Dr. John Turnbull, the neurologist/researcher from McMaster University hospital who is taking care of me, spoke to the Rehoboth high school students today. After being warmly welcomed by Jonathan of the Student Council, he explained to the students about ALS disease, and his research on finding a cure.
After a brief question and answer session, Nicole presented Dr. Turnbull with a cheque of $1025 raised by the volleyball tournament at RCS for ALS research.
Receiving one of the "Grace is sufficient" bracelets.
Dr. Turnbull challenged the students to go into the field of medicine to study the nervous system to find cures for various neurological diseases. He said 50% of the diseases known to humans are based in the brain and spinal cord. Since so much medical research has been done in cardiology and cancer, the average human life span has been increasing significantly. Now 80% of the people who are living to be 100 have Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson’s, and other neurological diseases. That is the next vast field of research to be explored in the future.
Kendra, a grade 5 student at Rehoboth, wanted to do her part to raise funds for ALS research. She came up with the idea of a candy jar filled with candies. To register a guess of how many candies are in the jar costs you a loonie. The closest guess to the real number wins the jar. Thanks for the bright idea Kendra!
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