Alzheizmers Disease essays

Alzheizmers Disease essays Alzheimer's Disease is a scarcely understood, but exceedingly devastating disease. We need to learn more about it in order to eradicate it. I knew someone with the disease and he really couldn't go outside alone or do much without his wife by his side. He had to stay home most of the time thinking about vain imaginings and remembering the same life occurrences over and over again. His memory gradually was lost and he began to lose control of basic functions, including the ability to feed himself and communicate with others. He finally died after many years of painful suffering. The Andrew Pollack article examines this, and a hopeful solution to the problem. The article focuses on a clinical trial that produced evidence that gene therapy may slow the mental deterioration that defines Alzheimer's disease. The study included eight patients with early-stage Alzheimer's, the first of its kind to use gene therapy for the treatment of the disease. Six successfully received the gene transfer, all of whom showed a slower rate of cognitive decline in the 22 months following treatment than they had in the 14 months before. Dr. Mark H. Tuszynski of the University of California, assisted I the writing of the article. Dr. Tuszynski and his assistants stated in the paper that they thought it might be better to use the gene to induce cells in the brain to produce their own growth factor just where it was needed. They also point out that the long-term goal of this research is the same as that of any other genetic research, which is the possibility that science could o ne day alter our genetic make-up. While gene therapy is far from certain, there are those who believe in its potential. Genetic research is currently playing a major role in the study of other diseases, including diagnostic and predictive test for SAD. However, many industry pioneers have withdrawn from gene therapy, due to its inconsistent results. Still, some venture c...