Aditi Shankardass: A second opinion on learning disorders

Prevoditelj: Antun Zupanc Recezent: Predrag Pale

When I was 10 years old,

U dobi od 10 godina,

a cousin of mine took me on a tour of his medical school.

rođak me odveo u razgledavanje medicinskog fakulteta.

And as a special treat,

I kao "poslasticu"

he took me to the pathology lab

odveo me na odjel patologije.

and took a real human brain

uzeo pravi ljudski mozak

out of the jar

iz staklenke

and placed it in my hands.

i položio ga na moje dlanove.

And there it was,

Promatrala sam ga tako,

the seat of human consciousness,

to sjedište čovjekove svjesnosti,

the powerhouse of the human body,

upravljačku stanicu ljudskog tijela

sitting in my hands.

kako leži u mojim rukama.

And that day I knew that when I grew up,

Toga dana odlučila sam da ću kada odrastem,

I was going to become a brain doctor,

postati liječnik, neurolog ili

scientist, something or the other.

znanstvenik, zasigurno nešto od toga.

Years later, when I finally grew up,

Godinama kasnije,

my dream came true.

moj se san napokon ostvario.

And it was while I was doing my Ph.D.

I to u vrijeme rada na doktoratu

on the neurological causes

o neurološkim uzrocima

of dyslexia in children

disleksije u djece

that I encountered a startling fact

naišla sam na zapanjujuću činjenicu

that I'd like to share with you all today.

koju bih danas htjela podijeliti s vama.

It is estimated that one in six children,

Procjenjuje se da jedno od šestero djece

that's one in six children,

ponavljam, jedno od šest djece,

suffer from some developmental disorder.

pati od neke vrste razvojnog poremećaja.

This is a disorder that

Govorim o poremećaju koji

retards mental development in the child

usporava mentalni razvoj djeteta

and causes permanent mental impairments.

i uzrokuje stanje trajnog mentalnog oštećenja.

Which means that each and every one of you here today

To znači da svatko od vas ovdje prisutnih

knows at least one child that is suffering

poznaje barem jedno dijete koje pati

from a developmental disorder.

od razvojnog poremećaja.

But here's what really perplexed me.

No, evo što me uistinu iznenadilo.

Despite the fact that each

Usprkos činjenici da baš svaki

and every one of these disorders

od navedenih poremećaja

originates in the brain,

ima svoje izvorište u mozgu,

most of these disorders

za većinu ovih poremećaja

are diagnosed solely on the basis

dijagnoza se, gotovo isključivo postavlja

of observable behavior.

na osnovi promatranog ponašanja.

But diagnosing a brain disorder

Ali dijagnosticiranje neurološkog poremećaja

without actually looking at the brain

bez uvida u same neurološke procese

is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem

može se usporediti s liječenjem pacijenta sa srčanim tegobama

based on their physical symptoms,

na osnovi vidljivih simptoma,

without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray

bez da napravimo EKG ili rentgensku snimku prsnog koša

to look at the heart.

kako bi utvrdili stanje srca.

It seemed so intuitive to me.

Činilo mi se tako intuitivno, logično

To diagnose and treat a brain disorder accurately,

da bi precizno postavili dijagnozu neurološkog poremećaja i liječili ga,

it would be necessary to look at the brain directly.

potrebno je izravno proučiti neurološke procese.

Looking at behavior alone

Promatrajući samo ponašanje

can miss a vital piece of the puzzle

moguće je izgubiti bitan dio slagalice

and provide an incomplete, or even a misleading,

što će nam stvoriti nepotpunu, pa čak i pogrešnu

picture of the child's problems.

sliku djetetovih problema.

Yet, despite all the advances in medical technology,

Pa ipak, usprkos napretku medicinske tehnologije,

the diagnosis of brain disorders

dijagnoza neuroloških poremećaja

in one in six children

kod jednog od šestoro djece

still remained so limited.

ostaje tako nepotpuna.

