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 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29310