Michael Paul Mason

Recent findings from a journal of neuropathology have, for the first
time, linked brain trauma to motor neuron disease. The research
focused on the correlations between repeat concussions and amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease), causing widespread
concern among athletes in high-contact sports. But the study’s
implications are also profoundly disturbing for a different
demographic: our servicemembers.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be manufacturing a future full of
neuro-degenerative disorders for our veterans—a cost and complication
that isn’t being factored into the already grim lack of services for
those with brain injury.

A 2003 study revealed the incident of ALS was significantly higher
among Gulf War Veterans—about three times that of the general
population–and these numbers were taken from a conflict that lasted
roughly eight months. Now we find ourselves in a conflict some ten
times as long, and already we know that at least 115,000 troops have
suffered injury specifically to their brains—numbers that are expected
to rise dramatically with improved screening and diagnostic tools.

Now, in addition to the many complications posed by brain injury, our
wounded veterans must now worry that the worst symptoms may not appear
until later in life. Unless the Department of Defense and the US
Congress acknowledges the true scope of this problem—which extends to
the 1.6 million Americans who sustain a brain injury annually—our
country simply won’t be prepared for the healthcare challenges posed
by aging veterans. The odds are not in our favor because brain injury
has never received funding on parity with other disease processes like
AIDS or diabetes.

It’s nightmarish to think that without knowing it, we’ve been asking
our young servicemen and servicewomen to risk trading out their golden
years for a different kind of battle, one that ultimately ends in a
prison of total debilitation. The Congressional Task Force on Brain
Injury must once and for all call for the necessary funding of brain
injury research and services to ensure a better future for all
Americans afflicted by TBI. If we continue to ignore their wellbeing,
then we all risk losing our minds.

During a recent visit to the labs of Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, I had a chance to visit with Kyle Binder (pictured above), who probably knows more about inkjet printers than he ever intended. It turns out that the initial prototype for their bioprinters utilize the same cartridges that were commonly found in inkjet printers a decade ago, so Binder had to study printers in order to fabricate one that could dispense human cells instead of ink.

In case you haven’t heard the media storm: bioprinters represent an advanced method of regenerative medicine, one in which any body tissue may one day be constructed with the help of a printer.

From a recent review I wrote for Galleycat:

As a high school student, my eyes would glaze over every time my chemistry teacher walked over to the Periodic Table of Elements poster. Like my classmates, I had a basic sense of its structure and purpose, but loathed referencing it. The elements seemed so impersonal, utterly disenfranchised from everyday life. Just letters and numbers. How was I supposed to know that there were stories of murder and sex and adventure hiding behind each symbol? I was just taught to count electrons and construct compounds.

This past weekend, as oil seeped toward the New Orleans coastline, I attended a meeting of surgeons called “The Pancreas Club” in the French Quarter. Over a hundred and fifty attendees from all over the U.S. convened to discuss new findings in the treatment of pancreatic diseases.

While there, I had a chance to talk with one surgeon, Bill Fisher,  who told me about the peculiar aspects of the pancreas. Of all the abdominal organs, the pancreas seems to be most the most finicky, in the sense that surgeons are taught to avoid tampering with the organ during any abdominal procedure–it can unleash a flood of destructive digestive juices that will destroy surrounding tissue.

I’ll be presenting two talks at the Annual Regional Education Conference on Brain Injury: “The Pipeline,” about brain-injured servicemembers, and “Love in the Time of Brain Injury,” about a couple’s marriage following a brain injury.

“The Regional Medical Center at Memphis’ Traumatic Brain Injury Services presents the annual event, along with co-sponsors.

The cost to attend ranges from $25 to $65, depending upon the professional status and membership affiliation of the participant. However, it is free to members of the military, retired military, individuals with brain injuries and their family members.”

Click here for more information about the conference.

“Longtime readers of The New Yorker know McPhee as a writer whose geological and gastronomical peregrinations have lent a distinct heft and flavor to the magazine over the years–and yet McPhee has always managed to keep himself in the margins of his work.”

From “A Conversation with Michael Paul Mason” by Bethanne Patrick:

Michael Paul Mason has one of the most challenging jobs I’ve ever heard of: He is a brain-injury case manager for a rehabilitation hospital, which means he travels miles and miles in many directions to visit with and evaluate people who have experienced traumatic brain injuries of many different kind.

Link to video interview

This Tuesday evening, April 6th, I’ll be delivering a talk at the Santa Monica Public Library. “The Pipeline” follows wounded servicemembers as they go through the military’s medical system, and details the challenges they face with life after brain injury.

After the talk, I’ll also be around to sign copies of Head Cases.

Info and directions about the talk here.

“Bowden’s encounter with the sicario, the Mexican assassin, is easily the most distressing and horrifying story I’ve come across in recent memory–perhaps ever. After a game of cat-and-mouse in an unnamed city, Bowden finally meets the killer face to face, who openly shares the darkest acts he’s witnessed. As the assassin boasts of his techniques, you also wonder if Bowden is courting his own murder by simply meeting the man.”

Read more.

Left to right: George Zitnay, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Gen. Lori Sutton, Col. Michael Jaffe

This year, the Congressional Task Force on Brain Injury held their Brain Injury Awareness Fair at the Capitol. Dozens of organizations set out tables to inform our country’s lawmakers about the challenges of brain injury in America. I had the honor of visiting with several Oklahoma government officials to discuss the barriers we face in my home state.

Pictured above are several titans of brain injury reform in America. George Zitnay is one of the country’s pioneering rehabilitation professionals. Congressman Bill Pascrell is the creator and head of the Congressional Task Force on Brain Injury. General Lori Sutton and Colonel Michael Jaffe both oversee the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, the military’s top organization targeting brain injury among veterans and servicemembers. It was a distinct honor to listen to them discuss their hopes for brain injury reform in the future, and it was a particularly crowning moment when Congressman Pascrell read aloud a letter from Pres. Obama acknowledging the good work of the task force.