Dormant Virus Wakes Up In Some Patients With Lou Gehrig's Disease

MTorrice writes: Our chromosomes hold a partial record of prehistoric viral infections: About 8% of our genomes come from DNA that viruses incorporated into the cells of our ancestors. Over many millennia, these viral genes have accumulated mutations rendering them mostly dormant. But one of these viruses can reawaken in some patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive muscle wasting disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. A new study demonstrates that this so-called endogenous retrovirus can damage neurons, possibly contributing to the neurodegeneration seen in the disease. The findings raise the possibility that antiretroviral drugs, similar to those used to treat HIV, could slow the progression of ALS in some patients.

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Re:Timing

[Anonymous Coward]

My aunt died of ALS, and lived on a tube for three years, after being tubed while unconscious from a fall event. Eventually she just up and decided her existence was too much to bear, and refused to take nutrients or water. It took a remarkable fourteen days for her to body to give up.

Life lesson: if you simply refuse to want to exist this way, write and notarize a living will, and tell all of your family about your wishes.