Question: where do you start when it comes to finding a cure for a disease

Keywords: ,

  1. The first thing is to understand how the disease works. You might need to look at the genes in the cells causing the disease, or the proteins on the inside or the outside of the cell which might help the cells bind, or allow other proteins in or out. Once you have identified something that may be essential to the disease causing cells, you can then try and find ways to block it.

    Maybe one of the others can explain it better?

    0

  2. Understanding the underlying mechanism of diseases is the most essential and crucial step before you attempt to cure a disease. For instance in cardiovascular diseases the clinicians always try to apply a treatment based on the final effect of the disease. Let’s say they observe a hypertension they immediately give a drug to suppress it or if they see a vein is blocked, they try to open it. These approaches are effective in providing a temporary solution but DO NOT treat the disease at all. We have to understand “WHY” we are having the disease in the first place then target the reasons leading to disease formation.

    0

  3. Miranda and Yagiz are right. Its all about understanding what is happening and why. Treating a symptom is very different to treating a cause. For example if you have the flu and your nose is running. You might use a nasal spray to clear your nose or a flu tablet, but these are treating your running nose, not doing anything to the virus which is making your nose run! These treatments are still important and do make you feel better but they don’t cure the disease.

    When I was doing my bachelor’s degree I used to wonder how I was ever going to start research, there is already so much we know about disease already. If I am going to work towards curing a disease what will I do? But the more you learn and the more research you read, you realise there are a lot of unanswered questions that come out of other people’s research. and when you start applying the how, what and why questions, you come up with questions of your own.

    0

Comments