Predicting Alzheimer's, stalling economic recovery and Toyota in court.

First look at today's news from the Bedtime Browser:
Here we go again...
A damaged protein has been identified and implicated as an early diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer's disease in adults before the appearance of any other symptoms.  The protein, phosphorylated tau231, is a damaged protein found in Alzheimer's patients that the current study now shows is predictive of memory decline over a two year period, the length of the study.  This is all well and good for researchers looking for ways to prevent the progression in these patients to full blown Alzhiemers but what about the patients themselves, now having the knowledge that they could be on the slippery slope to nowhere if a medicine is not quickly forthcoming?  Co-author of the study, Mony de Leon, rightly says that identifying people at risk is a necessary first step to developing preventative therapies, but with such a devastating, and now for some, perhaps inevitable but untreatable disease, how should one manage the significant ethical issues that arise from patients having this knowledge?  I'd be interested in any thoughts on this from readers. It's a challenge that will increasingly rear its head as personalized medicine brings us more diagnostics to help us look ahead to the ailments that may lay in waiting.

The Financial Times talks about fizzled hopes for recovery based on slacking consumer confidence and sluggish markets.  This particular piece seems to imply the weather has something to do with it.  I think the map here, that shows the unemployment timeline in the US, tells a better tale.   Although this map is for the US, I would expect a very similar scenario in Europe.  Until the public have some financial security, and that means job security for most, then any rally in consumer spending and home building/buying is going to be related to short term stimuli such as a tax rebate, or the boost of a giving season. 



Toyota admits it lost its way as it expanding rapidly in its rise to the top, outgrowing its capacity for quality production in favor of speed and volume.  Yesterday a wronged consumer who experienced the now infamous stuck accelerator problem testified with tears and harsh words calling the situation shameful and the company greedy.  Toyota still cannot explain the cause of most unintended acceleration issues.  Personally, I'm looking forward to some serious sales on Toyota vehicles in the next couple of months.  I currently have a 12 year old RAV4 with 190,000 miles on the clock and it's still getting me around.  I would buy another in a heart beat.