<p class="MsoNormal">Health Canada and the FDA<span style="">
</span>argue that<span style=""> </span>aging is not a
disease but a natural, unstoppable, inevitable process ; I would argue the
middle ground,<span style=""> </span>that aging is a
progressive biological disability worthy of more than palliation".<span style=""> </span>"Oh dad you are one sick
puppy…everybody<span style=""> </span>since the dawn of<span style=""> </span>civilization until the 20<sup>th</sup>
century<span style=""> </span>who ever<span style=""> </span>claimed there was a cure for aging has one
thing in common, they are dead.<span style="">
</span>"Putting<span style=""> </span>Humpty Dumpty back
together again " won't cure aging"<span style="">
</span>Well kids, for over a decade I have been mentored by fellow members of
The <b>World Transhumanist Association</b> ,<span style="">
</span>an international nonprofit membership organization which advocates the
ethical use of technology to expand human capacities (<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/index/">http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/index/</a>
) .<span style=""> </span>WTA supports the development of and
access to new technologies that enable everyone to enjoy <b>better minds,
better bodies</b> and <b>better lives</b>. In other words, WTA wants people to
be <b>better than well.<span style=""> </span>From what I
have learned I think there is good reason to be optimistic about the
future.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.wfs.org/MArch-April08/WF2008_preliminary.pdf">http://www.wfs.org/MArch-April08/WF2008_preliminary.pdf</a></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Idiot-Savants show the<span style="">
</span>computational feats a mind can accomplish when its structures are
organized in novel ways. (<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/07/miraculous.memory/index.html">http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/07/miraculous.memory/index.html</a>).<br>Breaking<span style=""> </span>the
communications barrier for autistic brains will bring happiness and purpose to
imprisoned personalities.<span style=""> </span>Every
technology designed to make life indistinguishable from normal for the disabled
can be adapted to enhance the abilities of the able bodied.<span style=""> </span>For example scientists pushing themselves
harder to be smarter are now<span style=""> </span>major
consumers of ritalan a drug popularized for hyperactive kids.<span style=""> </span><br><a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2006/07/07/heinbaugh.blind.reader.affl">http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2006/07/07/heinbaugh.blind.reader.affl</a>,<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.knfbreader.com/">http://www.knfbreader.com/</a><span style=""> </span>document the dividend digital technology is
now able to provide to blind persons.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Disabled persons at this stage of technology might resemble
movie cyborgs because the mechanical and electronic devices are clunky; but
they do work.<span style=""> </span>Raymond Kurzweil's
"universal language translator" device and software<span style=""> </span>and<span style=""> </span>( <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news130152277.html">http://www.physorg.com/news130152277.html</a>
)<span style=""> </span>a baseball cap wired to allow EEG to
control household electronics devices ,<span style="">
</span>for physically disabled individuals, for home care for the elderly,
medical monitoring, and exercise training are disjoint technologies that are
breaking new ground<span style=""> </span>(<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/matsuoka">http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/matsuoka</a>)<span style=""> </span>.<span style="">
</span>Oscar Pisorius (<a href="http://womensbioethics.blogspot.com/2008/05/bionic-athletes-stepping-out-of-debate.html">http://womensbioethics.blogspot.com/2008/05/bionic-athletes-stepping-out-of-debate.html</a>)<span style=""> </span>made able bodied athletes feel
disadvantaged,<span style=""> </span>like he did before his
new legs.<span style=""> </span>(<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20080504/">http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20080504/</a>
).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> One may think of disability as a critical catastrophic
fault supported by long creeping degenerative processes.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.gsexperience.com/gseblog.html">http://www.gsexperience.com/gseblog.html</a><span style=""> </span>and <a href="http://www.gsexperience.com/archive/index.html">http://www.gsexperience.com/archive/index.html</a><span style=""> </span>describe a potential mechanism for a
systemic disease (spalting)<span style=""> </span>which may
develop in humans who survive well beyond what we consider old and pose
monumental new health challenges.<span style="">
</span>Fortunately large scale Anti-Aging Research funders are popping up in
every country. Example ( <a href="http://www.bg-rf.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.bg-rf.org.uk/</a><span style=""> </span>) The Biogerontology Research Foundation
(BGRF) understands that the current scientific understanding of the ageing
process is not yet sufficiently exploited to produce effective commercial<span style=""> </span>medical interventions.<span style=""> </span>BGRF funded research is building on the body
of knowledge about how ageing happens, and develop biotechnological
interventions to prevent or remediate the molecular and cellular deficits which
accumulate with age and which underlie the ill-health of old age. Addressing
ageing damage at this most fundamental level<span style="">
</span>provides an important opportunity to produce the effective, lasting
treatments for the diseases and disabilities of ageing that are required to improve
quality of life in the elderly.<span style=""> </span>BDRF
addresses<span style=""> </span>both the symptoms of<br></p>age-related diseases and the mechanisms of those
diseases.<span style=""> </span>USA Lawmakers<span style=""> </span>may 07, 2008 introduced legislation designed
to speed the development of new, safer therapies for brain and nervous system
disorders and injuries, which affect an estimated 100 million Americans and
costs an estimated $1.3 trillion annually to treat.
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=legislation-introduced-to">http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=legislation-introduced-to</a><span style=""> </span>According to <a href="http://www.chronicdiseaseimpact.com/">http://www.Chronicdiseaseimpact.com</a>
forward planning to eliminate future disability can have a significant
payback.<span style=""> </span>The difference in 2050 USA GDP
for eliminating disability at all ages is projected to be 5.668 Trillion (17.6%
of 2050 GDP) per annum.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Biomarkers may soon predict disabling diseases like
alzheimers before even the sufferer is aware of it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20783/?nlid=1079&a=f" target="_blank">http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/20783/?nlid=1079&a=f</a><span style=""> </span>Raymond Kurzweil </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(<span style="">
</span><a href="http://www.kurzweilai.net/index.html?flash=1">http://www.kurzweilai.net/index.html?flash=1</a><span style=""> </span>)views the body as a complex software program coded as DNA..<span style=""> </span>It's the millions of feedback loops from all
the subroutines and derivative epigenetic material that make us what we are as
much as the mere 100K "Kernel" of "source code " within our genes<span style=""> </span>Ray believes that the convergence of
nano-cognitive biological-information (NCBI) technology into a new
"singularity" technology and its commercialization is about 10-20 years away.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Feb 21, 1963 John F. Kennedy said "It is not enough for a
great nation to have added new years to life.<span style="">
</span>Our objective must also be to add new life to those years".<span style=""> </span>To put myself at risk of being partisan ,
we need to repeat the pledge to "put a man on the moon before the end of the
decade" in the form of a new pledge " to end physical and mental disability for
the average global citizen before 2025".<span style="">
</span>Governments around the world must put pro-life ahead of pro-death and
lead by consorting with technologists and futurists and not by fashioning
"Garbage in , garbage out" health policy created and implemented by permission
from "Idiot-Savant" pollsters and "spin doctors".<span style=""> </span>Don't<span style=""> </span>laugh that's how it
works.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <br>Harrison Ford at the end of Indiana Jones saga (4) says "A
prize greater than a city of Gold is knowledge".<span style=""> </span>As we prevent disability we enhance the wisdom of<span style=""> </span>old age to become a true asset.<br>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?_r=1&oref=slogin<span style=""> </span><br>
</a>.<span style=""> </span></p>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">You may send your feedback attention "Pharmer Mo" at <a href="mailto:extropian.pharmer@gmail.com">extropian.pharmer@gmail.com</a></span><br><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br>
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