"This past week a jury awarded nearly $3 million to a couple whose daughter was born with Down syndrome even though a prenatal test found she didn't have the chromosomal abnormality."
(See rest of article below from OregonLive.com)
This is just so sad!!!! It is unbelievable that the jury voted 12-0 that the couple should get the money!! I thought we were more interested in wrongful death.....it appears that some are now concerned with "wrongful birth". What is this world coming to?????
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/03/jury_rules_in_portland-area_co.html
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Amazing CMF Kiddos -- Jett Reads at 23 Months!!!
Jett is reading pretty much everything he sees! He struggles a bit with some sounds, like most young kids do, but you can tell he knows most of these words. Check it out -- he is amazing!! Jett began the CMF protocol at 4 months of age. His mom added each item one at a time and he has been on the entire thing since he was a year old. Jett also takes several other supplements. His mom has a fabulous blog, where she keeps an almost daily account of how he is doing. Andi is a fountain of information about Down syndrome and all the supplements that have helped her son. Check out her blog and share it with others!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
Down’s syndrome stem cells used to model Alzheimer’s
Thu, 02/16/2012 - 11:01
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed a new and innovative way to study Alzheimer’s disease in the lab. The stem cell technique, which allows researchers to track the disease over a matter of weeks, could provide a valuable tool for scientists to unravel the complexity of Alzheimer’s and test potential new treatments. The findings, funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, will be published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The scientists used skin cells donated from healthy volunteers and those with Down’s syndrome and turned them into stem cells. These stem cells were then used to generate networks of functioning nerve cells in the lab, which resemble the complex wiring of cells in the human cerebral cortex. The cortex, which makes up over three quarters of the brain, houses many of the nerve cells involved in memory and thinking and suffers particular damage during Alzheimer’s.
Amyloid plaques. Image credit: Gurdon Institute
People with Down’s syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, a segment of DNA that carries a gene responsible for producing the Alzheimer’s protein amyloid. Due to this extra version of the gene, people with Down’s syndrome have a much higher incidence of Alzheimer’s than the rest of the population. By generating nerve cells from skin cells of people with Down’s syndrome, the scientists could observe the disease process over a period of weeks and compare this to those cells derived from healthy volunteers.
Dr Rick Livesey, who led the study at the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge, said: “One of the biggest challenges facing dementia researchers at the moment is a lack of good ways to track the disease over time. By using stem cells donated from people with Down’s syndrome – who are much more likely to develop Alzheimer’s – we have been able to track how the disease develops over a shorter time period than has been possible in the past.”
Within 28 days, the nerve cells made from people with Down’s syndrome showed more than double the amount of the Alzheimer’s protein amyloid than those from healthy volunteers and this built up into amyloid plaques within two months. The scientists also observed that a protein called tau became abnormally altered and distributed in the cells- one of the common later-stage characteristics of the disease.
Dr Livesey added: “What is promising about this stem cell technique is that we can create functioning human cortex cells in a dish, allowing us to more closely model what is happening in our brains. Not only this, but our new model shows many of the characteristic features of human Alzheimer’s disease and will allow us to test new treatments more easily.”
Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, welcomed the findings. He said: “We are pleased to have contributed funding towards this study and we hope it can be used to unravel some of the remaining questions about how Alzheimer’s progresses. Modelling a complex disease like Alzheimer’s is a big challenge, but innovative approaches like this can improve our understanding. As the stem cells in this study were donated by people with Down’s syndrome, they differ genetically to the rest of the population, but could still offer valuable insight into the disease processes in Alzheimer’s.
“Increasing our understanding of dementia is essential not only for people with Down’s syndrome, but for the 820,000 people across the UK living with the condition. It is essential that we improve the models that we have for understanding dementia, but this can only be done through research. As dementia research is so desperately underfunded, we must invest now if we are to find the answers that are so urgently needed.”
Science news reference: A Human Stem Cell Model of Early Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology in Down Syndrome. Yichen Shi, Peter Kirwan, James Smith, Glenn MacLean, Stuart H. Orkin, and Frederick J. Livesey. Sci Transl Med 3003771. published ahead of print 15 February 2012. DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.3003771
Science news source: Cambridge University
Thu, 02/16/2012 - 11:01
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed a new and innovative way to study Alzheimer’s disease in the lab. The stem cell technique, which allows researchers to track the disease over a matter of weeks, could provide a valuable tool for scientists to unravel the complexity of Alzheimer’s and test potential new treatments. The findings, funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, will be published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The scientists used skin cells donated from healthy volunteers and those with Down’s syndrome and turned them into stem cells. These stem cells were then used to generate networks of functioning nerve cells in the lab, which resemble the complex wiring of cells in the human cerebral cortex. The cortex, which makes up over three quarters of the brain, houses many of the nerve cells involved in memory and thinking and suffers particular damage during Alzheimer’s.
