Cannibalism as Medicine for Incurable Degenerative Brain Diseases

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Sudoku seizure

The saying ‘too much of something is bad’ can be applied in this case. Apparently, a 25-year-old right-handed student had seizures whenever he tried to solve Sudoku problems. The patient was a physical education student who had been buried by an avalanche during a ski trip and endured 15 minutes without enough oxygen, a condition called hypoxia. After being examined, he developed involuntary muscle jerks whenever he tried to speak or walk but his arms didn't seem to have been affected. That changed weeks later, neurologist Dr. Berend Feddersen stated that “When he was in the rehabilitation clinic, he was so bored that he started doing Sudokus”. Whenever the right-handed patient tried to solve a Sudoku puzzle, he experiences quick muscular contractions or clonic seizures on his left arm. However, the seizures stop instantly when he stops solving the Sudoku game. His doctors then described his condition as a rare case of Reflex epilepsy. Reflex epilepsy seizures are normally triggered by external stimuli like solving puzzles, reading, playing games or even by touch or sensation. For this patient, however, reading and solving the puzzle was not what triggered the seizure, but his visualization technique in attempting to solve it. Apparently, when the patient solves Sudoku puzzles, one of his strategies is to arrange the numbers in some 3D manner which is uncommon since most people use the strategy of trial and error. Feddersen explains: "In order to solve a Sudoku, the patient used regions of his brain which is responsible for visual-spatial tasks. But exactly those brain parts had been damaged in the accident and then caused the seizures once they were used." The German student has now stopped doing Sudoku puzzles and has been seizure free for five years. Scientists studying his case said that it was likely that oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) had caused damage in his brain which triggered reflex epilepsy when he tried to tackle the mathematical puzzle.

Artificial Blood

Throughout the years, blood has been a necessary need especially to those in the medical field. It is needed in blood transfusions, surgeries, and is used to treat patients with medical conditions such as anemia, cancer blood disorders, etc. Recently, shortage of donated blood has forced the biotechnology of artificial blood. The artificial blood doesn't contain red and white cells, plasma or platelets that of the human blood, but in different ways, it attempts to execute the same job as the regular human blood. As with the majority of technological advances, there are pros and cons to think about. We need a lot of blood. There are never enough donors, and both advanced surgeries and emergency care rely heavily on large quantities of blood being available. According to Richard Bayston of SteadyHealth, with the usage of artificial blood, pros are it could end healthcare's reliance on blood donors, it can be also be set up so that they can carry more oxygen and can be sterilized against diseases, another positive is that it can be used to treat patients whose religion prevents them from receiving blood transfusions. Cons are it is not a true blood substitute that only replaces oxygen carrying capacity, it can cause severe side effects, such as vasoconstriction which is the tightening and narrowing of the blood vessel walls, additionally, it may also cause rapid spikes in blood pressure, Haemosiderosis, and chronic overload. These potentials and actualities of artificial blood are all currently being researched and tested. Artificial blood will continue to be improved upon and added to and will play a big role in the medical industry in the years to come.

Cryoablation: an unusual way of combatting cancer without surgery

Usually, when we hear the word cancer ‘chemotherapy’ is always connected to it. However, a remarkable procedure in combatting cancer has been discovered, where it uses freezing gas to destroy or to kill cancer cells with extreme cold. According to Alice Gebot from DailyMail, the technique means no stitches, just an overnight hospital stay, and faster recovery times than traditional surgery. With Cryoablation, there are no large incisions, unlike the usual treatment of cancerous tumors through open or keyhole surgery. Instead, extremely cold temperatures are used to effectively freeze, and therefore kill, the cancerous cells. Cryoablation freezes and destroys cancer using argon gas passed to the tumor tissue through fine needles in the patient's skin. No surgery is needed and patients can leave the hospital the next day. It is suitable for patients with tumors less than 2 inches in diameter or for those where surgery is considered too risky. To those who are in desperate situations but surgery isn’t an option, Cryoablation may be of help. Cryoablation is another innovative and convenient way of treating diseases such as the somewhat invincible cancer. With more tests and improvements it can be the key to treating all types of cancers.

Not a laughing matter: gelastic or laughing seizures

Laughing is a positive expression of happiness and lively amusement. It is believed to be good for an individual’s psychological well-being and cardiovascular health, but it is also dangerous and very alarming. On a Korean drama that I have watched entitled ‘Doctors’, there is a nine-year-old boy who kept on giggling and laughing all the time even in his sleep, he also keeps on urinating and tripping. It was later then revealed that he is diagnosed with gelastic seizure which is also known as laughing seizures. It is a kind of epileptic seizure that occurs in a form of laughing. People suffering from gelastic seizures laugh all the time not because they want to but because there is a tumor that is pressing the hypothalamus which causes a sudden outburst of laughter for no apparent reason. The hypothalamus controls everything including body temperature, breathing, emotion, growth, and development. According to Redefining Seizure Care Blog, the laughter caused by Gelastic seizures is out of context and may even sound like coughing, barking, crying or cooing. The laughter typically does not sound delightful but has a more flat and humorless quality to it. Gelastic seizures may appear odd to the outside observer. This is important because laughing seizure is not a laughing matter. Most importantly, it is found to be often diagnosed in children where more boys than girls have this condition. These seizures begin in infancy in 1 out of 3 children. The average age when gelastic seizures start is around 10 months. It may seem odd at first to take laughing to a serious medical extent but more and more