Caroline Cahaney
Earth Science Current Events
September 19, 2012
Ms. Davies
Citation: Wang, Yuan. “Could a Cancer Drug Prevent Learning Disabilities in Some Kids?” Science Daily. 29 Aug2012. < http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120829093854.htm>
Could A Cancer Drug Prevent Learning Disabilities in Some Kids?
Reflection
The article that I chose to focus on has to deal with a cancer drug and its possible link to the prevention of learning disabilities of some children. This drug, that was originally created to stop cancerous tumors, is said to possibly have the capability to prevent abnormal brain cell growth and learning disabilities in some children—if they can be diagnosed early enough. Specifically, this anti-tumor drug medication could be used on young children with developing brains who were born with the genetic disease neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1). This disease causes benign tumors to grow throughout the body, but study also shows that kids with this genetic disease also have a harder time learning to read, write, do math, and behave appropriately. This struggle for learning is considered the most serious issue of NF1, and usually appears before most of the other symptoms. Unfortunately though, this drug can only be given to an infant. Because an infant’s brain is still developing in this early time of life, their brains can still “decide” what kind of cell to become. This study showed that this advanced cancer drug could possibly be used to make a lasting effect on a newborn’s neural cell development.
I think this information has an affect on the human life in general, not just to the children and families affected by NF1. Even though it does largely focus on the science being done to prevent learning disabilities of children with specific genetic diseases, I think it shows that scientists are trying out all of the possibilities to inch closer and closer to cures. Unfortunately, this study hasn’t shown anything too specific and hasn’t given us a definite solution to a problem. But, I do think that it shows us that scientists are coming closer and closer to some answers, and it seems like they won’t stop until they find them. For all humans, this instills the anticipation of incredible advancements in the medical sciences.
I learned a lot from this article and was fascinated by it, but I felt that it was almost contradicting itself. It says that this medication could be used to protect the developing brains of young children with NF1, but then goes on to say that the drug in this trial may not be appropriate to give to children who already have been diagnosed with NF1. So when are people supposed to give their children this drug? How do parents recognize that their kids have learning disabilities, or even NF1, when they aren’t even close to the age of learning? They had a substantial amount of evidence supporting that the drug could help those with learning disabilities, but it seemed that the drug would only help a certain and small number of people.
Caroline Cahaney
We have similar articles and I think you portrayed all the important facts and reasonings needed to fully understand this article. I thought you described everything in the writing, and did so extremely efficiently. I was wondering if in the article any side-effects were possible. If this drug can 'tell' a cell what type of cell to become, does it affect anything else? and you asked questions that will have to be answered in order for this drug to proceed into medical institutions. Overall, it sounds like this article was just a prelude to a study that could eliminate a serious learning disability in infants. With limited information, you managed to summarize and surface many important questions needed to fully grasp this article
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your article very much. There are obviously amazing discoveries in the field of medicine that science plays a big part in. As Matt mentioned there must be some possible side effects for this new drug. I would like to learn about some of these side affects. The side affect in my opinion would play a huge part in wether or not to give the infant the drug. All together I thought that you got your information across in a very informative and productive way. Nice Job!
ReplyDeleteCaroline’s article focuses on the discovery of a new purpose for an existing drug - treating learning disabilities with a treatment originally used to treat tumors. I thought Caroline did a great job making the story easy to follow, as it is a very technical subject. Specifically, she explained NF1 clearly and wrote about both the behavior of kids with the disease and what happens in the brain. I also liked how she wrote about what this discovery means for the world of science. I found it very interesting that though it is still very vague at the moment, scientists are working toward a cure and consider this a successful discovery. I found the idea of cells developing in infants’ brains “deciding” what to be fascinating. I had read about cells like these and other diseases linked to stem-cell research but I do not know much about it and am very interested in learning more. The only suggestion I can give to improve the story is maybe include when the discovery happened and who discovered it. Other than that, I really enjoyed reading this article and hope to hear more about this interesting drug in the future.
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