind)
“The point is, inhaling insulin isn’t for everyone, but some did better than they did on their pumps.”
The people who saw the best results inhaled insulin between meals and at bedtime, Hirsch added.
At the end of the study, more than half of the participants said they would opt to stay on the inhaled insulin therapy.
“The biggest takeaway is that patients with type 1 diabetes should consider this as another option for their mealtime insulin, and talk to their doctor about this choice,” he recommended.
‘Adds value’
The American Diabetes Association acknowledged the promise of the study findings in an email to Fox News Digital.
“We look forward to our Scientific Sessions every year to see data like the INHALE-3 study’s findings, which have the potential to expand diabetes care,” Raveendhara Bannuru, M.D., PhD, the ADA’s vice president of medical affairs and quality improvement outcomes in Boston, Massachusetts, told Fox News Digital via email.
“With continuous glucose sensing, glucose control has been dramatically improved,” a doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“We are hopeful for the continuous development of alternative insulin delivery methods that could offer options for people living with diabetes,” the group also said in the statement.
“The INHALE-3 trial demonstrated that inhaled insulin, combined with insulin degludec, effectively reduces A1c levels without increasing hypoglycemia or weight gain in people with type 1 diabetes. This adds value to the options in insulin therapy.”
Potential risks and limitations
While more people met their glycemic targets with Afrezza, some subjects saw worse readings when switching from usual methods to inhaled insulin — “potentially due to missing doses of inhaled insulin during the day and/or underdosing going into bedtime,” the researchers wrote.
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“We didn’t see any concerns,” Hirsch said when asked about side effects.
“As expected, a few people coughed immediately when dosing their insulin, but no major concerns were seen and everyone continued on their inhaled insulin.”
“Not everyone reaches the target with multiple injections or pumps, and there are many pros and cons with each therapy,” a doctor said. (iStock)
The most common side effects noted in the study were hypoglycemia, cough and throat pain or irritation.
Afrezza has been linked to a risk of acute bronchospasm in patients with chronic lung disease, such as asthma or COPD, according to the manufacturer.
“Inhaling insulin isn’t for everyone, but some did better than they did on their pumps.”
Before starting Afrezza, patients should see a doctor for a physical examination and testing to measure lung function.
Patients who smoke or who recently quit smoking should not take the inhaled medication.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews/health
Fox News Digital reached out to MannKind requesting additional comment.
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