Latest news with #neurosurgeon
Arab News
2 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Book Review: ‘When Breath Becomes Air'
Published a year after the author's death aged 37 in 2015, 'When Breath Becomes Air' is an autobiography about the life and struggle with terminal lung cancer of Dr. Paul Kalanithi. In the book, Kalanithi, an American neurosurgeon at Stanford University, talks about his own journey from being a physician providing treatment to his patients to becoming a patient himself facing premature mortality. The narrative moves from talking about how Kalanithi saved lives to confronting the end of his own, reflecting on what makes life worth living in the face of death. Despite his diagnosis, Kalanithi continued working as a physician and even became a father, explaining to his readers how he embraced life fully until the very end. Unfortunately, the book had to be completed by his wife after his passing, and serves as a moving meditation on legacy, purpose, and the human experience. Among the book's strengths are its authenticity and depth of emotions, touching on everything from the day-to-day experiences of physicians to Kalanithi's own love of literature — originally, he had studied English at university. A fitting tribute, then, that his own work would go on to become a New York Times' bestseller. Neurosurgery, though, was in his words an 'unforgiving call to perfection' which not even his diagnosis could check. 'Before my cancer was diagnosed, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn't know when,' he wrote. 'After the diagnosis, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn't know when.' The book garnered praise upon publication, winning the Goodreads Choice Award for Memoir and Autobiography in 2016. Its run on the NYT's bestseller list lasted an impressive 68 weeks. Writing in the Guardian, Alice O'Keefe suggested: 'The power of this book lies in its eloquent insistence that we are all confronting our mortality every day, whether we know it or not. The real question we face, Kalanithi writes, is not how long, but rather how, we will live — and the answer does not appear in any medical textbook.'
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Malay Mail
The invisible club — Nahrizul Adib Kadri
I'm often told I look normal. In fact, when I sit in the waiting room of the neuro clinic for my annual check-up, I might even look like I'm there for someone else. I dress neatly. I walk in unaided. I respond when my name is called. There's no oxygen tank by my side, no slurred speech, no visible signs that something once went deeply wrong. But I'm the patient. I'm the one with a brainstem cavernoma — a rare malformation tucked deep inside the pons, where vital things live: breathing, swallowing, balance, vision. Mine was discovered almost by accident in late 2015 after a year of quiet, persistent numbness. No real pain. Just a strange tingling on the left side of my body — like when your leg falls asleep. Except this one didn't wake up. Even after diagnosis, I felt mostly fine. Until I didn't. On my 41st birthday, after a small slice of cake, I vomited. Just once. But I remembered what my neurosurgeon had said: If anything changes, head straight to emergency. So I did. What followed was a slow spiral — days in a hospital room, my vision narrowing, my head heavy as stone. They drilled a hole in my skull to relieve the pressure. And when things didn't improve, they opened it properly. They removed the cavernoma. And with it, a part of the person I used to be. The surgery was a success. Technically. The mass was gone, but the aftermath lingered. I emerged with right-side facial paralysis and fine motor loss in my left hand. I couldn't use a straw to drink. I couldn't button a shirt with my left hand. I couldn't pronounce the consonants F, V, B, or M without sounding like I was underwater. These were not headline-worthy losses. No one made a documentary about it. But they changed my daily rhythm in subtle ways. And now, almost a decade later, they still do. In the neuro clinic, I'm often the most 'normal-looking' person in the room. There's a cruel kind of irony to that. Some patients shuffle in, others are wheeled. Some can't speak. Others don't respond. Then there's me — smiling halfway, speaking carefully, nodding with one side of my face. And because I pass, people assume I'm fine. That I've recovered. That the story is over. But recovery doesn't always mean return. Sometimes it means reinvention. I'm not who I was. But I'm someone still becoming. We live in a world obsessed with how things appear — with symmetry, vitality, performance. And we admire recovery when it ends in a triumphant 'after.' What we don't talk about is the middle. That long, awkward middle where you're not who you were, and not yet sure who you'll be. It's in that space I've quietly learned how to live again — how to laugh when others flinch at my half-smile, how to teach when my words won't form the way they used to, how to type research papers when my fingers fumble the home keys. Haruki Murakami once wrote, 'Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.' It's the kind of quote that looks great on a poster, but feels slippery in practice. Pain can change you long before you choose how to respond to it. And sometimes, just waking up and carrying on is the only choice you have. Murakami's characters often walk through surreal landscapes of loss and disorientation, not to escape their pain but to better understand it. I think about that often — how we don't really get out of the woods, we just learn to walk differently within them. I like to think there's a quiet club for people like me. We don't meet. We don't speak of it. But we recognise each other — in the slightly delayed grip of a handshake, in the gentle sway of someone regaining balance, in the pause before a word that's harder to pronounce than it used to be. Coelho once wrote, 'The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility.' Maybe the same can be said for strength itself. Real strength isn't loud. It doesn't announce its victories. It adapts. It hums quietly beneath the surface of ordinary things: holding a pen, buttoning a cuff, walking into a clinic with your head held just high enough. Over time, you learn to stop explaining yourself. People