People with Down’s syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, a segment of DNA that carries a gene responsible for producing the Alzheimer’s protein amyloid. Due to this extra version of the gene, people with Down’s syndrome have a much higher incidence of Alzheimer’s than the rest of the population. By generating nerve cells from skin cells of people with Down’s syndrome, the scientists could observe the disease process over a period of weeks and compare this to those cells derived from healthy volunteers.
Dr Rick Livesey, who led the study at the Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge, said: “One of the biggest challenges facing dementia researchers at the moment is a lack of good ways to track the disease over time. By using stem cells donated from people with Down’s syndrome – who are much more likely to develop Alzheimer’s – we have been able to track how the disease develops over a shorter time period than has been possible in the past.”
Within 28 days, the nerve cells made from people with Down’s syndrome showed more than double the amount of the Alzheimer’s protein amyloid than those from healthy volunteers and this built up into amyloid plaques within two months. The scientists also observed that a protein called tau became abnormally altered and distributed in the cells- one of the common later-stage characteristics of the disease.
Dr Livesey added: “What is promising about this stem cell technique is that we can create functioning human cortex cells in a dish, allowing us to more closely model what is happening in our brains. Not only this, but our new model shows many of the characteristic features of human Alzheimer’s disease and will allow us to test new treatments more easily.”
Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, welcomed the findings. He said: “We are pleased to have contributed funding towards this study and we hope it can be used to unravel some of the remaining questions about how Alzheimer’s progresses. Modelling a complex disease like Alzheimer’s is a big challenge, but innovative approaches like this can improve our understanding. As the stem cells in this study were donated by people with Down’s syndrome, they differ genetically to the rest of the population, but could still offer valuable insight into the disease processes in Alzheimer’s.
“Increasing our understanding of dementia is essential not only for people with Down’s syndrome, but for the 820,000 people across the UK living with the condition. It is essential that we improve the models that we have for understanding dementia, but this can only be done through research. As dementia research is so desperately underfunded, we must invest now if we are to find the answers that are so urgently needed.”
Science news reference: A Human Stem Cell Model of Early Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology in Down Syndrome. Yichen Shi, Peter Kirwan, James Smith, Glenn MacLean, Stuart H. Orkin, and Frederick J. Livesey. Sci Transl Med 3003771. published ahead of print 15 February 2012. DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.3003771
Science news source: Cambridge University
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Cancer drug reverses Alzheimer's in mice
Cancer drug reverses Alzheimer's in mice read all about it:
http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-drug-reverses-alzheimers-in-mice,0,5929751.story
This may be very good news for individuals with Down syndrome!!!!!!
http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-drug-reverses-alzheimers-in-mice,0,5929751.story
This may be very good news for individuals with Down syndrome!!!!!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Reviews Are In..........
Changing Minds had one of our One-Day Seminars in Tucson, Arizona, this past weekend, and we wanted to share one of the comments we received in our email box upon our return home. We think it might be the best review we have ever gotten!!!! The photo is of Raquel's son, Noah, all dressed up for Halloween. Isn't he cute?
Hi there,
Raquel mom to Noah Bryce
Hi there,
Regarding the seminar in Tucson... It was fabulous!!! Great information, loved the delivery from all the speakers... Also, have spent this morning trying to schedule appt's to get my son Noah, age 5, on the entire protocol, Prozac included :)
Was very hesitant about having my son take a medication, but the delivery and explanations from Dr Teresa made my decision a very simple one. She truly used both visual explanations as well as personal testimonies to convince me to try this. I believe that this may be the Holy Grail that I have been searching for since my little man was born in 06'. This may truly be the "One Small Step for Mankind" that is needed in today's world!
Thank you!
Raquel mom to Noah Bryce
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Tell A Friend Today!!
Did you know that 90% of babies with Down syndrome are aborted? Maybe if we show the world that treatment is available to help their brains.....fewer parents would choose this route. Help spread the word about Changing Minds Foundation. Tell a friend today!
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