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Vaccine for AIDS within four years, says Nobel Prize winner
A French scientist awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering the AIDS virus immediately predicted there would be a "therapeutic vaccine'' for the disease within four years.
Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, shared half the award with Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur for their work in pinpointing the cause of the disease.
The other half was won by Harald zur Hausen of the University of Dusseldorf and a former director of the German Cancer Research Centre, for work on the cause of cervical cancer.
On receiving the honor, which comes with a cash prize of just over €1m, Montagnier, 76, said a treatment could be possible in the future with a "therapeutic'' rather than preventive vaccine for which results might be published in three or four years if financial backing is forthcoming.
A therapeutic vaccine prevents disease from flourishing after it has taken hold.
"I think it will be possible with a therapeutic vaccine rather than preventative vaccinations. We would give it to people who are already infected,'' he said.
The Nobel recognition comes 25 years after Montagnier and his team at the French Pasteur Institute, including Barre-Sinoussi, discovered HIV in his Paris laboratory.
"The discovery was one prerequisite for the current understanding of the biology of the disease and its antiretroviral treatment,'' the Nobel Assembly of Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement.
The other half of the Nobel prize was awarded for the German scientist's research that "went against current dogma'' and set forth that oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) caused cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women.
"His discovery has led to characterization of the natural history of HPV infection, an understanding of mechanisms of HPV-induced carcinogenesis and the development of prophylactic vaccines against HPV acquisition,'' the Assembly said.
Medicine is traditionally the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year.
The prizes for achievement in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel.
The economics prize is a later addition, established by the Swedish Riksbank in 1968.
The Nobel laureate for physics will be announced today. A French scientist awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering the AIDS virus immediately predicted there would be a "th... more -
Mysterious disease claims four
Zambian authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have mounted investigations into the unknown disease that has so far claimed four lives in South Africa.
Zambia’s High Commissioner in Pretoria, Leslie Mbula, told the Sapa news agency on Monday that reports from Zambia indicated that no other person in the country had contracted the “mysterious disease.”
“Zambia has mounted an investigation and is working closely with the
World Health Organisation. Apart from the two people who died at
Morningside Medi Clinic, there have been no reports of anyone
presenting with the illness in Zambia,” Mbula said.
Mbula said he had spoken to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry
of Health, Simon Miti, who confirmed the situation.
Zambia’s health minister Brian Chituwo was due to release a statement later on Monday.
Four people have died in South Africa of a highly infectious disease
that has yet to be identified, the health department has said.
The first casualty was a woman from Zambia who was critically ill
when she arrived in South Africa on September 12. She was treated for
tick-bite fever and other potential infections at Morningside
Medi-Clinic, but died two days later.
Blood tests were not conclusive for any disease.
The second victim was a Zambian male paramedic who had accompanied
the woman. He was admitted on September 27 with flu-like symptoms and
treated for a range of infections.
A nurse from the clinic also died following contact with the Zambian
woman.
The fourth was a cleaner who had worked in the ward.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said South Africa had not
issued a travel alert to Zambia.
“We have not issued a warning to travellers. But speak to the
department of health, they are dealing with the issue,” Mamoepa said.
Mbula however said people should not be afraid of travelling to
Zambia.
“Please continue travelling to Zambia. There is no danger,” he said. Zambian authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have mounted investigations into the unknown disease that has so far claim... more -
Herpes linked to brain cancer
Cancer researchers are finally taking seriously a young surgeon’s decade-long hunch that brain tumors are linked to a strain of herpes that lies dormant in 80% of Americans. The physician speculated that brain cancer patients—many of them affluent and educated—were more vulnerable to common viruses such as the herpes CMV strain because of their "hyper-hygienic" lives, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
"I stopped to think, If I was going to cause a brain tumor, what would I be? CMV made a lot of sense,” he said. The link has now been confirmed in at least three new studies, and CMV vaccine trials have begun for chemo patients. Several of them are tumor-free after two years, rare for a cancer that returns within months of treatment in 95% of cases. Cancer researchers are finally taking seriously a young surgeon’s decade-long hunch that brain tumors are linked to a strain of herpes... more -
Cause of 'Treeman's' barklike growths revealed
For 20 years, the warts studding Dede Kosawa's hands and feet multiplied and sprouted like gnarled roots.
