X-Message-Number: 29310
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:02:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Shannon Vyff <>
Subject: Re: Marce's Alzheimer's 

Thank You for posting the links to your overview on
Alzheimer's, Ben.  

Reading over it put into place some things that I
already knew about preventing Alzheimer's. 

For Marce's situation I particularly liked: 

 "Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia pose
the most troubling dilemmas for cryonicists wishing to
be cryopreserved upon legal death because of the risk
that cryopreserving a demented brain may be of little
value. It is possible that a future technology could
remove the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles
from the brain of an Alzheimer's Disease victim and
thereby restore mental function. Nonetheless,
Alzheimer's Disease also involves definite
neurodegeneration in which brain cells slowly die,
possibly eventually leaving no self left worth
preserving. There does, however, appear to be much
redundancy in the brain, which allows stroke victims
to recover memories and abilities seemingly destroyed.
As with ischemic and ice-crystal damage, however, the
most conservative approach is to prevent damage as
much as possible rather than rely on a future
technology that may be left with inadequate
information to do a full restoration of the self to a
condition of enduring youth & health."

I will also pledge to pay monthly for her case.  I
appreciate that she never signed a document saying she
did not wish to be cryo-preserved, and she obviously
put a lot of money and effort into the field over the
years, even if her effort at times was not well
placed. 

I still think she deserves the chance at possible
restoration, not only that but future science may
enjoy having the chance to see a brain damaged by a
disease that by then most assuredly will have been
eradicated.  

Thanks--Shannon  

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