International
* IMPLANTS OFFER HOPE IN BRAIN INJURY CASES
- His skull crushed in a brutal mugging, the man had been left severely brain-damaged. For
six years, he had lain in a stupor, eyes almost always closed, unable to communicate, fed
through a tube. His mother visited him in the nursing home every day, she says, and every
time she cried.
But now, she says, her 38-year-old son can eat, drink from a cup,
laugh, watch a movie, and say, "I love you, Mommy." She still cries when she
sees him, she says, "but it's tears of joy."
The son, whose identity has been withheld to protect his privacy,
underwent a marked recovery after doctors implanted a pacemaker-like device to
"jump-start" his brain, the journal Nature reports today.
Researchers say the 38-year-old is the first patient in a
"minimally conscious state" to be implanted with a Deep Brain Stimulator, a
device that uses tiny electrodes to send electrical signals into precisely targeted areas
of the brain.
Deep brain stimulation has been used for years in tens of
thousands of patients with Parkinson's disease. Although it is still unclear precisely why
the stimulation works, it is now being tried in the treatment of a variety of brain
diseases, from psychiatric illnesses to movement disorders In patients with Parkinson's,
the pulses appear to block or jam bad signals that travel through malfunctioning circuits
in the brain. In the minimally conscious patient, researchers say, they seem to give a
kind of jump-start through the thalamus to the brain.
Once the electrodes are implanted in the brain, and hooked up to
batteries implanted for easy access in the patient's chest, they can be turned on or off
and adjusted.
Such electrodes have been tried before in patients who suffered
worse brain damage and were nonresponsive, but to no avail. One such patient was Terri
Schiavo, the Florida woman whose situation became a political showdown.
In the Schiff experiment, the electrodes were implanted during a
10-hour operation. Later, when they were turned on, the researchers saw immediate change,
they said.
"It was a defining moment for all of us that we'll never
forget, the day we activated the pacemakers," said Dr. Ali R. Rezai, the Cleveland
Clinic neurosurgeon who performed the operation. The patient immediately became noticeably
more alert, he said, and the medical team "looked at each other, humbled in many ways
and at the same time excited about the prospects."
Prior to the operation, the patient had kept his eyes closed
almost all the time, and when asked to perform simple movements, would do so, but with his
eyes still closed. Very rarely, he would mouth words, but he could not communicate
reliably. He could move his arms and hands, but not in a coordinated way.
After the operation, he regained normal eye-opening movement and
would follow the activity around him with his eyes. He now speaks audibly, usually in
phrases of one to three words, and recently, researchers say, he even said the first 16
words of the Pledge of Allegiance from memory. He takes all his food by mouth now, though
his stomach tube remains as a backup.
The electrodes are implanted permanently, and are now turned on
each day for 12 hours, then turned off at night. Researchers say there is good reason to
believe he will continue to improve.
Katz, who is also an associate professor of neurology at Boston
University, said the patient's improvement "helps hammer home the point that we have
to give people with severe brain injury a chance."
"Even people who don't respond should have periodic
reevaluations even years after the injury," he said, "especially if family and
others notice improvement." (The Boston Globe, 2 Aug 2007) (to
index)
* HUGE CROSS MARKS STALIN PURGES - A giant
cross commemorating the victims of Stalinist purges in the 1930s has been erected at a
ceremony near Moscow. The wooden cross - 12.5m high (41 ft) and 7.6m wide (25 ft) - was
placed in Butovo, at the site of a former execution ground. At least 20,000 people were
killed there by Stalin's secret police, the NKVD. The first killings occurred exactly 70
years ago. Hundreds of people attended the ceremony south of the capital.
Events marking the 70th anniversary of Stalin's drive to purge
opponents of his regime have been held throughout Russia. The relatively small-scale
ceremonies have been organised by religious or human rights groups rather than the
government.
The BBC's James Rodgers in Butovo says the execution ground had
previously been a firing range. It did not seem necessary to change its name after 8
August, 1937, he adds.
