Sunday, October 26, 2008

Hope for the future

Well...I have to say that I'm feeling quite relieved; scientists have recently isolated a DNA variance (a "marker", if you will) that is unique to folks like me who have the Condition. We're not talking crackpot science here, folks - this is a major multi-year joint international study involving a large sample of subjects.

What does this mean? In addition to past findings off autopsies of irregularities in brain structures, it's starting to look pretty conclusive that the Condition has biological origins, not psychological. If so, it means that there's a possibility it can be treated in the future via early screening and gene therapy.

Those of us afflicted have always known that we're not imagining it. Certainly the extent of risks we run to successfully cure it requires very rational planning to succeed - not exactly a characteristic of the insane. And the intense pain involved in treatment plus the exorbitant medical costs serve as a barrier to entry for all but the genuinely afflicted.

I would not wish the Condition on *anyone*. If it turns out that the current generation is the last generation that has to go through the horrors that is the Condition, it would not nearly be soon enough.