will think you're fine, and you let them. Not because you owe them silence, but because you've made peace with being misread. When someone asks me if I'm fully recovered, I say, 'I'm well.' And I mean it. I'm well in ways that matter. I teach, I research, I write. I raise three sons with a woman who knew me before all this. I show up. I adapt. I live. But once a year, when I sit in that neuro clinic — surrounded by wheelchairs, soft-spoken nurses, and a neurosurgeon who never forget my face — I remember that I belong to a quiet category. Not the visibly broken. Not the visibly healed. Just quietly altered. And maybe that's the mark I carry now — not the scar at the back of my head, not the asymmetry of my smile, but the quiet knowledge that looking normal and being fine are not the same thing. Not even close. * Ir Dr Nahrizul Adib Kadri is a professor of biomedical engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, and the Principal of Ibnu Sina Residential College, Universiti Malaya. He may be reached at [email protected]. ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
God Complex
Skip to main content For years, a star neurosurgeon operated inside Australia's hospital system despite repeated allegations of sexist and inappropriate behaviour, and a string of legal claims by devastated patients. This is the hidden story of the toxic culture that enabled him. In this Four Corners investigation, reporter Louise Milligan talks to senior surgeons and hospital insiders who are speaking out for the first time. Through powerful testimonies, internal documents, and newly surfaced footage, God Complex reveals a culture of protection, silence and complicity in Australia's most elite medical circles, and the human cost of letting power go unchecked. God Complex, reported by Louise Milligan and produced by Mayeta Clark, goes to air on Monday July 21 at 8.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Health Line
04-07-2025
- Health
- Health Line
Treatment Options for Brain Cancer
Key takeaways Surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are common treatments for brain cancer, and they can be used alone or in combination. The specific approach depends on the cancer's characteristics and location. Targeted and electric field therapies are additional options for managing brain cancer. Clinical trials, like those researching immunotherapy, also offer promising new treatments that could improve the outlook for people with this condition. A brain tumor happens when cells in your brain begin to grow and divide out of control. While some brain tumors are benign (noncancerous), others are malignant (cancerous). There are a few different treatments that may be used for brain cancer, either alone or together. And clinical trials are currently testing new treatments for brain cancer that can help to improve your outlook. Keep reading to learn more about each treatment, how it's used, and the side effects associated with it. Can you survive brain cancer? It's possible to survive brain cancer. But survival can vary greatly based on many factors, such as the type of brain cancer that you have and your age. Surgery for brain cancer Surgery is a part of treatment for many brain cancers. During surgery, a neurosurgeon will try to remove as much of the tumor as possible without affecting the function of your brain. Surgery is often done by craniotomy. This is where a small opening is made in your skull, allowing for access to your brain. You may be under general or local anesthesia during surgery. While operating, a neurosurgeon can use various techniques to help them safely remove your tumor without damaging the surrounding tissue. These can include: Using surgery in combination with other brain cancer treatments like radiation therapy (RT) may be able to eliminate smaller, less aggressive cancers. But this can be more challenging for cancers that are larger or more aggressive. Surgery can also be used for other purposes. These include inserting a shunt or drain to reduce intracranial pressure or placing an Ommaya reservoir to help deliver chemotherapy (chemo). Side effects of surgery for brain cancer Some of the possible side effects of surgery for brain cancer may include: a reaction to the anesthetic infections bleeding swelling of the brain seizures loss of brain function Radiation therapy for brain cancer RT uses high-energy radiation to destroy cancer cells. It's often given for brain cancer using a radiation source located outside of your body. This is called external beam RT. Radiation has the potential to damage healthy brain tissue, so several methods have been developed to help lower this risk. An example of one is conformational RT, which makes a 3D image of your tumor and shapes the radiation to fit to it. You may receive RT after surgery to help kill any remaining cancer cells. RT may also be one of the main treatment options if your cancer can't be operated on. This may be the case if your cancer is: very extensive located deep within your brain found at or around an area that's vital for brain function Side effects of radiation therapy for brain cancer Some of the potential side effects of RT for brain cancer are: fatigue nausea or vomiting headache hair loss cognitive changes, which can include issues with memory, difficulties with concentration, or changes in personality increased risk of a second cancer Chemotherapy for brain cancer Chemo uses drugs that disrupt the ability of cancer cells to grow and divide. It can be used along with other treatment types, such as surgery or RT, or alone when other treatments haven't been effective. While many chemo drugs are given directly into your bloodstream or taken orally, this isn't always possible with brain cancer. The reason is that many chemo drugs can't cross the blood-brain barrier. As such, some chemo may be given directly into your cerebrospinal fluid. Other types of chemo may also be given as a wafer that's placed in your brain during surgery. A few examples of chemo drugs used for brain cancer, either alone or in combination, are: carmustine lomustine procarbazine temozolomide vincristine Side effects of chemotherapy for brain cancer The possible side effects of chemo include: nausea or vomiting diarrhea mouth sores loss of appetite hair loss low blood counts, which can