teapot1

teapot1

Saturday, April 28, 2012

X Factor


X    Is There an X-Factor in Alzheimer’s?

What is the secret contained in the brain that leads it to develop the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s, that makes itself shrink, that paralyzes memory and thought processes and motor coordination?
 

Will there be a “magic key” that scientists will discover someday that will unravel the entire mystery?
 

Will it be an identifiable gene? Or, more likely, some untold number of different genes that somehow interact with each other and with environmental factors that affect different individuals differently. This seems to be the story of science.
 

Sometimes I think of how many diseases there are that destroy bodies and minds and that it seems like being able to cure them is just a quixotic dream. Yet progress is being made every day in medical science; progress is made even in tiny steps, steps that hopefully will someday join to lead us to a new pathway to cure and prevention.


May we soon discover that key, and “X” out Alzheimer’s from our vocabulary.


4 comments:

  1. If you think back even 10 years and try to remember what we didn't know then that we take for granted now, a cure or a real treatment, at least, is not such a pipe dream! I believe we are close to a real treatment. Very close. ♥

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  2. I'd love to have whatever X factor it is permanently removed Elaine. the sharing of this journey with you has educated me greatly.

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  3. Oh man...I totally agree. This disease runs in my family. :( I just finished reading "Still Alice" - am making my husband read it now. It's very good...

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