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Did you know that doctors have performed operations to remove half of a person’s brain for hundreds of times? The process is called hemispherectomy. The procedure is used as a last resort, and when alternative treatments are deemed to be unfeasible for the patient. From the SciAm article:

Neurosurgeons have performed the operation on children as young as three months old. Astonishingly, memory and personality develop normally. A recent study found that 86 percent of the 111 children who underwent hemispherectomy at Hopkins between 1975 and 2001 are either seizure-free or have nondisabling seizures that do not require medication. The patients who still suffer seizures usually have congenital defects or developmental abnormalities, where brain damage is often not confined to just one hemisphere, Freeman explains.

Another study found that children that underwent hemispherectomies often improved academically once their seizures stopped. “One was champion bowler of her class, one was chess champion of his state, and others are in college doing very nicely,” Freeman says.

Of course, the operation has its downside: “You can walk, run—some dance or skip—but you lose use of the hand opposite of the hemisphere that was removed. You have little function in that arm and vision on that side is lost,” Freeman says.

I’d love to hear what HTNet‘s readers have to say about this; especially Dr. Kucau

Magnets have always been hyped as the next alternative medical thingamajig. From magnetic bracelets to mattresses embedded with magnetic bits, lots of marketing have gone behind the wonderful powers of magnets. All the while, I’ve always been a skeptic on the purported health benefits of magnets.

Now, boffins from City University in New York suggest that magnets can actually boost mental performance:

Scientists in New York promoted the growth of new neurons in the brains of mice using a magnetic stimulus in the region associated with memory.

Presenting the results at the American Academy for Neuroscience conference, the researchers said the results may lead to treatments for Alzheimer’s.

However, if proven the technique is more likely to be a way of slowing progression of the disease than a cure.

Experts said the work was encouraging but would need to be replicated in humans.

Found this post from USA Today regarding one of the world’s most loved venereal disease (and one of the most hardest to spell); Gonorrhea.

Apparently, the bacteria that causes Gonorrhea has developed resistance to fluoroquinolones, an antibiotic that’s traditionally used to combat it. From the linked article:

Fluoroquinolones are widely used because they are effective against a range of bacteria and fewer people are allergic to them than to other antibiotics. Apparently, Douglas said, it’s easier for bacteria to mutate and resist fluoroquinolones than it is for them to become resistant to cephalosporins.

“Gonorrhea has now joined the list of other superbugs for which treatment options have become dangerously few,” Henry Masur, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America told the Associated Press. “To make a bad problem even worse, we’re also seeing a decline in the development of new antibiotics to treat these infections.”

Scary scenario. However, I’m sure that the boffins in the pharmaceutical industry will take this as a challenge and rise to the occassion. But until then, please take adequate measures to prevent yourselves from catching VDs.

Remember, safe sex saves lives

I stumbled upon this article from Xinhua stating that smokers and coffee drinkers are less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. Quoting the article:

Smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee may protect people from Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study in the April issue of Archives of Neurology out Tuesday.

“What this study tells us is there is something about cigarette smoking and consuming caffeine that alters the biology underpinning of Parkinson’s disease,” said Professor William Scott,a leading researcher at the Institute of Human Genomics at the University of Miami.

I did find an exerpt of the study on Arch Neurol and it has this conclusion: Inverse associations of smoking and caffeine were corroborated using families with PD, thus emphasizing smoking and caffeine as important covariates to consider in genetic studies of PD.

Yet another reason (or excuse) for smokers to continue their habit

Photo Credit: Catarina by Rodolfo Nunez

Procter and Gamble has developed Intrinsa; a patch that it’s marketing as the first treatment for women with low sex drive. Personally, I find this to be a step in the right direction in recognising that female low sex drive is a health issue that needs attention.

Basically, Intrinsa delivers its testosterone payload via skin absorption. Being in clear patch form makes it inconspicuous and easy to apply. The BBC has more info regarding Intrinsa.

Although the comparison is inevitable, P&G prefers Intrinsa to not be described as Viagra for Women. Instead they prefer to portray Intrinsa as a weapon against premature menopause. Quoting the linked BBC article:

Dr Nick Panay, of the Daisy Network, a support group for women with premature menopause, said low sex drive in such women could cause a great deal of distress and concern about their relationship.

“Intrinsa offers real medical hope to these women as studies showed that the patch increases sexual desire and satisfying sexual activity while reducing associated distress.”

But GPs said one drug is incapable of addressing the “complex reasons” for low sex drive.