Yulia Shcherbakova - now in her 70s - wanted to explain her
personal tie to Stalin's terror. "It's terrifying to think back. I remember people in
our small house being arrested - people who lived below and above," she told the BBC.
"I was seven when my neighbour, a priest, was taken away - he disappeared without a
trace. And everyone was afraid to mention his name."
Joseph Stalin's purges:
- Orchestrated by Stalin in 1930s to cement his rule
- 5 Aug 1937 - order N00447 for mass executions of "anti-Soviet
elements" issued
- Targeted Communist Party opponents, but also the army, the
intelligentsia and peasants
- Hundreds of thousands of people executed by NKVD by 1938* Millions
arrested and sent to labour camps
- Mass executions end in Nov 1938, but arrests continue until
Stalin's death in 1953
Those executed there in 1937 and 1938 included about 1,000
priests, monks and nuns. No-one knows precisely how many are buried at the site.
The cross was constructed at the Solovetsky Monastery in northern
Russia, which was itself turned into a notorious prison camp by the Soviet authorities in
the 1920s. The cross was delivered by boat, and part of its route followed the White Sea
Canal, a Stalinist construction project which claimed the lives of thousands of convicts.
(BBC News, Europe, 8 Aug 2007) (to index)
* ELCA LUTHERAN CHURCH TRASHES PAGES FROM BIBLE
— At a recent meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), the
decision was made that the ELCA would ignore the Bible’s unequivocal condemnation of
homosexual behavior as sinful and permit openly homosexual clergy to pastor ELCA churches.
This has stirred up tension between the ELCA and other more Biblically sound factions
within the Lutheran denomination.
In a statement, Gerald B. Kieschnick, president of the Lutheran
Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), noted, “This goes contrary to the historic and
universal understanding of the Christian Church regarding what the Holy Scriptures teach
about homosexual behavior as contrary to God’s will and about the Biblical
qualifications for holding the pastoral office.”
Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues with Concerned
Women for America (CWA), said, “The word apostasy is a strong one. It shouldn’t
be used lightly. Unfortunately, the ELCA’s decision to endorse the sin of
homosexuality, which Scripture clearly calls an ‘abomination to God,’ represents
nothing short of apostasy.
“We’re witnessing a growing trend within certain liberal
sects of Christendom wherein leftist church leaders are pushing new-age, Bible-ala-carte
spiritualism. The mindset is, ‘If God’s Word doesn’t comport with my view
on morality, then I’m right and God is wrong. He needs to get with the program.
Murder pre-born children with abortion – Sure why not? Celebrate sexual deviancy? No
problem.’
“This is America, and people are generally free to say and do
what they want,” continued Barber, “But if a formal church collective such as
the ELCA is going to call itself Christian, the least it can do is honour the Bible, not
rip out and trash the pages it doesn’t like. There’s nothing Christian about
that.” (Concerned Women for America, 16 Aug 2007) (to index)
* TALIBAN RELEASES TWO KOREAN
MISSIONARIES, HOLDS 19 - The Taliban in Afghanistan released two South Korean
Christian missionaries on Monday. They are the first to be freed since the Taliban
kidnapped 23 Korean church volunteers from a bus last month.
Two other hostages were murdered after demands to release Taliban
prisoners were not met.
Across Korea, rallies and prayer vigils are being held for the 19
remaining hostages. Elijah Kim of the Emmanuel Gospel Center said they are suffering for
their faith.
Yuri Mantilla, director of international government affairs for
Focus on the Family, said American Christians need to pressure the U.S. State Department
for the hostages’ release, while also praying for God's intervention.
“We need to systematically pray for them," he told
Family News in Focus. "Remember, when one part of the body of Christ suffers, the
entire body suffers with that part. So, their suffering is our suffering.”
But, Mark Tooley with the Institute on Religion and Democracy said
if the Taliban is trying to discourage Christian missions, that plan may backfire.
“If you’re a Christian, you understand that historically
there have always been Christians who are willing to place themselves in perilous
situations in order to be a witness to the Gospel.” (Focus on the Family,
Citizenlink, 14 Aug 2007) (to index)
