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Daily Archives: December 22, 2017

Failure to Diagnose: Right Hemisphere Strokes

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Aging, Communication, Generational, Health, Universities

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

American Heart Association, American Stroke Association, brain, Doctors, infarction, ischemia, left brain, left hemisphere, physicians, right brain, right hemisphere, stroke, stroke symptoms, symptoms, Wallenberg's Stroke, Wallenberg's Syndrome

Missing the symptoms

For years the medical community has been trying to increase public awareness of the symptoms of a stroke. The FAST program (Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech slurred, Time to call 911) is considered critical in getting a stroke victim medical treatment to minimize the effect of the damage to the brain caused by a stroke.

The problem is that these symptoms are characteristic of a stroke in the left side,  (also called the left hemisphere) of the brain. Strokes in the right side or hemisphere, and strokes in the brain stem usually have different symptoms. These means that some strokes may be missed by non-medical witnesses, delaying and/or preventing treatment.

This has also resulted in a common belief that left hemisphere strokes are more prevalent than right hemisphere strokes, which a study published in 2015, in the American Heart Association Journal uncovered evidence that this was not the case. This study reviewed reported strokes in patients, followed up with an MRI assessment of the location of the stroke.

The results of the study indicated that left hemisphere strokes were slightly more prevalent than right hemisphere strokes. It suggests that the difference might be attributed to the diagnosis of the stroke based on the noted symptoms, resulting in left hemisphere stroke patients being easier to identify, and right hemisphere stroke patients not being diagnosed.

Here are the possible physical symptoms of a right hemisphere stroke according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association:

  • Attention. He may not be able to focus on a task or what he sees or hears.
  • Perception. She may have left-side neglect. This means that she will not see objects or people on her left side. For example, she may have trouble reading words on the left side of a page. She may ignore food on the left side of her plate.
  • Reasoning and problem solving. He may not know that there is a problem, like running out of medicine. Or, he may not know how to solve the problem, like calling for a refill.
  • Memory. She may not remember information she learned before. She may have trouble learning new information.
  • Social communication. He may not be able to understand jokes or nonverbal cues. For example, he may not understand what someone means when they shrug their shoulders. He may say the wrong thing at the wrong time or interrupt others.
  • Organization. She may have trouble putting information together logically. This can cause problems when telling stories or giving directions. She may also have trouble planning. So, she might forget to respond to your calls or e-mails or lose information.
  • Insight. He may not recognize that he has any problems. Or, he may not realize that his problems cause trouble at home, school, or work.
  • Orientation. She may have problems knowing the date, time, or where she is. She may not remember information like her birthday, age, or family names.

Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Arts, Film, Generational, Religion, review, Science Fiction, Space

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Tags

Ben Solo, C-3PO, Carrie Fisher, Chewbacca, D2, Finn, Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill, Millennium Falcon, movie review, Poe, Porgs, Princess Leia, R2, Rebels, redacted, Rey, Snoke, Star Wars, Supreme Commander, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi

The late Carrie Fisher (1956-2016)
The Last Jedi honors the memory of our Star Wars Princess

Star Wars:  The Last Jedi doesn’t disappoint, nor does it shock hardcore Star Wars fans. The big question of this episode is “Who are Rey’s parents?” The film answers the question; however, the answer is anticlimactic when we discover that her parents are nobodies that sold Rey for drinking money. This does not mean that this is the final answer to the question, but Rey does seem to accept that as fact when Kylo Ren tells her.

As one may expect, the film is packed with action scenes, and the Rebels are in constant peril. By the end, Luke Skywalker is dead, no one in the galaxy responds to the Rebel’s call for help, the Rebels are decimated, and the remains of the entire Rebel army can fit on the Millennium Falcon.

On the plus side, everyone has hope. Run credits.

The biggest surprise was the significant role the late Carrie Fisher character plays in the film. Despite the actor’s unexpected death one year ago, her character is still alive when the credits roll. It was reported that she had finished all her scenes before her death, but that could have been a few cameo scenes, as was the case in The Force Awakens. In this episode, Fisher’s character does have a near death experience, but she recovers and remains central to the plot.

Mark Hamill’s character was only teased in the last episode, (Star Wars:  The Force Awakens,) but in The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker’s hermit lifestyle is explained. Skywalker’s failure to train Kylo Ren has caused him to reject the Jedi religion, and he makes it clear he is just waiting for his death.

However, Skywalker is convinced to play a significant role in saving the few remaining Rebels, and he does so by deceiving Kylo Ren into a fight with a projected image of himself, that buys enough time for the to escape the First Order.

In the end, Skywalker gets his wish to die a Jedi death like Obi Wan Kenobi as his body mystically disappears as he sits on a rock far away from the battle.

Rey and Kylo Ren develop a relationship based on each trying to pull the other to their side of the Force. Rey has a temporary victory when Kylo Ren saves her by killing the Supreme Leader, Snoke, but then Kylo Ren claims himself to be the Supreme Leader and tries to convince Rey to join him. She declines in a forceful way.

The newer characters, Finn and Poe Dameron continue their solid performances from the The Force Awakens and spend much of this film failing to save the Rebels from being destroyed. In retrospect, one might wonder that with friends like Finn and Poe, who needs an evil enemy with massive firepower?

Chewbacca, Yoda, C-3PO, and R2-D2 all have supporting roles in this episode, but the constant reappearing presence is the BB-8 robot that saves Finn and Poe’s butts on a regular basis. All five of these characters (Chewbacca, Yoda, C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8,) along with the Porgs (a new cute and cuddly Star Wars species that has merchandising written all over them,) provide the comic relief throughout the film.

In the end, this was a worthy addition to the Star Wars series, and should satisfy even the most hardcore fan. Nothing in the film would be a galaxy-quaking revelation, but The Last Jedi effectively continues the saga of a galaxy far, far away.

Other Pages of This Blog

  • About Paul Kiser
  • Common Core: Are You a Good Switch or a Bad Switch?
  • Familius Interruptus: Lessons of a DNA Shocker
  • Moffat County, Colorado: The Story of Two Families
  • Rules on Comments
  • Six Things The United States Must Do
  • Why We Are Here: A 65-Year Historical Perspective of the United States

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Paul Kiser’s Tweets

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