Kurumi raised her hand timidly. "Professor Lafay, I would like to present," she said picking up the various pieces of parchment she had brought with her filled with tiny handwriting and even a few diagrams that she had drawn from her research. Standing up in her seat, and feeling like she was back in Japan, Kurumi held her pieces of parchment out and stood as she had been trained to when giving a speech.

"The illness I would like to discuss today is Asthma. Asthma is a chronic lung disease that requires long-term care. When one has Asthma, your airways narrow and swell. They produce extra mucus, and breathing becomes difficult, and there is inflammation, soreness, swelling and irritation of the airways in the lungs. The most common asthma signs and symptoms are coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath." Kurumi paused for a moment to look up at Professor Lafay as well as her classmates.

"For some people, asthma is only a minor hindrance to their daily routine. For others, they're a major problem that interferes with daily activities and can be at be at risk of having a life-threatening asthma attack." She felt some tears swelling up in her eyes a bit at the thought. "My older brother is among these people. He learned he had asthma at a very young age and has had to take asthma medicine and use an inhaler ever since. There is no cure for the disease. Children have smaller airways than adults, which makes asthma especially serious for them. When my brother was 13-years-old, he had a very serious asthma attack and I nearly lost him. Child asthma is a growing epidemic and it is a mystery as to why this is. Some experts suggest that children are being exposed to more and more allergens such as dust, air pollution, and second-hand smoke. These factors all are triggers of asthma. Others suspect that children are not exposed to enough childhood illnesses to build up their immune system. It appears that a disorder of the immune system where the body fails to make enough protective antibodies may play a role in causing asthma."

Kurumi paused for another moment to compose herself and swallow down some tears that were fighting to get out. She really had been too emotional recently. It was a wonder her hair hadn't turned some insane color by now. "Asthma can't be cured, but its symptoms can be controlled. Even so, you become dependent on medicine and always live in fear that the next time you are short of breath could trigger a fatal attack."

Folding up her parchment, Kurumi sat down and awaited any comments that may come from Professor Lafay.

Selina sat and listened to everyone else's speeches. Compared to her speech that she had written everyone else seemed much more knowledgeable than herself. She was hoping Lafay would glaze over Selina being her first year status so she would not have to embarrass herself. Perhaps if she just drank her tea people would ignore her speech on Tay-Sachs disease.

The only reason Selina even chose that disease was because she was Jewish and it was prominent among her people.

Awww, Kurumi. He didn't do well with tears, she knew that, for sure, but he managed to listen to her until she finished.

Perhaps he was slightly nervous and that's why he didn't even wait for Kurumi to completely sit down when he was already up and eying Sierra. Why? Well, because they both were working on the same disease, but...yeah, he'll go first, okay?

Obviously, since he was already standing up, parchment at hand.

Eyes on Lafay, and then at the rest, "So," he cleared his throat, "I became rather interested in Alzheimer's disease and that's the ailment I chose to work on." Like, literally 'work' on, right Miss Greingoth?

Okay, enough, now he'll start. "Basically, Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that gets worse over time. Dementia is loss of brain functions mostly attacking the cognitive abilities." He paused for a moment before reading his parchment again, "Alzheimer affects the memory, and therefore, the way a person acts or thinks. Instead of symptoms, we can speak of signs," yeah, he was no longer reading, "since the ailment itself doesn't attack the physical part unless it's very advanced, at which point the person may not even remember how to care for themselves. So, some of the signs are (1) memory loss, which can also cause one to be confused about certain things, (2) challenges in solving problems that used to be easy to figure out, (3) mixing up words or misplacing them or simply forgetting them or their meaning, (4) disorientation, mood and behavior changes, (5) unfounded suspicion about...well, pretty much everything and everyone, which leads them to solitude," he kept on going, moving his hands as he explained, "And many of it might sound as normal things for old people to do, but it doesn't always affect old people, and those signs are...very much intensified in awful ways, especially in severe stages in which the person doesn't even know who they are nor who their family is. I think this ailment is worst for the family than for the one suffering from it, really." Since they were the ones that had to witness it all. Awful, truth be told.

"There is no cure, HOWEVER, there are some treatments that are said to improve the way a person with Alzheimer relates to others, and to try slow down the process....but most of it don't work, and in some cases it progresses the disease even further. I believe that by developing a potion that tries to regenerate brain functions and the connection between braincells then we can find the cure for it." Yes, exactly, they had to focus on the primary phase of it, and memory loss was caused by that, the unconnected braincells, no?

And he was about to sit down when he straightened back up, "Actually, Sierra and I have been working on some possible ingredients for that potion as well." So, well, he just wanted to throw that out there, surely Sierra will speak after him or soon after? Yes?

OOC: Most of it from here and what I know from it.

Oh, hey, Lockhart? Way to just spring out of your seat and start the whole discussion without me...

Sierra quickly edged out her chair and moved to stand next to the Puffer. After all, they'd been working on this together all alone, so there was really no use in her waiting until afterward and restating just about everything he'd just said.

Merlin, that boy could talk, couldn't he?!

Hearing mention of the potion they'd been working on, Sierra unfolded the piece of parchment she'd stuffed into her pockets and quickly scanned it over. She'd looked at it tons of times before, though. She'd been racking her brain trying to come up with a way to figure out the proper stirring techniques, and it was driving her insane!

