Monday, May 10, 2010

Equilibrium


Written by: Haroun Zayed
Set in the futuristic and dystopian city state Libria. Humanity has scarcely survived a nuclear third world war. Reasoning the humanity can not survive another world war, the leaders of the world decide that no price is too high to avoid another one. In this civilization war is blamed on the great “evil” of human nature: emotion.
The movie begins with a speech from Libria’s great leader, a man referred to as Father. Father never speaks to anyone from the outside world but rules the governing body known as the Tetragrammaton council. The Tetragrammaton strives to create identical lives for every individual in order to instil peace and order to the world. Everyday individuals inject themselves with a drug known as Prozium that prevents them from feeling or expressing any emotion. In this world everyone shows little to no emotion and speaks in a robotic monotonous voice. However as in every society there are those that rebel this regime and refuse to take this drug. These individuals live in what is known as the “nethers”, they strive to keep banned materials that provoke emotion. They are those individuals who truly know the benefits of emotion and accept the responsibility that accompanies it.
The Tetragrammaton council deals with these individuals by means of grammaton clerics. These clerics are trained from childhood to be ruthless emotionless killers by means of a firearm martial art that encompasses optimal shooting and evasion techniques known as gun kata.
The protagonist of the movie is grammaton cleric first class John Preston (Christian Bale), Libria’s highest ranking cleric. As the movie begins he and his partner Errol Partridge (Sean Bean) enter the nethers and eradicate a group of individuals that are part of the resistance. Upon returning Preston realises his partner is a sense offender (an individual who stops taking Prozium) and proceeds to kill him. Preston is then assigned a new partner, the career-conscious Brandt (Taye Diggs). The following morning Preston accidentally breaks his Prozium dose and is unable to replace it leaving him to feel emotion. This sudden feeling of emotion awakens Preston to the horrors of this new world. From then on he stops taking Prozium and attempts to live a life of façade in front of the very observing Brandt. As the movie progresses Preston is subject to arresting a sense offender, Mary O’Brien (Emma Watson). Marry opens his eyes to the beauty of emotion and further confirms Preston’s will to bring down the government. Preston then goes on to try and locate the resistance and go about fulfilling his quest. This science fiction thriller is sure to keep you entertained with the many well coordinated fight scenes as well as giving you a jaw dropping view of a possible futuristic Stalinesque city. Christian Bale does a fantastic job transitioning from an emotionless cold blooded killer to an emotion filled human that is discovering the world again.
Although Equilibrium does a great job in creating a futuristic world where most of humanity experiences no emotion, it is highly unlikely that this will ever come to be. This movie is based upon the idea that one can take a drug to suppress all emotions. This is extremely unlikely to occur because of the complications that would arise from attempting to create a drug.
Although Equilibrium does a great job in creating a futuristic world where most of humanity experiences no emotion, it is highly unlikely that this will ever come to be. This movie is based upon the idea that one can take a drug to suppress all emotions. This is extremely unlikely to occur because of the complications that would arise from attempting to create a drug. Although the chemicals behind certain emotions are known, the mechanism by which all human emotion is activated is not entirely recognized. Furthermore even if the mechanism is known, the consequences to the body of suppressing the many chemicals would create such an imbalance in the brain that severe side effects would be sure to follow.
To add on to that if all of the above is bypassed, the rapidity by which this drug works is completely unrealistic. Drugs that are currently created by man to help establish equilibrium for patients with depression or bipolar disorder take long periods of time to build up and long period of time to wear off. Hence, Preston should not have been subject to emotion so quickly due to missing a single dose. Moreover, using a drug that wears off in less than 24 hours means the entire population is just a day’s delayed drug shipment away from revolution. It would be interesting though if similar drugs currently on the market would work at such rapidity as it would help my psychiatric patients to significant ends.
In the end Equilibrium is an extraordinary movie that engages the audience in a hypothetical futuristic world. It’s a captivating movie filled with great fight scenes, great characterization and a highly entertaining yet eerie civilization. However this movie can be very dense at times and if you are not the type of individual who can stand watching a movie with long periods of silence at a time then this movie is definitely not for you. Nonetheless this is a great movie that is definitely worth renting if you plan on staying home on the weekend. You will not be disappointed.



Bibliography
Work
.
Macdonald, Cynthia. The Globe and Mail. 14 August 2009. 22 April 2010

Alt, Jason. The Unknown Movies. 2002. 28 April 2010 .

Note book


The Notebook is a romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as Noah and Allie, a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s.
  The story is set in South Carolina in two different time period's; the 1940's and the present day.  At first it is not clear if the two timelines are related through characters or stories, until the reader realizes that the common thread in both spans of time is a notebook that is being read by an elderly male character to a sickly female character. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths. Though her memory has faded, his words give her the chance to relive her interesting youth and the unforgettable love they shared. As teenagers, Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling) begin a whirlwind courtship that soon blossoms into tender intimacy. The young couple is quickly separated by Allie's upper-class parents who insist that Noah isn't right for her. Several years pass, and, when they meet again, their passion is rekindled, forcing Allie to choose between her soul mate and class order. This beautiful tale has a particularly special meaning to the older gentleman (James Garner), who regularly reads the timeless love story to his aging companion (Gene Rowlands). As an old man, Noah tries desperately to familiarize Allie with the memories they shared during their life together.
It becomes apparent that the older Allie has Alzheimer's, the incurable, degenerative, and terminal disease; a form of dementia. In Allie's case, she struggles to remember the history of her life. It seems as though Allie is far into her Alzheimer's disease. She cannot remember her name, nor can she recognize the familiarity of others surrounding her, specifically, Noah. Though she cannot entirely identify the people like Noah she does have moments of lucidity. She vaguely recognizes the story being told to her and she always seems to find comfort in the telling of the story.
While the story is told with affection and promotes to viewer in engaging and pitying Noah and Allie, the scientific principles of the Alzheimer disease are questionable. Allie suffers from long term and short term memory loss; a common symptom of the Alzheimer's disease.  What is strange is the fact that Allie cannot remember information about her past, however she has no trouble speaking to others. The diagnosis of Alzheimer's includes significant thinking deficits.  
In at least one of four areas, including expressing or comprehending language; identifying familiar objects through the senses; poor coordination, gate, or muscle function; and the executive functions of planning, ordering, and making judgments. When Allie 'met' other people, such as her children, she could not identify them, yet she performed a normal, social, and intellectual response. Studies indicate that even at the mild stages of dementia, victims have problems with expressing and understanding language. The director did attempt to show confusion of place and time but it was very brief. As Noah reaches the end of the story, Allie begins to remember her past and realizes the story was about her. From a scientific viewpoint, this is almost impossible. Alzheimer's is known to have good and bad days of sense of place and time; however, it is highly improbable that a person suffering from Alzheimer's can quickly remember all information about themselves and their loved ones.

While Alzheimer's disease has a considerable variation in functioning, behaviour, psychological symptoms for each individual, this scenario is simply unrealistic. In reality, this condition is devastating for family members and friends. In the movie, Noah was deeply saddened by his lovers disease, but he did have the ability to communicate comparatively well with Allie.
The Notebook did not accurately portray the possible symptoms of Alzheimer's, but instead focused only on Allie's forgotten past. In reality, there are many factors that go alongside this disease. Though this movie contained falsehood's of what Alzheimer's is truly like, it did evoke emotion and thought towards the disease. Noah's optimism throughout the entire movie could inspire many to learn, support and love one's with this demoralizing disease. With scientific facts aside, this romantic drama is sure to touch the heart's of others.
Before Allie and Noah's death, Allie once again realizes the life she lived with Noah. Although this ending is sad, there is a sense of optimistic hope for the future. This is a must see for viewers who want to be emotionally entertained. It's a tear jerker!  
Bibliography
work
Alzheimer Society of Canada. April 2010. 26 April 2010 .
Segal, Jeanne and Melissa Wayne. Alzheimer's Disease: Help Guide. April 2009. 26 April 2010 .

