Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

newsweek.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 310 posts

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#91

Post by Sleeep »

mholmes680 wrote: post #78
Sleeep wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also be aware of "dry drowning," it's incredibly rare but worth knowing it exists and it's symptoms if you or anyone you are caring for has a near drowning episode. http://www.parents.com/kids/safety/outdoor/dry-drowning/ " Any child pulled from the pool needs medical attention ," says Dr. Berchelmann. "At the very least, call the pediatrician."

since i first heard of dry drowning earlier this summer, i haven't been able to enjoy a pool with my 1 and 2 year olds. It's taken the place of SIDS for me.

Don't they have infant and toddler level swimming classes?

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#92

Post by sp332 »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #64
sp332 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've ever been in a dialysis clinic, you might see how someone from a culture that doesn't have them would view us as being in the dark ages.

For those who have no idea why a dialysis clinic makes us look like the Dark Ages - could you elaborate?

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/12/-god-he... They're not well-regulated.

First they install a permanent port into your bloodstream. Your kidneys aren't working, so after 2-4 days you're feeling bloated and your blood is full of various toxic metabolic by-products. You bum a ride to the dialysis clinic where they cycle your blood out of your body, run it through a filter, and push it back in, for hours. They try to be careful of your red blood cells, but some of them get smashed up in the machinery. They try to regulate the temperature of your blood as it gets returned to your body, but it's often too cold or too hot. You get very dried out during this process because you want it to last another 2-4 days, so you overdo it a little. You and the dialysis clinic want to get this over with as quickly as possible (they have other customers to schedule) so you have 2-4 days' worth of filtering to do in a few hours, which puts a lot of stress on your internal organs.

The #1 cause of death of people on dialysis is people deciding to quit because they'd rather die in the next few weeks than continue the treatment.

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#93

Post by refurb »

mabbo wrote: post #60
amykhar wrote: post #38

What frustrates me is that in the United States, most insurance companies won't pay for hyperbaric oxygen treatment for traumatic brain injuries. My son, 26, was injured in a car accident last November. I would love to be able to get Oxygen therapy for him, but cannot.

This is what's nice with a single payer health system. The same cost center has to either pay for disability related costs, or pay for treatments that would potentially end the disability related costs. It's a sane investment by the government here in Canada to make such choices. On the other hand, if your health insurance is through one system and your disability insurance through another, you have everyone optimizi…

Does Canada pay for hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#94

Post by sillysaurus3 »

nerdponx wrote: post #2

This is approaching Star Trek levels of medicine. Congratulations to the team who discovered and pull this off, and of course my heart goes out to the family and their child. Drowning is very serious and very scary. Edit: somewhat unrelated since this girl fell into an unattended pool, but it's important to know the signs of drowning, which are not what you see in movies: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to-spot-signs…

We are not approaching Star Trek levels of medicine. In Star Trek, they can heal wounds by shining a light on them. They can erase and alter people's memory. They can scan for problems using a handheld device. They can cure blindness with a visor. We are nowhere near any of that.

I know this doesn't really matter much, but if we're going to throw in hyperbole, it should at least be somewhat accurate. I think people are boo'ing anyone who brings up this point because it's such an incredible achievement. That's true, it is, and it's amazing that brain damage was reversed. But Star Trek is a useful, iconic yardstick for measuring our progress. Saying we're close to it discounts how much work we have left to do.

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#95

Post by kasey_junk »

brianwawok wrote: post #34
gambiting wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it matter in any way? Is it even a fact worth observing?

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6319a2.htm > Disparities were greatest in swimming pools, with swimming pool drowning rates among blacks aged 5–19 years 5.5 times higher than those among whites in the same age group. The reason it matters is because it is a fact. If you are a lifeguard at a swimming pool, research shows that you should spend MORE time watching after the black kids than the white kids. It'…

Further, outreach to teach children how to swim and providing access to more swimming pools should be targeted in the communities that need it most.

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#96

Post by Alex3917 »

mnw21cam wrote: post #61
SmellTheGlove wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it does. Lifeguards will tell you it's part of their training. It may be non-PC, but the statistics say that when you're watching the water, African-American children are more likely to drown. I don't know if it's specifically African American children, or black children (of any origin) in general. I've heard it's socioeconomic - potentially less likely to be able to swim, but I'm not sure honestly. If you're wa…

One of the things I was taught mumble years ago was that black people tend to have more dense fast twitch muscle, while white people tend to have less dense slow twitch muscle. Hence, white people float more easily, and black people dominate the 100m sprint. We did an experiment where we would cannonball the swimming pool and see who floated. Admittedly, the amount of air you have in your lungs affects your buoyancy…

> black people tend to have more dense fast twitch muscle, while white people tend to have less dense slow twitch muscle

I think you may be confusing fast twitch muscle density, as in the ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch muscles, with density as a physical property. As far as I know fast twitch muscles aren't any more dense than slow twitch muscles.

