Thinking ahead

I saw a recent news article where experts in adolescence health care are advocating head images for all teenagers. They want better screening for kids who have depression.  Selfishly speaking, I hope these experts get their way.  

Think about it. Science has given us the ability to see inside our skull! Depression can be helped, so it is important to get these kids on treatment. But adult brains are important, too!

Statistics show that 1 in 20 people have brain aneurysms. This statistic is roughly the same as the number of teens with depression. Why can’t we screen everyone?

 Just one MRI  would have proven to my family doctor that my fatigue and depression-like symptoms were not caused by “getting older” or poor attitude. Yes, the MRI would have been expensive. Yes, I still would have needed surgery to fix the little suckers that pulsed like silent time bombs in my brain. But an MRI before my brain blew up would have avoided that whole near-death experience and the resulting 30-plus days in the intensive care unit.

Look at it this way: Saving my lowly, single brain cost about the same as 25,000 MRI’s or 50,000 head CTs. Compared to many people who rupture a brain aneurysm, my bill was not too bad. Despite the fact that my head went through two strokes and three brain surgeries, I needed no extra hospitalization for rehabilitation. Nor did I need months of outpatient therapy to get my pesky brain cells back in sync.

Experience tells me that screening the brain is a better alternative than misery or death. What do you think?