The Neuro-Journalism Mill

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Latest from the Neuro-Journalism Mill

Posted: 2008-06-11

'Bypass Brain': How surgery may affect mental activity, the Tuesday, June 10, 2008, WSJ Health Journal column by Melinda Beck passes muster as a rare germs of wheat according to the neurocurmudgeons hanging around the Mill.

The long-term cognitive effects of bypass surgery have not received the level of interest and study one might think would be warranted.  Rather than just sensationalizing "bypass brain," Beck does a good job with a complicated subject, acknowledging that it can be hard to assess cognitive decline following surgery in aged or chronically compromised patients because of a host of confounding factors.  A similar story can be told about "chemo brain."   The medical profession should investigate rather than dismiss cognitive effects of treatments and think about how such effects could be prevented, minimized, and treated.  Difficult to study does not mean impossible to study.    Cognitive loss, might be considered "mild" or "moderate" by the surgeons and thought of as a reasonable trade-off for prolonged life.   Unfortunately, cognitive loss can also be devastating to individuals and their families.   The medical profession needs to acknowledge the possibilities of problems and investigate.

'Bypass Brain': How surgery may affect mental activity
By Melinda Beck, The Wall Street Journal, 2008-06-10
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121304603861058495.html