Awakenings


The movie Awakenings, follows the story of Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams), a researcher looking for a job. His job search ends when he gets a placement at a local hospital in the Bronx section of New York. Out of place, Dr. Sayer soon finds catatonic patients who survived the 1917-1928 epidemic, encephatlitis lethargica, who respond to certain stimuli. These certain stimuli reached beyond the patients' respective catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball thrown at them, hearing their name or specific genres of music, and experiencing human touch all have unique effects on the patients in different ways. This allows Dr. Sayer a glimpse into their worlds. One particular patient Leonard Lowe (Robert Di Niro) proves to be elusive in this regard, but Dr. Sayer discovers another way of reaching into his world through communicating using an Ouija board.
After attending a lecture on a new drug called L-Dopa used in Parkinson's disease, Dr.Sayer hypothesis, that the drug will cause a break through to his catatonic patients. A trial run with Leonard leads to amazing results as Leonard completely "wakes" up from his catatonic state. With donations and funds soon all the catatonic patients are "awake." Leonard and the other patients soon realize they are not in the same world they once knew. They begin to experience all of life’s new things.
Over the summer of 1969, the success of L-Dope with this group of patients is a dream come true but it soon is realized that this is only a temporary measure. As the summer proceeds, Leonard being the first one to be "awakened", starts having tics. Leonard's tics grow more and more prominent and he starts to loose his ability to walk. He soon begins to experience full body spasms and can hardly move. Soon after, Leonard returns back to his catatonic state. All the other patients go back to their catatonic states as well. Over the years many of the patients experienced "awakenings" but "none were as dramatic as the summer of 1969."
The science in the movie was based on Oliver's Sacks' 1973 memoir Awakenings, with the true story of Olive Sacks, fictionalized by the character of Dr.Sayer. The movie itself was great story of friendship and scientific inquisition. However, it often leaves you wondering; why did these survivors of encephatlitis lethargica become catatonic? In their Catatonic state, were the patients able to hear or see the world around them? Why did only certain stimuli work with the patients? And finally the biggest question of all, why did the L-Dope work?
In 1917, Von Economo was the first to describe the Encephalitis lethargica (EL), shortly after the epidemic. The symptoms of EL can differ from patient to patient but it usually starts out with a high fever, headache, and sore throat. Shortly after double vision, disturbance of eye movements, weakness of the upper body, tremors and strange movements, neck stiffness, intense muscle pains, a slowing of physical and mental response, drowsiness and lethargy.
In rare cases patients may developed brain and nerve symptoms changing the patient's behavior causing them to be psychotic, OCD, or have disturbed thinking. The original epidemic caused the death of many people but a few did survive the initial stages of the disease. The survivors developed a form of Parkinson's disease, which in the movie led to a catatonic state.
In the movie, the survivors responded to certain stimuli when they were in a catatonic state. Like those with Parkinson’s disease the patients can listen and understand what is spoken to them but they exhibit little to no facial movements.
In Oliver's Sacks 1973 memoir Awakenings, he recorded that most of the survivors in a catatonic state have a tendency to only remember events that occurred in their environment. In the beginning of the movie they give the example of Lucy, who upon “awakening” states that she does not know the year. Later in the movie, we find out that she actually does she just wishes that it wasn't. Furthermore when Leonard is finally "awaken" he can recognize his mother, even though the last time he saw her was 30 years back at the age of 11.
At the time of EL from 1917-1928 children were also susceptible to the influenza epidemic. Thus many scientists proposed that there was a link between the two epidemics. However Von Economo and Oliver Sacks did not believe this to be true. In more recent experiments, it has failed in achieving EL brain material to demonstrate influenza RNA, this somewhat proves that the two cannot be linked. In Oliver's memoirs, it also recorded that only 2 of the patients had influenza.
Although Oliver's hypothesis were mostly right one that was particularly wrong was that idea that the survivors in their catatonic state were "getting the will of" the stimuli. Like Parkinson’s patients, EL patients can still occasionally control their body movement if they focus really hard. In the movie, Dr.Sayer throws a ball at the catatonic patients, which they catch. This moving object is going to attract the body attention; this is the reason why the patients catch the ball. In recent pathological findings, scientists have discovered that EL is localized to the basal ganglia and midbrain structures. The parts of the frontal lobe can control some body movement; this area of the brain is less affected according to the research. This could also explain why the patients caught the ball.
Over the years, there were no further epidemics of EL, although there were some sporadic cases that have been reported and continue to be reported. Recent studies, have consistently failed to demonstrate the cause of EL. In recent studies, they found a CSF oligoclonal bands and successful treatment of some of EL cases with steroid have led them to propose that this phenotype may be immune-mediate. However, Dale and his colleges presented a paper which studied 20 patients consisting primarily of children and teenagers with sleep disorder, lethargy, Parkinsonism and neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism, anxiety, depression, obsessions and compulsions. After 3 years of examining their patients, they point that autoimmune complication commonly occurred many weeks or months after the precipitating organism and the growth of organism is rarely possible. They instead found a connection between their patients and Streptococcus. They propose that, "although the association with streptococcus is a useful line of further investigation alternative environmental triggers may be important in the disease evolution of this EL phenotype" (Dale et al., 2004).
Although today, there are some successful treatments using steroids with EL patients. The most common treatment is L-Dopa, the same drug they used in the movie. L-dopa increases the production of dopamine in the brain. This access of dopamine in brain causes the EL patients to have chemical imbalance and this imbalance is what "awakens" Dr. Sawyer's patients. This chemical imbalance works for the summer of 1969 until the patients develop a tolerance for it, and soon the patients return to their catatonic state.
Overall, the Awakenings was really great movie. You don’t want it to end and you hope that at the end of the movie it says that all the survivors were cured. Great performance by Robert De Niro as one of patients.
Bibliography
Work
Awakenings. Dir. Penny Marshall. Perf. Robin Williams and Robert Di Niro. Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1990. DVD.
Sacks, Oliver W. Awakenings. New York: Vintage, 1999.Print.

Figure
Awakenings. Dir. Penny Marshall. Perf. Robin Williams and Robert Di Niro. Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1990. DVD.

Medicine At the Edge


A New Zealand Naural History Documentary
Medicine at the Edge is a 2001 documentary that explores the extreme conditions where new medicine is rapidly increasing in demand. The documentary reveals situations where advanced medicine is necessary for survival. This documentary uncovered the turmoil inflicted on the body in extreme situations such as, the great depths of the oceans, the high altitude of mountains like Mount Everest and, the effects of zero gravity in space on the body. The medical applications needed for these extreme conditions are highly advanced and are still being developed to this day. This documentary is an eye-opener for any avid science fan, dealing with various biomedical issues. The 50 minute film depicts solutions to problems that can be anticipated in conditions where there is still much to learn about practical medicine.
This film was a documentary about extreme environments so the scientific views and aspects were educational and thought provoking. Deep sea diving was introduced first as an extreme condition. The harsh environment of the deep sea can have a fatal toll on any diver.
The main killer of deep sea divers is of course decompression sickness, or The Bends. The Bends is caused by micro bubbles that form in the blood and block the bloodstreams in certain parts of the body. Nitrogen gas being breathed in by the diver gets absorbed in the tissue of the body. As divers go deeper, more nitrogen gets absorbed, decompressing by stopping regularly on the ascending dive allows nitrogen bubbles to expel, sometimes not all nitrogen bubbles can be expelled. A hyperbaric chamber uses oxygen therapy and simulates the pressure experienced at a deep dive. Breathing pure oxygen allows the bubbles to recompress out of the bloodstream. A main and critical area that can be affected by The Bends is the spinal area. The Bends can seriously damage spinal nerves which can paralyze the whole body. The Bends may be fatal to divers because of too much air pressure but it is quite the opposite in high altitude situations. On Mount Everest there is not enough air pressure, only about one third of normal air pressure, so a common condition known as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) affects many climbers. The thin air and low pressure can allow longs to collapse and leak fluid. Dexamethasone, is an injectable steroid that lessens the effects of altitude on the body so as to allow the patient to descend. Relocating to a lower altitude with thicker air allows the patient to recover. This captivating film has showed the A New Zealand Naural History Documentary
Medicine at the Edge is a 2001 documentary that explores the extreme conditions where new medicine is rapidly increasing in demand. The documentary reveals situations where advanced medicine is necessary for survival. This documentary uncovered the turmoil inflicted on the body in extreme situations such as, the great depths of the oceans, the high altitude of mountains like Mount Everest and, the effects of zero gravity in space on the body. The medical applications needed for these extreme conditions are highly advanced and are still being developed to this day. This documentary is an eye-opener for any avid science fan, dealing with various biomedical issues. The 50 minute film depicts solutions to problems that can be anticipated in conditions where there is still much to learn about practical medicine.
This film was a documentary about extreme environments so the scientific views and aspects were educational and thought provoking. Deep sea diving was introduced first as an extreme condition. The harsh environment of the deep sea can have a fatal toll on any diver. The main killer of deep sea divers is of course decompression sickness, or The Bends. The Bends is caused by micro bubbles that form in the blood and block the bloodstreams in certain parts of the body. Nitrogen gas being breathed in by the diver gets absorbed in the tissue of the body. As divers go deeper, more nitrogen gets absorbed, decompressing by stopping regularly on the ascending dive allows nitrogen bubbles to expel, sometimes not all nitrogen bubbles can be expelled. A hyperbaric chamber uses oxygen therapy and simulates the pressure experienced at a deep dive. Breathing pure oxygen allows the bubbles to recompress out of the bloodstream. A main and critical area that can be affected by The Bends is the spinal area. The Bends can seriously damage spinal nerves which can paralyze the whole body. The Bends may be fatal to divers because of too much air pressure but it is quite the opposite in high altitude situations. On Mount Everest there is not enough air pressure, only about one third of normal air pressure, so a common condition known as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) affects many climbers. The thin air and low pressure can allow longs to collapse and leak fluid. Dexamethasone, is an injectable steroid that lessens the effects of altitude on the body so as to allow the patient to descend. Relocating to a lower altitude with thicker air allows the patient to recover. This captivating film has showed the difficulties faced by the body in high pressure and low pressure environments but what about conditions without any air or air pressure.
In space, the body muscle can significantly reduce strength because of the zero gravity effect. This causes serious problems for any prolonged duration in space, like a mission to Mars. Because there is no gravity the bones and muscles become weak very easily so astronauts have to exercise regularly every day, but even that is not enough. Simulating gravity is one approach that may provide the solution to stop the loss of bone and muscle strength. The idea involves creating a centrifuge which by spinning creates artificial gravity. Also, new pharmaceutical drugs used for Osteoporosis are being investigated to see if they are taken once every 6 months in outer space if they will reduce bone loss. This documentary also suggests the likeliness of performing surgery in space. If astronauts were to stay in space for 3 years, it is said that there would be an over 50% chance that surgery or medical care might be required sometime. This film shows a new approach to surgery. The most advanced technique dealing with surgery in space is robotic surgery. A system has been designed that contains a console containing a screen with a camera to see the area of operation, a voice command headset for the robotic arms and camera, and surgical tools connected to the console that control the robotic arms. This revolutionary approach has proven to be more efficient and safer. The console has been used to perform heart bypass surgery. The procedure is more easily performed because the robotic tools are only as big as pencils and need only two 5mm incisions to begin the surgery. The operation is controlled by a surgeon at a console but the actual surgery performed by the robotic arms surpasses that of human dexterity. Another innovation with the bypass surgery by robotic arms is that the scalpel uses sound waves to locate and bloodlessly cut away a good artery to replace a faulty one. The robotic arms make surgery much more minimal and allow a speedy recovery. The console can be operated from remote distances and it is hoped to use the robotic arms in space while operating from the console on Earth.