Doctors believe Dede Kosawa's unusual appearance occurred because of a immune defect and HPV.
His hands looked like contorted, yellow-brown branches extending 3 feet. Unable to clamp his hands into a fist or pick up a fork, he made his living by performing in carnivals in rural Indonesia. He became known as the Treeman.
"His life was taken away from him," said Dr. Anthony Gaspari, an American dermatologist who traveled twice to Indonesia to treat Kosawa. "He was severely disfigured and was sent into a rural isolated village where he was sheltered from his peers. With good reason, he was a sad man. He wanted to be cured and he wanted hope."
The growths encrusting his arms accounted for nearly 12 pounds of his 100-pound body. Kosawa, 36, often became exhausted after taking a few steps because of the dense warts on his feet. The growths that carpeted his limbs were posing more problems.
"He was getting infected," said Gaspari, chief of dermatology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. "He had insects living in the base of the wood-like material."
Doctors believe that Kosawa's case was a perfect storm, created by a genetically inherited immune defect and a type of human papillomavirus, or HPV. Kosawa told doctors that the warts started appearing after getting a cut in his skin as a teenager. There are hundreds of types of HPV, some of which are linked to cervical cancer and others that cause common warts that can be acquired through cuts.
"The HPV-2 virus that causes common warts is the same exact wart virus that he's infected with, except it was growing out of control," Gaspari said.
Kosawa has a deficiency of white blood cells, which are crucial in fighting infections, and his weakened immune system couldn't fight the HPV. The virus hijacked his skin cells, causing it to produce massive amounts of keratin, a protein found in hair and fingernails. The warts sprouted into dense growths known medically as "cutaneous horns" on his hands and feet.
"I had never seen anything this severe," said Gaspari, a dermatologist for 25 years. "I shared this case with my colleagues, and no one had ever seen this before."
He became involved in Kosawa's case after being approached by a dermatology journal and Discovery Health Channel. His travels to Indonesia are chronicled in the channel's documentaries and the second chapter, "Treeman: Search for the Cure," which premieres Sunday on Discovery Health.
Earlier in his life, Kosawa sought help from local doctors, who followed the prescribed treatment by removing the warts.
"It grew back after the operation," he says in the documentary. "It grew back faster."
The skin treatments didn't work, because they didn't address his weakened immune system, and Kosawa could not afford more medical procedures, Gaspari said.
"Here's a man with chronic immune defect that had bad wart virus that went untreated for 20 years," he said. "In an industrialized country, this individual would have come to the attention of the health care system and would have interventions that would prevent it from progressing. That's the reason why it developed into an extremely bizarre, unusual appearance." For 20 years, the warts studding Dede Kosawa's hands and feet multiplied and sprouted like gnarled roots. ... more -
Woman’s paper skin a walking notepad
For this Chinese woman who suffers from a condition called artificial urticaria, her skin has served as a notebook for all the years of her life.
This strange medical anomaly has no ill effects, but most agree that it is very weird. For this Chinese woman who suffers from a condition called artificial urticaria, her skin has served as a notebook for all the years o... more -
Presidential Candidates Urged to Tackle Global TB
Global health experts and activists have joined together to call on the next U.S. president to develop a global initiative to fight tuberculosis (TB). The call for action comes as renowned photojournalist James Nachtwey unveils his images documenting the devastating impact of extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB.
Signers of the letter to the candidates include Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Dr. Paul Farmer, physician and co-founder of Partners in Health; Dr. Jim Kim, Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University; John Tedstrom, Executive Director of the Global Business Coalition on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Dr. Lee Reichman, Executive Director of the New Jersey Medical School Global Tuberculosis Institute, and author of Timebomb: The Global Epidemic of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis; Dr. Michael Iseman, chief of the renowned TB program at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver; Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance; and Joanne Carter, Executive Director of RESULTS, an advocacy group that addresses issues of global health and poverty.
Citizen activists in the United States will join in taking action at www.xdrtb.org and www.action.org. Those outside the U.S. will contact leaders of the G8 countries in advance of next year’s summit in Italy asking that TB be made a top priority.
