My memory is not as polished as it was at age 30. I can still recite entire speeches from Shakespeare, but I sometimes forget to pick up the dry cleaning. Though I have a large brain and many neurons to assist my powers of recall, I question how the immune system retains it’s memory. My immune system has been “primed” to recognize threats to my health, and also to keep my body in generally good shape over a lifetime. In order to properly fight infections, the immune system needs to distinguish between the invaders and the beneficial bacteria. Evolution is a random process, not always directed at benefits to both parties. One thought that has been occupying my mind is: What if a new pathogen was introduced into a well-balanced immune system, which then evolved to mimic a beneficial mycobacteria species, but with a sinister intent? Immune memory would be of no help at all.

[button link=”http://thecrohnsinfection.org/john-aitken-memory” type=”big”] Read the Full Article[/button]

I suppose everything is real to the cat. I was watching our cat sleeping the other night, and he suddenly started twitching in his sleep. He appeared to be dreaming. Maybe our cat can distinguish between the reality of waking life and the world of the dream.  In all probability, he cannot grapple with abstract concepts. He probably doesn’t wonder at all about where the food on the plate came from prior to being placed in his bowl in the morning. For our cat, reality is very concrete. For a Crohn’s disease patient, reality is far from concrete. The reason they have become ill is not yet understood by the medical profession, and there are any number of theories that can be presented to the patient to explain the age old question, “Why me?”