And then I came across a team at Harvard University

Tada sam naišla na grupu znanstvenika sa Sveučilišta u Harvardu

that had taken one such advanced medical technology

koji su uzeli naprednu medicinsku tehnologiju

and finally applied it,

i konačno ju primjenili,

instead of in brain research,

umjesto u svrhu istraživanja mozga,

towards diagnosing brain disorders in children.

u svrhu dijagnosticiranja neuroloških poremećaja u djece.

Their groundbreaking technology

Njihova revolucionarna tehnologija

records the EEG, or the electrical activity

bilježi EEG ili električnu aktivnost

of the brain, in real time,

mozga u stvarnom vremenu,

allowing us to watch the brain

omogućujući nam da promatramo mozak

as it performs various functions

dok izvodi različite operacije

and then detect even the slightest abnormality

otkrivajući nam i najmanja odstupanja

in any of these functions:

u svakoj od promatranih operacija,

vision, attention, language, audition.

vid, pažnja, govor, sluh.

A program called Brain Electrical

Program nazvan "Mapiranje električne aktivnosti mozga"

Activity Mapping

(Brain Electrical Activity Mapping)

then triangulates the source

tada locira izvor

of that abnormality in the brain.

te abnormalnosti u mozgu.

And another program called

Dok druga aplikacija

Statistical Probability Mapping

"Mapiranje statističke vjerojatnosti" (Statistical Probability Mapping)

then performs mathematical calculations

tada izvodi matematičke izračune

to determine whether any of these abnormalities

kako bi ustanovila je li neka od tih

are clinically significant,

abnormalnosti klinički značajna,

allowing us to provide a much more accurate

omogućujući nam da mnogo preciznije

neurological diagnosis

postavimo neurološku dijagnozu na osnovi

of the child's symptoms.

utvrđenih simptoma kod određenog djeteta.

And so I became the head of neurophysiology

Tako sam postala voditelj Neurofiziologije

for the clinical arm of this team,

kliničkog odjela ovog tima.

and we're finally able to use this technology

Napokon smo u mogućnosti koristiti ovu tehnologiju

towards actually helping

kako bismo pomogli

children with brain disorders.

djeci s neurološkim poremećajima.

And I'm happy to say that I'm now in the process

Drago mi je što mogu reći kako je u tijeku

of setting up this technology here in India.

implementacija ove tehnologije ovdje, u Indiji.

I'd like to tell you about one such child,

Ispričala bih vam priču o jednom takvom djetetu,

whose story was also covered by ABC News.

čiju priču je prenio i ABC News.

Seven-year-old Justin Senigar

Sedmogodišnjak Justin Senigar

came to our clinic with this diagnosis

došao je na našu Kliniku s dijagnozom

of very severe autism.

vrlo teškog oblika autizma.

Like many autistic children,

Kao kod mnoge djece s autizmom

his mind was locked inside his body.

njegov je um bio zatočen u tijelu.

There were moments when he would

Bilo je trenutaka kada se

actually space out for seconds at a time.

s vremena na vrijeme "isključio" na nekoliko sekundi.

And the doctors told his parents

A liječnici su objasnili roditeljima

he was never going to be able

kako nikada neće biti sposoban

to communicate or interact socially,

komunicirati ili funkcionirati u društvu,

and he would probably never have too much language.

i da vjerojatno neće govoriti.

When we used this groundbreaking EEG technology

Kada smo primjenom ove revolucionarne EEG tehnologije

to actually look at Justin's brain,

"virnuli" u Justinov mozak,

the results were startling.

dobiveni su nas rezultati zapanjili.

It turned out that Justin was almost

Utvrđeno je da Justin

certainly not autistic.

gotovo sigurno nema autizam.

He was suffering from brain seizures

Imao je moždanu disfunkciju

that were impossible to see with the naked eye,

koju je bilo nemoguće registrirati,

but that were actually causing symptoms

ali koja je uzrokovala simptome

that mimicked those of autism.

slične onima kod autizma.