cause: anemia an increased risk of infections easy bleeding Targeted therapy for brain cancer Targeted therapy uses drugs that target specific markers on or in cancer cells. Currently, there are only a handful of targeted therapy drugs used for brain cancer. Bevacizumab (Avastin) inhibits a protein that promotes the growth of blood vessels around tumors. It's given by an intravenous (IV) line and may be used to treat glioblastoma. Everolimus (Afinitor) blocks the activity of a protein involved in cell growth and division. It's taken as a pill and is used for some types of astrocytomas. Side effects of targeted therapy for brain cancer Specific side effects can vary based off of the targeted therapy drug used. But some of the more general side effects of targeted therapy drugs may include: fatigue loss of appetite nausea diarrhea mouth sores headache an increased risk of infections Alternating electric field therapy for brain cancer Alternating electric field therapy exposes a tumor to electric fields that affect its ability to grow. This type of therapy involves the use of a wearable device called the Optune system that generates those electric fields. The Optune system is used for people who recently received a diagnosis of glioblastoma or those who have recurrent glioblastoma. Side effects of alternating electric field therapy for brain cancer Some of the side effects that you may have while using alternating electric field therapy include: skin irritation where the device and its electrodes are placed on your scalp headache seizures low blood counts and digestive side effects when used with chemo Clinical trials for brain cancer Clinical trials evaluate potentially new or improved ways to treat a disease or disorder. They're essential for testing the safety and effectiveness of new treatments before they're made more widely available. One type of treatment that's being heavily researched for brain cancer is immunotherapy. This is a type of cancer treatment that helps your immune system respond to cancer. It's already used for many other cancer types. For some people with brain cancer, receiving treatment through a clinical trial may be recommended. This is particularly true if you have a cancer that: is rare or very aggressive has a limited number of approved treatment options hasn't responded to conventional treatments has come back after treatment If you're interested in a clinical trial for brain cancer, talk with your medical care team. They can recommend clinical trials you may qualify for. You can also find clinical trials through the website of the National Brain Tumor Society or by searching What's the outlook for a person with brain cancer? The outlook for people with brain cancer depends on many factors. These include: the type of brain cancer you have the grade of the cancer, which estimates how quickly the tumor may grow where the tumor is in your brain how large the tumor is whether or not the tumor can be removed using surgery and, if so, how much of the tumor can be removed the presence of certain genetic changes in the tumor cells your age and overall health For example, the 5-year relative survival rate for adults ages 20–44 years old with diffuse astrocytoma, a slow-growing cancer, is 73%. In contrast, the 5-year relative survival rate is 22% in the same age group for glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer. If you've recently received a diagnosis of brain cancer, your medical care team will consider all of the factors above to give you a better idea of your individual outlook. Relative survival rate vs. survival rate A relative survival rate suggests how long someone with a condition may live after receiving a diagnosis compared with someone without the condition of the same race, sex, and age over a specific time. This is different from overall survival rate, which is a percentage of people still alive for a specific time after receiving a diagnosis of a condition.
CBS News
04-07-2025
- CBS News
Trial date set for Detroit man charged in murder of prominent neurosurgeon
A trial date has been set for a Detroit man charged in the murder of prominent Detroit neurosurgeon Dr. Devon Hoover. Desmond Burks, 34, appeared in court Thursday for a formal arraignment after being bound over for trial last week. Burks will head to trial on Jan. 5, 2026. Burks is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, larceny of over $20,000, using a computer to commit a crime, possession of a firearm by a felon, and three counts of felony firearm second offense. Hoover was found shot in the head and wrapped in a blanket in the attic of his Boston-Edison neighborhood home on April 23, 2023, after police conducted a wellness check at the residence. An autopsy in May 2023 revealed Hoover was shot twice in the back of the head. Burks was identified as a person of interest early in the investigation and was charged in August 2024. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the investigation was complicated because many witnesses were reluctant to come forward with sensitive and personal information. Following Hoover's murder, Wayne County prosecutors say fraudulent transactions were reportedly made using the doctor's various bank accounts, and more than $30,000 was stolen from his accounts, as well as a Range Rover and two watches valued at $13,500. Authorities say Burks was seen on surveillance footage driving Hoover's Range Rover in the days following the doctor's murder. Prosecutors allege that text messages between Burks and Hoover established that the two were in an intimate relationship. Brian Douglas, a longtime friend of Hoover's, has attended nearly every one of Burks' court appearances, including Thursday's arraignment. He says Hoover's family and friends are finally one step closer to getting justice. "I was devastated when I heard. I was devastated because we almost reconnected, and we didn't," Douglas said. "When I saw who was victimized, and I heard who that person was, and I realized that person didn't deserve that, there was nothing else I could do but show up." Douglas says that after more than two years since his friend's murder, he still questions why such a good human being was taken away. "The point of it is, he should still be here," Douglas said. "He was murdered. He shouldn't have been murdered."
