More Brains Needed 232
Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that more people need to donate their brains to medical research if cures for diseases like dementia are to be found and are urging healthy people as well as those with brain disorders to become donors. 'For autism, we only have maybe 15 or 20 brains that have been donated that we can do our research on. That is drastically awful,' said Dr Payam Rezaie of the Neuropathology Research Laboratory at the Open University. 'We would need at least 100 cases to get meaningful data. A lot of research is being hindered by this restriction.' Part of the problem, according to Professor Margaret Esiri at the University of Oxford, may be that people are reluctant to donate their brains because they see the organ as the basis of their identity. 'It used to be other parts of the body that we thought were important,' says Esin. 'But now people realize that their brain is the crucial thing that gives them their mind and their self.' Dr Kieran Breen, of the Parkinson's Disease Society, said over 90% of the brains in their bank at Imperial College London were from patients, with the remaining 10% of 'healthy' brains donated by friends or relatives of patients. 'Some people are under the impression that if they sign up for a donor card that will include donating their brain for research. But it won't,' says Breen. 'Donor cards are about donating organs for transplant, not for medical science.'"
Grow up (Score:5, Insightful)
Get over the fact that the universe doesn't care about you and help science!
Re:Over my dead body! (Score:3, Insightful)
Y'know, they never really specified whether the donated brains were from the living or the dead...
Anyone remember the Live Organ Donor skit from Monty Python?
Re: Your brains (Score:3, Insightful)
Is anybody else here thinking of Jonathan Coulton's Re: Your Brains [youtube.com]?
Heya, Tom' its Bob from the office down the hall
Good to see you, buddy; howve you been?
Thing have been OK for me except that Im a zombie now
I really wish youd let us in
I think I speak for all of us when I say I understand
Why you folks might hesitate to submit to our demand
But heres an FYI: youre all gonna die, screaming
(chorus)
(zombies) "All we want to do is eat your brains!"
Were not unreasonable; I mean, no ones gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
Were at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
Well all come inside and eat your brains!
I dont want to nitpick, Tom, but is this really your plan?
To spend your whole life locked inside a mall?
Maybe thats OK for now but someday youll be out of food and guns
And then youll have to make the call
Im not surprised to see you havent thought it through enough
You never had the head for all that bigger picture stuff
But, Tom, thats what I do, and I plan on eating you, slowly
(chorus)
(zombies) "All we want to do is eat your brains!"
Were not unreasonable; I mean, no ones gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
Were at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
Well all come inside and eat your brains!
Id like to help you, Tom, in any way I can
I sure appreciate the way youre working with me
Im not a monster, Tom...well, technically, I am
I guess I am
Ive got another meeting, Tom; maybe we could wrap it up
I know well get to common ground somehow
Meanwhile Ill report back to my colleagues who were chewing on the doors
I guess well table this for now
Im glad to see you take constructive criticism well
Thank you for your time; I know were all busy as hell
And well put this thing to bed
When I bash your head open
(chorus)
(zombies)"All we want to do is eat your brains!"
Were not unreasonable; I mean, no ones gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
Were at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
Well all come inside and eat your brains!
To be fair.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Trying to cure Autism is like trying to cure innate stupiditity, I have serious doubts you'll be able to change the neurological wiring with any efficacy.
Certain learning techniques can be used to improve synaptic formation in those with a lower amount of total neurons, thus increasing their mental capacity somewhat, which works for some of those individuals born with below-average intelligence. But how do you fix someone with "too many"?
Of course, currently, most Psychologists/Psychiatrists work on the concept of treatment with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and/or drug treatment:
"Now Jimmy, if people are WRONG, just go along with it and pretend they aren't, and here, have some SSRIs, we dont' know if these will fuck you up for life, but it's easier on everyone else if we give you pills".
How about we just lobotomize [wikipedia.org] them all instead? Sound good?!
The sentance above is an example of hostile sarcasm.
Anyway, I'm more than happy to donate any bits of me that Medical Research can use!
Disclaimer: I'm not a Neurologist/Neurosurgeon/Neuropsychiatrist - happy for anyone else to correct me if I'm incorrect somewhere and they've got the knowledge.
Re:Ethics, line 1... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ethics, line 1... (Score:1, Insightful)
Point 1: She didn't say they don't appreciate organ donors, she said they won't try as hard to save you because of a good chance of you dying anyway. As well as you may have been a drunk driver and they have passed judgement on you to save other people with your organs that may not be as stupid.
Point 2: I know plenty of doctors that have been in trouble for stupid stuff, and as long as the doctors are saying it around people that aren't their boss or a reliable witness they can say whatever they want and deny it later, it's about proving it.
Point 3: Most hospitals get paid very little compared to what the procedure actually costs. Our clinic gets 5 dollars, yes FIVE dollars for every vasectomy we do because of the other money the state provides in grants and such. That's why hospitals over charge insurance for other things like aspirin, to make up for the money they lost on the expensive operation that they didn't get paid for.
FUD... in the most vile form. (Score:5, Insightful)
Even more despicable than trying to create fear, uncertainty and doubt of Open-Source, are people who try to do the same thing against those who would save lives... I hope you sleep well girlintraining.
Re:Science, or practice? (Score:2, Insightful)
my wife may care (Score:1, Insightful)
Think she wants to do without the normal funeral?
So, no thanks. Now, if I could provide additional
support to my family by selling body parts in an
auction after my death, that's another matter.
With some of these transplant operations costing
over a million dollars, I damn well think my
family should get a cut. After all, they just lost
a loved one and even the breadwinner.
The "shortage" is a market distortion. Let the
market be free, and the problem goes away.
Re:Grow up (Score:3, Insightful)
You have a strange definition of "I". You are not merely the atoms of which you are composed. In fact 98% [npr.org] of the atoms in your body are replaced yearly. It's not the atoms that matter, it's the pattern they're arranged in. Allowing scientists to study that pattern, and preserve even just a little bit of that information reincarnates you in a much more real way than reuse of the atoms in your corpse.
Re:contact your local medical school (Score:1, Insightful)
The casualness of your tone is creepy, you make it sound like eBay review. The only thing that is missing is "A+++++++!"
donating is complex (Score:3, Insightful)
For those of us willing to have our former bodies used for any good purpose, the existing system is frustrating because there is no coordination among multiple uses. Your body can be put to three different uses after death: (a) organ donation; (b) medical research; (c) medical training. Organ donation and medical research are in principle compatible - whatever organs aren't need for transplantation are available for research. However, neither of these uses is compatible with medical training: medical schools want the whole body for use in anatomy classes, not whatever is left after bits have been removed for transplantation or research. Furthermore, at least here in British Columbia, and as far as I know, everywhere else, there are three separate systems for the three uses. What I would prefer is to be able to sign up in one place to donate my body for whatever is the best use at the time. If an organ is critically needed, give it to someone, and use the remainder for research. If no organs are needed for transplantation, use it for research or anatomy class, wherever the need is greater.