Author Question: Drug Induced Amnesia

Amie Asks:

I was so pleased to find your blog. I have a medical question and I'm hoping you can help me. What I'm wondering is if there is a way to induce memory loss. Could a villain cause someone to have amnesia by drugging them or fiddling with their hippocampus?  (I plan on my character eventually getting their memory back.) Even if all you have is a theory, I would love some advice.

Jordyn Says:

Well, we know that there are drugs that affect memory as we give these to help patients forget painful procedures. These would be drugs like Versed (a short-acting benzodiazepine), Ketmaine (a general anesthetic but doesn't wipe out your respiratory drive), Propofol (which was what Michael Jackson was using to help him sleep-- allegedly) and GHB (the date rape drug).

Wikipedia actually provides a *nice* list of memory altering substances that you can find here.

As far as a surgical procedure-- sure, you could destroy those brain cells but there would be no bringing them back. My guess would be the damage would be permanent.

I think it would depend on what length of time you'd want your character to be amnestic for. For a short time (several hours) I'd probably pick a drug to use on the character. A longer time-- some sort of injury with perhaps a *hope* the memory came back or, perhaps, the villain wants there to always be a memory loss but the character recovers.

Brain injuries, unlike other types of injuries, do not follow a straight and narrow path so there is a lot of leeway for the author here.

Other than that-- maybe you'll be the one to dream up some sort of way to temporarily injure memory cells that no one else has thought of.

Best of luck!

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Amie Johnson graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a bachelor of science in Christian education, and is a member of the Bryant Wesleyan Church. The Valley Without Her is her first novel, written in small installments during nap time and after little boys went to bed. Ideas were scribbled on little scraps of paper, and her efforts were often interrupted by diapers, drinks of water, and requests for impromptu puppet shows starring plastic coin pouches. Amie lives in rural Indiana with her husband, Keith, and their two small sons, Jesse and Samuel.

Author Question: Fire Extinguiser Versus Face

Theresa S. asks:

While fighting off an attacker, my MC strikes him across the face with a fire extinguisher canister. She's shorter than him, so the swing would be upward, and it struck him (on, near, around) the
cheekbone. I imagine this could create a gash, yes? And if it did, what do you think the gash would look like?

He will not visit a hospital (so he won't get stitches), but instead will have a friend "patch it up" which, I'm not quite sure what that will entail.

Jordyn Says:

Hi Theresa,

Thanks so much for sending me your question.

Yes, this type of injury could easily cause a laceration to the cheek. In my experience, it would be a linear or straight cut of varying size maybe at the largest 1-2 inches. He also has the possibility of facial fractures (after all, those things are big and heavy) and a chance of traumatic brain injury as well (something along the lines of a concussion.)

The best way to get a cut "patched up" as you say is to use butterfly closures but many people do not know how to apply them correctly. A sticky end of two pieces should be applied on either side of the cut, then the edges drawn together, and then opposing sides taped down. Almost like you're pushing the ends of a box together.

Here's a video that covers how to apply butterfly closures but it doesn't use my technique which I do find more effective.

Hope this helps and happy writing.

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Theresa Santy recently won the FaithWriters Page Turner Contest for her novel-in-progress. She has a passion for writing but also loves Jesus, family and friends, laughter, and flip-flops. Learn more about Theresa @ theresasanty.com.

 

Up and Coming

Hello Redwood's Fans!

Well, we are mostly recovered here from our winter colds and seriously hoping for Spring to return-- except perhaps my husband who is the skier in the family and the last one suffering from whatever respiratory virus invaded our home.

What's your favorite season? I actually don't mind winter unless I have to be out in it. And even then it's okay unless it is completely FREEZING like today. I am ready for spring.

This week I'm focusing on author questions. First one deals with injuries from smacking a villain in the face and the other deals with amnesia.

Also, the Bloodline Trilogy is one sale on Amazon for Kindle at $1.99 a piece! Definitely a good time to pick them up.

Also, we're doing the 12 Days of Christmas all year long over at my FB author page. You are automatically entered for that month's drawing just by answering the posted questions. Hope you'll join us. 

Have a great week,

Jordyn

Jahi McMath: Follow-up

After I posted my thoughts on the Jahi McMath case a good friend of mine (Hi, K.S!!) e-mailed me this article that posits Jahi can regulate her own body temperature, therefore her hypothalamus is working, and therefore she is not brain dead.

I'm always fascinated in what people think of these issues and instead of just waving things to the side as nonsense, I try to look at things in a logical sense to see if they have merit. I think all people on BOTH sides need to do this.

Now, it is an interesting point that if she can do this-- is part of her brain functioning?

The first thing to note is the post is authored by Dr. Byrne whose bio states is a certified neonatologist and pediatrician. I mean, to be honest, his bio is impressive. It seems he should be quite knowledgeable in this area.

The first issue I have with his article as that the medical information he has is not sourced. So, how did he get this information? He doesn't state in his own piece that he examined the child though this article states he did. But if you read through Dr. Byrne's piece-- it seems as though he has collected facts from elsewhere. I mean, why not say, "I examined Jahi and these were my findings."

At one point, the doctor states:

"The 'poor care' I am referring to here is the prolonged starvation; the protracted and unnecessarily repeated apnea testing conducted in a potentially deleterious manner; the deprivation of needed thyroid medication; refusing to treat an adrenal gland problem that arose; et cetera."

From the hospital stand-point, they were waiting for her family to come to terms with the brain death issue-- which is likely why they weren't feeding her. My guess is they were providing IV fluids to keep her hydrated. The apnea test he refers to is a test for brain death and he doesn't expand on what he thinks was deleterious. The deprivation of thyroid medication actually supports the theory of brain death because her brain was not signaling to produce these hormones-- and same with the adrenal gland issue.  

The only other instance I found that mentions her self-regulation of body temperature is this article where her attorney, Christopher Dolan, states this. Well, one, he's not exactly unbiased. And two, I'm always wary of medical information coming from a non-medical person. BEWARE. I mean, don't come to me for advice if you're in jail. What makes me more suspicious is that Christopher Dolan, according to this article, is trying to change state law from using brain death as legal death. He sates it should always be the family's decision to terminate life support--- not the state's.

This is my personal opinion but the more he keeps this case in the forefront-- the more he is paid. I may be cynical but he has reasons other than family advocacy to keep this case going ($$$ and notoriety to name a few.) I pray he is doing this for the right reason.

This is just a big can of worms. Again, I am pro-life. I believe in the value of life but there does come a point that because we can doesn't mean we should and, for me, prolonging a death is just that.

What about you? What should be considered legal death: the heart stopping or loss of brain function? Who should decide to withdraw care when there is no hope of recovery?