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#97

Post by yread »

PetitPrince wrote: post #37
davidiach wrote: post #10

>Concluding, the researchers say that to their knowledge, this is the first reported case of gray matter loss and white matter atrophy (types of brain damage) reversal with any therapy and that treatment with oxygen should be considered in similar cases. “Such low-risk medical treatment may have a profound effect on recovery of function in similar patients who are neurologically devastated by drowning." I always beli…

Not to dampen your enthusiasm too much, but please note that infants are exceptionally good at producing new neurons compared to adults; their brain aren't fully developed after all.

I guess in a best case it can turn drowned adult's brain into living infant's brain.

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#98

Post by gumby »

dna_polymerase wrote: post #20
nerdponx wrote: post #2

This is approaching Star Trek levels of medicine. Congratulations to the team who discovered and pull this off, and of course my heart goes out to the family and their child. Drowning is very serious and very scary. Edit: somewhat unrelated since this girl fell into an unattended pool, but it's important to know the signs of drowning, which are not what you see in movies: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to-spot-signs…

> “The startling regrowth of tissue in this case occurred because we were able to intervene early in a growing child, before long-term tissue degeneration. Although it’s impossible to conclude from this single case if the sequential application of normobaric oxygen then HBOT would be more effective than HBOT alone, in the absence of HBOT therapy, short duration, repetitive normobaric oxygen therapy may be an option u…

> we have no idea what really did the magic here, we can just assume

...which is true of most of medicine. Most indications (e.g. diseases) are named after their symptoms rather than causes, and a lot of treatment is just creating / improving the environment in which the body can do its job.

None of which should be taken as denigration of amazing achievements in the medical field!

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#99

Post by kaybe »

PetitPrince wrote: post #37
davidiach wrote: post #10

>Concluding, the researchers say that to their knowledge, this is the first reported case of gray matter loss and white matter atrophy (types of brain damage) reversal with any therapy and that treatment with oxygen should be considered in similar cases. “Such low-risk medical treatment may have a profound effect on recovery of function in similar patients who are neurologically devastated by drowning." I always beli…

Not to dampen your enthusiasm too much, but please note that infants are exceptionally good at producing new neurons compared to adults; their brain aren't fully developed after all.

Infants are also good at working around losing half a brain. If one loses it early enough the rest can develop to become a fully functional adult of normal intelligence, which is pretty amazing.

Re: Scientists Reverse Brain Damage in Drowned Toddler?

#100

Post by Sleeep »

zimpenfish wrote: post #59
SmellTheGlove wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it does. Lifeguards will tell you it's part of their training. It may be non-PC, but the statistics say that when you're watching the water, African-American children are more likely to drown. I don't know if it's specifically African American children, or black children (of any origin) in general. I've heard it's socioeconomic - potentially less likely to be able to swim, but I'm not sure honestly. If you're wa…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11172054 Theorises that segregation meant many POC never learnt to swim and then their fear of drowning (along with socioeconomic factors, of course) has lead them to keeping their children away from swimming lessons.

Wow, this story is absolutely horrifying! For those of you who didn't click, I really thinks this needs to be known:

>A month ago, six African-American teenagers drowned in a single incident in Louisiana, prompting soul-searching about why so many young black Americans can't swim.

>When 15-year-old DeKendrix Warner accidentally stepped into deeper water while wading in the Red River in Shreveport, he panicked.

>JaTavious Warner, 17, Takeitha Warner, 13, JaMarcus Warner, 14, Litrelle Stewart, 18, Latevin Stewart, 15, and LaDarius Stewart, 17, rushed to help him and each other.

>None of them could swim. All six drowned. DeKendrix was rescued by a passer-by.

>Maude Warner, mother of three of the victims, and the other adults present also couldn't swim.

Then amazingly

>"Fear of drowning or fear of injury was really the major variable," says Prof Carol Irwin, a sociologist from the University of Memphis, who led the study for USA Swimming.

>In focus groups for the study, Prof Irwin said many black parents who could not swim evinced sentiments like: "My children are never going to learn to swim because I'm scared they would drown."

Post reply on HN