The letter asks Senators John McCain and Barack Obama to “prioritize TB in a new administration and launch a presidential initiative to confront this deadly pandemic.” Though curable, TB is the leading infectious killer of adults in the world after HIV/AIDS. The disease claims 1.7 million lives each year. Presidential initiatives on HIV/AIDS and malaria have brought needed attention and resources to the fight against those diseases. The same response is needed to stop TB.
The letter asks that a presidential TB initiative include expanded access to treatment, better coordination of HIV/AIDS and TB services, scaled-up efforts to address emerging drug-resistant forms of TB, full funding of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and full funding of recently passed legislation authorizing $4 billion for TB programs over five years.
The call to action comes as photographer James Nachtwey reveals new images documenting the devastating impact of XDR-TB in a major public awareness effort. Nachtwey, in fulfillment of the wish granted with the 2007 TED Prize, hopes to bring worldwide visibility to the emerging crisis of XDR-TB. His photographs will be online at www.xdrtb.org, projected in Times Square and displayed in other major public spaces on all seven continents.
“Decades of progress in global health stand to be undone unless we launch a serious response to global tuberculosis,” said RESULTS executive director Joanne Carter. “We can no longer pretend that TB is a disease of the past. For millions of people, TB is a deadly reality, and the explosion of drug-resistant strains makes it more dangerous than ever. TB presents a massive threat, but also an incredible opportunity for U.S. leadership in a new administration.” Global health experts and activists have joined together to call on the next U.S. president to develop a global initiative to fight tu... more -
XDR-TB
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (October 3, 2008) – Award-winning photojournalist James Nachtwey revealed today the disease XDR-TB as the subject of his TED Prize wish. Nachtwey is premiering a slideshow that is the culmination ofhis wish to share an underreported worldwide story using news photography in the digital age. The story will bespread via an eight-page spread in TIME magazine, a gathering of global activists and leaders, and outdoor screeningsaround the world and across the Internet in an effort to raise awareness about the disease.
http://xdrtb.org NEW YORK, NEW YORK (October 3, 2008) – Award-winning photojournalist James Nachtwey revealed today the disease XDR-TB as the subject o... more -
Salma Hayek in campaign to wipe out tetanus
Salma Hayek has just returned from Sierra Leone where she has witnessed the effects of tetanus in the developing world.
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HIV up sharply amongst women and gay men in China
Alarmingly, Nature has reported that HIV infections have jumped 8-fold over the past few years in parts of China among gay and bisexual men, while the proportion of HIV-positive women of child-bearing age has doubled in the past 10 years.
"HIV/AIDS is spreading beyond the high risk populations, largely due to increased transmission through sexual contact. It implies that HIV/AIDS is not only a disease that affects high risk population, but the general population alike," professor Zhang Linqi, director of the AIDS Research Center in Beijing. Alarmingly, Nature has reported that HIV infections have jumped 8-fold over the past few years in parts of China among gay and bisexua... more -
Graphic images to target smokers
The UK will next week become the first European country to introduce graphic images on cigarette packets to warn about the dangers of smoking.
The 15 different images will include pictures of a diseased lung and heart surgery being performed.
They will start to be introduced on 1 October, but it will be another year before all packets contain them as existing stock will have to be sold.
The images will replace the written warnings that started in 2003. The UK will next week become the first European country to introduce graphic images on cigarette packets to warn about the dangers of ... more -
Malaria battle given $3bn boost
World leaders and philanthropistshave pledged nearly $3bn (£1.6bn) to fight malaria at a summit in New York.
The meeting, at the UN, is looking at ways of meeting the Millennium Development Goals - targets on reducing global poverty by the year 2015.
Donors hope the money will be enough to eradicate malaria by that time.
The money includes $1.1bn (£598m) from the World Bank and $1.6bn (£870m) from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.The British government and private organisations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have promised the rest.
Malaria still kills more than a million people each year, according to the World Health Organization.
The funding, will be used to support rapid implementation of the first ever Global Malaria Action Plan (Gmap).
Long-term effort
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a statement that the extra money would help "sharply reduce the numbers of malaria-related deaths and illness" in the next three years.
According to Gmap's projections, more than 4.2 million lives can be saved between 2008 and 2015, if its plan is put into action, and the foundation can be laid for a longer-term effort to eradicate the disease.
