Word: braine
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...most intriguing processes in medicine is the placebo effect: the healing power of a sham therapy, when it's offered to patients with the suggestion that it will help. Neuroscientists have even observed where and how the placebo effect may work in the brain. In one recent study by University of Michigan researchers, participants who were told they would receive painkillers showed increased production of endorphins - the brain's natural pain reliever - even though they got no analgesic at all. It makes sense. Most people can attest that the mere expectation of relief can somehow prompt the body to respond...
...that a company called EMI (Electric and Musical Industries) invested in research, which led to the first commercially available CT scanner in the early 1970s. CT was a huge plus: It could image so many things in the body that were difficult, painful or simply impossible to see otherwise - brain tumors, spine problems, problems in the liver or lung. Nevertheless, in the '90s, CT scans were largely upstaged by the vastly more complex - but radiation-free - MRI scan. Overall, few docs would disagree that the MRI is a better test. Except for being somewhat less sharp when looking at bone...
...absolutely necessary with head trauma and acute abdominal conditions. Minutes can make a difference in these cases - if, say, there's bleeding around your brain and you can't get an MRI - and the speed of a CT scan makes it worth the risk. But in most other situations, it's wise to let the doctor convince you it's worth it, before consenting to the scan. Ask your doctor what decisions he or she plans to make with the information from the scan. What other tests could yield the same information? Would an MRI be better...
...must question the validity of the brain-imaging data that show children are not ready to read until at least age 5. That comes as a real shock to all the millions of us in the world who started reading at age 3 or 4. I guess we didn't see that study in time. Alan Zoller, DAYTON, OHIO...
...Treating Parkinson's disease is much more complicated than just using stem cells to produce more dopamine, as Kinsley wishes. Stem-cell growth and dopamine production can't always be controlled, and too much dopamine can cause involuntary movements and hallucinations. Embryonic stem cells transplanted or injected into the brain have produced mixed results in both animals and humans. Parkinson's affects the whole brain, and dopamine alone cannot cure it. Why should I hope for an ethical cure? My wife has been living with Parkinson's for nine years. Steve Maloney, FRANKLIN...