Name: What Does Lead Poisoning Do To Your Brain?
Uploaded: 2017-08-06T01:26:01.000Z
Duration: 5 min 22 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

It’s malleable and durable, so it’s no
wonder that for years we used it in piping

It can create problems all over the body—from
rashes, to abdominal pain, to anemia.

But the most serious effects occur in the
brain—and especially in the brains of children.

It can cause headaches, memory loss, learning
disabilities, behavioral issues, and seizures.

And kids don’t even have to be exposed directly.

Women who wind up ingesting lead can store
it in their bones.

And if they get pregnant, that lead can be
passed on and damage the brains of their children.

Lead poisoning is still a big problem in the
US today—and not just in communities you

So, what’s actually happening to the brain
when you have lead poisoning?

And is there anything we can do to stop it?

Lead messes with our brains in a few different
ways.

But to understand what they are, let’s look
really quickly at how brain cells—or neurons—communicate:

and I promise, this will be short, sweet,
and hopefully deeply enlightening.

Ok, so neurons have a long tail called an
“axon” at one end, and branch-like structures

They talk to one another when the axon from
one cell sends chemical signals to another

The receiving cell can then pass the message
on to yet another neuron.

And all that communicating happens in this
tiny gap between the cells called the “synapse.”

One thing lead can do is block those chemical
signals from being sent, which sounds bad

But, lead does another thing that can have
even more long-term effects.

It can make the synapse—that connection
between your neurons—become weaker over

You see, in order for neurons to maintain
a strong connection, the axon needs to know

that the dendrite is receiving its messages.

So the dendrite produces a molecule that lets
the axon know it’s being heard loud and

That molecule is called BDNF, and you can
kind of think of it like the best-friends

It makes the axon and dendrite’s relationship
even stronger.

But, in order for the cell to produce BDNF,
it needs calcium.

Calcium usually enters the dendrite through
channels, which act like a door that opens

for a little while when a signal is received.

When the door’s unlocked by the right set
of molecules, calcium flows through freely.

But when lead’s present, it jams the door,
preventing calcium from entering and keeping

That means that the connections between brain
cells start to wither.

In adults, having poor connections between
your neurons is harmful enough.

But in children, with their fast growing brains,
it’s especially dangerous—not to mention

that the amount of lead needed to cause brain
damage in kids is much smaller, in part because

their brains are making (and removing) new
connections at much faster rates.

Sadly, in the past there haven’t been great
treatments for lead poisoning—and especially

But recently, scientists have shown that simply
by adding a BDNF substitute, neurons may be

Here’s a video showing this process in action.

On the left are normal cells, in the middle
are cells exposed to lead, and on the right

are cells exposed to lead that have been given
BDNF.

When the green dye disappears, it means that
the neurons are able to send their chemical

signals—so when the video turns black you
know everything’s working properly.

You can see that the green starts to disappear
in the cells with additional BDNF, even though

Now, we’re still far from using BDNF as
a cure for lead poisoning—this isn’t even

Certainly, preventing the exposure to lead
in the first place should be the primary goal.

But this research offers hope that one day,
lead poisoning may be much more treatable.

And that’s a great thing, since today, at
least 4 million American households with kids

Subtitles ListPlay Video

What Does Lead Poisoning Do To Your Brain?

extremely

present

gross

properly