Peter Davies, a biochemist, has been studying and investigating Alzheimer's Disease since the 1970s. He suspects that the vast
majority of research being done is not going down the right path. He believes that Alzheimer's is caused by cells that are not
dividing properly, rather than plaques or tangles, protein fragments. Davies studies at the
Litwin- Zucker Center for the Study of Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, located in Manhasset, NY. He believes that mechanisms controlling cell division have gone wrong. Plaques and tangles are only the result of these. In this article,
Davies answers the following seven questions:
- What is the central mystery of Alzheimer's?
- If we have known about Alzheimer's since 1906, why do we still not understand it?
- What is the most pressing issue today in the field of Alzheimer's research?
- But you don't think Alzheimer's is caused by either plaques or tangles, right?
- How will knowing the cause of Alzheimer's disease change the way we treat it?
- When will we have a cure?
- Is it possible that Alzheimer's will soon swamp the health care system?
It is estimated that by 2030, about 7.5 million Americans will be diagnosed with this disease. The disease costs the US about 148 billion dollars every year. A cure most definitely needs to be found. I am very interested to learn about how Alzheimer's is projected to spread so rapidly. Having a family greatly affected by different types of cancer, I strongly support the finding of a cure of Alzheimer's Disease. An increase of education about Alzheimer's and different kinds of cancers needs to be pushed even more in schools. Students need to actually be aware of the symptoms and effects, so if they or a family member have symptoms, they can have early detection. The article has given me to interest Alzheimer's and find out, through my own research, what its causes are.
Barth, Amy. "Is Alzheimer's Like a Strange Form of Brain Cancer?".
http://discovermagazine.com/2009/new-science-of-health/02-is-alzheimers-strange-form-brain-cancer
I found this article to be very interesting and important. Alzheimer's being a form of cancer makes perfect sense since both are caused by cells not dividing correctly. It is also shocking to read the statistic that in 2030 7.5 million Americans will have this disease. I also did not realize the people getting treated for Alzheimer's now are just getting treated for the symptoms not the disease itself. Hopefully they will learn more about this from all the trials they are running. It will be interesting to find out the results they find.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this article is very important and more people should be aware of how much Alzheimer's is affecting our country. 7.5 million dollars a year is a lot to be spending on a disease, we need to find a cure. The disease needs to be treated, not just the symptoms. If Alzheimer's is a from of cancer, people in the cancer research need to study it to help find a cure. i hope that one day a cure is found, so my family wont have to worry about it.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea Alzheimers was effecting so many people in our country. This helps to make the world more aware that while the symptoms for this mysterious disease are being treated, we still have nothing to supress that actual cause and that much more time should be dedicated to this myserterious murderer.
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