'Pocket Science' podcast: Why don't I slosh when I walk?
Human beings are mostly water, and about a fifth of that water is interstitial fluid, flowing in the spaces between our cells. Jenny Munson tells us how understanding that fluid flow can be harnessed to better treat cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases.
Humans are 60 percent water, but where is that water? Jenny Munson, a world leader in the study of interstitial fluid flow, answers that question, explains how the movement of the fluid between our cells changes in diseases like brain cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, and how that understanding is being used to improve treatments of those conditions and others.
"These interstitial fluid flows, they've been studied for decades across the body, and there's some universal truths to them and how they move and how they cause different cells and tissues to change and function … during disease, such as cancer, but also in Alzheimer's disease," Munson said.
More about Jenny Munson
Munson is a professor and director of Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's Cancer Research Center in Roanoke. The lab's research focuses on interstitial fluid flow. In brain cancer, fluid flow increases between cells within the tissue at the edge of the tumor where cancer cells mix with neighboring brain cells and evade typical therapies. Munson and her team believe fluid flow can alter how a tumor responds to drug therapies. The lab is also translating many of its methods and hypotheses to understand the role of fluid flow in immunity, aging, and women's health.
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About "Pocket Science"
"Pocket Science" is a compact guide to the human body and how it works, powered by the world-class scientists of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. We ask fundamental questions about the human body, health, and disease, and get answers from research institute experts, who also tell us how their research illuminates these systems and how to better treat the diseases that affect them.
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