![]() Photo: ABC7 Chicago By: Josiah Reed-Spratley Every day, we get closer and closer to finding new cures and ways to prevent life ending diseases. Not too long ago, a doctor named Dr. Peter Nelson created a device that helps prevent brain aneurysms from bursting. This device is called a flow diverter. Once placed, it directs blood flow away from the inflamed area of the aneurysm, thereby preventing the bubble-like portion of the aneurysm from erupting and ultimately taking the life of the patient. The device itself is tiny; in fact, it is thinner than 48 strands of human hair. According to the Dr. Nelson, it is flexible to fit with the blood vessels in the brain, which are small and twisty. Dr. Nelson’s device saved the life of Christina Lehmejian-Karaszewski. She started having trouble swallowing during her pregnancy with her second child and after the pregnancy she started having severe headaches and had trouble seeing. When she went to her local hospital she was sent home but she insisted on getting an MRI. The result came back and she found out she had a brain aneurysm pushed up against her brain stem. With the help of Dr. Nelson’s device, she was able to survive. This device is able to to stop the issue at the root with redirecting the blood flow to avoid the aneurysm erupting, which results in the death of the person. This invention has proven itself to be effective and useful. It’s small and thin, so to the patient, it’s like it’s not even there. The flow diverter has created more awareness and more funds to its collective studies, making our chances to actually one day killing an aneurysm at first sight greater than it was in the past years. Although the flow diverter has created awareness for aneurysms and how to treat them, doctors want us to pay more attention to the signs. This includes: sudden and severe headaches, nausea, and blurred or double vision. If these signs are apparent in anyone you know or love, please get them to a hospital where they can be treated. Aneurysms are fatal and should be treated right away. Thousands of people have already gotten the device implanted to help with treatment, taking us one step closer to finding preventatives and cures to problems that were once untreatable.
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