Overall this film will open your eyes to science and medicine. As humans push the limits of our environment the body becomes more fragile to risk. Medicine must follow mankind wherever we go. The film is very educational but very interesting as well and will give a very good insight into developing techniques in biomedical research. Some may be disappointed due to lack of Hollywood action and unrealistic science, but as a documentary this film provides innovating and spectacular views of future developments in science, and will keep any viewer fully captivated.
Image:

A Meta-Analysis on the Effect of Antioxidant on Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer


Written by: Haroun Zayed
The word antioxidant contains the prefix “anti: which means against or in opposition to. In this case it refers to oxidants or oxidation (Valko, et al, 2004). This infers that antioxidants are molecules with in our body that slow down or prevent the oxidation of other molecules. Examples of antioxidants include vitamin C, (ascorbic acid), a-tocopherol (vitamin E), Beta carotene, and lycopene. Although oxidation reactions are crucial for the life, they also can be damaging. This is because oxidation reactions could create free radicals. Free radicals are very unstable molecules that react very quickly with other compounds by means of stealing electrons (Valko, et al, 2004). This causes the attacked compound to become an unstable free radical. This begins a chain reaction that can cascade through molecules with in our body and finally result in the disruption of a living cell. Normally the human body would be able to control free radicals, but if antioxidants are unavailable, or there is an excess of free radicals then oxidative stress can occur which can damage cells (Valko, et al, 2004).
Oxidative stress describes the steady state level of oxidative damage to a cell tissue, or organ, cause by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) (Block, 2004). Oxidative stress is determined by the balance between the rate at which oxidative damage is induced, and the rate at which it is effectively repaired or removed: table 1 (Block,2004). Examples of ROS’s include Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hypochlorus acid (HCLO), hydroxyl radical (·OH), and the superoxide anion (O2−). These ROS’s can damage cells by starting chemical chain reactions such as lipid peroxidation, DNA oxidation and protein oxidation (Block, 2004). DNA oxidation can cause harmful damage that may lead to mutations, and possibly cancer. On the other hand protein oxidation can cause the inhibition of vital enzymes.
Theory
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S and Canada. The American Cancer Society estimates around 553 888 deaths in 2004. While in Canada it is estimated that 66 947 people died from cancer in 2004. Cancer can be caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can increase inflammation and exposure to exogenous sources (Collins, 2005). This includes nitrogen oxide pollutants, smoking, certain drugs and radiation. All can induce cancer causing mutations by the oxidation of lipids, proteins, and the alteration of signal transduction pathways that enhance cancer risk (Borek, 2004). The idea is that an increase intake of antioxidants will prevent ROS from oxidizing and mutating cells to form cancer. However if a cancer patient is treated with radiation or chemotherapy and undergoes supplementation of antioxidants, problems may occur. can induce apoptosis (programmed cell death, suicide) to only cancerous cells (Borek, 2004) .
On the other hand Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in the U.S and Canada. The American Heart Association estimates a total death count of 945 836 from CVD in 2004. Stats Canada estimates a total death count of 74 626 in 2002 from CVD in 2002. CVD is caused by atherosclerosis, an arterial disease which causes plaques with in medium sized arteries causing a heart attack or stroke (Vivekananthan, et al, 2003). The build up of plaque in atherosclerosis consists of foam cells whose cytoplasms are filled with cholesterol. These plaques are usually narrow and longitudinally oriented. Now it is believed that the oxidative modification of Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL) by free radicals will result in their consumption by macrophages (Clarke, Armitage, 2002). This causes the macrophages to become foam cells that release cell agitating cytokines and free radicals which promote death and ruptures with in atherosclerosis plaques (Clarke, Armitage, 2002). The plaques would then begin to break up and form other plaques with in the same or smaller arteries. Repetition of this process will cause complete obstruction of the blood thus causing a stroke or a heart attack. Therefore the intake of antioxidants would prevent the free radicals from oxidizing LDL and help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
Discussion

In total 138 133 patients who were given Beta Carotene or a control treatment showed no effect on preventing all cause mortality or cardiovascular death. If anything it showed that Beta Carotene might in fact increase the rate of all cause mortality and cardiovascular death. This is shown in tables 2 and 3 were the absolute even rates of all most all of the trials presented a higher beta- carotene rate then the control rate. The CI value also indicates that the results were either insignificant or a slight increase because of the usage of beta carotene. As for the 82 000 patients who were given vitamin E there was no significant increase or decrease in all cause mortality or cardiovascular death. Finally through the little information on vitamin C and its ability to prevent cardiovascular death, there was no significant increase or decrease in cardiovascular disease.
From the 29 133 male smokers in the ATBC trial all the risk ratios were calculated for lung, colorectal, urothelial, prostate, and renal cell cancers. Although prostate cancer had the greatest relative risk reduction none of the studies individually showed a statistically significant result. The same trend was observed in the linxian and linxian dysplasia trials. In these trials supplements were given in combination and alone and still there was no statistically significant result to whether they have a benefit of survival. As for other trials that tested the efficiency of vitamin C on cancer there was no statistically significant result to show a benefit for survival. Finally there has been much speculation over the effect of lycopene on cancer. From the results in table 10 there seems to be a significant reduction in prostate, pancreatic, lung, breast, stomach, and colorectal cancer. Most notable is the protective effect of lycopene on prostate cancer. In a study of 47000 men, those who consumed 10 half-cup servings of tomato products per week had a 35% lower risk of developing prostate cancer compared to men who never ate tomato products (Hwang, Bowen, 2002). As for the other cancer sites there is significant reduction because of lycopene but till of now there hasn’t been large randomised clinical trials to further prove the protective effects of lycopene.
Note: All tables can be found at the end of the magazine. Found on p.58-64
Conclusion
In conclusion the results support the null hypothesis. Antioxidants do not have an effect on cardiovascular disease or cancer. In fact some antioxidants such as B-carotene increase the risk of Cardiovascular disease. As for the rest of the results there were no significant results to show any benefit of antioxidants on cardiovascular disease. The same was seen for cancer where there was no significant effect of antioxidants on many types of cancers. The only significant effect that occurred to cancer was from lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes. There was a reduction in all cancer sites but most noticeably in prostate cancer. Therefore the following recommendations should be taken after consulting you family physician:
1.Stop the intake of antioxidant supplements in the favour of fruit and vegetable intake.
2.Increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables to more than 5 serving a day.
3.Stop the intake of B-carotene for previous or present smokers.
4.Those at risk or currently have prostate cancer should increase the intake of tomato products to provide more than 6 mg of lycopene a day5.Include better life style habits into your daily routine such as regular physical exercise, avoidance of cigarette smoke etc.
In all we still don’t know how fruits and vegetables have a protective effect against cancer but it seems that it isn’t because of their abundance of antioxidants. Further studies would have to be done to look into the combination of substances with in fruits and vegetables that have a protective effect against cancer.
Bibliography
Block, Keith I. "Antioxidants and Cancer Therapy:Furthering the Debate." Integrative Cancer Therapies (2004): 342-348.

This was primarily used for information on antioxidants and their mechanism of function
Borek, Carmia. "Dietary Antioxidants and Human Cancer." Integrative Cancer Therapies (2004): 333-341.

This article was not used extensively. Only minor sections pertaining to the effect of antioxidants was looked at.
Collins, Andrew R. "Antioxidant intervention as a route to cancer prevention." European Journal of Cancer (2005): 1923–1930.

Similar to the one above, only small sections were used that looked at reactive oxygen species.
Deepak. P. Vivekananthan, et al. "Use of antioxidant vitamins for the prevention of cardiovascular." The Lancet (2003): 2017-2022.

One of the most looked at articles. Results were used from this particular article as well as extensive information on atherosclerosis.
Eun-Sun Hwang, Phyllis E. Bowen. "Can the Consumption of Tomatoes or Lycopene Reduce Cancer Risk." Integrative Cancer Therapies (2002): 121-132.

