Aditi Shankardass: A second opinion on learning disorders

Translator: Sašo Braz Reviewer: Evridika Cuder

When I was 10 years old,

Ko sem bila stara 10 let,

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

me je bratranec peljal na ogled šole za medicino.

And as a special treat,

Za poslastico

he took me to the pathology lab

mi je pokazal še laboratorij za patologijo,

and took a real human brain

iz kozarca vzel

out of the jar

čisto prave možgane

and placed it in my hands.

in mi jih položil v dlani.

And there it was,

Pred seboj sem imela

the seat of human consciousness,

zibelko človeške zavesti,

the powerhouse of the human body,

gonilo človeškega telesa,

sitting in my hands.

v svojih dlaneh.

And that day I knew that when I grew up,

Na ta dan sem spoznala,

I was going to become a brain doctor,

da se bom ukvarjala z možgani, ko odrastem,

scientist, something or the other.

bodisi v medicini ali znanosti.

Years later, when I finally grew up,

Leta kasneje, ko sem končno odrasla,

my dream came true.

so se mi uresničile sanje.

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

In ko sem pisala svoj doktorat

on the neurological causes

o nevroloških vzrokih

of dyslexia in children

za disleksijo pri otrocih,

that I encountered a startling fact

sem naletela na vznemirljivo dejstvo,

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

ki bi ga rada danes delila z vami.

It is estimated that one in six children,

Ocenjuje se, da vsak je šesti otrok,

that's one in six children,

vsak šesti otrok

suffer from some developmental disorder.

žrtev neke vrste motnje v razvoju.

This is a disorder that

Torej motnje,

retards mental development in the child

ki upočasni umski razvoj otroka

and causes permanent mental impairments.

in povzroča trajne poškodbe uma.

Which means that each and every one of you here today

Kar pomeni, da vsak izmed vas

knows at least one child that is suffering

pozna vsaj enega otroka, ki trpi

from a developmental disorder.

za motnjami razvoja.

But here's what really perplexed me.

A kar me je zelo pretreslo, je to,

Despite the fact that each

da kljub temu,

and every one of these disorders

da vse te motnje

originates in the brain,

izvirajo v možganih,

most of these disorders

se večino diagnoz

are diagnosed solely on the basis

postavi izključno na podlagi

of observable behavior.

opazovanj vedenja.

But diagnosing a brain disorder

A diagnoza možganskih motenj

without actually looking at the brain

brez dejanskega opazovanja možganov,

is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem

je podobna zdravljenju srčnega bolnika

based on their physical symptoms,

na podlagi fizičnih simptomov,

without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray

a brez pomoči EKG-ja ali rentgena

to look at the heart.

pri opazovanju srca.

It seemed so intuitive to me.

Zdelo se mi je povsem logično --

To diagnose and treat a brain disorder accurately,

da natančno določimo in zdravimo možganske motnje,

it would be necessary to look at the brain directly.

moramo nujno opazovati možgane same.

Looking at behavior alone

Z opazovanjem vedenja samega

can miss a vital piece of the puzzle

lahko zgrešimo velik del uganke

and provide an incomplete, or even a misleading,

in lahko ustvarimo nepopolno ali zavajajočo

picture of the child's problems.

sliko otrokovih težav.

Yet, despite all the advances in medical technology,

Da, kljub vsemu napredku v medicini

the diagnosis of brain disorders

je diagnoza možganskih motenj

in one in six children

pri vsakem šestem otroku

still remained so limited.

ostala tako omejena.

And then I came across a team at Harvard University

Nato sem se srečala z ekipo na univerzi Harvard,

that had taken one such advanced medical technology

ki je tovrstno tehnologijo

and finally applied it,

končno uporabila

instead of in brain research,

za diagnozo možganskih motenj pri otrocih,

towards diagnosing brain disorders in children.

namesto za raziskovanje možganov.

Their groundbreaking technology

Ta napredna tehnologija

records the EEG, or the electrical activity

zaznava EEG ali električno dejavnost

of the brain, in real time,

v možganih v realnem času,

allowing us to watch the brain

kar nam omogoča opazovanje možganov,

as it performs various functions

ki izvajajo različne funkcije

and then detect even the slightest abnormality

in zaznavanje še tako majhne nepravilnosti

in any of these functions:

katerekoli funkcije,

vision, attention, language, audition.

vid, pozornost, jezik, sluh.

A program called Brain Electrical

Program, ki zapisuje električne dejavnosti

Activity Mapping

v možganih,

then triangulates the source

triangulira izvor

of that abnormality in the brain.

nepravilnosti v možganih.

And another program called

Drugi program, ki zapisuje

Statistical Probability Mapping

statistično verjetnost,

then performs mathematical calculations

opravi matematične izračune,

to determine whether any of these abnormalities

ki določijo, če je katera izmed nepravilnosti

are clinically significant,

klinično pomembna.

allowing us to provide a much more accurate

To nam omogoči natančnejše

neurological diagnosis

nevrološke diagnoze

of the child's symptoms.

otrokovih simptomov.

And so I became the head of neurophysiology

Tako sem postala vodja nevrofiziolgije

for the clinical arm of this team,

omenjene ekipe.

and we're finally able to use this technology

Končno smo lahko to tehnologijo uporabljali

towards actually helping

za dejansko pomoč

children with brain disorders.

otrokom z možganskimi motnjami.

