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Neurodegeneration

Battling the killer proteins

Nature volume 408, pages 902–903 (2000)Cite this article

Scientists who work on the clinical aspects of neurodegenerative diseases know the terrible effects of these conditions all too well. Those of us fortunate enough not to have lost a loved one to Alzheimer's or Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease rarely give these killers a moment's thought.

The panel answered reporters' questions quietly, until they were asked to describe the suffering they had endured. Each had seen their relatives slowly robbed of their humanity, suffering first from depression, then from dementia and hallucinations, before their life ebbed away. One told of the final indignity of seeing his brother disposed of in a bodybag in a lime-dusted grave. At points, panel members broke down.

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Authors
  1. Peter Aldhous
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  2. Alison Abbott
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Aldhous, P., Abbott, . Battling the killer proteins. Nature 408, 902–903 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35050255

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