They did that years ago... because boys want to be boys!
Posted on 12/07/2012 5:11:10 AM PST by RoosterRedux
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in November surgically implanted a pacemaker-like device into the brain of a patient in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the first such operation in the United States. The device, which provides deep brain stimulation and has been used in thousands of people with Parkinson's disease, is seen as a possible means of boosting memory and reversing cognitive decline.
*snip*
The surgery involves drilling holes into the skull to implant wires into the fornix on either side of the brain. The fornix is a brain pathway instrumental in bringing information to the hippocampus, the portion of the brain where learning begins and memories are made, and where the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's appear to arise. The wires are attached to a pacemaker-like device, the "stimulator," which generates tiny electrical impulses into the brain 130 times a second. The patients don't feel the current, Rosenberg says.
For the trial, all of the patients will be implanted with the devices. Half will have their stimulators turned on two weeks after surgery, while the other half will have their stimulators turned on after one year. Neither the patients nor the doctors treating them will know which group gets an early or later start.
"Deep brain stimulation might prove to be a useful mechanism for treating Alzheimer's disease, or it might help us develop less invasive treatments based on the same mechanism," Rosenberg says.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
God help us. While alzheimers is certainly a terrible condition, do you really want them drilling holes in your mom or dad’s head??
There is already too much fornixation on hippocampus.
I would say at some point, I would have wanted to have wires in her head if it would help.
Alzheimer's is horrific.
May be of interest to you.
Commie plot for mind control?
Under the old archways leading to the football stadium.
If it would help slow or stop the disease, absolutely. I took care of my step-dad as he died from Alzheimer’s and now I am working in a nursing home and dealing with a lot of people with it. So horribly sad to see people that no longer recognize spouses or children and get progressively worse every day. The people “die” way before their hearts stop.
Absolutely. I've seen what Alzheimers can do to someone. It takes away almost everything of what they once where as a person, and towards the end, unable to go to the toilet, eat or even communicate. Having holes drilled into your head to prolong cognitive function for as long as possible is small potatoes indeed compared to the alternative, but even this will only prolong normality, it will not stop the progress of the disease. After seeing what I've seen, if I was diagnosed, I'd be sorely tempted to make the holes in my head myself, by blowing my brains out...
If it'll slow or halt Alzheimers, absolutely.
bump for later. Thanks.
I’m thinking of the implications of this, under Obamacare.
Let me weigh in on the side of the “Yes, please drill holes in their heads if it will help” group.
They did that years ago... because boys want to be boys!
Agreed.
Deep brain stimulation is not something new, if this is the next step in research in delaying Alzheimers symptoms it is perfectly reasonable. I would not hesitate to advise my mother or father to go this route.
mark
I know a guy with Parkinson’s and it helped him tremendously.
I already have two holes in my head, they are for hearing; and I use a deep brain stimulation process called Gin and Rockabilly, generally about 4x a year to keep it special. The deluxe package includes a neck rub and jokes.
If the day arrives when this no longer does the job, I would gladly go with any experimental technique rather than accept Alzheimer’s, which I’ve some unforgettable, tragic acquaintance with.
My father had advanced Parkinson’s. I had wished he would have come up from Florida to have the deep brain stimulation surgery while it would have still been worthwhile, as I live near Johns Hopkins. It’s not such a great disease. Holes in the head? Sure.
I would like to recommend that Obama be put on the list.
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