Despite Alzheimer's, Dolores had not forgotten Manolo Escobar's success thirty years earlier. Raimundo was no longer able to remember what he had done the day before, but he perfectly remembered the 1982 World Cup. Carmen could never forget, even when the disease had already stolen almost all her memories, the impression the 1976 Guatemala earthquake made on her.
The Pasqual Maragall Foundation aims to provide a headline that, like Escobar's songs, World Cup goals, or the devastation in Guatemala, will be remembered for decades: "The laboratory for early detection of Alzheimer's is born". To make this possible, it has launched a fundraising campaign titled A piece of news to remember, featuring relatives of people with Alzheimer's. Contributions can be made until December 15.
Alzheimer's was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century and still has no cure. In fact, today it is still diagnosed late, when the affected person already shows evident symptoms of the disease, and requires invasive and costly tests. Detecting it early and simply, experts tell us, will allow testing new drugs and improving the chances of success of treatments aimed at slowing its progression in the earliest stages.
I am sure that when Barcelona has the most advanced laboratory in Spain and one of the most sophisticated in the world dedicated to making early detection of Alzheimer's possible through a simple blood test, it will become a very prominent front-page headline in The New Barcelona Post because it will be one of those news stories that will make us proud of our city. For Barcelona, which in 2017 failed to become the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency, having this facility is also a great opportunity to consolidate itself as a reference city in the life sciences and health sector in general and, in particular, in Alzheimer's disease.
I don't think I'm building castles in the air: in 2012, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, with the support of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, created the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), a research center dedicated to the prevention of Alzheimer's. As I have been collaborating with the foundation for a couple of years, I have had the good fortune to visit the BBRC facilities. Perhaps that is why, because I know firsthand the excellent work done at the BBRC, I think they absolutely must have this new equipment.
Given that we, the people of Barcelona, have had the most important mayor in the city's recent history affected by Alzheimer's, it makes perfect sense for Barcelona to play a key role in the fight against this disease. We are still far from being able to defeat Alzheimer's, but as Pasqual Maragall himself said: "Nowhere is it written that it has to be invincible."