Have you ever stopped to think about the inventions that we're so used to using in our day to day life?
I was just talking to our 10 year old last night, about things that used to be "science fiction" and are now completely necessary parts of our modern world.
Let's be real...If someone had told the 10 year old me about cell phones, I would have thought you were bonkers...Now, if you tell our 10 year old daughter about rotary phones, she looks at you like YOU'RE bonkers.
Let's take a little trip back in time so that you can see what I mean...
The list is too long to name them all here.
Things like lie detector tests, radar, solar energy, atomic bombs, bionics,in vitro fertilization, genetic engineering, communication satellite technology, and on and on...they were all in someones imagination long before they became our reality.
So...when someone like Dr. Michael Fossel MD, Phd says that he thinks his new approach of (I'm simplifying this big time) taking cells that are young, pre-Alzheimers, and inserting them in to the hippocampus, and then letting them take over the Alzhheimers cells...AND that soon it will reverse and actually cure Alzheimers?
I feel like if I don't take a long hard pause and really listen to what he's saying then I'm doing him a huge disservice.
Throughout our history, we've seen the most fantastical ideas become reality. So why not this?
Is he crazy, or is he a visionary? Well, the hopeful optimist in me says visionary..and if that's the case I'd like to buy stock in his company :).
He got his M.D. and Ph.D. at Stanford University, where he taught neurobiology and research.
He served as Executive Director of the American Aging Association, and was Founding Editor of Rejuvenation Research.
He’s a an expert on telomerase and age related disease.
We've written about telomeres before, but telomerase is the enzyme responsible for creating the caps on the telomeres that keep the time on our aging process.
Scientists believe that the loss of telomeres leads to eventual loss of important,areas of DNA that are basically "written" to do certain things. Eventually the cells can't divide and do what they need to do, and this is when things like Alzheimers are seen.
According to Dr. Fossel, in an interview done for Waking Up from Alzheimers-Regain your brain, he says : "I think within three years, we can demonstrate that we can both prevent and cure Alzheimer’s disease."...Wait....What???? Three years???
How is this possible?
Well, he say's that he's preparing now to do human trials ...NOW..on this intriguing treatment for Alzheimer’s.
If you're asking the same question as me - "How can he possibly do human trials and have the data he needs within 3 years?"... Then you and I are on the same page..see? Science fiction....
Or is it?
Dr. Fossel and his team have already been doing animal trials, and have been "astounded" with the results.
His hope is that humans will have the same or even better results.
So... What would "a cure" look like?
According to him, he thinks it's possible to see a huge reversal in cognitive decline.
I don't think anyone assumes that in cases of progressed Alzheimers, everything will snap back to normal, but he seems pretty sure that they will see a significant difference.
So, what do you think about this incredible new idea? I'm beyond excited to see what happens with this, and if all goes well in his timeline, I may actually be ABLE to see it...and soon. Here's to the future and science fiction:)
If you think someone may be interested in this new approach to treating Alzheimers, hit the share buttons at the top of the article!
