How come brain damage is permanent? it seems stupid that our most important organ can’t repair itself.
At an early age the brain is quite plastic. It was once thought that nerves cannot be regenerated, but new research indicates that this is not absolutely true. Perhaps in the near future, we may be able to regenerate new neurons in the brain based upon stem cell research or other new science.
How about this (just a guess) The brain is the doctor. if the doctor gets injured he is unable to heal himself because of his injuries.
Is that anything like the truth? (experts?)
The brain can compensate for injuries to a rather large extent. Examine the cases of people who have had entire halves of their brain removed (hemispherectomies) yet remain largely unaffected, save for paralysis on the side of their body opposite the hemisphere that was removed. Think about all of the people who have been shot in the head or suffered similar traumatic brain injury (Phineas Gage). While yes, injuries to the brain can be quite fatal or cause permanent ill effects, methinks the brain is a lot more resilient than people tend to give it credit for.
“Quite fatal”, Alereon? Are there different levels of fatality?
“Your husband should be fine, ma’am – his wounds were only mildly fatal.”
“Since the illness was massively fatal I’m going to suggest a closed casket.”
Actually, maybe that’s not a bad idea…
It’s easy to forget that ‘fatal’ means ‘death-causing’
On a tangent note, I have to admit I use the word “quite” as a means of expressing understated but wildly dramatic results. A bullet hitting you might be fatal, but an artillery shell would be quite fatal in the sense that it not only kills you, it spatters you over a large area. Since “splatter” is not a word one typically uses in polite conversation, “quite” covers the situation quite sufficiently.
Well, I was using “quite fatal” as shorthand for “quite likely to be fatal.” As opposed to, say, getting shot in most any other random part of your body. Though I do often use it in the manner that Bryan Ekers noted, as in “Oh, he’s QUITE dead.”
Bryan Ekers I use ‘a tiny bit’ for that purpose.
Alereon good save!
Like I say: extremely fatal = closed casket.
By the way, here’s everything you ever wanted to know about Phineas Gage.
Dude gives me the willies.
The brain can heal itself to some extent, but it is such a delicate and important organ that any lasting damage is often notieable. If a cut somewhere else on your body doesn’t heal up exactly the same as new you might not even notice, but on the brain there will probably be a noticeable difference.