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#5ThoughtsFriday
07/14/2017
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Here are the 5 things we thought were
worth sharing with you this week:
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5)
Making It Personal: Is Precision Medicine the future of Neurology?
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As a 13-year-old seventh grader, Charlie Blotner first began experiencing numbness and tingling in his legs and arms. His parents took him to numerous doctors and specialists, who suggested a simple case of teenage anxiety. When the tingling escalated from once or twice a month to multiple episodes a week, Blotner was finally referred to a neurologist, who scheduled an MRI scan. The result—a brain tumor—was a shock for his parents but something of a relief for Blotner. Finally someone believed he wasn't making up his symptoms.
After five years of watchful waiting, Blotner underwent surgery to remove the tumor and agreed to donate some of the tissue to a research study at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Investigators from UCSF and the Mayo Clinic are looking at gliomas, the most common type of malignant brain tumors, in adults to find better ways to understand and classify their genetic profile. The analysis showed that Blotner had a mutation in the IDH1gene. Researchers do not fully understand how this mutation causes tumors, but they do know that the average survival time for adults with this mutation is 8.9 years post-diagnosis.
Blotner's surgery was successful, but he knows he may be in a race against time to find a targeted treatment for his tumor should it return. It's a race he may well win—thanks to an emerging field called precision medicine.
To read more, CLICK HERE.
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Rookie Chicago police officer Scott Tracz sat in a black sports car outside his girlfriend's suburban house late last year, put his gun to his head and fatally shot himself.
The normally upbeat Tracz, 30, had become withdrawn and sullen, struggling with the violence he witnessed as an officer but rejecting advice from friends and family to seek help, fearing it would end his career, relatives said.
"He said, 'I will lose my job,'" his cousin, Ark Maciaszek, said. "Just like that."
Tracz is believed to be the latest contributor to the Chicago Police Department's suicide rate, which stands 60 percent higher than the national average according to a recent U.S. Department of Justice report.
More on this vital issue?
CLICK HERE.
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30th Annual BIAMD Conference
Call for Presentations
Due Date: Oct. 20, 2017
Conference Date: March 15 -16, 2018
Radisson North Baltimore, Timonium MD
The Conference Presentation Selection Committee will meet in October and November. Decisions will be made and announced by the end of November.
Up to 2 presenters per session will attend for free on the day of their presentation and a discounted rate to cover food and material costs on the day that they are not presenting.
(The Brain Injury Association of Maryland is unable to pay for presenters' travel, lodging, meals or other expenses associated with the conference. We greatly appreciate your time and interest.)
Please click the button below and complete all steps outlined on the online application.
If you have any questions, please call Caitlin Starr at 410.448.2924.
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For the first time, scientists have reversed memory and learning deficits in mice following traumatic brain injuries. This new research could someday lead to treatments for head trauma and debilitating cognitive diseases.
More than 2 million Americans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are seen in hospital emergency rooms every year. Millions more skip a hospital visit despite suffering a head injury that could cause lasting damage, according to researchers.
In a study published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the University of California in San Francisco found that a new experimental drug can restore normal function in mice following two types of TBIs.
Please take time to read this story, CLICK HERE.
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2) What We Are Reading That You Might Enjoy...
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Claire Perry knows a split second can change everything. It can be the difference between sticking a perfect landing or falling off the beam. It can be the difference between a really fun party or a totally messed up one. Or sometimes, as Claire finds out, it can even be the difference between life . . . or death.
For Claire’s younger sister, Nellie, an elite gymnast who is "destined for gold," things have always come easy. A split second is usually all it takes to capture the attention of a boy at a party, and the judges at a meet, or their critical father—everyone. Then one night, one decision, one split second—changes their world forever.
The two sisters get into a car accident that leaves one of them with a traumatic brain injury. Now, the sisters will have to figure out what’s worth fighting for and what are the limits of guilt, forgiveness, and sisterhood.
Memories will come crashing back and secrets will come to light—whether they’re ready for them . . . or not.
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1) Quote We Are Contemplating...
“There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don't allow yourself to become one of them.”
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Did you enjoy #5ThoughtsFriday? If so, please forward this email to a friend!
Got a story we need to follow or share?
Send it to info@biamd.org.
Want to find a story from a past #5ThoughtsFriday blog posts, visit the archive by clicking HERE.
Please let us know your requests and suggestions by emailing us at info@biamd.org or contacting us on Twitter.
Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Let us know! Just send a tweet to @biamd1 and put #5ThoughtsFriday in there so we can find it.
Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.
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