V. Raymond Edman

Here's a news story a friend of mine in the Episcopal seminary here in Austin pointed out to me.

Dusty hasn't given us any Wheaton news of late, so I thoght I'd go ahead and post it.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/571549,3_1_EL24_A4ANGLICANS_S1.article

Alzheimer’s: Type 3 Diabetes?

I am an avid (even voracious) consumer of news and cultural commentary, much of which is daily delivered to my Google Reader. The upside of this is that I usually know a little bit about a lot of things. Emphasis on a little and a lot, in the right proportions (reverse those positions and you have a dissertation project). The downside is that few things surprise me, and even fewer make me stop everything else I'm doing to pay attention.

This story did just that. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that Alzheimer's disease has a lot to do with how the brain processes insulin, and that the disease itself may be productively considered as a form of diabetes. Add this to the nearly overwhelming incidence of Type II diabetes among the world's population, which is projected to effect nearly 1/3 of America's population in the next few decades, and you have the most pressing public health crisis of the 21st century.

In case you're too lazy to click the link (you know who you are), a few highlights:

"Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation -- would stop working in Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming synapses, is called an ADDL for “amyloid ß-derived diffusible ligand.”)

"With other research showing that levels of brain insulin and its related receptors are lower in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, the Northwestern study sheds light on the emerging idea of Alzheimer’s being a “type 3” diabetes.

"The new findings, published online by the FASEB Journal, could help researchers determine which aspects of existing drugs now used to treat diabetic patients may protect neurons from ADDLs and improve insulin signaling in individuals with Alzheimer’s. (The FASEB Journal is a publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)"

Road Rage

Now, I get as annoyed as the next guy when traffic slows down for miles at a toll plaza. Particularly in Chicagoland. But these two took things to a new extreme...

September, September

I think this month will be hard for me for quite some time.

Six years ago. Six years ago I found myself marked, compelled to think and to speak about whatI would prefer to leave in silence. I am afraid to speak, I open my mouth in terror because my words cannot-- words cannot-- even now, here, in this sentence cannot say or be or do what is needed. I would pray for silence, but I am not allowed. I speak in terror, knowing I cannot do what I must. That I must do what I cannot.

Six years ago the eleventh of September was a Tuesday. I remember the English class I had that Tuesday, in the shocked afternoon that followed the clear, terrible morning. I sat in a classroom devoted to words on a day that words cannot approach, a day that words must approach, even when to do so is unholy.

Six years later, tommorrow, I will go to a Tuesday afternoon class devoted to words, once again on the eleventh of September, and I will teach. I was reminded today that most of my students were twelve years old in 2001-- children, only children! What do they remember, what can they remember? How do I stand before them, teaching them language, on the day I would devote to silence?

I sent the final copy of my essay on memorials and the World Trade Center to the Wallace Stevens Journal today, today the tenth of September-- that date sounds almost edenic in its innocence! But my uncle died yesterday, on the ninth, in the quietly unseen space of his own home. Et in Arcadia Ego. And my cousin's long-planned wedding follows hard behind.

The wedding will follow the funeral. My twelve year olds are now in college. I teach and publish and live.

Oh, September

I thought I'd give you fellas a personal update before the craziness that will be my fall semester totally subsumes my life. Unlike the midwest, September in Austin is still very much the summer, so this will be a quick, sweaty email sent from deep in the heart of Texas.

I started teaching a new class in a new department this week. I think it will be good and rewarding, but it's going to be a hell of a lot of work. [profanity used advisedly] I'm sort of writing the syllabus as I go along, so there's a certain seat of the pants uneasiness that I'm trying to turn into some sort of thrilling ride. I'll let you know how things go on that front.

I met two girls this week. Well, one I had chatted up several months ago and then lost track of, and she turned up again when I went for a drink with a friend of mine. The other I'd been wanting to talk to at cafe I frequent, and she showed up at a random party that another friend's roommate talked us into going to. Anyways, I guess I'm pulling that whole resilient, "get back on the horse" thing. It's either very brave or very stupid... but you've gotta try, right?

I also moved into a house with a roommate, so my old address is bad and you'll need to get my new one from me if you need it. Redundant, I know. I'd like to leave you all by pointing out that my city is better than everywhere the rest of you live, so you might as well come visit me. But not on September 17th: I'll be watching Bob Dylan play in Zilker Park that night. Bon nuit.