Zika…Zeeekaahh… sounds poisonous and evil, doesn’t it? But the reality is worse. Some adults may go through a session of Zika and barely notice it: mild headaches, stomach upset, aching in joints. Others may contract the paralyzing condition Guillain-Barre, or acute myelitis and other disorders of the nerve system. But the worst danger is to
“How do you do?” The voice on the line was deep, confident, self-assured. I tried to think what to say. “Um, do you like sharks and dolphins? Because I used to be a diver for Marine World Africa USA, and I would swim with them every day!” There was a polite pause, then: “Finding Nemo,
Imagine a cut that bleeds but does not clot. Untreated, a person with hemophilia can suffer extreme pain from internal bleeding in the joints, as well as suffering strokes from brain-bleeds, even death from continual blood loss. It is said the Russian Revolution of 1917 might not have happened, if there had been a cure
First, a shout-out to Michael J. Fox, undeniably the champion of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) fund raising. If I understand correctly, he has raised the astonishing sum of $750 million dollars…the world owes Mr. Fox a debt of gratitude. How much does Parkinson’s Disease cost America? Individually, someone with PD must come up with about $22,500
If Dr. Tracy Grikscheit’s work prevails, one day the world may know something most of us never think about— how to improve defective intestines. Why would we want to do such a thing? To save a baby’s life. First, consider the problem. A premature infant may weigh 500 grams. Born too soon, their intestines may
In 1951, I was six years old and living in a hospital bed. I had asthma/bronchitis, which may not sound like much, nowadays. But every inhalation was a separate wheezing effort, and a choice: to struggle and breathe, or relax and die. There were injections of adrenaline which burned like liquid fire, and experimental drugs
As a child, I once tripped and fell while carrying a long thin bamboo rod. When I hit the ground, the stick penetrated my right eye. I put my hand up to my face and it came back full of blood. The hospital put a piratical patch on the injured eye. In a few days
Let’s talk clinical trials, ALS, and California funding for stem cell research
When my son Roman Reed was first paralyzed, and lying in the hospital bed, he developed a pressure sore on his right heel: harmless-looking, at first, just a black spot the size of a dime. But the darkness grew, spreading until it covered his foot, and higher. The doctor prescribed “moon boots” to take the
