I'm just watching Good Will Hunting. The BBC are showing it in tribute to the late, great man to which this thread is dedicated. I love that film, it warms the cockles of my heart. R.I.P. Robin Williams. One Love, One Life.
http://time.com/3111911/robin-williams-dead-parkinsons/ According to this article, Robin Williams was in the early stages of Parkinson's. From what I understand, it's a degenerative disease that attacks the cells and muscles of the victim and it gets worse and worse over time. Though still tragic, one could argue that he did this because he didn't want his family to have to watch helplessly as the disease slowly overtook him.
@Link the Writer : I read that too, poor guy. Parkinson's happens due to death of dopamine-producing cells in the part of the brain matter called 'substantia nigra'. It is characterised by a fine tremor, expressionless face, specific gait (the way people walk), generalised slowing down and eventually dementia. It's a progressive illness, the symptoms get worse over time and medications that might help initially start needing much higher doses (as more of the cells die), until the patient gets all these side-effects and no relief of symptoms. And of course, it causes profound depression, not only because of the bleak outlook, but it's organic in cause. It really is a terrible illness that tends to affect the elderly, but it can affect younger people too. Maybe that tipped him over the edge? I guess we'll never know. My heart is breaking though, I wish there was some hope, anything to help him persevere.
And another famous person is Fox. Sad that Ali hasn't been able to be involved in conversation in public. I would have loved to heard his take on many issues. I think that sites like TMZ go way too deep on their investigation. But I cant blame them that's what people want.
It's a horrible illness, but doesn't affect everybody the same way. I have a friend who has suffered from it since the late 1990s, and he's actually not much worse than he was about 8 years ago. He had an implant which allows him to control his tremors, is extremely sharp-witted, reads and writes a lot. His sociability has been affected by his deteriorating speech and the need to travel around in a wheelchair outside the home, but we discovered one time, when his implant battery went dead, that while his tremors became appalling, his speech restored itself to normal. So now he is able to make himself understood if he needs to, by simply dialing down his implant, putting up with an increased tremor while he is speaking, then dialing it back up to the usual level. It's a horrible affliction, but it's certainly not an instant death sentence. Incidentally, Robin Williams's good friend, the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, has also recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's.
@jannert : Parkinson's will be one of the first neurodegenerative diseases that will benefit from stem cell research. Even fifteen-twenty years ago experimental foetal substantia nigra transplants, although technically extremely difficult (so only a few people knew how to do it well) showed promising results. Now with the stem cells...I am very excited to see the next era of medical treatments. The results so far suggest absolutely incredible potential.
Fucking moronic imbeciles. Sorry for the profanity but, really? I recently (in the last year) lost my best mate to MND and can but wish that technological advances in this regard had been able to offer him some longevity of life and for me; my mate, and his natural course in the brevity of human life. Edit: I knew something about that post wasn't right. It was the absence of the much maligned semi colon. Damn you sixth can of Red Stripe (no actually, I take that back. I fear the wrath of the Beer Gods I so dutifully serve of a Friday night).
My cousin does stem cell research at Wright State University. I'm amazed that is where he landed, he left school for several years to paint houses. Listening to him, you'd be amazed at all the things stem cells could help cure. For anyone that knows about how stem cells work, they are like the original building blocks to youth and wellness.
It must be so bloody frustrating for people who are at present suffering from this sort of disease, to see this cure so near, yet so far. A friend of mine died a couple of years from that ALS (?) the Lou Gehrig's Disease ...the most horrific form of MND. He was of scientific bent himself, and I know he could see this 'cure' coming, and was hoping he'd live long enough to be a test subject. He didn't.
I mean that I have strong feelings about it but they belong in to another thread. I see that you have your opinions too. Still, they should be taken elsewhere.
Right well, I believe it's still broadly related and as such, relevant. I know you have the best of intentions but do you think you could leave the over zealous moderating to the moderators?
@Mike Hill and @outsider, feel free to create a new thread to discuss stem cell research. This thread isn't the place, but it seems like you guys want to talk.
@outsider @jannert : I'm so sorry about your friends! It's so sad, one of those things that just make me really frustrated with the world we are living in today. If the governments were spending less on crap and paying less attention to the morons who think the world is 6000 years old and every sperm is sacred (but not every living, breathing, already born human), we would be so much further down the line in terms of a lot of medical therapies.
One of the things that really upsets me is when the media get hold of some potential development like this, then start trumpeting that the 'cure is nigh.' Then you read the article and realise it's something that's still in the research stage and if it proves 'safe and effective' it might be applied to the general public in 10-15 years' time. That must be heartbreaking to read, for somebody who needs the cure NOW.
@jannert : Everything new that is talked about is usually about 20 years away from clinical application. Rarely, if all goes well and the results are very good, it can get pushed through sooner, it really depends on the types of studies, long-term effects, the degree of refinement and the ethics, and then, on various government bodies who approve it, so it drags on. There is a procedure to ensure safety, but in my experience, the time frame can be extended for unjustifiable reasons, such as the numbers of unnecessary committees, who don't meet often enough, politics etc. Just a few days ago, though, they used the experimental treatment for ebola on I think American patients who contracted the disease. Even though it was very much in early stages of development and not approved for human use, the circumstances were unique (the epidemic side of it) and the treatment actually works.
I will miss that sparkle in his piercing eyes. We all have struggles, along our journey within the universe. Whatever he was going through, may he now be free from it, and to all who are weighed down by the dark cloud and its constant loom....Make your lives extraordinary, gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
I particularly enjoyed some lucid criticism of the late RW delivered by Barry Norman in the Radio Times. He said what a great deal of us think and will be saying a few months. However, I challenged flim-flam convention by stating my opinion up front, and some found this unsettling. My comment was terse to be fair, but I didn't have the patience to write in any greater detail. Anyway, a link to one article: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/19/robin-williams-barry-norman-film-critic-sentimentality
Nobody cares if you don't like Robin William's acting or his movies. People only cared that you called him a "cretin" at a time when the quality of his acting shouldn't be a concern and in a way that was completely unsympathetic. This thread is about celebrating the life of a human being who happened to bring members of this forum some joy and offering sympathy.
