Autopsy as a research tool Biomedical Technology I Autopsy as a research tool

Research Autopsy if one of the oldest research tools Important tool for Alzheimer’s disease research 2007 study done by Dr Julie Schneider at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago Study revealed that people with clinical signs of dementia showed multiple disease processes in their brains

Research in traumatic brain injury Growing concern due to the number of veterans returning from war with brain injuries caused by explosives Does not always show up on an x-ray or MRI Do cause a wide range of symptoms Can appear days or weeks after the trauma and can last or even continue to worsen for years

Autopsy Reveal Autopsies show that some of these symptoms are associated with changes in brain anatomy Research on athletes in contact sports like boxing and football is showing that these players are at risk of degenerative brain diseases due to repeated concussions

CTE Traumatic brain injury is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and for chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE CTE patients show signs of brain degeneration such as memory loss, confusion, impaired judgement, aggression, depression and progressive dementia

CTE Onset comes at younger age than Alzheimer’s disease Brain autopsy after death is the only sur way to diagnose CTE Reduced brain size and weight Tangles of tau protein in the brain Recent autopsies of retired professional football players who died from suicide showed clear signs of CTE

Controlling CTE Researchers are working to find biomarkers to diagnose CTE in living patients and are investigation therapeutic drugs that might work after an injury to break down or prevent tau protein deposits

Coronary Blockage Research Dr. Renu Virmani, a pathologist does autopsies on cardiac patients that focus on examining the coronary arteries and implanted stents to better understand the effects of coronary stent treatment Her findings have resulted in changes to the recommended medications provided after stent insertion.