Sliding the parchment back into her pocket, she said, "As Treyen mentioned, there really is no cure for Alzheimer's--there's only medications that can combat the effects. We're thinking, though, that if we can find the right mix of ingredients, we can create a potion to take those medications one step further." A second later, she added, "...and maybe even cure the disease altogether."

She couldn't give away too much right now, mainly because she and Treyen hadn't really figured much out themselves, but she could at least list a few of their thoughts just to give everyone an idea. "We've discussed ingredients, such as...fluxweed for the changing, boom berries for the restoring, and billywig sting slime for the curing," she continued.

Her gaze traveled to Treyen, as she silently asked him if there was anything else he'd like to add.

Wisteria suddenly had an ah ha moment and remembered keeping a journal that she’d hope to share as her presentation. She knew Professor Lafay said anyone could present, but she didn’t want to seem out of line and raised her hand, “ Professor Lafay, if you don’t mind, I’d like to present something.”

She wasn’t nervous at all, if anything, she was relieved and looking forward to sharing what she had. She stood up and took her journal with her. “This particular ailment I’ve overlooked closely is called Hutchinson’s-Guilford Progeria Syndrome. This disease occurs in young children 18months to 2years old causing them to age prematurely. Sadly, they’re life expectancy is 18-to-21 years.”

She was getting slightly teary-eyed at the thought of a mother having a child and knowing that their child will die before they do. “Symptoms of this disease would include stiff joints, dislocated hips, hair loss, aged-looking skin, strokes and heart disease and heart disease is usually what causes their death.”

She paused for a moment, and flipped a page from her journal. She passed it to the nearest student to look at. It was a picture of her 1 year old cousin, Noel, her face had already aged and her legs are slightly dislocated. “The cure to this type of disease isn’t certain, but there are some measures that can be taken to minimize the risk of death and that is continually seeing a cardiologist, staying active with physical therapy, and staying cautious about nutrition.”

“As far as our help goes, a potion would be a tremendous relief for all those families who live with children who suffer from this disease. As much as muggles try their best to prevent further symptoms, it is with our aid that we can eliminate this by the use of a potion.”

She hoped she followed the format after hearing some of the other presentation. She looked at Professor Lafay giving her a nod showing that was the end and took her seat.

And his smile widened when Sierra started to speak. He nodded once or twice, and then she was reciting some of the ingredients. Good. Not all of them? Perfect! However, the Jobberknoll feathers were kind of a big deal within the ingredients.

Since she left some of them out, with good reason, then he simply nodded, there was no need to say more of it, after all, Lafay had already looked at the list while they were on the Potions Lab.

Without further ado, he took a seat, and then listened to the next girl, who had begun her presentation before he could be finally seated.

When he had considered the weight and emotional complications with coming to the meeting, he hadn't really been able to comprehend the full scope of it. With each passing presentation, he found the weight a little heavier, the pain of knowledge more prominent. It was especially hard to ignore when Kurumi presented and tears found their way into her voice. He could only watch and listen to her with sympathy, sparing her a weak smile in acknowledgement and recognition of her struggle. There seemed to be no easy way to present topics that lay so close to home.

When things went quiet and the last presentation faded to an echoing whisper, Sabel finally brought his thoughts forward. He didn't bother to stand, instead putting his cold tea on the table in front of him and shifting his weight a little. Strength and volume were not characteristic of his voice, and his eyes remained locked distantly on the mug before him.

"I...looked into a group of diseases classified by the term Leukodystrophy." Swallowing, he shifted his weight again to collect his thoughts. "They are genetic disorders for the most part, though sometimes its a matter of a random mutation in a person's life. The problem is the lack of production or metabolism of one of the molecules of myelin, which is a insulator for nerve fibres. Myelin makes up most of the white matter of the brain, and so this disease is essentially a degeneration of white brain matter, and mental signals are blocked or hindered."

Shifting his weight again, he altered his gaze to his hands, wringing his fingers over one another. "Usually the child starts out fine. Depending on the type and severity of Leukodystrophy, the progression of the disease is different but each involves a decline in function and ability. Movement, coordination, verbal ability, visual ability, auditory sensitivity, behavior, and mental and physical development are all compromised...and gradually lost. Symptoms usually appear early on or in childhood, but...it may not always be visible right away. Some children appear perfectly healthy until....until they start losing function."

"It's...extremely hard to watch this degredation of health and...mental and physical capacity. Extremely painful. Especially if it is happening in your child." There was a long pause as memories flitted through his mind's eye, drawing his brow to furrow in repressed pain. "There's...no known cure yet. Just...therapy to try and increase or maintain ability. Bone marrow transplantation has been suggested, but so far there's been no progress. Maybe...there is a cocktail of ingredients to restore this damaged portion of DNA...or fix the defect in molecular generation." That was what magic was for, wasn't it? To change the impossible and make it possible.

Another tight swallow had him glancing up at Lafay and then back down. "That's...all."

"Perfect." She said with a nod. "Those of you, who have done your reports will get ten points each. Thank you for your time. I will hold another meeting next week, in that meeting I want you all to think of an outside the box way of getting the ministry to rewrite the statute..." She put down her empty cup. Stood and left.