Goodbye, Vitamin

by Rachel Khong

Alois Alzheimer found abnormal protein deposits surrounding her nerve cells. He called them plaques: neuritic or senile plaques. He also found twisted fibers inside the cells: he called those tangles. When plaques and tangles interfere with the normal function of brain cells, that’s what we know as Alzheimer’s. The neurons are trying to connect—that’s what their function is, that’s what they do—but the plaques and tangles prevent the nerve cells from transmitting their normal messages. The cells aren’t able to communicate with one another because of abnormal protein deposits in the spaces between them. The cells keep trying and trying and trying, but in the end they’re choked off. In the end, they die.

“Over there the thing to do before you die is compose a cookbook. That way, all the guests at your funeral get to depart with a party favor.