Birth and Early Childhood

Read the following letter of an American student and express your attitude to it

Speak about the brain research techniques described in the text.

Work in pairs and find out from your partner what he (she) knows about the by brain research techniques.

13. Ethical discussion: work in groups and discuss the following information.

Studies of the brain functioning have often involved the removal or destruction of part of the brain of a living animal. The animal is then observed and tested, to identify what the consequences of the operation have been. This type of research is an example of vivisection: operating on a living animal to discover how physiological mechanisms work.

Scientists who use vivisection argue that it is necessary to use animals in this way, in order to discover how physiological mechanisms work, and because it would be unethical to perform such studies using humans.

Those who oppose vivisection argue that this type of research (a) cruel and (b) unnecessary, and that there are other ways of obtaining equivalent information. What do you think?

My Life with a Cyst on My Brain

My name is Kane. I am a high school student from a small town in the Midwestern United States. I like technology, reading novels, short stories, and comic books, and running. I have a cyst on my brain.

I have had a cyst on my brain since I was either six months old, since birth, or since before birth, depending on which of my doctors you ask. In any case, I have grown up with this cyst. It is as much a part of me as any other part of my anatomy or personality, and has affected me as much as or more than any other part of me. This is my story of growing up with, and living with, something that many people have never heard of and few have experienced. My life has taught me that it is possible to overcome almost anything. I hope that my story teaches you, the readers, the same lesson.

As I stated earlier, no one is completely sure when my cyst developed. One theory is that it has been in my head since I was 'in utero'. Another is that it was caused by birth trauma. I was delivered with the aid of a vacuum extractor which malfunctioned and slammed into my head. The force may have led to the development of the cyst. The third and final theory is that the cyst was caused by hemorrhaging when I was six months old.

When I was still an infant, my parents knew that I was not well. I had projectile vomiting ¹, insomnia, and seizures. They took me to doctors and were told to try switching my formula and that they were just nervous first-time parents. One day, when I was about six months old, I had a severe seizure and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors there ran several tests, and a CAT scan² revealed that I was hemorrhaging. I was taken to surgery for evacuation of an acute subdural hematom². My head was shaved and the right side was cut open. The blood was drained out and a hole was drilled in my left temple to continue draining blood through a tube. Approximately one week later I hemorrhaged again. This time the hemorrhage was revealed using an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine. It hadn't shown up on any of the other tests. The hospital had only recently acquired the MRI, and without it I would likely have died. Another surgery was performed - an evacuation of a chronic subdural hematoma this time, since it had occurred before. My life was saved once again, but still no one knew what had caused the seizures and hemorrhages.

Time passed, and I went to the doctor for regular check-ups. About one month before my second birthday, the doctors discovered my cyst using an MRI. Now they knew what had caused the problems, but they disagreed - and still disagree - about what to do about it. Some favoured removal of the cyst. Others wanted to leave it in, fearing that the empty space left where the cyst had been would fill with fluid, causing more complications. It was decided that the cyst should remain.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27