Long Perspective on Neurology and Neurosurgery
Long Perspective on Neurology and Neurosurgery
Treating ailments inside the human skull may seem to represent the true cutting edge of modern medicine, but in fact the impulse and the daring to perform neurosurgery have been with us for a great many years. Long before there was a consensus on cerebral anatomy or any standard practice of anesthesiology, bonecutters in Neolithic Europe and in pre-Colombian Peru were drilling holes into the braincase to create a perforated patch of skull, which they would then remove from the still-living patient. This practice, known as "trepanation," may have been aimed at exorcising demons or relieving chronic headaches, or simply at general exploration. (Attending physicians left few notes in those days.) What's clear now is that neurology and neurosurgery have greatly picked up the pace of development toward the end of this millennium and are poised for even greater advancement in the future.
Such is the view of Charles Wilson, professor of neurological surgery at the University of California-San Francisco and a director of the Health Care Horizons program at the Institute for the Future in Menlo Park, California. Wilson is regarded by his fellow neurosurgeons as one of the foremost in the field when it comes to the removal of pituitary tumors and the repair of aneurysms -- the latter procedure being, according to a recent New Yorker article, the medical equivalent of bomb disposal. After about 30 years performing brain surgery, however, Wilson now spends part of his professional life considering medical matters outside the operating room. "My research focuses on emerging medical technologies, and especially on how genetics and genomics are transforming health care," he says. The science and medicine of the brain are likely to see a particularly strong impact from the bounty of genetic information now becoming available.
Treating ailments inside the human skull may seem to represent the true cutting edge of modern medicine, but in fact the impulse and the daring to perform neurosurgery have been with us for a great many years. Long before there was a consensus on cerebral anatomy or any standard practice of anesthesiology, bonecutters in Neolithic Europe and in pre-Colombian Peru were drilling holes into the braincase to create a perforated patch of skull, which they would then remove from the still-living patient. This practice, known as "trepanation," may have been aimed at exorcising demons or relieving chronic headaches, or simply at general exploration. (Attending physicians left few notes in those days.) What's clear now is that neurology and neurosurgery have greatly picked up the pace of development toward the end of this millennium and are poised for even greater advancement in the future.
Such is the view of Charles Wilson, professor of neurological surgery at the University of California-San Francisco and a director of the Health Care Horizons program at the Institute for the Future in Menlo Park, California. Wilson is regarded by his fellow neurosurgeons as one of the foremost in the field when it comes to the removal of pituitary tumors and the repair of aneurysms -- the latter procedure being, according to a recent New Yorker article, the medical equivalent of bomb disposal. After about 30 years performing brain surgery, however, Wilson now spends part of his professional life considering medical matters outside the operating room. "My research focuses on emerging medical technologies, and especially on how genetics and genomics are transforming health care," he says. The science and medicine of the brain are likely to see a particularly strong impact from the bounty of genetic information now becoming available.
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