Unorthodox Clinical Trials Meld Science and Care

摘要

After her husband was diagnosed with Huntington's disease in 1997 at age 54, Gayle Tinnerman began to steep herself in medical lingo. She scoured the Internet for experimental treatments, anything that might slow the horrific neurological decline that assaults Huntington's sufferers: involuntary movements that make even reading a book impossible; depression and emotional outbursts; a gradual inability to swallow food, to talk, and to think; and, inescapably, death. Tinnerman, who lives in San Diego, California, is frustrated by what she reads. Mice with a version of Huntington's would receive a new drug and their condition would improve, but the drug would not be quickly tested in people. "It's getting a little old, bringing these mice articles home," she says. "My husband said, 'The mice keep getting better. What about me?'"