Published: March 31, 2009
Is the turmoil we see in our teens something that our culture has created? The excellent All in the Mind, presented by Natasha Mitchell,covers what happens to teenagers as their brain develops.
Monosyllabic, messy, self-conscious and sleepy – science now has the tumultuous teenager in its sights. Are they risk-takers with brains still under construction? Or competent adults grossly misinterpreted by modern science? From evolutionary theories to the bright lights of the brain scan – a provocative debate is being waged.
Link to listen to this podcast
Source: All in the mind
We’d love to hear what you think? Do you agree – is teenage turmoil something that we have created as a culture? Or do you think biology is the main influence on teenagers behaviour?
Published: March 31, 2009
Patients who undergo numerous CT scans over their lifetime may be at increased risk for cancer, according to a study published in the April issue of Radiology. “We found that while most patients accrue small cumulative cancer risks, 7 percent of the patients in our study had enough recurrent CT imaging to raise their estimated cancer risk by 1 percent or more above baseline levels,” said Aaron Sodickson, M.D., Ph.D., assistant director of Emergency Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and researcher at the Center for Evidence-Based Imaging in Boston. “The techniques implemented in our study can be used to identify higher risk patients who might benefit from enhanced radiation protection efforts.” [continue reading…]
Published: March 31, 2009
A University of Kansas professor is researching details of relationships forged on social networking sites and determining their significance, depth and potential. Nancy Baym, associate professor of communication studies, became interested early on in how the Internet shapes interpersonal communication and of late has focused her research on social networking sites in particular. [continue reading…]
Published: March 31, 2009
The recent death of actress Natasha Richardson, after what initially seemed just a minor bump on the head, was tragically sad.
However, researchers are seeing evidence now that her untimely passing at the age of 45 has provided a valuable public health lesson.
For example, CNN reported a story about a 7-year-old girl in Ohio who was hit in the head while playing baseball with her father. Two days later, she complained of a headache. Her parents, who had just learned what caused Natasha Richardson’s death, immediately called their pediatrician and took their daughter to the hospital. Doctors now say the girl would have died in her sleep that night if her parents had not sought treatment when they did.
Researchers working for NC DETECT have found a similar reaction in hospital emergency departments across North Carolina. Several members of UNC’s Department of Emergency Medicine help run NC DETECT along with the NC Division of Public Health. NC DETECT tracks visits to 111 of the 112 emergency departments statewide in the hope of catching potentially deadly outbreaks of disease in their earliest stages, when there’s still time to stop them.
The day after Natasha Richardson’s death, there was a statistically significant increase in the number of people seeking treatment for head inuries, and that continued to be the case for five of the six days immediately thereafter. There were 96 such visits on March 18, the day Natasha Richardson died. That jumped to 144 visits the next day. Three days later, the visits peaked close to 160 and then dropped back to 144 on the fourth day.
“We think many of these were the ‘worried well’ who otherwise wouldn’t have sought treatment,” said UNC’s Dr. Matt Scholer. “There was a similar increase in chest pain visits noticed after Bill Clinton’s heart attack.”
But if even one of these visits saved a life, as was the case in Ohio, then surely the “Natasha Richardson effect” has been a good thing.
Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
