Louis Prestons Disease

Louis Preston’s Disease is an incurable and extremely rare illness resulting in death in seven to nine years from the onset of disease. The disease destroys the neural junctions in the brain that are responsible for the transfer of neurotransmitter hormones, in effect short-circuiting the brain.

Stage 1 of the disease starts approximately six months after contraction of the disease. Symptoms are a loss of the patient's ability to be creative. Often the patient will find themselves being excessively repetitive, eating at the same restaurant meal after meal or wearing the same garment day after day.

As the disease progresses into Stage 2 the patient experiences a loss of muscle control, followed quickly by the inability to regulate body temperature, respiration, and other neurological functions. Body temperatures will soar to an excess of 130° Fahrenheit and plummet to below 70. At this point the body, pushed beyond its ability to endure, will shut down from the stress.

The disease progresses at different speeds depending on the individual; physical fitness, a healthy diet, and a low-stress lifestyle have been found to maximize the individual’s life expectancy. Chances of contracting Louis Preston’s Disease are approximately 1 in 70 trillion, making it one of the rarest diseases known in existence.

Because of the rarity of the disease, very little information in available for researchers to find a cure. The most prominent researcher studying Louis Preston’s Disease is Doctor T'ornalak, a Vulcan healer who lost his first child to the disease. Gregory Ben Tailor, commanding officer of the USS Courageous, is the most recent confirmed case of the disease; the diagnosis was made by Doctor (Lt. j.g.) Amers Wolfsbeaux, chief medical officer, on April 11, 2385.