The BBC's Heather Alexander says leaders are focusing on eradicating malaria to counter criticisms that the millennium targets will not be met. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined the presidents of Rwanda and Tanzania as well as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to reassure the world that their goal is achievable.
Alongside the offers of money came reassurance from African leaders that efforts are working.
President Paul Kagame, of Rwanda, said malaria deaths have fallen by more than 60% in his country.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is to provide $168.7m (£91m) to fund a Malaria Vaccine Initiative for research on a new generation of anti-malaria vaccines.
Microsoft founder Mr Gates said: "We need innovation, new drugs, and the most dramatic thing we need is vaccine.
"If we build on this momentum, we can save million of lives and chart a long-term course for eradication of this disease."
Britain's Department for International Development pledged £40m ($73.5m) to support the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria.
It also pledged to increase its malaria research funding to at least £5m ($9.1m) a year by 2010 and supply 20 million of the 125 million bed nets still needed in affected areas. World leaders and philanthropistshave pledged nearly $3bn (£1.6bn) to fight malaria at a summit in New York. ... more -
Articolo 32
Un documentario sull'ospedale San Gallicano di Roma, ora diventato Istituto Nazionale per la promozione della salute delle popolazioni migranti e il contrasto delle malattie della povertà (INMP): le vite che si sono incrociate nella struttura di Trastevere, le testimonianze dei rifugiati di guerra e dei medici raccolte dai Elena, studentessa romana di 19 anni. Un documentario sull'ospedale San Gallicano di Roma, ora diventato Istituto Nazionale per la promozione della salute delle popola... more
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Scientists Create Pigs That Can Develop Cystic Fibrosis
Scientists hope that a new development, which allows them to create pigs that develop cystic fibrosis in the same way the people do, will give them new insight into fighting the disease.
Scientists at the University of Iowa and the University of Missouri have created genetically engineered piglets with the same mutation that causes cystic fibrosis in humans, they report in the journal Science.
Up to this point, scientists have been unable to find any hints that may lead to a possible cure, but this latest development should offer an unprecedented look at the disease, said Dr. Michael Welsh of the University of Iowa.
CF is caused when people inherit two mutated copies of a gene called CTFR. The disease causes mucus to accumulate and clog some of the organs in the body, especially the lungs and pancreas.
About 70,000 people worldwide, including 30,000 people in the United States, have CF
. People with the disease can expect to live to about age 37, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which helped fund the study.
Scientists create animal "models" of a disease in order to perform experiments that would not be possible with people. Mice with the genetic abnormality that causes cystic fibrosis have been developed, but the disease presents itself very differently in these rodents than in people.
"Unfortunately, the mice leave something to be desired," said Welsh, who helped lead the study.
"They don't get the pancreatic disease like people with CF get. They don't get the lung disease like people with CF get. They don't get the intestinal disease like people with CF get. There's been many questions that can't be answered," he added.
Christopher Penland of the foundation admitted there is some difficulty in pinpointing the onset of the disease.
This is the latest example of pigs used for human medical needs.
The scientists developed pigs with cystic fibrosis because their lungs have many characteristics of human lungs.
"Right now, if you want to do experiments to find treatments or therapies for the lung disease that is fatal for people with CF, you would have to experiment on kids that have CF," Randy Prather of the University of Missouri added.
Now the developments leading to the disease in pigs allows scientists to “start experimenting in ways that have never been possible," Prather said in a statement. Scientists hope that a new development, which allows them to create pigs that develop cystic fibrosis in the same way the people do, w... more -
Too Good to Be True?: Fat That Keeps You Thin
Scientists have stumbled on a chemical in the body that could one day prevent or reverse diseases linked to obesity.
Researchers at Harvard University's School of Public Health (H.S.P.H.) report in Cell that palmitoleate, a newly discovered hormone produced by fat cells, is also a fatty acid. (Most hormones are proteins.) They believe that if they can increase its production, they may be able to stave off metabolic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease (caused by hardening of the arteries) and so-called fatty liver, an often asymptomatic disease that can lead to damage of the organ as well as cancer. They speculate that it may also aid in weight loss.
But how could fats help trim the portly—or at least avoid accompanying diseases?