Another well used article for results , and information on one of the few promising antioxidants. Very informative and helpful information on cancer trials.
Ian D. Coulter, et al. "Antioxidants Vitamin C and Vitamin E for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer." Journal of General Internal Medicine (2006): 735-744.

This was mostly used for its extensive results on the affect of vitamins on a variety of cancers. However some information was obtained regarding future recommendation for cancer patients.
Marian Valko, et al. "Role of oxygen radicals in DNA damage and cancer incidence." Mollecular and Cellular Biochemistry (2004): 37-56.

This article was thoroughly used for its information on free radicals. Helped a lot in providing the reader with a better understanding of free radicals and cancer.
Robert Clarke, Jane Armitage. "Symposium: Vitamin Therapy and Ischemic Heart Disease: Antioxidant Vitamins and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease." Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy (2002): 411-415.

This article was one of the most used. It provided a great deal of results as well as information on cardiovascular disease and possible explanations for antioxidant use.

Coral Reef- Is it too late


   Written by: Victoria Machin       
Rivalling tropical forests of the Amazon or New Guinea, coral reefs are estimated to support a variety of life amounting to 25 percent of all marine life on the planet! (Coral Reefs). They form the nurseries for about a quarter of the ocean's fish. Coral reefs are immense structures formed by stony corals with limestone outer skeletons (Levy). The limestone is deposited primarily by coral polyp- a small, fragile tubular animal that secretes calcium carbonate to create a hard exoskeleton (Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress). The polyps reproduce thousands of times to build shapes of coral colonies depending on the species, wave action, currents, and sunlight in the area (Levy). 

            Reefs can be found all over the world-in the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Western Atlantic Ocean and all over the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress).
In recent years scientists discovered cold water coral reefs off the coast of Norway and deep underwater in the Mediterranean Sea (Coral Reefs).  Generally, they are located at depths of less than 150 feet, in area's which are exposed to sunlight, salt water, and a temperatures of 68 to 92
 
degrees Fahrenheit. Coral reefs grow faster in clear water where light reaches the symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae, that live in the coral polyp's tissue (Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress). Wave action breaks down dead corals to fine sand and opens up areas to new growth. There is always a balance between destruction and growth on a coral reef (Hutchinson and Hawkins). 

            Coral Reefs support an extremely diverse and interconnected ecosystem. Thousands of animals live in and around reefs (Gray). Other animals visit coral reefs at certain times of the year. They are highly concentrated area's; however, they cover less than 1 percent of the entire marine environment (Levy). Common coral-reef animals include:  sponges that provide shelter for tiny fish, crabs, and other small animals; sea anemones (close relatives of corals) which have a symbiotic relationship with clownfish and anemone fish; a variety of worms, including flatworms and polychetes; as well as sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. A wide variety of schooling and solitary fish—including shark species—are also mainstays (Levy). The parrot  fish has front teeth fused together to form a beak. It uses its beak to chew coral's limestone skeleton in order to eat its main source of food, algae. Though most organisms use or live in the water of the coral-reef, there are some that do not. Many birds live around the reefs for food supplies
and breeding for part of the year.  Coral-reef birds include sea eagles, terns, albatrosses, and other seabirds (Levy).
            Apart from helping to sustain a significant ecosystem within the ocean's water and source of biodiversity, coral reefs are of immense value to humankind. Latest estimates suggest coral reefs provide close to US$30 billion each year in goods and services, including
Coastal Protection: Sheltering land from harsh waves during storms, hurricanes, typhoons, and even tsunamis. The reefs save billions of dollars each by preventing coastal erosion, flooding and loss of property on the shore (Coral Reefs).
Natural Value: For many coastal societies around the world, coral reefs and their inhabitants are a part of cultural traditions.


 Fisheries: If properly maintained, coral reefs can yield around 15 tonnes of fish and other seafood per square kilometre each year. An estimated one billion people depend on coral reefs for food and income; they are vital to the world's fisheries (Coral Reefs).
Tourism: Tourism revenues generated from coral reefs are extremely high in many places. The Florida Keys in the US generate at least US$3 billion dollars in income each year. Coastal communities in developing countries also use coral reefs as a significant or additional source of income (Coral Reefs). The beauty of coral reefs is appreciated by the people and without them the world would be very different (Coral Reefs).    

         Recently, scientists are expecting coral reef species to contribute to future medical advances. The Sherman team, along with William Gerwick of Scripps' Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego, analyzed chemical compounds pulled from marine organisms living in coral reef sediments, blue-green algae, sponges and soft corals (Oceanography). They looked for substances, such as bacterial toxins, that can kill or disable cancer cells in the laboratory. Currently, more than a dozen such compounds from marine sources are in pre-clinical or clinical trials as cancer therapeutics. One such substance is curacin A, a candidate for an anti-cancer drug treatment  first derived from a Caribbean coral reef cyanobacterium, L. majuscula, in 1994 by Gerwick's group (Oceanography). In the laboratory, curacin A effectively killed  kidney, colon and breast cancer cell lines. Sherman  and his colleagues latest finding is that the first links in the curacin-A chain include a member of the GNAT family of proteins, a group of enzymes that has long been known to play roles in gene regulation, hormone synthesis and antibiotic resistance (Oceanography). L. majuscula is a cyanobacterium, which are among the oldest organisms on Earth. Roughly 3 billion years ago, cyanobacteria began producing atmospheric oxygen that, much later, allowed more complex life forms to emerge. In the L. majuscula bacterium, the curacin A toxin likely performs a defence function, possibly protecting the microbe from predators (Oceanography).

Already coral reef organisms are being used in treatments for diseases like cancer and HIV (Coral Reefs). Just as with tropical forests, answers to medical problems in the coral reefs will continue - so long as they are kept healthy.
            "Coral reefs have survived tens of thousands of years of natural change, but many of them may not be able to survive the havoc wrought by humankind (Coral Reefs)." Coral reefs provide many functions for people living in coastal communities, yet we are threatening their existence. Roughly one-quarter of all coral reefs worldwide are considered damaged beyond repair, while two-thirds are degraded and under serious threat (Coral Reefs).
            Every year, large areas of reef are irreparably damaged by sewage and oil pollution, sedimentation, unsustainable fishing, and global warming which are all linked to an increase in coral bleaching  (Hutchinson and Hawkins). The mortality associated with global change has a significant hindrance on the survival of coral reefs (Anup).  Bleaching occurs when coral polyps, stressed by heat or radiation, expel the symbiotic algae—the zooxanthellae—that live in the reefs and provide the coral most of their food and oxygen. The zooxanthellae give them much of their colour, resulting in white patches over the colony.  In some cases, there is a degree of recovery where new species of zooxanthellae become viable within the coral polyps (Hutchinson and Hawkins). However, it has also been found, however, that bleached colonies have a greater susceptibility to being broken apart by wave action (Hutchinson and Hawkins) (see figure 3).

 For the last two decades, Indo-Pacific reefs have shrunk by 1 percent each year—a loss equivalent to nearly 600 square miles (1,553 square kilometres). That makes the rate of reef loss about twice the rate of tropical rain forest loss. Coral reefs are found in 109 countries; significant reef degradation has occurred in 93 (Anup). The decline of coral reefs was revealed to begin much earlier than assumed; in the late 1960`s (Scales). 
            The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, highlights species that are extinct or extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable (Anup). Their spatial data shows the risks that coral reef species face around the world: (see figure 4)

           The biggest of all coral reef structures, and the largest biological entity on the planet, is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. This colossal coral reef stretches for more than 2000 kilometres along the north-eastern coast of Queensland  (Hutchinson and Hawkins). It comprises of thousands of interlinked segments that are oldest and thickest at the northern end (Hutchinson and Hawkins). On April 3rd 2010, one of the Shen Neng 1, a bulk coal carrier's fuel tanks was damaged, running aground on the Great Barrier Reef carrying 975 tonnes of fuel oil and 65,000 tonnes of coal (Reytar). Reef conservationists and scientists worldwide gave a collective shudder. The area of the spill is a restricted area due to its environmental sensitivity. This horrible incident highlights the growing threat to coral reefs from human activities worldwide (Reytar).

            27% of the world's coral reefs have already been lost. If present rates of destruction are allowed to continue, 60% of the world's coral reefs will be destroyed over the next 30 years (Coral Reefs). With all the damaging effects to coral reefs, it may be hard to be optimistic towards the future of these precise marine habitats.  It may not be possible to completely reverse the large amount of degraded reefs, nevertheless, improvement is certainly possible. In 1998, there was an unprecedented bleaching while approximately16 percent of coral reefs were damaged, but about two-fifths of those recovered. If given the opportunity, then 50 percent of coral reefs in the world that aren't yet damaged beyond repair could, potentially, recover (Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress).

            Two major groups working to protect and save the coral reefs are the Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Coral Reef Alliance (Anup). Groups like this provide the data and information needed to develop effective management plans and policies for reefs. Forming specific, detailed recommendations to national governments, local planning authorities, and marine park managers on how to counter threats to, and better manage, coral reefs in order to ensure their future place on Earth (Reytar). It is up to us to help these beautifully intricate structures survive.

