2023-06-24 04:00:00
Neuro-oncologist and full professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Sherbrooke, Dr.r David Fortin describes the path of life seen by a neurosurgeon in a popular and very enlightening story, The seasons of the brain. In this book, he passionately shares what his profession and his patients have taught him over the years. It chronicles the stages of the brain through life and provides important recommendations to help keep your brain healthy.
Dr. Fortin, who also directs the brain tumor research laboratory, gives three tips for ensuring that our brains work properly.
First, “you have to keep it active: doing intellectual activities, internet research, reading, doing crosswords and sudokus. People who don’t like to read can watch TV series whose narrative continues from week to week. Keep your brain active. »
His second piece of advice is simple: “It’s the food.”
And the third comes down to maintaining good vascular health and exercising.
“I tell my elderly patients to go for a walk at least half an hour a day. »
Losing his patients
Dr. Fortin drew on his memories to write the book and recounts cases that marked him.
“The chapter where I recount the death of a patient during surgery is not easy. It’s the worst disaster I’ve had in my whole life and it was at the start of my career, ”he confides.
His medical work with the dancer of the Grands Ballets Canadiens Nathalie Buisson, who died in 2013 of brain cancer, also marked him a lot.
“We had forged a very special bond. I followed her for almost ten years. One thing leading to another, there are patients with whom we forge links that are quite close and when we lose these patients, it’s almost like losing a loved one. It’s hard, but it’s part of the job. »
“You have to build a shell and be able to navigate between empathy, sympathy and remaining functional. I work in the field of malignant brain tumors and we lose the vast majority of our patients. If losing a patient unsettles me, I won’t be able to work. He has a lot of empathy, but he also has scientific work to do to help patients. “You have to find the path, which is very narrow, between accompanying your patient in a compassionate way, and at the same time, being able to face the pitfalls. »
Prevention
Dr. David Fortin operates on people who have tumours, but also people who have suffered head trauma. He has a very important message to convey on this subject.
“The best treatment for brain injuries is prevention. It is upstream of the trauma. If we can prevent it, that’s the best thing we can do. »
“We see a lot of mountain bike accidents and I can tell you that wearing a helmet, in this context, saves lives. Very clearly. »
amazing brain
The complexity of the brain never ceases to amaze this eminent researcher.
“There are 100 billion neurons that are always changing their connections. It’s a complexity that is hard to really grasp,” he says.
“It’s a 10 to the 15 times. It’s a… followed by 15 zeros.” It’s the number of synapses – or the number of connections – that you have in your head. And it’s always changing in real time. This dynamic changes and perfects throughout our lives. »
♦ David Fortin is a neurosurgeon, neuro-oncologist and full professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke.
♦ He directs the brain tumor research laboratory.
♦ He has great writing projects at the moment.
EXTRACT
Photo provided by Les Éditions Trécarré
« The context we are experiencing in the health care system at the end of summer 2022 stems from a bad economic situation between this pandemic which will have unduly weighed down this system and all its workers and the accelerated retirement of the boomer generation caused precisely by the pandemic. Even if the demographic indicators had been red for a long time (the question of why and how this crisis was not anticipated by governments is beyond me, but the management of politics in general is incomprehensible to me anyway), the pandemic that we might not foresee (or maybe yes, come to think of it) will have accentuated the shortage and the desertion of personnel. »
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