7 pages research paper

Animal Rights in Alzheimer Research

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a debilitating and fatal disease that is estimated to affect up to 5.4 million people (Atkins 23). Alzheimer research is being conducted at present to discover more about the disease, to improve treatments and diagnostic tools, and even create vaccines. Currently animals have to be used in research, although alternatives are used as much as possible. Although using animals for research seems cruel, animal testing is necessary and ethical in the advancement of Alzheimer’s research.

Animal rights have been a controversial topic since the seventeenth century. There have been multiple approaches made to support animal welfare. Some of the most popular philosophical approaches are welfarism, utilitarianism, abolitionism, and contractarianism. Welfarism is a type of consequentialist theory, it has the concept that action and rules should be conducted or created by the consideration of their consequences (Preece and Chamberlain 12). Regarding animal rights, welfarism is highly criticized by abolitionist groups. Welfarism’s ultimate goal is to abolish animal use in research, food production, and experimentation but at the present welfarism concentrates on improving the welfare of animals being kept in captivity. Supporters of welfarism fight to minimize animal suffering by improving animal conditions, examples: cages that are less restrictive, reducing the number of animals used, or minimizing the animal’s pain with analgesic and limiting procedures (Preece and Chamberlain 57). For radical abolitionists this philosophy is a grave betrayal to animals, they consider welfarism to support animal exploitation.

Utilitarianism is another approach to animal rights and another form of consequentialism. The basis for this approach is that actions and policies should be evaluated and conducted by the outcome that produces the most pleasure and least pain for the most beings (Smith and Boyd 25). This approach focuses on all beings’ pain and pleasure, animals as well as humans. It can be used to support animal rights or defend research and other use. To use lab rats to find a cure or vaccine gives more potential happiness to thousands that will use the vaccine than compared to the few lab rats that experienced pain. However critics of utilitarianism contest that it is impossible to determine or measure others pain or happiness. The amount of pain and suffering these animals experience could cancel out the happiness humans’ experience.

Abolitionism is the most radical viewpoint. It rejects all use of animals and criticizes welfarism and utilitarianism for just reforming policies and laws for animal welfare, not abolishing their use. The main characteristic of abolitionists is that animals have the right not to be owned. This theory promotes the abolition of animal exploitation and rejects regulation of animal exploitation. They hold that a being that it sentient has moral status, they consider animals to be sentient, therefore animals have moral status (Rohr).

Contractualism is a moral theory that only considers beings that can take part of a social contract, to be moral beings (Carroll 94). This excludes animals, children, mentally disabled persons etc... Since animals cannot understand or comprehend social contracts that society places on its community they cannot agree to the contract. A being has to agree and conform to the agreement of societal rules for those rules and policies to protect that being. Under contractaulism animals are not moral beings that are protected by societal agreement.

Individual critics of animal rights include Peter Caruthers, Carl Cohen, Rene Descartes, and Roger Scruton to name a few. Peter Caruthers supports a contractualism point of view, according to Caruthers, “animals are not moral agents” (45). He disagrees with the utilitarian theory that supports animals by considering animal lives and suffering to be equal to that of humans. Caruthers points out that our common sense beliefs are so deeply embedded that as a majority, we never could sincerely consider animals lives equal to our own (67). Given a chance to save either a child or an animal as moral beings we will always pick the child.

Rene’ Descartes considered the mind in relation to the soul a connection to God. He didn’t consider animals to have minds or souls, they were completely mechanical beings. According to Descartes, “the ability to reason and to use language involves being able to respond in complex ways to all contingencies of life, something that animals clearly cannot do” (qtd. in Bekoff and Carron 71). Therefore animals are not rational or moral beings but just property of our environment.

Carl Cohen, another critic of animal rights, supports a utilitarian approach against animal rights. He defends the use of animals in bio-medical research, arguing that,

Given the principle of greatest utility, the happiness of the beneficiaries of medical research far outweighs the pain of subjects. The suspension of all medical research involving animals would surely lead to the deprivation of pleasure among those who would benefit from the research. In order to maximize the utility, the medical research must continue, although in as a humane manner as possible so as to minimize the pain. (qtd. in Preece and Chamberlain 123)

He considers humans to be the only ones able to retain rational understanding of how their actions will affect others. Animals do not retain this capability and therefore are not moral creatures that require the same considerations as humans (Preece and Chamberlain 124).

Animals used in Alzheimer research range from rodents, like genetically modified mice, to larger animals, like dogs and primates, to even chick embryos. Alternatives that are currently used instead of animals are patient studies, autopsies, post marketing surveillance, epidemiology, and computer modeling (Kuwana). These alternatives are used as much as possible and frequently are the best method to provide the certain information needed. Animals are only used when it is absolutely necessary to advance the research.

The Animal Welfare Act provides the minimum acceptable standards in regard to animals

in research, exhibition, commercial sale and commercial transportation. According to the Animal Welfare Act, research facilities are required to establish Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) that must inspect the animal facilities investigate reports of AWA violations, and review research proposals to minimize discomfort, distress, and pain to animals (“U.S Researches”). AWA places restrictions on what scientists are able to do with animals in research. These restrictions help improve conditions and minimize the animals suffering, making the experiment as humane as possible. Animals are treated with analgesics; there are no needless procedures performed. If there are alternative methods to retain the same information, those are used instead. Human ethical and moral obligations are still met; procedures are not conducted needlessly or cruelly.

