[wp_ad_camp_4]There was a time when certain conditions were basically death sentences. Medical science had no way of correcting them, and the most that families could hope for was making their loved ones comfortable until the end came. Some of these conditions were serious in and of themselves, while others were deceptively simple.
The good news is that today there are treatments for these conditions, and these treatments can help people live longer and more productive lives.
Below are three major conditions that have been improved by advances in medicine.
Inoperable Brain Tumors
Brain tumor surgery is nothing new, but there have long been areas of the brain that are difficult to reach through conventional means. There are also parts of the brain that might be easy to reach, but the space is so cramped that operating on one structure poses serious risks to other nearby structures.
Whenever a tumor occurs in one of these parts of the brain, they are almost always considered inoperable. If the patient was lucky, the tumor was benign and wouldn’t grow much. If the patient was unlucky, the tumor would be cancerous or aggressive, with serious effects.
Yamini Karanam is a prime example, of this. The 26 year old student started experiencing trouble concentrating and understanding things that she’d had no trouble with previously. She was also having issues with fatigue, and even slept for two weeks after going on holiday. Her symptoms not only had a negative effect on her studies, but on her life as well.
Several different specialists determined that she had a tumor on her pineal gland, but they weren’t sure how to approach it. Dr. Hryar Shahinian used a pioneering keyhole technique to remove the tumor. In doing so, Dr. Shahinian discovered that it wasn’t a tumor at all, but Ms. Karanam’s own twin!
Thanks to procedures like keyhole brain tumor surgery, tumors that were once thought inoperable are now treatable.
Conjoined Twins
Conjoined twins can be tricky because sometimes they share a circulatory system, a nervous system, or certain organs, which can make separation impossible. However, in some cases the twins can be separated with the help of a large team of surgical experts. However, the procedure is often so dangerous that parents and doctors alike often opt not to try it.
However, sometimes, the twins are conjoined in such a way that leaving the bonds intact could be more damaging than attempting separation.
That was the case with Connor and Carter Mirabals, Although the boys shared several organs, Dr. Daniel Robie and his team were able to successfully separate them at Nemours Children’s Specialty Hospital in Jacksonville, FL. Thanks to the work of Dr. Robie and his team, Connor and Carter should be able to lead normal, healthy lives.
Connor and Carter Mirabals are only the most recent case of conjoined twins that have been successfully separated. As surgical procedures become more refined, the success rate will be even higher.
Cleft Palates
Cleft palates are a fairly simple problem with very complex and serious effects. The cleft is more than just an aesthetic issue because, if left untreated, infants with this condition could have trouble speaking and breathing. In severe enough cases, an infant could also have trouble feeding.
Prior to the introduction of cleft palate surgery in the late 1800s, many children died in infancy from the anomaly. However, early efforts to repair the cleft palate brought other problems, especially concerning speech.
It wasn’t until 1994 that doctors started using a 2-stage palate closure technique that effectively closed the cleft without impairing speech.
Today, that procedure is used all over the world to repair cleft palates and correct many of the issues a cleft palate can cause.
