Living With a Monster
2019/10/04
Living With a Monster
This is a very difficult topic, but I believe it is an important topic to tackle. Just so you know, I’m not looking for any sympathy. I want you to look at this issue objectively because I believe there is something to learn here.
From an outsider’s view, people might have believe that I grew up with a middle class comfortable home and that might have had an easy childhood. However, this is far from the truth. My parents put a lot of effort in hiding to others and hiding to themselves that we had a big problem.
My brother has what is commonly known as the warrior gene, or if you are a scientist, you will know this condition as the Brunner Syndrome. The symptoms of this condition are often visible when those who suffer from this condition are abused as children. In the case of my brother, this abuse began very young by our grandmother. She would verbally abuse him every chance she got and would praise me in front of him to make matters worse.
My brother became a psychopath. He would torture me on a regular basis for about a decade. Any insignificant issue would trigger his malice. His condition gave him unbelievable strength. Causing pain to others provided him with great pride and pleasure. He would be meticulous. He would talk while he tortured you; he would demand that you beg and plea for his mercy, then he would deny you any; you could see that snuffing out any hope in others brought him pleasure, he would even laugh about it.
He talked about ways of causing the most pain without leaving a mark because the only source of concern for him was receiving consequences for his actions. He would then decide that you had enough for now and that he would continue later on that day.
What pissed me up the most was that adults would say that they could help me; that I should tell them what was wrong. When I told them the situation, it would make them feel uncomfortable. They would try to dismiss the subject and to find an exit. The only thing that was reliable was the consequences my brother would give me for talking. He was a man of his word.
My brother did not limit his sick hobby at home. He would attack people at school or random people in the streets. He was quickly expelled from school and gave him problems with the law. My parents were only concerned with the inconvenience this provided.
This problem finally ended when my brother attempted to murder my sister. He would have succeeded if I did not intervene. He understood that he could have problems with the law and decided to lay low for a while.
After that incident, he told me that this wasn’t the first time; that he killed before and that it was no big deal. He then explained the plan he had for my sister. He wanted to drown her in the toilet; then rape her; afterwards cut her in pieces; stuff her in an hockey bag and leave her in an abandoned field somewhere.
Since then, my brother has invented another story where he is the hero of the events that happened that day and that my sister is the villain. In his story, the law was oppressive to him because he was a man.
Needless to say that there was never any doubt in my mind that evil really exist in this world.
Ok, let’s bring some science in the equation:
Today, I’m a biochemist. I currently work on a protein that will improve the living conditions of many people around the world.
Recently my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. His doctor seemed content to only diagnose the disease and to document its progress. That’s the healthcare you get in a socialist country like Canada.
So I used my position as a scientist access articles and to learn more about the mechanisms of this disease:
It turns out that there are 2 pathways that causes the deterioration of the synapses that causes this disease:
1. Dopamine is a chemical signal that enables mobility and it is also the inhibitor of the GABA. If dopamine is the ‘’go’’ signal for mobility, ‘’GABA’’ is the stop signal. If there is too much accumulation of GABA in the synapses, it will cause the deterioration of those synapses.
2. The accumulation of radicals inside the neurones will cause a lot of oxidation and will enable the mitochondrial apoptosis signal.
Today, everyone sees causes for Parkinson in pretty much anything. This is not helpful. It is only miss information.
The real reason for Parkinson is an allele on the X chromosome that codes for the mono amine oxidase. This mitochondrial enzyme is responsible for the regulation of many chemical signals in the body. It neutralizes the signal by catalyzing the oxidative deamination of the chemical signal. Some of the substrates of this enzyme are: histamine, dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline… the by product of the enzymatic activity is an aldehyde, ammonia and H2O2. All 3 products are toxic, but the most serious is H2O2 which produces radicals that are responsible for one of the pathways causing Parkinson.
There are 3 alleles for the genes that are currently being studied: mono amine oxidase A, B or A mutant (MOA A, MOA B and MOA A mutant). My father has the MOA B, which is an over active form of the enzyme. It neutralizes too much neural transmitter, which produces too much H2O2 for the metabolism to deal with and neutralizes too much dopamine necessary for the inhibition of the GABA.
I gave my father my research and informed him to ask his doctor to prescribe him an inhibitor of the MOA B.
My brother has the MOA A mutant. It is a gene with the same genes repeated again and again. It codes for a defected enzyme that is inefficient at neutralizing the chemical signals. This means that when my brother gets into his rage, he has a massive amount of adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin. The metabolism is unable to regulate those signals with a defective enzyme and being a male, he only has one X chromosome, which means he only produces one type of mono amine oxidase.
The adrenaline gives him superhuman strength. As for the dopamine and serotonin gives him a lot of pleasure. These high concentrations of neural transmitters can be addictive. It is like someone who gets high on cocaine. When the dopamine drops, they feel the drawback. When my brother is not in a murderous rage, he is like a sack of potatoes that watches TV and plays video games all day. He has no motivation to make anything out of his life.
Recently I was conflicted about bringing this information to my parents. I knew that no one would listen to me; that it would make everyone upset; and I wondered if I actually owed this to a man who brought nothing but pain and suffering in my life.
So I decided to give this information to my parents in private. They didn’t even allow me to finish giving them the information. They told me that there was nothing wrong with my brother and that was final…
Trading facts for feels… This is something I have witnessed in my life many times.
So what can we do about it? Well, women could stop giving children to sociopaths… Or they could allow scientists like me to erase this allele from the gene pool. However, asking women to be responsible when they choose their mate is too much to ask and playing with the human genome scares people. So I guess other people will have to live through what I lived through growing up…
I hope that this presentation provided you with a scientific perspective on the topic and that it will stimulate some thoughts.
Gato Villano