Chapter 3
On August 11, a women died due to an unknown explanation of damage in the brain. She was a maid named Bertha Elschker, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Originally a cheerful person, she no longer became concerned about her appearance a month later. I pictured this women to be dirty and filthy after she got Alzheimer's disease. In addition, there must be seriously something wrong with her brain. I also pictured her talking to herself and screaming crazy things out in the streets about her family. The mental illness also made her twitch which makes me picture her as someone really ill. Not only was she suffering from physical damage in her brain, but also physical damage in her arm and speech as well.
The image that I portray from the descriptions of the women, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, connects with me because many discoveries of new diseases derive from the observations of other diseases. Although, doctors and scientist do not the reason of the disease at first, making connections with other disease such as CJD, helps them reach a conclusion. In addition, similar to the Kuru disease I learned that this new disease is characterized. Kuru was a stereotyped sickness, while the disease that the women suffered mostly pertain to middle aged people. These two obscure, brain disorders show that the brain is the single most complex organ in the body. As a result, any kind of damage to the brain can create a huge problem to our body physically and mentally.
Thank you so much for doing this. This helped me understand the story better and it also helped me when I was doing my quotes for the book. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeletegood job! It helped me alot!
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing a sketch of Bertha's Alzheimer disease. Her disease is one of many important connections to the story.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you chose this section because this was the discovery that connected this whole chapter together. I was able to again note the significance of her sudden change of character. Also, I liked how you mentioned the brain and mentions how it is the focus of where the disease is coming from.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the illustration that you visualized for us to understand the events better. It helps us create an image that we can understand besides all of the confusing scientific terms. I also like how you mentioned that the descriptions of kuru and CPJ are connected by their symptoms.
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