Natasha's Lesson Helps Save Ohio Girl By Elizabeth Cohen

The death of actress Natasha Richardson has helped many not take the "blunt" head bumps so lightly. After Richardson's tragic death, Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent, wrote that a young girl from Ohio, Morgan McCracken, was hit in the head-right above her left temple- by a line drive baseball hit by her father, Donald McCracken. He and Connie McCracken quickly iced the swelling and it went down within an hour. Morgan went on the next two days acting perfectly normal. But when the McCrackens heard news of Natasha Richardson dying after an assumed to be minor head injury and not handling the situation immediately, they wondered if Morgan was really okay. When they went up to say goodnight, Morgan complained about having a headache so they called the pediatrician. Afterward Morgan was in tears due to the amount of pain she was in. They took her to the emergency room at LakeWest Hospital where docors monitored a CT Scan and then put her on a helicopter to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland. Dr. Alan Cohen of Rainbow Hospital immediately took Morgan to the operating room after telling her parents that she was suffering from the same injury as Richardson: an epidural hematoma. The surgery was successful and Morgan made it through. However, Dr.Alan Cohen says that had the McCrackens not brought Morgan in that night, she may not have woken up. This scenario is called "talk and die" because blood flows into the area between the lining of the brain and the skull. Because fluid is building up, it creates pressure and the brain is ultimately the "something" that has to give. If surgery is not performed quickly enough to drain the fluid, deterrioration can happen very quickly. Greg Ayette, spokesperson for the Brain Association of America and a cognitive rehabilitation therapist, and other experts have created a list of actions that must be taken after someone has suffered a head injury: be vigilant-keeping an eye on that person; look for dizziness, vomiting, headache and confusion; look for changes in behavior and symptoms; be especially wary if someone has been drinking alcohol, is on blood thinners, is elderly, or is a young athlete; and if possible, go to a certified trauma center. Such injuries can no longer be taken lightly as we see that "small bumps" can actually mean "deadly bumps". Of course we don't want to panick about everything, but we do need to take the necessary precautions when playing by paying attention to our surroundings; and when riding a bike, skiing, or skating, we must wear a helmet.


Application: My cousin Dominique, a young soccer player, once hit her head on my grandmother's sharp head-board and bagan to bleed. She was fine after she was rushed to the hospital, but in the past year she has suffered from a couple of seizures. Could this new medical issue be related to that bump of the head, but just took a while for severe symptoms to appear?

Application: Do you believe all head injuries require medical attention??

Is Salt Nature's Antidepressant? Helen Fields for National Geographic

Helen Fields's article, "Is Salt Nature's Antidepressant?" March 17, 2009, suggests that salt can be a form of antidepressant, as salt can make people "happier". She first poses the question, "Could salt be the solution to a sad, empty life?" so she can further examine this question's answer through expert opinions and experiments. Alan Johnson, physiologistof the University of Iowa, has tested and found that sodium-deprived rats do not take pleasure in daily ctivities; whereas when they do have sodium they are considered to be "happy" again. Fields relates this lack of sodium in rats, humans and other land animals, to depression that seems to be fixed once eating more salt- resulting in a happier mood. She then provides another study done by Johnson, which was a study of people with chronic fatigue syndrome. This study found that many of these patients had reduced their sodium intake for health purposes and by inceasing the sodium in their diets, these symptoms were mitigated. Field's describes that "our kidneys adjust the concentration of urine based on how salty the blood is", however, most people eat much more salt than they need to. To conclude, she expresses that "sodim-filled dinners" should not be eaten to cheer one's self up as this study is a fresh connection between salt and depression, yet scientists are certain about the connection between salt and heart disease. Her purpose is to inform readers on the latest findings of salt in a positve sense, but yet express how we should not induldge in sodium-filled foods due to health related illnesses.

Clarification: What did Johnson mean when he said "the brain may continue being happy about salt even when it doesn't strictly need it, in the same way the brain may 'reward' us when we eat too much or take dangerous drugs"? I didn't understand the "reward".

Application: How do studies performed on rats relate to how those experiments will affect humans?