A Positive and Non-Ebola Related Medical Story...(Written by Elizabeth Muscari p6)

What do you think of when you hear "health" this week? Ebola? 

Well, let's think about Autism for a second, an equally scary disease in which affects millions of children each year. Believe it or not, in spite of all of the negative press regarding Ebola, there have been positive developments in the medial field this week; hope has "sprouted" in finding a cure or at least some form of aid to autism. A broccoli sprout compound was used to conduct an experiment in which children with autism received sulforaphane, a compound found in broccoli, while others received a placebo. Nearly 80 percent of the 18-week participants were noted to have had behavioral changes and improvements in their learning abilities. Parents also stated that their communication skills strengthened. The experiment was stopped shortly after due to lack of any further improvement. The reason medical researches chose to use this compound was because it brought out a “fever effect” in which the cells naturally relieved stress during the fevers, making the autistic child more apt to communicating and less irritated. However, the trials were too small to tell if the compound truly works. Researches have said it’s now back to the drawing board and will begin trying to find a way to prove that this broccoli compound will work.

I think this relates to APUSH when it has come to finding cures for diseases and illnesses such as influenza and small pox. Although Autism is a much different thing than the flu or small pox, the thing that they have in common is that they call(ed) for an immediate cure. We had to endure many years before we could truly understand the illness and thus help the public become cured from it. Medical advances are made every day and we are surely better off than we were centuries ago. I believe that since history tends to repeat itself, we will find some way to aid those affected by Autism, just as we have with the victims of influenza and small pox.

Read more at http://time.com/3503738/autism-broccoli-sprout-compound/