Alzheimer’s disease is still irreversible and progressive even with drug treatment and therapy. Causes of Alzheimer’s are still being investigated; genetics are speculated as well as environmental factors. All causes result in plaques and tangles in the brain that confirm Alzheimer’s after an autopsy. Increased risk of AD is categorized with advanced age (the longer a person lives the greater risk of developing AD), family history, genetics (abnormalities of genes on chromosomes 1, 12, 14, 19, and 21), down syndrome, women (not necessarily related to the fact that women live longer than men), and head injury. Other risk factors that are being investigated are cerebrovascular disease, ethnicity, depression, brain tissue inflammation, environmental factors (exposure to aluminum for example), low education level, antioxidants in the diet, and the use of estrogen in women (Schaeffer). Animals used in research for causes of Alzheimer’s are serving a greater good; definitive causes must be identified to help find better treatments.

Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging; symptoms are not from regular progression of age. Symptoms often are dismissed as regular aging and often go undetected. Common characteristics include: Loss of memory is more severe and pervasive than usual forgetfulness. Memory loss could manifest as confusion at work and home or disorientation to time and place. Family and friends could notice personality changes and loss of speech and language; examples of loss of speech could include calling a car radio a TV, not being able to find the correct word for items. Someone with AD might start to exhibit poor judgment, loss of abstract thinking skills (not being able to balance checkbook for example), repeating stories or actions over and over again, and losing tolerance for regular stressful life situations (U.S. Dept. of Health 9-15).

There are three stages to Alzheimer’s: early, middle, and late onset. As the disease progresses, symptoms get more frequent and increase in severity. The disease is most manageable in the early stages but unfortunately is generally diagnosed in the middle to late stages. Using animals genetically modified to simulate early stages of the disease produces data that would otherwise be missed. The current diagnosis process consists of a case history, medical evaluation, behavioral assessment, and a language/communication assessment (U.S. Dept. of Health 49).

Case history is a thorough background assessment given by the patient or caregiver. The medical evaluation includes: a screening of mental status using Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) or Mini-Mental State Examination; a physical examination to rule out other diseases that could contribute to changes in mental function; a neurological examination to rule out diseases like Parkinson’s or a stroke; brain scans like CT scans and MRI’s to help rule out brain tumors or Huntington’s disease. After the medical evaluation and all other causes are excluded, a diagnosis of probable AD is generally given. Then the behavioral assessment and language/communication assessment are performed to measure functional and cognitive loss, this helps identify the progression of the Alzheimer’s (U.S. Dept. of Health 50).

After diagnosis the available treatment options include drug therapy and coping tips to help adjust to behavioral changes. Drug treatment for cognitive problems like memory loss, confusion, problems with thinking and reasoning includes cholinesterase inhibitors for mild to moderate symptoms and memantine (Namenda) for moderate to severe symptoms. Patients also generally have drug treatment for anxiety, depression, and psychosis that are involved with Alzheimer’s (Bergener and Finkel 62).

Alzheimer research is being done to improve diagnostic tools like improved diagnostic brain imaging, more sensitive mental status tests, and tests that measure levels of key proteins or protein patterns in blood or spinal fluid. As of now a definitive diagnosis can only be given by autopsy (U.S. Dept. of Health). Generally by the time a patient is showing severe enough symptoms to be taken for evaluation, the disease has progressed past early stage and into middle or late stages. To have more efficient and precise tests in diagnosis would lead to more manageable treatment of the disease. The earlier stages are more manageable and when caught early have a more positive treatment process than in later stages.

Research being done for future treatments of Alzheimer’s includes drug therapies and immunization strategies. Future drug therapy research is concentrating on: target beta-amyloid plaques and enzymes that produce these proteins; keeping Tau from twisting into tangles; reducing chronic low-level brain cell inflammation (U.S. Dept. of Health). These treatments and vaccines would change the path of Alzheimer’s for upcoming generations to a more positive hopeful future. Human clinical trials are used as frequently as possible but animals use is necessary to gather initial information of side effects and effectiveness of the new drug.

Research for improved diagnostic tools and treatments is necessary. Alzheimer’s disease is affecting more people each year and will continue to expand with a growing population and an aging society. Animal use in research is restricted and monitored to provide the most humane and least suffering conditions for lab animals. I agree with critics of animal rights, animals are not moral beings whose lives are equal to or more important than human lives. Animal sacrifice is an ethical moral right when such a vast number of humans can substantially benefit from their use. Approaches supporting animal rights assign human characteristics to animals undeservedly. The characteristics of nature support survival of the fittest, animals show no mercy regarding other animals in the wild. Self-preservation isn’t exclusive to the human race; it is embedded amongst all living things.

Philosophical approaches supporting animal rights come short of providing sound arguments to consider animals morally equal to humans or deserving of human sacrifice for their wellbeing. Humans do have a right to own living things, when those living things contribute to the enrichment and sustainability of the human race. To reject the use of animals in biomedical research regarding Alzheimer’s would be equal to the rejection of using the polio vaccine and other lifesaving medical advances that have preserved countless lives. My family members and friends are more important, moral, rational beings that deserve the right to live over a rodent whose average life span is 1 to 2 years. Animals feel pain but are not moral ethical creatures that follow or abide by the same rules we do. Animal use in Alzheimer research cannot be avoided to make the progress that is necessary to improve diagnostic tools and treatments.

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