I woke up to this news. It’s neat, I guess… But the brain cancer is sadder. Glad they invented this hat device thingy though – it looks like it helps.
I’m feeling better today! I had a really good night’s rest – I think that helped. I tried to meditate last night, but you know, got interrupted by my craving to check instagram. I ended up falling asleep (can’t remember how) and woke up to the beautiful sunshine.
This Hat Can Treat Brain Cancer!
I opened up Google news, ready to search the health section for interesting stuff! And what do you know – it looks like some company invented a hat device thing that can treat a form of brain cancer. Isn’t that weird? At least all the reporters think so – they’re calling it a sci-fi treatment.
The hat is actually some electrodes that’s attached to a battery. It disrupts cell division by stopping chromosomes from lining up correctly. I guess you can’t really make a working duplicate cell if the genetic information is messed up in the new sister cell. Since cancer cells divide a lot more than normal brain cells, they take a huge hit and tumor growth decreases significantly. Actually, researchers say that adult brains don’t really have too many cells that divide regularly (of course there are exceptions, like in the hippocampus), which means the device only hurts cancer cells overall and not your brain.
So far, the FDA and doctors have only used the hat device, called Optune, for one type of brain cancer – glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This cancer has to be the saddest one I’ve ever researched about. Without treatment, you’ll probably only live for up to 90 days! That’s like the length of some money-back guarantees.
If you decide to get the normal treatment, like chemo and surgeries, you’ll still only have an average maximum survival time of 365 days. That’s awful – I mean, most cancers give you at least five years left to spend with your loved ones if you go through chemo and stuff!
But Optune changes everything – or at least throws a bit of light on a pretty dim fate. There aren’t many studies on its usage because it’s still fairly new – but from the studies I could dig up, 100 percent of patients lived for longer than one year when diligently wearing the Optune anti-cancer hat (at least that’s one study). In that same study, one person lived for like three years!
Some patients even went into complete remission – miracles!
No, but It’s So Hard to Wear This Hat…
Optune is a super awesome advance in the dreadful cancer that is GBM. But it’s not all stars and rainbows. Some patients in the studies quit using it knowing fully well that it’s extending their lives.
Why? Because it’s really difficult – really hard actually. You have to wear it for 18 hours everyday, which requires shaving your head everyday. I guess if you wear it while sleeping, that cleaves off a few of the mandatory hours – but not by much, especially if you only sleep for six hours a night.
Now during your waking hours, imagine this – you’re wearing a hat with wires coming out from the back that attach to a bag that you have to carry with you everywhere you go. The device’s battery is in the bag, so you have to literally stay attached to it while you’re working, playing, eating, and whatever you’re doing while you’re going about your day. Tough stuff!
My heart goes out to anyone with GBM. But I’m glad Optune was invented to help treat this awful disease and give people hope!
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