Bibliography
Anup, Shah. "Coral Reefs." 13 February 2010. Global Issues. 18 April 2010 .
This article gives a variety of statistics, including images(stastistical) of coral reefs in recent years.
"Coral Reefs." 2010. WWF. 14 April 2010 .
This website has a large amount of information on coral reefs being faced with human activity.
Gray, Susan H. Coral Reefs. Minneapolis: Compass Points Books, 2001.
This book contained basic information on the ecology of coral reefs.
Hutchinson, Stephen and Lawrence E. Hawkins. Oceans: a visual guide. Ontario: Firefly Books, 2005.
This book contains a huge amount of information on marine biology; oceans. Specifically it contains a section on the risks imposing coral reefs including damaging effects like coral bleaching.
Levy, Janey. Discovering Coral Reefs. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2008 .
This book contains basic information on the ecology of coral reefs.
Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress. 2010. 15 April 2010 .
This article is a brief summary of al topics pertaining to coral reefs.
Oceanography, Scripps Institute Of. "Toxin From Coral-Reef Bacteria Could Become Next-Generation Cancer Drug." 29 November 2007. Science Daily. 19 April 2010 .
This article reveals coral reefs as being a future anti-cancer drug.
Reytar, Katie. "Great Barrier Reef Accident Highlights Risks to Reefs." 7 April 2010. World Resources Institute. 18 April 2010 .
This article gives information about the recent spill of the Shen Neng 1 in Australia.
Scales, Helen. "Coral Reefs Vanishing Faster Than Rain Forests." 7 August 2007. National Geographic. 18 April 2010 .
This article gives details upon the rate of coral reef decline and the answers to why it is declining.

Image Sources:
Figure's 1, 2, 3, 5
National Geographic Online Gallery
< http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/>

Figure 4
Anup, Shah. "Coral Reefs." 13 February 2010. Global Issues. 18 April 2010 .

ALS and Physician Assisted Suicide

A doctors’ duty is to protect the life and health of the patient as well as respect their autonomy (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). The two duties cause moral tension particular in cases with patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease", is a progressive degenerative disease of the central nervous system resulting in weakness and wasting of the muscles that ultimately leads to death (Barber, 2001). It affects the motor neurons that reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles.
ALS primarily affects the upper and lower motor neurons, which only have an average survival time of 3-5 years. These neurons are the early indicators of ALS (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). Early symptoms of ALS vary from patient to patient, and it depends on the mild and relative intensities with which the pyramidal cells in the motor corte and motor neutrons in the brainstem and spinal cord are. It is often missed diagnosis for cervical spondylitic mylopathies, radiculopathies, various myleopathies and mutifocal motor neuropathies. All of which have similar early symptoms as ALS (Doyle, Jr. et al, 2000). How ALS differs from these diagnoses is the pathphysiological changes in an ALS patient. The pathophysilogical changes in ALS are dictated by which motor neurons are lost. The surviving motor neuron either adapt to the losses of motor neurons or they themselves are affected by the disease (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000) Other central systems may be affected later as the disease progresses but the loss of motor neutron in the nervous system is the first stage (brain, spinal cord, and nerves).
The loss of motor neurons reduces the numbers of motor units (a single alpha-motor neuron and all of the corresponding muscle fibers it innervates; all of these fibers will be of the same type) and thins out the muscles (see figure 1) (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). Different studies of ALS in relation to motor units have agreed that ALS patients all have rapid loss of in motor units. This rapid loss is a lot quicker than regular age -related loss. A study from Dantes and McComas shows that initially that the loss of motor neurons is very rapid, however as the disease progresses this loss begins to slow down. (see figure 2) (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000).
Due to the loss of motor neurons the surviving few have to adapt. This adaptation includes the development of sprouts from axons of surviving motor neurons, forming new synaptic contacts between the sprouts and the muscle fibers (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000).

It can also cause increases in muscle fibers, and increases in the twitch tension of muscle units. Nonetheless this adaptation also has benefits such as an increase in the size of motor unit action potentials (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). Among the loss of motor neurons it was also found with preservation of the forsal roots that the ventral nerve roots are subject to thinning and discoloration (see figure 3).
To diagnosis ALS, neuroimaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) can be used. These play an essential role because they identify a treatable condition that has the same symptoms as ALS, and point out pathophysiological changes in the central nervous system that are relatively specific for ALS. All of this assists in making the diagnosis for ALS (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). Furthermore alternative devices such as neuroimaging, are now being used for research purposes that may find cure or prevention methods.
There are anatomic changes in the brains and spinal cords of patients with ALS. This is due to the neurodegeneration (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). MRI is mostly used in identifying ALS because of its ability to reveal parenchyma details. Some of the MRI changes with patients suffering from ALS have found increased signals along the corticospinal tract on T2-weighted in the posterior limbs of the internal capsule and extending into adjacent fronto parietal white matter (see figure 4) (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000).
Although today, there are no treatments that halt or reverses for ALS, there is one FDA approved drug, riluzole that slows the disease down and gives the patients another 1-3 months to live (ALS site). Recent studies are using gene mutation on mice to see if they some day just alter the gene for some cases.
ALS can be in heredited but only in a small percentage of families, the majority of the patients (90%) have no family history of ALS (ALS site). There are at least 3 different inheritance for family related ALS. The most common is autosomal dominant; it is located on chromosome 21 and called superoide (SOD1) (ALS site). The SOD1 gene is composed of five regions called exons. Its normal role is to detoxify free radicals that can be harmful to motor neurons (ALS site). To locate this genetic factoring ALS, a study did a mutation with mice in Cu/Zn-SOD1 (Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger, 1998). The mice with this mutation showed similar symptoms to patients with ALS. The only odd result was that posterior horns of the spinal cord remain unaffected, even in the aged mice (Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger, 1998). Vacuolar changes appear to extend from the rough endoplasmic reticulum with the swelling of the organelle (Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger, 1998).
In recent studies, they have found that there is a change in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger, 1998). Impaired ultrastructural changes in the motor neurons associated with changes in the rough endoplasmic reticulum derives from experiments on partial central differentiation where a persistently elevated frequency of C-type synapses is seen (Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger, 1998). The C-type synapses are characterized by a 15nm wide cistern beneath the postsynaptic membrane which extends over the entire length of the presynaptic terminal (Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger, 1998).
Symptoms of ALS include muscle weakness, cramping of muscles, twitching of the muscles, impairment of arms or legs, "thick speech" and difficulty in voice projection. In advance stages there would be shortness breath, difficulty in breathing and swallowing (ALS Site). All these symptoms are due to the loss of these life depending motor neurons.
All ALS patients come to a time in their physical degeneration when they are totally dependent, and physically unable to digest and control bowel movements. However ALS patients are still “intelligent enough to reason and are emotionally able to feel despair and indignity” (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). At this time, patients will often refuse treatment and suffer through tremendous amounts of pain until their death (paquin, 2003). Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and active euthanasia (AE) are two choices that could help relieve the suffering of all of these issues. PAS refers to physician providing the means of death in a prescription form. AE means that the physician would act by injecting a lethal drug that would kill the patient immediately (Birnie, 1994).
PAS and AE offer ALS patients the choice to die instead of just refusing treatment. In The State of Oregon PAS and AE have been legal since 1997, helping many ALS patients die peacefully (Dignity Act). In a case study on ALS patients in Oregon, 56% of ALS patients reported they would consider assisted suicide (Ganzini). It was also reported that on average 0.4% of death in terminally ill cancer patients and 33% of ALS patients die with physician-assisted suicide in 1997” (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000) AE. Furthermore it was found that men with higher education and a higher quality of life were more likely to consider PAS or AE (Ganzini). According to the study most patients who wanted PAS or EA “wanted control over her/his life at a time when every day was a struggle to regain control over a lost function" (Birnie, 1994).
Human autonomy is what makes humans morally superior to other animals. It is the “independence or freedom, as of the will or one's actions: the autonomy of the individual” (Barber, 2001). This is the quality that lets us humans create plans and goals, and set out to do them (Birnie, 1994). Through human autonomy, humans are able to create individuality through cognitive, emotional and physical skills (Wade, 2001). Within law people can not hurt another human’s autonomy but the autonomy itself can cause emotional and physical harm to ALS patient. “It can be intolerable to watch oneself rapidly and increasingly lose control over physical abilities and ordinarily define individual independence and privacy” (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000). In order for PAS/AE to be performed the patient must first give consent. The reason many ALS patients consent is because is provides the choice to die with dignity and not in pain.
ALS patients go through tremendous amount of physical and emotional pain (Wade, 2001). ALS patients receive pain killers to help reduce pain and will often receive a J-tube which is inserted into the upper small intestine called the jejunum to help them digest (ALS site). Over time ALS patients’ loose control over their throat muscles and food has to be dislodged into to their air ways (Wade, 2001 ). As ALS patients physically deteriorate, they will often go through emotional pain such that most of them ALS “don’t know how to die” (paquin, 2003) or question “who owns my life?” (Niemer). By refusing treatment patients will only suffer more but with PAS and AE patients die quick and pain free (Wade, 2001).
The counter dictating arguments for PAS and AE is that it “demeans the value of human life,” (ALS Website)“it violates doctors’ Hippocratic Oath” (ALS website), and “doctors and families may be prompted to give up on recovery much too early” (ALS Website)If it became legalized in Canada, Canadian laws would be changed, so that a doctor administering AE would not be going against the Hippocratic Oath [the famous phrase;
“Above all, do no harm” (Doyle, Jr., et al, 2000) .
In Oregon, there are specific codes and rules the doctors have to follow (so that doctors can not give up on recovery too early) prior to giving AE or PAS (Ganzini). A Canadian survey shows that in Canada 52% of Canadians said that PAS and AE should be legalized and 48% of Canadians said no. When the survey asked if people have the right to die, 75% of Canadian agreed (Birnie, 1994). What are your thoughts about AE and PAS? Should they be legalized in Canada to relieve patients of pain and suffering? What regulations should be placed if this was to occur?
Bibliography:
Work
Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger. Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Synthesis of Research and Clinical Practice. United Kingdom: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.
This book had information on Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and active euthanasia (AE)
The ALS Association. Sept. 2008. 9 Mar. 2010 .
This Website has general facts about ALS
Barber, Katerine, ed. Canadian Oxford dictionary. Don Mills, Ont: Oxford UP, 2001.
Used to help define words.
Birnie, Lisa Hobbs, and Sue Rodriguez. Uncommon Will: the Death and Life of Sue Rodriguez. Toronto: Macmillan Canada, 1994. Print.
Sue Rodriguez was a woman with ALS who went to the supreme court and as for PAS in Canada.
Doyle, Jr., et al. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. New York: Informa Healthcare, 2000.
This online book had detail information on how ALS is cause and the symtoms
Ganzini, Linda, Predictors and Correlates of Interest in Assisted Suicide in the Final Month of Life Among ALS Patients in Oregon and Washington, Sileria, Maria. Elsevier. 15 Apr 2010 .
This website explain the case with ALS and PAS/EA in Oregon, Washington
Paquin, Susan L. I Don't Know How to Die. Baltimore: PublishAmerica, 2003.
This book was first person narratored book about a woman in her 40s with ALS
Wade, Mary Dodson. Als-Lou Gehrig's Disease (Diseases and People). New York: Enslow, 2001.
This book gave a bibliography of Lou Gehrig, the baseball player and his fight with the disease
Niemer, Ellen. "Who owns my life?" May 2008. Alt HealthWatch. Greenboro, Ottawa. 7 Apr. 2009 .
Sue Rodriguez was a woman with ALS who went to the supreme court and as for PAS in Canada.
State of Oregon: Death With Dignity Act." Oregon.gov Home Page. 21 Apr. 2009
This website explain the case with ALS and PAS/EA in Oregon, Washington
Figure 1
The ALS Association. Sept. 2008. 9 Mar. 2010 .
Figure 2
Doyle, Jr., et al. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. New York: Informa Healthcare, 2000.
Figure 3
Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger. Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Synthesis of Research and Clinical Practice. United Kingdom: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.
Figure 4
Eisen, Andrew, and Charles Kreiger. Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Synthesis of Research and Clinical Practice. United Kingdom: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.

