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posted by mrpg on Thursday June 01 2017, @06:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the sounds-logical dept.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/will-surgery-sap-your-brain-power

Many of us can recount a similar story about a friend, colleague, or loved one—usually elderly—whose mental condition deteriorated after a visit to an operating room. "The comment that 'So-and-so has never been the same after the operation' is pervasive," says anesthesiologist Roderic Eckenhoff of the University of Pennsylvania.

Often, surgical patients are beset by postoperative delirium—delusions, confusion, and hallucinations—but that usually fades quickly. Other people develop what has been dubbed postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), suffering problems with memory, attention, and concentration that can last months or even a lifetime. POCD not only disrupts patients' lives, but may also augur worse to come. According to a 2008 study, people who have POCD 3 months after they leave the hospital are nearly twice as likely to die within a year as are surgical patients who report no mental setbacks. With the ballooning senior population needing more surgeries, "this is going to become an epidemic," says anesthesiologist Mervyn Maze of the University of California, San Francisco.

What causes POCD, what makes some patients susceptible, and how best to protect their faculties are unclear. And some scientists still question whether surgery is to blame. Two prominent anesthesiologists called the idea that operations cause persistent mental declines a fallacy.

Yet more researchers and doctors are awakening to surgery's risks for the brain. Last year, the American Society of Anesthesiologists launched a Brain Health Initiative to spur research into the factors that make people vulnerable and to pinpoint preventive measures. Scientists now have a prime suspect for the cause of POCD: inflammation of the brain. And clinical trials are testing interventions that include drugs, changes in operating room procedures, and mental training. "I believe we are on the verge of some diagnostic and therapeutic advances," says Joseph Mathew, a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01 2017, @07:13PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01 2017, @07:13PM (#519003)

    Confiscate the wealth of every social media billionaire, and we'll be back on track again.

  • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01 2017, @07:40PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01 2017, @07:40PM (#519007)

    amirite?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01 2017, @07:57PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 01 2017, @07:57PM (#519015)

      I was shaking in my boots just terrified of all the peace when we weren't at war. I'm so glad Bush-Laden kickstarted the wars again.