Why Do we Need More Research?

Everyone cries, "We need more research in Down syndrome!" Not that I disagree but there is an enormous amount of push back and timidity to treat those with Down syndrome based on the research findings we already have.


Why do more research if you don't even believe what has already been discovered? In fact, Down syndrome is ahead of any other disorder even though we have the least funding. One woman made this happen. Her name is Muriel Davisson at Jackson laboratory in Bar harbor, Maine. She developed a mouse model of Down syndrome.


With a mouse, researchers are able to develop theories and then test those ideas directly on the DS mouse.


In the last 10 years, a few critical ideas have surfaced about how the DS brain works or doesn't work. These ideas have uncovered the mystery of how learning is so difficult for those with DS. But when I talk to physicians and parents, they are very unsure about treating these deficits. It made me wonder why spend time and money on research if you don't use it.


Do we wait until every detail is known? Did you know that no one knew how aspirin worked until the early 1990's? The details of biological systems are understood more today than any time before but why not use the information in real time?


Why do research and not apply it? None of the CMF protocol is dangerous. It is all logical with the information and research that we have at this moment. This is truly the 'practice' of medicine. As the research unfolds, we must move and change with it.