Any and all donations towards this cause are appreciated. I understand that these are rather rough economic times and that not everyone can afford to give, but this is a topic that is very important to me (obviously). If you can't donate, please consider running the Folding @ Home application, as its results will directly chart the path of Alzheimer's and Huntington's research.
For those who dont know what Huntingtons Disease - or Huntingtons Chroea - is, here is the deal: It usually starts showing signs in the 40´s though some later or earlier than others. In simple terms, this genetic disease makes your nerve system degenerate so that you no longer controle your muscles. This means that, while many retain full conscience for a very long time, people start having uncontrolable shaking in the entire body, they have a harder time speaking because they stutter until later on when they lose the ability to speak completely, they lose control of their bodily functions, lose appettite because their stomach loses its ability to properly process the food and basically whither away. After a few years of this degeneration, it starts hitting the nerve systems in the brain which often means that people with the disease start having alterations to their personality and their memory worsens significantly. Eventually they die a pretty painful death after having seen themselves whither away over the course of the years it takes from the disease hits. It is one of only 2 diseases you can legally get euthanased for in Holland which should give a pointer to how unplesant this disease is. I used to work at a place for handicapped people, one of whom was the nicest lady. She used to be a guide in many countries, she had travelled the world and dated rockstars until she hit 43 where she was hit by her dormant Huntingtons Chorea. She had amazing stories to tell while she was still clear in the head but after only a year and a half she was so devastated by the disease that she could no longer speak properly, nor could she remember most of her life.
I must ask: Is there any hope of helping those effected by folding for it? Or is this like Cancer folding that is a big fat lie in the face of those who suffer cancer? For background into my question consider this. If you have any sort of cancer, you have one of a million types. All of which have only one thing in common. They are uncontrolled growth. That is where the similarities end in 99% of cases. Folding to "Find a cure for Cancer" is like trying to solve pollution. There are ten million different types of pollution and no single cure will solve them all. And even if you did there are other problems that the cure may initiate. The few pathetically inadequate things I have done for cancer patients is exactly that. I did little things for the patients themselves. No amount of folding will solve/cure cancer, nor provide anything to treat it. So I do not mean to be rude, but is there hope in this disease? Or is this a lost cause that people do because they have nothing better to do and they want to be helpful despite the fact that they cannot help? Years ago there was a similar program to "Fold for a cure to Diabetes", or some such nonsense. I have Diabetes and have taken Insulin Injections for more than two thirds of my life. I am pretty sure there is exactly no hope of folding ever producing a cure for it. Again it is a thing that gives hope to those desperate enough to think there may be a chance. But the cause of Diabetes is not understood and there is nothing besides evidence that it may be hereditary. Thus I have abstained from reproduction. Give me an address and I will send a personal gift to Athena. But I cannot send any cash to help. I live on Social Security Disability and have no money to spare. But I can craft something Athena may appreciate. (I do not buy cards. I make them myself. That way people know I cared enough to bother, rather than just throw money at their problems.) How old is Athena? (I can make different types of cards, but knowing the age range helps make one that is more acceptable.)
I dont know Athena or any details thereof but as for the disease itself - it is a genetic disease and will probably not be fully cured unless genetic engineering becomes a valid posibility. That said, there is much which can be done to lessen the impact of the disease and as far as I can read from the source, that is the over all goal of the organisation. But to answer your question: No, in this day and age HC can not be cured. I guess that is why they want funding
I am loath to donate money to any charity. My reasons are simple. In the USA all that is required to call your organization a charity and thus pay no taxes is that 1% of the money donated goes to the charity functions. The other 99% can go directly into your bank account for whatever purpose you want. If I had money I would donate to the people suffering from an ailment rather than the charities. That said, I know nothing of the charity this thread is about. They could be respectable and not greedy swine. (How low and depraved a person or organization must be to sink to the depth of robbing those with terminal illnesses?) I know that I can make a nice hand crafted card that shows I understand the illness and hope she never suffers it. If I had money I would send it directly to her. That is the only way to be certain it is going to help. As for the folding thing, I used to fold for a variety of purposes. But I soon learned that 99% of the work was redundant to verify the previously completed work was accurate. Sometimes as many as ten times the same work would be completed by different individuals. I would accomplish more for less by donating the money (That I Do not have) to fund a massive data farm than to wear out my GPU by folding all the time. A proper data farm will have custom heatsinks and fans to keep the array running cool at all times and would not need any redundancy to verify they are not cheating. If I had a water cooling option on my CPU and GPU I would absolutely fold 24/7. But that is $200 out of reach for myself. (It used to be much more expensive, but liquid cooling options are *Much* cheaper these days than in the past.) Right now if my CPU/GPU were to die I would be left without a PC for several months while I saved to replace them. So that option is too risky for me.
Note: conventional thoughts on "curing" cancer don't refer to some magical bullshit fairy cure, it tries to find common links between cancers and ways to potential target specifically cancerous cells. Also, Folding@Home style projects are really cool - Even data farms need to verify results more than once, and not just to make sure that they're not cheating - its called scientific method. I'm sure you all heard of the "faster than light neutrinos" which seems to have been just one anomalous result, which after checking they found broken equipment was the culprit of.
Geez, OmniNegro if you don't want to help out don't give us a novella on your reasons. NOBODY wants to know why you don't want to donate to charity, and your posts come off as a spit in the face.
I'd rather hear the reasons why somebody didn't donate to my cause so I can improve transparency or explain that, no, unlike charity X we don't do Y, and so on. In fact, I would argue that your statement is more extreme and unwelcome than his - there are certainly charities I will actively discourage people from donating to, simply because they waste enormous amounts of money. Anyway, here I'm going to stop, because I'm treading close to real world discussions - but if there were a dislike function, it would be on your post, and not Omni's.
Going to sleep - stay civil people, and try not to derail Fax's thread. It's about this personal cause.
We've chipped in some money. I would encourage anybody who enjoyed YHTNTEP and Fax's contributions - or just FaxPax or whatever - to do the same.
Despite my previous reasoning, I am also going to donate. It will be a pitiful $5, but I can manage that much at least. Your wife deserves a good life. As does your child. You have earned it for them by your "Donation" of time and effort here with FAXPAX and a bajillion other things. I just wish I could donate more. In case anyone wonders why I changed my mind, here is the answer. Time. Just that simple. I may not think much of most charities, but I do not know anything specific about this one that is negative. And the idea behind it is good. The purpose is noble, and if run right, a charity can do more than a billionaire can manage for a lot less money to address this ailment. *Edit* Be sure to check the "I want to cover the costs of making this donation." part. On my $5 donation, it was a mere 38 cents. But that adds up.
I would donate if I could, but we're poor and in a horrible financial situation. My thoughts are with you, though.
Meaning what? You do not currently have the disease? Or you do not actually have the susceptibility for it? (I would be happy for either, but happiest for the latter obviously.) *Edit* Ninja'ed!!!
It's genetic, so if he doesn't have the gene he'll never get it and it's out of his branch of the family. Damn dominant genetic diseases
