Hope for Mom (Week 5)

I know many of you were looking forward to my retaliation for being called a "caveman" by Brian last week, but that will just have to wait (if for no other reason than I kind of agree with him and I am awaiting my sponsorship from GEICO). Anyway, a few of you may be aware from talking with me outside of class that my mother has serious "memory issues" (officially not Alzheimer's). This is a source of great frustration for both of us as well as many of the other people around her and, frankly, scares me when I think about my possible future.

Well, I found some hope this week while looking for something for this blog. It is s seemingly straight-forward concept - you simply take blood from an infant's umbilical cord and inject it into the older patient. This has shown success in a study done by researchers in Florida on rats and is elaborated on by researchers from the VA and several other sources. Basically, the process helps grow new neurons and seems to reverse some of the effects of brain aging. This would enable our aging population to live fuller and more productive lives well beyond the current retirement age.

Essentially, the injections seem to reduce swelling in the brain which allows the stem cell pool already there to produce new cells and neurons which ultimately helps people to "regain the plasticity of their youthful minds." Now if I could only remember how to publish this thing....

For more info, check out the article here:

http://io9.com/366156/rejuivenate-your-brain-with-umbilical-cord-blood

P.S. On a ironic humorous note, the io9 website states "we come from your future" and this was brought to you by someone that still lives in a cave........