'The woman who cannot forget' - a key to Alzheimer Cure?

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Dec 4, 2008
2
1,650
#1
Hello,

I apologise if this posting is not appropriate, but having been made aware of Terry's plight (and been a fan of his novels for many years), and also having my eyes opened to Alzheimer's thanks to Terry's publicizing of the situation, I have attuned my personal radar to any tidbits of info that might benefit this condition.

I have seen just today on the news a lady named Jill Price interviewed about her recent book "The woman who can't forget", which explores her medical condition known as "hyperthymestic syndrome". It seems to me that Alzheimer's is a condition whereby there is no choice but to lose memories which are 'edited' by the brain and deleted from the knowledge-base. In Ms. Price, there is the exact opposite : A condition whereby the editing function is simply not present, and every experience of every day since she was 14 is indelibly burned into her mind.

Consequently, I wondered if the Alzeimer's research Terry is attempting to kick into activation would benefit from the data accumulated by the medical team who have been studying Ms Price, as there would seem to be an opportunity to accelerate the investigation into Alzheimer's by seeing things from the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of looking for simply what is missing from the Alzheimer brain, I suspect the medical investigation could combine that data with what is 'present' in the hyperthymestic brain and use a non-afflicted brain as a 'control' against which to assess the data.

I hope that this information is of some benefit to Terry and all the others who suffer, and that if not in these pages, the information comes to him through other sources as quickly as possible.

My best wishes to all,

Marc
 

Tiffany

Sergeant
Oct 13, 2008
2,118
2,650
Devon
#3
Hi Marc, welcome from me as well.
Poor woman, I have just read up on her, but I can't see how it would be relevent to Alzheimers though. She has a problem with her brain in a totally different way & must be fairly unique I should think.
 

simone

Lance-Constable
Jul 27, 2008
20
1,650
Australian
#4
Tiffany said:
Hi Marc, welcome from me as well.
Poor woman, I have just read up on her, but I can't see how it would be relevent to Alzheimers though. She has a problem with her brain in a totally different way & must be fairly unique I should think.
Quite right- Alzheimers comes with a build up of amylase plaque in the brain (not sure yet if it's cause or effect, but most studies point to cause) With all the toxins loose in the environment, it's amazing we're all not dead.

Cheers
 
Dec 4, 2008
2
1,650
#5
Hi all,

Thank you for the welcome messages. Yes, I've been looking further into this too, and my thoughts about Jill Price's condition is that perhaps her condition, if identified as communicable to others through specific therapy, could be used to 'turbo-boost' an existing memory system and for Alzheimer's sufferers perhaps introduce a normal level of recall. For example, would a brain biopsy reveal Ms. Price's brain cells to be as susceptible to Alzheimer's as the rest of us, or is there a form of natural chemical resistance there which ensures that no matter how the body attempts to reduce brain activity in areas of memory, it is prevented from doing so (maybe a natural immunity to the form of plaque build-up that Alzheimer's is believed to be symptomatic of?).

I'm not medically trained, but since research into Alzheimer's is so embryonic, I would like to believe that there are opportunities for this form of study to take place, especially given Ms. Price's noble willingness to submit herself for study to aid others.

Best,

Marc
 

Dotsie

Sergeant-at-Arms
Jul 28, 2008
9,068
2,850
#7
I didn't see that, but I suppose it's got some connection to the fact that the virus causing cold sores also lies dormant in nerve cells (like the ones that your brain is made of).

Of course one problem with studying brains is that you can't tell from looking at it post mortem what it does (unlike the heart or lungs for example). And pre-mortem, people are still using them!
 
Jul 1, 2009
4
1,650
London
#12
Terry Pratchet has promoted a light helmet that improves the brain but I cannot find out where to get one, the Alzheimer's society knows nothing abouyt it. Please could someone help me locate one!
 

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