Two Distinct Species of Humans Humans vs. Neanderthals: Brains vs. Brawn


Written by: Aidin Beck
Two Distinct Species of Humans
Humans vs. Neanderthals: Brains vs. Brawn
We all know Darwin proposed the theory of Natural Selection in 1859 stating, Differential contribution of genotypes to the next generation due to differences in survival and reproduction (USGS, 2008). That is to say that all living organisms go through Natural Selection by Evolution to produce offspring that are more adapt to the surrounding environment. The more evolved species of an organism will ultimately prevail. More recent scientific discoveries have shown that our species of humans did exactly that, beating out “the other humans” known as Neanderthals, through Natural Selection. There were many previous species before modern humans but Neanderthals and modern humans were two species that diverged for a period and then overlapped (McHenry, 2009). Neanderthals (belonging to the genus Homo) are the closest ancestors to modern humans, leading just in front of Chimpanzees (belonging to the Genus Pan) in the similarities of DNA (Hall, 2008). The earliest remains that have been discovered were of a group of Neanderthals that died in a cave in Gibraltar about 28,000 years ago (Gooch, 2000). The mystery surrounding the Neanderthals is one which questions the difference in lifestyle and behaviour from modern humans – Who were the Neanderthals? How were they different? Why did we prevail and they didn’t?


Are modern humans related through inter-breeding between the two species?
The Beginning
To investigate the chronologic life of Neanderthals you must first start at the beginning of all human life. Discoveries are still being made which widen our view of how humans came into being but so far, scientists and archaeologists alike say that the first species of humans originated from the Sterkfontein region in South Africa about 5-7 million years ago, aptly calling this area the ‘Cradle of Life’ (Gray, 2010). The species discovered was part of the group, Homo habilis. The Neanderthals’ species belongs to Homo Genus whose earliest fossils, found in Europe, are about 600,000-350,000 years old (Bischoff et al. 2003). Homo sapiens appeared to have originated into Europe from Africa about 400, 000 – 250, 000 years ago. The remains of modern humans and Neanderthals have been found in different areas of Europe which suggests that the two species lived isolated from each other in Europe for some time (Than2006). Evidence from DNA samples has allowed scientists to assume that the two species diverged in Africa, and migrated to Europe at different times. The Neanderthals first went north of the Mediterranean and ruled Eurasia for almost 200, 000 years, after which modern humans migrated to Europe and surpassed their rival species.
Body Structure
It has been speculated that the Neanderthals may have died out because of poor physical and mental structure. Coincidentally, fossil finds have showed that Neanderthals were in fact much more physically adapt to the surrounding climate and environment than modern humans (Larsen, 1998). So, did brains really beat brawn and were modern humans actually smarter? To analyze this we must first understand and compare the structure of a Neanderthal to a human. After the two species diverged in Africa, Neanderthals moved through Europe, spanning from Siberia to Gibraltar (where the youngest trace of Neanderthal fossil found is only 28, 000 years old) (Dalton, 2010). Through evolution, the Neanderthals’ physique became more adapt to climate and only slightly differed from modern human body structure. The robust bodies of Neanderthals were better adapted to the cold as seen by their strong, stout bodies revealed by fossils. The skull of a Neanderthal was much more defined with a large brow and receding forehead which jutted out quite profoundly. To conserve heat in cold climates, the bodies of Neanderthals were much wider with bigger ribcages to support bigger lungs needed for strenuous activity (Trinkaus, 1999). These primitive beings also appear to have been much stronger than modern humans, with larger muscles allowing maximum leverage for strength. They have also been identified to have stronger, shorter limbs which helped reduce surface area to retain body heat (Trinkaus, 1999). Because of these generally larger bodies, Neanderthals required much more food and an average of 4,034 calories per day while modern humans only require 2,200 cal/day (Hall, 2008). This requirement for food made the Neanderthals, even women and children, excellent hunters. In terms of their intelligence, Neanderthals are usually perceived as dumb and slow-witted but archaeologists have identified that their brains were in fact slightly bigger than modern human brains with which they even shared a gene called FOXP2 which contributes to speech and language ability (Hall, 2008). This gene acts on the brain and the nerves that control facial muscles, which does not mean Neanderthals could talk but they definitely had the ability to communicate. So how could such a well-rounded species be beat by us? Many believe it was due to the overall ways of their primitive society and culture.