After Justin was given anti-seizure medication,

Nakon što je Justinu propisan odgovarajući lijek,

the change in him was amazing.

promjena u njegovom ponašanju bila je zapanjujuća.

Within a period of 60 days,

Unutar 60 dana,

his vocabulary went from two to three words

njegov se rječnik povećao s dvije- tri riječi

to 300 words.

na 300 riječi.

And his communication and social interaction

a njegove komunikacijske i socijalizacijske vještine

were improved so dramatically

napredovale su tako dramatično,

that he was enrolled into a regular school

da je uključen u redovnu školu

and even became a karate super champ.

te čak postao prvak u karateu.

Research shows that 50 percent of children,

Istraživanja pokazuju da gotovo 50 posto djece,

almost 50 percent of children

gotovo 50 posto djece

diagnosed with autism

kojima je postavljena dijagnoza autizma

are actually suffering from hidden brain seizures.

zapravo pate od skrivenih moždanih disfunkcija.

These are the faces of the children

Ovo su djeca

that I have tested

koju sam testirala

with stories just like Justin.

čije su priče sliče Justinovoj.

All these children

Sva ta djeca

came to our clinic with a diagnosis

došla su na našu Kliniku s dijagnozama

of autism, attention deficit disorder,

autizma, poremećaja pažnje,

mental retardation, language problems.

mentalne retardacije, govorno-jezičnih problema.

Instead, our EEG scans revealed

Umjesto toga, naša EEG pretraga otkrila je

very specific problems hidden within their brains

vrlo različite poremećaje "skrivene" u njihovom mozgu

that couldn't possibly have been detected

koje nije bilo moguće otkriti

by their behavioral assessments.

procjenom njihova ponašanja.

So these EEG scans

Ove EEG pretrage

enabled us to provide these children

omogućile su nam davanje

with a much more accurate neurological diagnosis

mnogo preciznije neurološke dijagnoze

and much more targeted treatment.

te preciznije određivanje ciljane terapije.

For too long now, children with developmental disorders

Predugo su djeca sa razvojnim poremećajima

have suffered from misdiagnosis

patila zbog pogrešnih dijagnoza

while their real problems have gone undetected

dok su pravi problemi ostajali neotkriveni

and left to worsen.

a stanje im se pogoršavalo.

And for too long, these children and their parents

I predugo, ta djeca i njihovi roditelji

have suffered undue frustration and desperation.

pate zbog nepotrebne frustracije i očaja.

But we are now in a new era of neuroscience,

Danas ulazimo u novu eru neuroznanosti,

one in which we can finally look

u kojoj je napokon moguće promatrati izravno

directly at brain function in real time

moždanu aktivnost u stvarnom vremenu

with no risks and no side effects, non-invasively,

bez rizika i nuspojava, neinvazivno,

and find the true source

i naći pravi uzrok

of so many disabilities in children.

mnogih razvojnih poremećaja u djece.

So if I could inspire

Ako potaknem

even a fraction of you in the audience today

samo dio vas u publici danas

to share this pioneering diagnostic approach

da podijelite ovaj pionirski dijagnostički pristup

with even one parent whose child

s bar jednim roditeljem čije dijete

is suffering from a developmental disorder,

pati zbog razvojnih poremećaja,

then perhaps one more puzzle

možda još jedna slagalica

in one more brain will be solved.

u još jednom mozgu bude složena.

One more mind will be unlocked.

I još jedan um bude oslobođen iz okova.

And one more child who has been misdiagnosed

I još jedno pogrešno dijagnosticirano dijete

or even undiagnosed by the system

ili koje zdravstveni sustav nije otkrio

will finally realize his or her true potential

napokon shvati i upozna svoj pravi potencijal

while there's still time

dok još ima vremena

for his or her brain to recover.

za oporavak njegovog mozga.

And all this by simply watching the child's brainwaves.

I sve to jednostavno promatrajući moždane valove djeteta.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)