So let me start by saying that I didn't think that "quiz" was easy, and the take home took way longer than I had anticipated. The information available on the internet is sadly disorganized. I found it very difficult to find the information regarding the neurotransmitter questions. I realize that neurotransmitters are a realitively new topic, however with the massive amounts of antipsychotic medications being perscribed, the information should be made more accessible to the general public.
I did find the prevelence of strokes and brain tumors astounding though. I did not know that brain tumors account for 1.4 % of all cancers, 2.4 % of all cancer deaths, and 20–25 % of pediatric cancers. There are 13,000 dealths a year that are attributed to brain tumors. Why is it that tumors are commonly found in the posterior cranial fossa in children and the cerebral hemispheres in adults. What would cause that?
I have been a CPR/First Aid trainer for years now, and I was taught to use F.A.S.T. (face, arm, speech, time) when detecting symptoms of a stroke. Time being the most important...to denote the time you started to see symptoms. This helps the doctors determine how severe the damage may be.
Well, see you all on Tuesday.
Aimee
2 comments:
Aimee,
Your question about the location of brain tumors in children compared to adults - is a good one...a possibility exists that in early childhood the plasticity of our visual systems is extensive, most of what is being processed is visual stimuli - blood flow/glucose utilization[and therefore astrocyte function and mitosis rates]might be exceeding upregulated. in adults asabstract thought, organization, etc. becomes more extensive blood glucose/blood flow demands are shifted to the frontal lobes...let's see what everyone else thinks-
Dana
i agree, the take home quiz was really confusing because i tried to use the internet to find answers. bloody confusing internet. anyway.
i just read that brain tumors are the most common cancer death in children. that is so sad. some of the common brain tumors that occur in children are:
-Astrocytomas
-Brain stem gliomas
-Ependymomas
-Medulloblastomas
sounds familiar!
those poor kids that are unfortunate enough to have brain tumors also have an increased risk of brain and spinal cord tumors due to the radiation they receive for treatement.
they also have an increased risk for stroke later in life if they have had cranial radiotherapy, the average amount of time between diagnosis and the stroke being 14 years.
sounds like a pretty crappy deal to me. :-/
Post a Comment