January 28, 2015 Andrew Garzon My Uncle s Stroke Dan Haegele Nautilus K-8 1000 S. 289 St. Federal Way, WA 98003
My Uncle s Stroke My dad has a brother--my uncle. His name is Cesar. In the summer, he would invite us to swim at the pool at his apartment complex. I trained myself to swim in that pool, but this paper isn't about how I trained myself to swim. This is about how recent biomedical research saved my uncle from when he had a stroke about three weeks ago. When I heard about my uncle having a stroke when my parents left that night to visit him at the hospital, I was really worried if he would survive the stroke he had. Not only did he invite us to swim with him, but he was a relative of mine, and I cared about HIM more than the pool. Thankfully, due to recent advanced biomedical research, and that the stroke was detected within less than 4 hours, My uncle survived the stroke he had. Even better, the stroke he had was only a minor stroke, but it was still pretty serious. ¹Recently, In August last year, people at the Foundation for Biomedical Research found that they could use optical fibers to stimulate genetically modified cells. Optical fibers are threads made out of silica gel or glass, and light travels along these threads. This technology is being used now at Stanford University School of Medicine for stroke patients. Researchers used these optical fiber threads to stimulate the motor cortex of the brains of mice with stroke. Amazingly, these mice were able to walk more after a week of optic stimulation. If my uncle's stroke happened before this discovery, and his stroke required this technique, I don't think he would have functioned like he does now after his stroke, which thanks to all this research, is GREAT. I was even able to talk to him on the phone afterwards and he seemed like he did before he had his stroke.
My uncle's stroke was caused by a blood clot in one of the smaller blood vessels, and that is called an ischemic stroke. Whenever blood is clotted in one part of the brain, that part of the brain cannot receive oxygen from oxygenated blood, and without oxygen, brain cells die, causing an ischemic stroke. But there is a common way to get rid of these blood clots. ²A while back, researchers found a molecule called tissue plasminogen activator (tpa) and gave it to rabbits with stroke. They later found out that tpa could break down the blood clots causing the strokes in the rabbits. When they tested this on humans with stroke, they found that stroke patients who received tpa didn't have any permanent damage. Strokes can cause permanent brain damage because most neurons don't have the ability to regenerate like other cells do. It's all due to this protein called Nogo-A which doesn't allow neurons to grow nerve fibers called axons. ³But with Nogo-A recently discovered, researchers found a way to heal brain damage by removing levels of Nogo-A with anti-nogo therapy. Anti-Nogo therapy is when an antibody deactivates the Nogo-A protein so brain cells can grow axons. Researchers taught 15 rats how to pick up small things with their front feet. When they experienced a stroke, they weren't able to pick up things like they used to before they had their stroke. Six of the 15 rats later received anti- Nogo therapy, 4 received an inactive antibody and the remaining 5 got no treatment. The rats that had received anti-nogo treatment had a 78% increase of their ability to pick up small things. The ones that received no treatment had a 47% increase of their ability to pick up small objects, and the ones that received the inactive antibody only showed a 33% increase.
Some strokes are minor strokes, others are more serious. The more serious a stroke, the more treatment the person with the stroke needs. As I said in my first paragraph, my uncle s stroke was one of the minor ones, so not much treatment was needed. A couple weeks ago, I called my uncle to interview me to tell me about his stroke, and he said they did cat-scans of his brain to locate the stroke area, and then gave him aspirin and other blood-thinning medicine. Then they gave him injections in his stomach to break the clot in his brain. I think the injections might have been tpa, and my uncle told me that s basically all they did. It s amazing to see how much stroke treatments have developed over the years. If animal research hadn t been conducted, no one would know how to properly treat ANYTHING. Had my uncle s stroke occur years ago, like, more than fifteen years, I don t think he would be able to communicate on the phone like like he did when I was talking to him about his stroke, or even hold the phone properly. Because of research and new treatments, people have made amazing recoveries from strokes they experienced. Every day, without you even knowing it, animal research for treatments to many diseases are underway. Reflective paragraph I had a fun time while writing this essay. I learned a lot from reading articles about new biomedical research for stroke. My teachers were always here to guide me along the way while making this essay so they could see if I was doing everything right. I chose to do stroke because I figured that would be a good topic to write about with this essay when I heard about my uncle having a stroke. But even with his stroke biomedical research was used, since MRI scans, aspirin, and other blood-thinning medication was used to treat his stroke, and those are biomedical
breakthroughs too. Now my uncle is doing fine, three weeks later, leading his normal everyday life, and I hope to get to see him soon. I wonder what new stroke treatments will be developed...
Bibliography "Optogenetics, A Treatment For Stroke." Foundation for Biomedical Research. N.p., 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. "Animal Research Success: Stroke." Animals Stroke - BrainFacts.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2015. "Researchers Offer New Hope for Stroke Patients - Drugs.com MedNews." Researchers Offer New Hope for Stroke Patients - Drugs.com MedNews. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2015. Zambonino, Cesar. Uncle that had Stroke. Phone interview. 17 Jan. 2015.