"She cannot perceive thirst or hunger. She doesn't have the brain structures necessary for that kind of perception"
This little 'gem' of medical wisdom was offered by Dr. Walker and relied on by Mary Jo Melone
in her awful column in the SP Times (linked below).
This is an Email I sent to Ms. Melone:
Dear Ms. Melone,
I couldn't believe what I was reading, in your column of Sept. 21, "Crusade is blind to hard facts of medicine", regarding the medical facts surrounding the case.
Your Dr. Walker, who you relied on to provide information on Mrs. Schiavo's true medical condition, doesn't know what he's talking about!
After telling us all about Terri's cerebral cortex and how damaged it supposedly is, he states "She cannot perceive thirst or hunger. She doesn't have the brain structures necessary for that kind of perception."
With all due respect to the good doctor, HE'S WRONG.
The cerebral cortex has absolutely NOTHING to do with the perception of thirst or hunger. This function is centered in the hypothalamus, a tiny structure at the base of the brain, nowhere near the cortex.
The hypothalamus remains unaffected by an episode of anoxia,
such as the one Terri suffered.
I have provided several links for your perusal. There are over 3000 sites available to look at, if you wish to study this in more detail.
from "Neuroscience for Kids"
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/nsdivide.html#struc Another link:
http://www.bartleby.com/59/22/hypothalamus.html A Google search result:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22thirst%22+%22hunger%22+%22hypothalamus%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N And please look at this article, writen by a REAL expert.
EXCERPT:
There are clinical indications that a normally functioning cerebral cortex is not required for thirst and some cogent experimental demonstrations that the cortex can be inactivated without impairing thirst. Fitzsimons drew attention to the occurrence of thirst in anencephalic infants lacking a developed cerebral cortex17 and also to the persistence of thirst and hunger in decorticate cats and sheep (animals in which connections between the cerebral cortex and the remainder of the brain had been experimentally severed).18
The response to the question posed at the beginning of this section would appear clearly to be in the negative. Activity on the part of the cerebral cortex is not necessary for thirst.
http://www.catholicdoctors.org.uk/CMQ/Indiv_Articles/Thirst_and_PVS.htm Ms. Melone, you place so much emphasis on "the doctors, the medicine, the facts about Terri Schiavo".
And you ask, "Which do you believe? One of several physicians who have looked at this case..."
or Terri's lawyers?
Well, I certainly DON'T believe Dr. Walker, "an INTERNIST (my emphasis) who has followed the case closely by reading the public record."
I wasn't aware that doctors are now qualified to give expert medical opinions of a patient's condition by "reading the public record."
When did this happen? Is this a new law in Florida?
Here in California, if a doctor were to do this, he could be brought up before the State Board and face a reprimand.
When did Dr. Walker examine Terri, or study her medical records?
I think we both know the answer to that question!
And the good doctor doesn't even have a grasp of basic neurology.
I'm certainly glad he's not a brain surgeon!
I certainly hope you'll post a retraction of this egregious error, and rework your column in light of this, since its basic premise is no longer valid.
Terri will most likely feel an agony that we wouldn't wish on our worst enemies. And her lawyers are trying with all their might to stop this state-sanctioned murder of a disabled woman.
If that's a "crusade" , sign me up.
Her original article:
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/21/Columns/Crusade_is_blind_to_h.shtml