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

Z veseljem povem, da takšno

of setting up this technology here in India.

tehnologijo postavljamo tudi v Indiji.

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

Rada bi vam povedala zgodbo o otroku,

whose story was also covered by ABC News.

o katerem se je poročalo tudi na novicah.

Seven-year-old Justin Senigar

Sedemletni Justin Senigar

came to our clinic with this diagnosis

je prišel v našo kliniko z diagnozo

of very severe autism.

zelo resnega avtizma.

Like many autistic children,

Tako kot pri večini avtistov,

his mind was locked inside his body.

je bil njegov um ujet v telesu.

There were moments when he would

Na trenutke

actually space out for seconds at a time.

je kar odtaval za par sekund.

And the doctors told his parents

Zdravniki so staršem rekli,

he was never going to be able

da verjetno ne bo nikoli sposoben

to communicate or interact socially,

sporazumevanja ali druženja z drugimi

and he would probably never have too much language.

in da verjetno ne bo nikoli zares obvladal jezika.

When we used this groundbreaking EEG technology

Z omenjeno napredno tehnologijo EEG

to actually look at Justin's brain,

smo si ogledali Justinove možgane

the results were startling.

in rezultati so bili presenetljivi.

It turned out that Justin was almost

Izkazalo se je, da Justin skoraj

certainly not autistic.

zagotovo ni avtist.

He was suffering from brain seizures

Trpel je za možganskimi napadi,

that were impossible to see with the naked eye,

ki jih je bilo nemogoče videti s prostim očesom,

but that were actually causing symptoms

bili pa so vzrok simptomov,

that mimicked those of autism.

ki so bili podobni simptomom avtizma.

After Justin was given anti-seizure medication,

Ko so Justinu dali ustrezna zdravila,

the change in him was amazing.

je bila sprememba neverjetna.

Within a period of 60 days,

V roku 60-ih dni

his vocabulary went from two to three words

se je njegov besednjak z dveh do treh besed

to 300 words.

povečal na tristo besed.

And his communication and social interaction

Njegove sposobnosti sporazumevanja

were improved so dramatically

so se tako izboljšale,

that he was enrolled into a regular school

da so ga lahko vpisali v redno šolo,

and even became a karate super champ.

kjer je celo postal prvak v karateju.

Research shows that 50 percent of children,

Raziskave kažejo, da polovica otrok,

almost 50 percent of children

skoraj polovica otrok,

diagnosed with autism

ki naj bi trpela za avtizmom,

are actually suffering from hidden brain seizures.

ima pravzaprav skrite možganske napade.

These are the faces of the children

To so obrazi otrok,

that I have tested

ki sem jih pregledala,

with stories just like Justin.

s podobnimi zgodbami kot Justin.

All these children

Vsi ti otroci so prišli

came to our clinic with a diagnosis

na kliniko z diagnozami

of autism, attention deficit disorder,

avtizma, težavami z zbranostjo,

mental retardation, language problems.

umsko zaostalostjo, težavami z jezikom.

Instead, our EEG scans revealed

Naši EEG pregledi so odkrili,

very specific problems hidden within their brains

da imajo bolj specifične težave z možgani,

that couldn't possibly have been detected

ki jih ne bi mogli odkriti

by their behavioral assessments.

le z opazovanjem vedenja.

So these EEG scans

Z EEG slikami

enabled us to provide these children

lahko tem otrokom naredimo

with a much more accurate neurological diagnosis

natančnejše nevrološke diagnoze

and much more targeted treatment.

in določimo boljše načine zdravljenja.

For too long now, children with developmental disorders

Dolgo časa so otroci z motnjami v razvoju

have suffered from misdiagnosis

trpeli zaradi napačnih diagnoz,

while their real problems have gone undetected

medtem ko so bile prave težave neopažene

and left to worsen.

in so zato postale hujše.

And for too long, these children and their parents

Dolgo časa so ti otroci in njihovi starši

have suffered undue frustration and desperation.

trpeli zaradi frustracij in depresije.

But we are now in a new era of neuroscience,

A vstopili smo v novo obdobje nevroznanosti,

one in which we can finally look

obdobje, v katerem lahko končno

directly at brain function in real time

neposredno opazujemo možgane,

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

brez tveganj in stranskih učinkov,

and find the true source

da najdemo resnični izvor

of so many disabilities in children.

težav mnogih otrok.

So if I could inspire

Če lahko nagovorim

even a fraction of you in the audience today

vsaj del poslušalcev,

to share this pioneering diagnostic approach

in delim ta napredni pristop

with even one parent whose child

z vsaj enim staršem, čigar

is suffering from a developmental disorder,

otrok trpi zaradi motenj v razvoju.

then perhaps one more puzzle

Mogoče bo potem razvozlana še ena uganka

in one more brain will be solved.

še enih možganov.

One more mind will be unlocked.

Odklenili bomo še en um.

And one more child who has been misdiagnosed

In še en otrok z napačno diagnozo

or even undiagnosed by the system

ali celo brez nje,

will finally realize his or her true potential

se bo končno zavedal svojega potenciala,

while there's still time

medtem, ko bo še vedno čas,

for his or her brain to recover.

da se njegovi možgani opomorejo.

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

Vse to le z opazovanjem otrokovih možganov.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)