CurePSP publishes dramatic end-of-life story of prominent PSP patient

Reporter followed scientist Pauline Cisneros Polette during her struggle with neurodegeneration.

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Dec 02, 2020, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CurePSP has published A Brilliant Life Interrupted: Dr. Pauline Cisneros Polette's Personal Struggle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. In it, author Sarah Oxford tells the compelling story of the indomitable spirit of a brilliant scientist who was brought down in the prime of her life by the devastation of the disease.

The book is available on Amazon, and sales revenues will be used to further CurePSP's mission. The edition also includes CurePSP's comprehensive Carepartner Guidebook.

Dr. Polette was a leading specialist in the field of in vitro fertilization (IVF). She established the IVF lab at The University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine and later served as director of the IVF lab at Baylor College of Medicine. She died from the effects of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) in February 2018. PSP is a neurodegenerative disease that causes severe movement, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional symptoms. It is currently incurable and largely untreatable. While rare, PSP is a target of research and drug development because its pathology of toxic protein aggregation is shared by Alzheimer's disease, which afflicts some six million people in the U.S.

In her book, the author vividly describes Dr. Polette's struggle with PSP. "PSP had dealt many devastating blows to Pauline, taking away her career as a scientist and forcing her into assisted living at the age of only sixty-five. She was compelled to use a walker and constantly struggled to speak … she needed to have her food cut up for her. But I never saw her personhood as diminished. She maintained her intellect, her curiosity, and worked hard to tell her story. PSP would not silence her. She maintained her faith, her love for her family, and through it all, her grace. But it was undeniable that PSP was an indomitable foe."

CurePSP's Carepartner Guidebook, included in the volume, is a complete guide to all aspects of care for patients suffering from PSP and related neurodegenerative diseases. It covers topics such as advance healthcare planning, palliative and hospice care, the social worker's role, talking to children and grandchildren, and estate planning.

Dr. Polette was the sister of Henry Cisneros, who served President Bill Clinton from 1993 through 1997 as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and was mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 1981–1989.

About CurePSP

CurePSP is the nonprofit advocacy organization focused on progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and other prime of life neurodegenerative diseases, a spectrum of fatal brain disorders that often strike during one's most productive and rewarding years. Currently, there is no effective treatment or cure for these diseases, which affect more than 150,000 people in the U.S. alone. Since it was founded in 1990, CurePSP has funded more than 200 research studies and is the leading source of information and support for patients and their families, other caregivers, researchers, physicians, and allied healthcare professionals. CurePSP is based in New York City. Please visit www.curepsp.org for more information.

Contact
David Kemp
[email protected]
802-734-1185

SOURCE CurePSP, Inc.