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Brian's
friend Casey looked worried. "What's
the matter, Casey? You look
like someone just took your last cookie."
"It
has nothing to do with cookies," said Casey. "It's about my grandfather.
He has just learned that he has a terrible disease that affects
his nervous system. It's
called 'Parkinson's Disease.'"
Brian was very concerned about his friend and began asking questions.
"What are the symptoms, Casey.
Will he die?"
"No, Brian, Parkinson's Disease is not fatal.
The symptoms seem to be a little different in different people.
Some people tremble a lot, some get stiff and have trouble
walking, and some begin to have extra movements or walk slowly.
Most of the symptoms have to do with the person's motion."
"Wow! What causes something like that?"
"My mother said that there is a chemical in the brain that is
necessary for normal movement that is not made in large enough
quantities in people with Parkinson's Disease.
That is because a group of cells deep in the brain that make this
chemical all begin to die, and soon the person doesn't have enough of
the chemical. The cells
just keep on dying, so the disease gets worse with time.
"
"Well, your mother should know.
She's a brain surgeon, isn't she?
Will she be able to cure your grandfather?"
"So far, there is no cure, Brian.
Often the symptoms can be reduced with drugs that replace the
missing chemical in the brain, but eventually, as the symptoms get
worse, the person doesn't get much benefit from the medicine.
My mother says there are some surgical methods being used, but
they are still experimental so we don't know if they will help that
much."
"Does she think something better will come along in the near
future?"
"Oddly, she said to me, 'if you want to find a cure for Parkinson's
disease, you had better study genetics and embryology.’
I don't have a clear idea of what she meant by that.
How could embryology studies help my sick grandfather? I know
little about embryology."
"Well, it just so happens that we are beginning a unit on genes and
embryology today! Let's
hurry to class so we can find out what this is all about."
The two friends hurried off to class.
Study this lesson carefully and see if you can find out what the
embryology lesson has to do with Parkinson's disease.
Attachment #2
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