"The homemade meal is always the healthiest and best tasting meal," says study co-author Gökhan Hotamisligil, a professor of genetics and metabolism at H.S.P.H. "Similarly, the best kind of fat is the kind that you produce on your own from your fat tissue."
He says researchers discovered palmitoleate's potential thinning power by engineering mice that did not have proteins responsible for shuttling dietary fat to storage fat cells (often found around the abdomen, thighs and other places familiar to cellulite hosts). The animals ate like pigs, so to speak, but remained lean, free of metabolic disease, and showed no sign of fat deposits on their livers or insulin resistance. (Resistance to insulin—a hormone produced in the pancreas—causes sugar to accumulate in the blood instead of being taken up the muscle, which can result in type 2 diabetes.)
Hotamisligil says the team traced the hormone to fat cells when they were trying to figure out why these mice had so many fat molecules in their blood. Normally, excess of fatty acids in the bloodstream end up in the muscle and liver—and eventually affect insulin-sensing cells, causing diabetes.
"Fat is a huge soup of many many chemical entities," Hotamisligil says. "You can't treat fat like one kind of thing. It's a combination of many different kinds of molecules—the composition of [the] soup is important."
Palmitoleate is involved in a process known as de novo lipogenesis, the production of fat molecules by fat cells. The naturally made fat, he explains, appears to have the opposite effect of fat from food: It actually keeps fat from accumulating on the liver and thwarts insulin resistance. He noted that whereas the healthy rats had lots of palmitoleate in their fat reserves, diabetic mice do not. The mechanism by which palmitoleate works, however, has yet to be figured out.
"If you can replenish that source [of palmitoleate] or find a way to activate fat cells to produce more of their own fat, this could end up helping people with obesity, diabetes and fatty liver disease," says Hotamisligil.
He warns that high palmitoleate levels may only guard against metabolic illness and not obesity itself. Although he cannot be certain that the hormone has the same effect on humans, he does note that the pathways involved in mice and humans are almost identical.
In an editorial accompanying the Cell article, endocrinologist Jerrold Olefsky of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine points out: "Earlier studies have indicated that the capacity of human [fat cells] for de novo biosynthesis of fatty acids is considerably less than in rodent models." More work has to be done, he says, to determine if higher palmitoleate levels coincide with less metabolic disease in humans, as well. Scientists have stumbled on a chemical in the body that could one day prevent or reverse diseases linked to obesity. ... more -
Two gorillas suspected of Sanlu milk powder poisoning
Two gorillas from Wildlife World in eastern Zhejiang province, China, have been diagnosed with crystallisation in their urine, which could lead to kidney stones. It is thought likely that the condition has come about as a result of the gorrilas having been fed with Sanlu milk powder.
Now gorillas are affected too.. sounds like this Sanlu story is gonna run and run. Two gorillas from Wildlife World in eastern Zhejiang province, China, have been diagnosed with crystallisation in their urine, which c... more -
Breast fed babies live longer: Road show seeks to promote breast feeding
Children born in Switzerland have better odds of fighting cancer, obesity and depression than those in many other countries thanks to a high breastfeeding rate.
But health officials say mothers need to breastfeed for longer if their children are to reap the benefits. They have launched an information road show touring the country until September 29.
The first road show of its kind is stopping off at Basel, Zug, St Gallen and Lugano and offers contests and games for children as well as information for mothers on how to breastfeed and overcome potential problems.
"The number of women who breastfeed from the start is already high in Switzerland, and it's still increasing, though slowly," Marianne Rüttimann, head of Zürich's La Leche League, told swissinfo.
"What we need to do now is tell them how important it is that they do it longer."
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends women breastfeed exclusively for at least six months, since compounds in the milk lower a child's risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and certain types of cancers.
The WHO estimates that the death rate among children worldwide who die under the age of five could be reduced significantly if they are breastfed.
-----------------more at link-----------------
My mother breast fed me and my body has fought off many assaults, most of them deadly, so I believe this is true. What is it that breast milk has to do this? Children born in Switzerland have better odds of fighting cancer, obesity and depression than those in many other countries thanks to ... more -
Women lose much more than men if they smoke
Women typically get heart disease much later than men, but not if they smoke, researchers said Tuesday.
