Chapter 3 -Media Article
The Province –Monday, January 15, 2007
As of now, there is an approximate of 435,000 Canadians with Alzheimer’s disease. The number is expected to double in the next quarter century if there isn’t a cure. So far, DNA from some hundred Canadians has been analyzed for research. There is a long-term collaboration between St. George-Hyslop and his colleagues at Boston University and Columbia University. They share their resources and gene samples for study.
The researchers hope to be able to tailor therapies to fit an individual’s gene profile to decrease their risk of Alzheimer’s disease. In the end, they hope that people will not be afraid of being tested of this disease because they know there will be therapies to reduce the risk. There is still a lot more work to be done.
Relationship to Ch3-Third Party Effects
As we all know, Alzheimer’s disease causes the carrier to forget things easily. This affects others through human interaction. We interact with society everyday.
Let’s set up a situation where a cure for Alzheimer’s disease will benefit others:
Kyle is riding a bicycle down a quiet city street to school. It is 7am and there is no one around except for the senior who likes to take morning strolls with his dog. A white Hummer drives by with a very recognizable license plate: “ME N YOU” (me and you). The driver doesn’t see Kyle and hits him. The senior sees and falls into shock. The driver is scared and calls 9-1-1, but leaves the scene of accident causing a hit-and-run situation. By the time the police and ambulance gets there, the senior still haven’t left the crime scene. The police interrogate the senior. Sadly, the senior has Alzheimer’s disease. On top of that, he is still in shock. The senior doesn’t remember the license plate of the car. If the senior had therapy, his chance of having Alzheimer’s disease would be slim and Kyle will be able to sue the driver.
This situation shows that yes, a cure for Alzheimer’s disease can affect third parties.
posted by Pattie at
8:58 PM
2 Comments:
Whether seniors with Alzheimer’s negatively or positively affect our society I find that it is both important and humane to find a cure as soon as possible. Alzheimer’s is a frightening disease and research should be continued until a definite cure is found. In your reflection you mentioned that a senior with Alzheimer’s couldn’t be a reliable alibi or witness in court for any charge. However, it is also important to note all the other ways a senior with Alzheimer can affect society. For example, seniors who have Alzheimer’s cannot be left alone; therefore they become reliable on the government if there is no one else able to take care of them. Thus if there is a cure for a disease such as Alzheimer’s the tax money spent of caring for them can be directed somewhere else, such as education or to find a cure for another disease.
By
AmyYBlkF, at 3:11 PM
Interesting topic, I can relate this to Chapter 3 really well. There are too many dieseases out there to research, I think the best way is to let the natural thing happen, and that is leave as is. I approve of darwins theory, and as so. By keeping people alive with weak Genes means an overall weakening of the human gene pool. We have to stop comming up with ways to treat dieseases or else theres no adaptation in the human race. Eventually results in super weak immune systems. I don't know about you, but theres a lot of things we need to fix in our world.
Theres really no point spending so much money that is divided up into researching so many variants of dieseases...its no use. How many years of fundraising was done for cancer? And how many years of reseach have we already done? Why is there a shortage of money for the research? If you see how much we've spent already...yet theres no results...it probably means that the virus and diesease are constantly evolving and mutating. Its stupid trying to find a cure for something that adapts and changes with our antibiotics.
And yes, the expense for keeping people that live off life support...comes out of our pockets.
By
Junner, at 11:30 PM
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