“Should we despair? Far from it,” he said in an article written for the Telegraph.
“The lessons of background show that ‘plagues’ can outcome from rapid modifications in human life style and behaviour but that humanity is capable to reply by striving to uncover the underlying brings about of ailment, and that such comprehending can lead to powerful means of prevention and even cure.
“Throughout background humankind has risen to the challenges of adjust and we are now in a place where we can get advantage of the wonderful advances that have taken area, and carry on to take location, in scientific and medical information and methodologies.”
Despite the fact that previous plagues this kind of as the Plague of Athens, the Antonine Plague and the Plague of Justinian all struck with massive death and devastation in the ancient planet, it was the Black Death in mid-14th Century that has ‘etched itself into the memory of the modern world’ mentioned Prof Dobson.
That, and subsequent outbreaks of bubonic plague have been accountable for the deaths of a third of the population of Europe, up to 50 million folks.
At the time the plague was blamed on supernatural phenomena, divine vengeance, miasmas and foul smells and treatment options ranged from prayers to snake-oil cures.
The ‘plague bacillus’ (Yersinia pestis) was not recognized till the finish of the 19th century in Hong Kong when it was found that fleas on rats had been spreading the condition and controls taken to avert transmission.
Current viruses this kind of as avian and swine flu have provided rise to fears of novel and hugely contagious kinds of such diseases that are beyond the handle of medical science
The growth of worldwide travel has also speeded up the transmission of contagious illness.
“The globe can now be circumnavigated in a couple of days or significantly less while a century or two ago it took many months,” stated Prof Dobson.
“Indeed, it took numerous years for bubonic plague to spread across Asia to Europe in the 14th century, but just a couple of days for SARS to travel from Hong Kong to Canada in the 21st century.”
Not like historic plagues Alzheimer’s illness is not caused by bacteria or a virus, but from inner alterations to molecules in the physique.
The functions necessary for lifestyle such as breathing, consuming and fighting disease, are carried out by cells, which have specially folded proteins.
When these proteins are not folded appropriately they not only end the body functioning appropriately but accumulate to destroy cells in their vicinity.
If these broken cells are in the brain, this phenomenon can give rise to dementia, and if they are in our pancreas to diabetes.
Cambridge University is at the cutting edge of diagnosing protein folding ailments and functioning out therapies to tackle them.
“With our determination to tackle these 21st century plagues we are optimistic that we will come up with considerable breakthroughs just as the pioneers of earlier instances identified methods to confront the plagues of the previous,” said Prof Dobson.
“There are number of of us who do not know of a family member or friend with experience of this ailment both as a patient or a carer, and who has not been deeply impacted by its relentless nature and the despair that it engenders.
“Ironically, it is nearly completely attributable to the great advances in health-related science, as well as enhancements in public overall health and requirements of living, that have elevated the average human lifespan considerably.
“Yet, this extension of lifestyle expectancy, resulting from the reduction of mortality from infectious diseases, the traditional ‘plagues’, has come at a value.
“History tells us that we should now grasp the possibility of the moment for the sake of our youngsters and certainly for all potential generations of the human race.”
Go through: Telegraph exclusive: Christopher and Mary Dobson on their analysis into dementia
Dementia is a present day plague that will be eradicated, top academic says
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