Neanderthal Society
A relatively significant fact about Neanderthal society is that their population was never really quite big at all, only reaching a maximum of 15, 000 which can pose as a threat when living in an isolated and extreme environment (Gooch, 2000). Many believe the Neanderthals’ system of society and culture played a big factor in their extinction. This consists of their communication skills, diet, living locations and population growth (or lack thereof). What this means is that Homo sapiens had a better and more diverse lifestyle. Neanderthals needed meat as a main source of food and energy which compelled women and children to join the hunt and in turn contributed to the faster development of muscle but delayed sexual maturity (Ravilious, 2008). The difference with modern humans arriving from Africa is that women and children were not as physically strong so instead they dedicated their time to learning new things and created a more diverse diet and lifestyle. The term ‘cultural buffering’ was used in a 2008 National Geographic article that explains that by diversifying diet and having different personnel doing different tasks, you increase the risk of being introduced to new factors that can help a population evolve or shrink, or most likely both. This diverse lifestyle lead by modern humans provided an ever-changing culture that was more susceptible to mutations and development Another ‘cultural buffer’ was the way each society interacted upon itself. Neanderthal groupings were very small and usually only
as big as an extended family while modern human societies were much larger which allowed greater variation of biological and social repercussions (Trinkaus, 1999). Larger populations meant more social interactions which could have greatly developed communication skills for a growing adolescent (Tarko, 2005). Through communication, societies can grow while passing down survival information to following generations. So it appears that Neanderthals were dealt the short end of the stick by having smaller populations with less diversity and only basic communication development. Add the cold climate, the lack of adolescent maturity adaptation and the simple diet and it becomes apparent why a society like this was in such danger of extinction. The modern humans did things right by taking risks and exploring new ideas which engaged the mind and allowed diverse development and variety.
Relatedness
Scientists have clearly been able to identify that the species of Homo sapiens and Homo Neanderthals diverged in Africa and went their separate ways. This is to say that the two societies were isolated from each other and never blended until about 45, 000 years ago. Many wonder if modern humans today are actually related through inter-breeding between the species when they overlapped. By comparing the Neanderthal structure and the modern human structure, inter-breeding seems unlikely or very rare because of the prominent physical differences. Many scientists had their doubts about inter-breeding as well, but a recent study has showed that the people of today may actually share Neanderthal genes in their DNA (Dalton, 2010). 1,983 people from 99 populations in Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas were studied and 614 microsatellite positions were analyzed (Dalton, 2010). These microsatellite positions are sections of the genome that can be used as fingerprints that indentify genetic variation (Dalton, 2010). From this genetic variation evidence, researchers explained that interbreeding happened twice, 60,000 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean and about 45, 000 years ago in eastern Asia (Dalton, 2010). This means interbreeding happened after the species left Africa which makes sense because no evidence of interbreeding was found in the genome of modern African people.
Recent Discoveries and Applications
The most recent progress seen with Neanderthal DNA is the Neanderthal Genome Project. This project began in 2006 when the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology headed by Svante Pääbo announced that they were sequencing the Neanderthal Genome, which is about the same size as the Human Genome (3.2 billion base pairs) (Dalton, 2009). The entire Genome of a 38, 000 year old Neanderthal was completed in February of 2009 but is still waiting to be reviewed and assessed before publication. The Neanderthal genome was practically created from a single bone discovered in a cave in Croatia. The bone was so degraded that it consisted of fragments that were only about 50-60 base pairs long, but new sequencing technology created by 454 Life Sciences of Connecticut made the segments possible to analyse (Dalton, 2009). This new technology uses pyrosequencing which differs greatly from the rapid ‘shotgun sequencing’ technique which was better used for longer stands of about 800-1000 nucleotides (Powledge, 2002). To understand the 454 Life Science’s method, we must first understand pyrosequencing. There are four enzymes in the system, DNA polymerase, ATP sulfurylase, Luciferase and Apyrase, which are used to sequence by the process of synthesis (Ronaghi, 2001). This means that a single stranded template strand is sequenced by synthesising the complementary strand along it. The DNA polymerase begins by attaching to the single strand which promotes the nucleotides A, T, C, and G. When a nucleotide is synthesized the energy from this bond is converted to ATP by ATP sulfurylase. The ATP is then converted to light by Luciferase and the remaining nucleotides are disposed by Apyrase (Ronaghi, 2001). Four of the same base pairs are added at a time, so if no light is emitted then the nucleotides were not incorporated and are removed and a new set is introduced (Ronaghi, 2001). This process is much more advanced and quicker for full genome sequencing. This technology showed that Neanderthal and Human DNA are 99.5% (Thangham, 2009) identical and researchers hope it will provide more detail on how this species developed their physical traits, adapted to the environment and evolved to resist certain disease (Green, et al. 2008).
Another technique that researchers rely on for precise examinations of fossils is the particle accelerator called a synchrotron. This device is located in a lead-lined room in France and exudes a 50,000-volt x-ray beam on any fossil without disturbing even a single molecule (Hall, 2008). In October 2007, scientists gathered at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, and examined the set of teeth from a Neanderthal child (Hall, 2008). This detailed x-ray revealed the secrets of periodic growth that teeth contain. When teeth are imaged at a high resolution they express certain periodic growth lines and stress lines, which can indicate the age of the individual, much like tree rings. The three dimensional dental exam showed daily growth lines on the teeth between thicker eight-day bands in the tooth’s enamel (Hall, 2008). By counting these growth periods the researchers at ESRF determined the child died shortly after his 12th birthday. They also discovered that his molars were very developed for such a young age which may suggest that Neanderthals had shorter childhoods and less time for brains to develop and adapt.
Modern research is still discovering new fossils and DNA from prehistoric humans but already many breakthroughs have been made. We now understand Neanderthals much more and the mystery of how they became extinct is getting clearer. Neanderthals were very similar to modern humans and had much of same capabilities but it can be said that Natural Selection favoured the modern humans because of their diversity and culturally buffered society. The Neanderthals may have become extinct but there is proof that many of today’s people are more related than was originally suspected. As technology advances, researchers of prehistoric humans are finding new, easier and advanced techniques to analyze fossils and archaic DNA. So, we have examined these questions that pertain to our ancient
ancestors and have discovered that they were very much like us and in some ways more advanced.
We now know who the Neanderthals were and how they were different from modern humans but it is still unsure what happened to them. There are many theories and a great deal of evidence for possible explanations. One question that lingers is, “Are we related through inter-breeding?” It seems very likely indeed that most of us are related to Neanderthals so perhaps the question is, “Are they truly extinct?”


Bibliography:
Than, Ker. MSNBC, Science and Technology. Nov . 15, 2006. April, 2010.
James L. Bischoff, Donald D. Shamp et al.”The Sima de los Huesos Hominids Date to Beyond U/Th Equilibrium (>350 kyr) and Perhaps to 400–500 kyr: New Radiometric Dates” Journal of Archaeological Scienc. Volume 30, Issue , March 2003, Pages 275-280. April, 2010.

Trinkau, Erik.” The early Upper Paleolithic human skeleton from the Abrigo doLagar Velho (Portugal) and modern human emergence in Iberia” Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.  June 22, 1999 vol. 96no. 13. April, 2010.

Neanderthal Brain Size at Birth Sheds Light on Human Evolution. September 9, 2008. April, 2010.
Kreger,C. David. Homo neanderthalensis. April 2010. May, 2010.
Larsen ,Clark Spencer. Human Origins: The Fossil Record. Waveland Pr Inc; 2nd edition (April 1991). April, 2010.
Gray, Richard. “Missing link between man and apes found”. 03, Apr. 2010. May, 2010. Dalton ,Rex. “Neanderthals may have interbred with humans”. Nature. 20 April 2010. May, 2010.
Gooch , Stan. “The Way We Are”. The Spectator. 2000. April, 2010.
Ravilious, Kate. “Neanderthals Grew Fast, but Sexual Maturity Came Late”.  National Geographic New. September 8, 2008. April, 2010.
Tarko, Vlad. “Neanderthals Were Too Smart to Survive”. Sci-Tech News. 21st of December 2005. April, 2010.
Thangham, Chris V. “Neanderthal DNA 99.5% Similar to Humans”. Digital Journal. February 16, 2009. May, 2010. < http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/267388>
Synchrotron Microtomography Analysis of Human vs. Neanderthal Tooth Development. October 13, 2007. April, 2010. < http://anthropology.net/2007/10/13/synchrotron-microtomography-analysis-of-human-vs-neanderthals-tooth-development>
Dalton, Rex. “Neanderthal Genome to be unveiled”. NatureNews. 4 February 2009. April, 2010.
Powledge ,Tabitha M. “Shotgun sequencing comes of age”. The Scientist. 31 December 2002. April, 2010.
Ronaghi, Mostafa. “Pyrosequencing sheds light on DNA Sequencing”. Genome Research. 2001, 11. April, 2010.
Green, R. Krause, J et al. “A Complete Neandertal Mitochondrial Genome Sequence Determined by High-Throughput Sequencing”. Cell. Volume 134, Issue 3, Pages 416-426, 2009. April, 2010.
Hall, Stephen S. “Last of the Neanderthals”. National Geographic. October 2008. April, 2010.
Images:
Fig 1: “Neanderthal Recreation”. National Geographic. April, 2010.
Fig 2: Trinkaus, Erik. “The early Upper Paleolithic human skeleton from the Abrigo doLagar Velho (Portugal) and modern human emergence in Iberia”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. April 26, 1999. April, 2010.
Fig 3: “Neanderthal Genome”. National Geographic. April, 2010.
Fig 4: “Synchrotron”. National Geographic. April, 2010.



The Golden Mean


Written by: Haroun Zayed
The Golden mean is a debut novel by Annabel Lyon told in first person narrative by one of the greatest minds in the history of mankind: Aristotle. This is a fascinating, cultivating read that places the reader in the mind of Aristotle during one of the most prosperous times of the ancient Greek empire. Annabel Lyon attempts to illustrate the parallels of the world we live in and the world back then. What is striking is the uncanny similarities of the human race by which we communicate, solve problems, and build relationships.
The book speaks of Aristotle’s adventures into Macedon where he would tutor young Alexander the great. It starts off with Aristotle departing Athens to live in Pella (the capital of Macedon) on a request by his childhood companion, the king. Upon arrival Aristotle is offered a position as the prince’s tutor. Knowing he can not refuse, Aristotle humbly accepts the offer and begins to tutor young Alexander. As the book progresses the reader is further plunged into the mind of Aristotle as he attempts to teach young Alexander as well as leading his own life. Annabel Lyon does a fantastic job in humanizing Aristotle as a regular loving man who goes about his daily life earning money to give his family a prosperous life. However it is mesmerizing to be in the mind of Aristotle and perceive the world in which he saw it. Especially considering that much of his philosophy is the base of our current western civilization.
Other than being one of the greatest philosophers of all time, Aristotle is also largely considered as one of the first scientists for his work in observing and classifying objects, organisms, etc. This book does a great job in revealing that aspect of Aristotle. In many situations the reader would be caught in the thought process of Aristotle attempting to classify certain aspects of the world. Annabel Lyon does a great job in portraying this aspect of Aristotle by method of flashback in which Aristotle would remember helping his father (a doctor) treating patients. Aristotle would often find himself trying to imagine the anatomy of patients to the extent that he would dissect and draw the organs of different organisms much to the disapproval of his father.
The science in this book is very intriguing, specifically in the large improvements that have been made since. However it must be noted that the science that exists today is largely due to the efforts of those before us, such as Aristotle. Most of the science discussed in this book is presented either during Aristotle’s sessions with Alexander or while he is recounting past travels with his father.
During his sessions with Alexander, Aristotle tries to teach him a balance of all subjects. Upon teaching him about the sciences, it is obvious that while many of it is clearly false, some of the basics by which we base our science today is largely true. For example Aristotle explains the phenomena of snow as the freezing of water atoms that cluster together and create snow. This largely indicates that the concept of atoms was established but not yet proven.