In fact, women who smoke have heart attacks more than a dozen years earlier than women who don't smoke, Norwegian doctors reported in a study presented to the European Society of Cardiology. For men, the gap is not so dramatic; male smokers have heart attacks about six years earlier than men who don't smoke.
"This is not a minor difference," said Dr. Silvia Priori, a cardiologist at the Scientific Institute in Pavia, Italy. "Women need to realize they are losing much more than men when they smoke," she said. Priori was not connected to the research.
Dr. Morten Grundtvig and colleagues from the Innlandet Hospital Trust in Lillehammer, Norway, based their study on data from 1,784 patients admitted for a first heart attack at a hospital in Lillehammer.
Their study found that the men on average had their first heart attack at age 72 if they didn't smoke, and at 64 if they did. Women in the study had their first heart attack at age 81 if they didn't smoke, and at age 66 if they did.
That works out to eight and 15 years, respectively, for men and women. After adjusting for other heart risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, researchers found that the difference for men was about six years for women about 14 years.
Previous studies looking at a possible gender difference have been inconclusive.
I guess smoking is bad for you, who knew? Women typically get heart disease much later than men, but not if they smoke, researchers said Tuesday. ... more -
Controversial Autism Study Called Off
"Federal officials have abandoned a proposed study of a controversial alternative therapy for autism, leaving parents who believe in the treatment disappointed and angry about the move.
In a statement released Wednesday, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) says its investigators would not go forward with a trial of chelation (pronounced kee-LAY-shun) therapy that has been discussed for the past two years.
The decision was made after the federal review board that originally approved the study reversed its position.
The study had reportedly been on hold since last year when animal trials linked a specific chelation treatment to brain damage in rats.
"The Board determined that there was no clear evidence for direct benefit to children who would participate in the chelation trial and that the study presents more than a minimal risk," according to the NIMH statement.
Chelation therapy involves the administration of agents to remove heavy metals from the blood, usually, but not always, by intravenous infusion.
The therapy has been approved for more than 50 years for the treatment of lead poisoning, but it is not approved for the treatment of autism.
Nevertheless, many parents who believe their children's autism was caused by mercury exposure from a preservative once common in childhood vaccines have embraced chelation therapy.
"Our phones have been ringing off the hook since this was announced," Rebecca Estepp of the autism support group Talk About Curing Autism tells WebMD.
"We are dumbfounded and saddened that this study of a promising autism treatment will not happen. The government has pulled the rug out from under us with no explanation."
Estepp, whose 10-year-old son is autistic, says she knows of thousands of children who have improved and even had their autism symptoms disappear following chelation therapy.
"Do we have to have thousands more before they take us seriously?" she asks. "When does the anecdotal evidence get so large that they have to listen to us?" "Federal officials have abandoned a proposed study of a controversial alternative therapy for autism, leaving parents who believe... more -
West Nile Virus Connected to Foreclosures?
An increase in the number of West Nile Virus cases this summer has officials in one New York community studying whether the spike could be linked to the rise in mortgage foreclosures. An increase in the number of West Nile Virus cases this summer has officials in one New York community studying whether the spike coul... more
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Retired Preacher Walks Across The US
Former pastor Don Stevenson strolled across the George Washington Bridge and into New York City at 10 a.m. this morning (9/15), completing the final leg of a 13,000-mile journey that began as a marathon walk around Washington State. After many miles and many pairs of worn out sneakers, Stevenson arrived with a smile on his face.
The reason for this epic undertaking is to raise awareness about Huntington’s Disease, a genetic degenerative neurological illness. According to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, the disease affects 30,000 Americans with another 250,000 at risk of having the disease.
”I walk for those who cannot walk: I give love and support to those who truly need and appreciate it” said Stevenson
Medicines are available that can help manage the signs and symptoms of HD. The physical and mental decline associated with the disorder however, cannot be treated. Early symptoms include personality changes and decreased cognitive skill then slowly progress to an individual’s diminished ability to walk, swallow, and speak. Death usually occurs from complications associated with the disease such as an infection or a fall. Former pastor Don Stevenson strolled across the George Washington Bridge and into New York City at 10 a.m. this morning (9/15), comple... more
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