In The News
Wired for Action: Nine Inch Nails in your brain
?By MICHAEL BRANT-ZAWADZKI MC FACR / For The Current Ever wish you could put your brain on remote control? Some people have to. Our brain’s activity comes from certain chemicals released by nerve cells. Their release sends an electrical current down the cells’ extensions. That activity is triggered in two ways. The first is voluntary. … Read More
'Friend' or foe: An Army psychiatrist says Facebook hurts our troops
By Mayrav Saar August 18, 2012 Our soldiers are being devastated on an unexpected front: Facebook. Troops who have survived shellings and shootings can find themselves emotionally wounded by online photos of spouses partying with strangers and innuendo-laden updates that betray a very different “status” than that of a devoted girlfriend back home. Access to … Read More
Hoag Health – Brain Matters: When the Joker is Wild
?Obsessed with a comic book character? You may be courting tragedy. When voices compel you to act like a villain, your tragedy may visit others. With each new mass murder, grief grips yet another large group: We rightfully think first of the lives lost needlessly. The media vilifies the killer: His photo shows what could … Read More
Brain Matters: When brain surgery is nothing more than a bad hair day
July 3, 2012 Michael Brant-Zawadzki, MD, FACR You may have seen an “infotainment” TV piece of some third world psychic surgeon removing tumors with his bare hands and not leaving a scar, often accompanied by a gory picture of some bloody handful of stuff. Ask Kathy H., a now 50- something mother of … Read More
Brain Matters: The Pain That's in Your Brain
June 27, 2012 Dr. Michael Brant-Zawadzki “Quit your bellyaching, that pain’s all in your head!” Mom would say: No skipping school that day. Pain can serve certain needs. It has many causes, some?clear, others not. We’ve all sprained an ankle. Ouch! Tiny sensors in our bodies send signals constantly, but when assaulted, ring alarm bells … Read More
On the Back Roads, by the Rivers of My Memory …
June 13, 2012 Dr. Michael Brant-Zawadzki Today’s title from Glen Campbell’s hit, “Gentle on My Mind,” highlights this country music legend’s battle with Alzheimer’s. How can he perform on his current “Farewell Tour” while slowly losing his mind to the devastation of Alzheimer’s? Interestingly, this disease initially preserves the “back roads” – longstanding memories … Read More
Psychiatrist reports Facebook hurts troop morale
June 7, 2012 David Whiting Dr. Valeh Karimkhani and I sit at a Starbucks discussing the dark side of Facebook, and our focus isn’t the company’s poor IPO showing. Karimkhani is chief of psychiatry liaison services at Hoag Hospital and an Army reserve major who has served two tours of duty in Iraq. So … Read More
Spark of Innovation
Dr. Michael Brant-Zawadski May 20, 2012 Editor’s note: Some of the best jobs require skills in math, science, technology and engineering, but local business leaders and educators are concerned whether there will be enough students interested in those subjects to meet demand. These skills are vital in Orange County, home to many rising and … Read More
FDA issues warning about controversial MS treatment
May 10, 2012 Courtney Perkes The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued a safety alert about an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis a year after a Canadian woman died from the procedure in Orange County. The warning says the FDA has learned of death, stroke, blood clots and other complications as a … Read More
Minimally invasive aneurysm surgery saves lives
April 6, 2012 Dr. Michael Brant-Zawadzki Your brain is where you live, where you tuck away your memories. It moves you, both figuratively – with your aspirations and big ideas – and literally, by directing you to place one foot in front of the other. But what’s really going on up there? I’m aneuroradiologist. … Read More