Furthermore the concept of everything made of elements was heavily favoured. However the elements that were believes to make up everything were false. These are just some of the many examples by which the science spoken off is either the basis behind our current scientific views or a completely opposite view that would be proven otherwise in the future.
Aristotle also discusses medicine a significant deal in this book especially when he would recall his travels with his father. His father was a well known doctor that eventually came to Macedon to be appointed the King’s doctor. However, before he came to Macedon he used to travel from city to city with Aristotle treating various patients. The medicine discussed during that time had been primitive but still effective in certain cases. Though many of the causes and effects of certain symptoms were unknown, doctors still did their all to help the patients. Once more Annabel Lyon painstakingly parallels the medicine of then and today.
In one of the most graphic scenes of the novel Aristotle describes witnessing his first surgery. It happened to be what we would now call a caesarean section. Unfortunately, there were no anaesthetics then and so the mother had to be awake when the surgery was performed. Furthermore though the Greek knew the importance of having clean sheets, and clean equipment for surgery the environment was still not fully sterile. To add on to that there was no known method to stop bleeding after surgery, they would only hope that the stitches would hold and the body would heal, thus leading to high death rate after surgery. In this case surgery is successful and the baby lives but the mother dies a few days afterwards from excess bleeding and infection.
Though the Greeks did know enough to treat many diseases they were still largely oblivious to the reasons why individuals would get sick and would hypothesize. In one example Aristotle recalls his father performing surgery on a man’s brain in order to rid of the excess mucus that has been causing the man to fall to the floor, kick his legs, flail his hands, clinch his teeth and foam at the mouth. The man continues to live after surgery and Aristotle and his father believe they have cured him. However we now know that this is not the case. The man was suffering from seizures, which we now know are caused by random firing of neurons to the brain, not excess mucus flowing in the blood stream causing the brain to cool. In this case the whole basis of the way the body functions is misconceived and improper treatments are applied. In all it is clear to see that medicine has improved dramatically since the time of Aristotle but it is important to note that they set the bar for medicine by having doctors, trying to solve the mystery of the human body, and developing methods by which we use today but in greater care and efficiency such as surgery.
In conclusion Annabel Lyon does a stupefying job in bringing one of the greatest and most influential minds of our history to life. The method by which she embodies Aristotle as both an extremely intelligent yet ordinary man is fascinating. Furthermore the parallels that are drawn between Ancient Greece and the modern world are astonishing. Specifically in terms of philosophical and scientific views. In terms of philosophy it is clear to see that we have not changed significantly in the values which we hold high, and the methods by which we communicate and interact. On the other hand the science demonstrated in this book is either completely false or is the concrete rock that we base our current scientific views on. All in all the Golden Mean is a truly astounding novel definitely worth the read.
Book review:
work
Macdonald, Cynthia. The Globe and Mail. 14 August 2009. 22 April 2010 .
Figures
Clendening Library. Portrait Collection. 31 August 2000. 25 April 2010 .

The Real Alzheimer's disease


Written by: Victoria Machin
Still Alice is “a debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease”, written by first-time author Lisa Genova: she is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's Association and holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. This is somewhat ironic as the protagonist, Alice, is an established professor in cognitive psychology at Harvard and lives by the brain’s ability and inability to function. The novel details how Alice discovers she has Alzheimer’s disease, how she deals with telling her family and, more difficult, informing her colleagues about her illness. With a great amount of difficulty, she cuts down her daily activities to accommodate her diagnosis and increasing limitations.
Alice Howland has a career similar to Genova's—she is a psychology professor at Harvard, living in Cambridge with her husband, John. The couple live a normal life and have normal marital disputes (spending quality time together, their daughter's move to L.A.) when the first symptoms of Alzheimer's begin to emerge. First, Alice misplaces her Blackberry, and then she becomes disoriented in the town she’s lived in for years. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. From then on her life begins to steadily unravel. She gets lost in her own home, resigns from Harvard and eventually cannot recognize her own children. “As the inevitable descent into dementia strips away her sense of self, fiercely independent Alice struggles to live in the moment.” While she once placed her worth and identity in her celebrated and respected academic life, she now must re-evaluate her relationship with her husband, a respected scientist; her expectations of her children; and her ideas about herself and her place in the world.
Genova takes the perilous and novelistic approach of telling the story from Alice's perspective and this makes the story all the more poignant and devastating as Alice she first comes to terms with her diagnosis and then has to subsist with her declining cognitive abilities. The reader is able to identify and empathize with Alice as her disease progresses, feeling her utter frustration, fear and loneliness as her life as she knew it, is stripped away from her. At one point she confides in her husband, John, that she misses her former self, generating an intangible level of devastation to the average reader unaffected by Alzheimer’s disease. In the words of the author, "[Still Alice is] about identity and living a life that matters and about what a crisis does to relationships." More than many other books on the disease, this book takes the reader into the daily life of the patient – forgetfulness, losing direction, putting things in the wrong place – things that happen to this vivacious woman who is faced with leaving her career, a career which has defined her for 20 years. She can no longer give lectures; Often showing up and leaving class, not realizing it was her class to teach. At one point in the book, forty minutes into a fifty-minute lecture,
“She simply couldn’t find the word. For the first time she didn’t know the first letter or what the word sounded like or how many syllables it had. The word had completely eluded her.”The novel details the personal effects, the familial effects and the devastating symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, producing a narrative novel of accurate biological reference. The biological disease is used to develop the heartbreaking storyline of Alice Holland and her tragic journey as she attempts to carry out a “normal” life. Genova describes the physical manifestations of the loss of brain cognitive response due to the disease. For example; when entering the University lecture hall Alice forgets she is the professor, there to teach a class, and simply sits there for hours on end completely oblivious as to what is ensuing. Generally, the novel encompasses Alice’s diagnosis of early on-set Alzheimer’s disease. This early stage of Alzheimer’s disease is when problems with memory, thinking and concentration may begin to appear in a doctor’s interview or medical tests. Individuals in the early-stage typically need minimal assistance with simple daily routines.
At the time of a diagnosis, an individual is not necessarily in the early stage of the disease; they may have progressed beyond the early stage.  The term younger-onset refers to Alzheimer's that occurs in a person under age 65, like in the case of Alice Holland who is in her 50’s. Younger-onset individuals are often employed, and have children still living at home. People who have younger-onset dementia may be in any stage of dementia – early, middle or late. Experts estimate that some 500,000 people in their 30s, 40s and 50s have Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Often when diagnosed with any disease but in particular when suffering with Alzheimer’s, the victim is instructed by a medical professional to seek out support groups and to perform daily mental tests, to expand one’s mental capacity. In Still Alice, Alice forms a support group of others suffering with the disease. Luckily, she has an amazingly supportive spouse, John, who is careful to do what is best for her and shows no signs of loving her less in spite of her diagnosis. As Alice finds it increasingly difficult to imagine who she is, she begins to not recognize her children – or calls her daughter by her long-dead mother’s name –she decides to take action. She gives herself mental tests on a daily basis, and she decides that when she can no longer answer these straightforward questions, she will pull her own “plug”.
The novel remains sympathetic to Alice’s biological decline. It takes place over two years, month by month, showing deterioration in its stages. The tone of the book, though, somewhat jarring, is slightly scientific. But it may be intentional, portraying a clinical distance from which Alice is watching her own changes and decline.

Lisa Genova, does a tremendous job of balancing the biological references to early on-set Alzheimer’s disease with enough character development and plot. This delicate balance enables the reader to connect with the core narrative, and become emotionally attached to the fictional characters. I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys an analytical yet sympathetic storyline, and for someone who just wants to curl up with good book and a cozy blanket and become engrossed in the lives of the characters.
Bibliography:
work
Curled Up With A Good Book: Still Alice by Lisa Genova (November 2009).2008.26 April 2010

Segal, Jeanne and Melissa Wayne. Alzheimer's Disease: Help Guide. April 2009. .
Figures
Curled Up With A Good Book: Still Alice by Lisa Genova (November 2009).2008.26 April 2010