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China treats a methamphetamine addict by implanting a mind-control device in his skull.

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WEST VIRGINIA IS SET TO BEGIN SIMILAR CLINICAL TRIALS IN JUNE WHILE THE REST OF THE WORLD HAS ETHICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONCERNS.

According to the old adage, reality is stranger than science fiction. China has begun the first clinical trial of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for drug addicts in the world. The invasive procedure involves drilling two holes into a patient’s skull and inserting electrodes into their brain, which are then electronically stimulated by a handheld device.
This new technology has already been used to treat Parkinson’s disease, according to ABC News. However, this is the first time in history that DBS is being utilized to eradicate addiction.
The first study on methamphetamine addiction is being conducted at the Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai. According to the database of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, only eight clinical DBS trials for drug addiction are registered.
Six of the eight trials are taking place in China, and despite the country’s deeply unsettling history with brain surgery on drug addicts, the People’s Republic has become the global epicenter for DBS research.
The first patient to undergo surgery is a methamphetamine addict identified only as Yan. Since the birth of his son in 2011, he has been an addict and has lost approximately $150,000 through gambling while high.
Due to his subsequent divorce, infrequent visits with his son, and unsuccessful rehabilitation attempts, he agreed to become a DBS test subject.
My willpower is weak, Yan added in reference to his addiction.
Dr. Li Dianyou was required to drill into his skull and insert two small electrodes into a small area near his prefrontal cortex that has been scientifically linked to addiction. A few hours later, Yan underwent a second operation in which surgeons implanted a battery pack into his chest while he was under general anesthesia.
The entire procedure bears striking similarities to imaginative cyberpunk and science fiction scenes. However, the risks it poses are very real. A patient could pass away from a brain hemorrhage, emerge with seizures, contract an infection, or leave the hospital with a completely different personality.
However, Yan reported feeling a rush of excitement as the battery pack activated his new electrode-brain. As if this wasn’t literally unbelievable enough, Dr. Li tested Yan’s new brain by remotely modifying the machine, and therefore his emotions, using a tablet.
Dr. Li had the ability to manipulate Yan’s mood with a simple touchscreen.
Yan remarked that this machine is pretty magical. He modifies it to make you happy and to make you happy, or to make you nervous and to make you nervous.
According to Yan, he has not used drugs in six months.
In contrast to China’s headfirst dive into DBS, Europe’s scientific community has struggled to find compliant patients. In the United States, however, ethical and scientific concerns have hampered the social acceptance of this ominous procedure.
Nonetheless, a potential solution to these obstacles may have fallen into the United States’ lap in the form of the country’s alarming opioid epidemic. In recent years, aversion to the risks posed by DBS has decreased relative to the potential benefits.
In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of DBS in an official clinical trial in West Virginia. Focus is on opioid addicts.
Currently, DBS devices can cost up to $100,000 to implant in the United States, and the scientific community is still evaluating how effective this technique is. In China, however, this new strategy for eradicating drug addiction is gaining momentum rapidly.
Numerous drug addicts have been compelled by China’s stringent anti-drug laws to undergo rehabilitation through years of physical labor. The previous alternative to DBS in China was brain lesioning, which may explain why the populace is so eager to accept it.
Tragically, families of heroin addicts in China have likely spent thousands of dollars on brain lesioning procedures in the past and likely continue to do so today. In this primitive, unproven, and dangerous procedure, doctors destroy small clumps of a patient’s brain tissue and hope for the best.
This has become a lucrative aspect of many hospitals across the nation. It also left patients with severe mood disorders, eliminated their sex drives, and erased their memories. Thus, the promise of DBS is that it does not kill brain cells and that its intervention is, in theory, reversible.
This contemporary alternative to its gruesome counterpart seemed promising enough for Yan to try.
Dr. Sun Bomin, director of functional neurosurgery at Ruijin Hospitals, is adamant that this unsettling method is for the patient’s greater good. Currently, he is concentrating on expanding DBS treatment to include Tourette syndrome, depression, and anorexia.
As physicians, we must always consider the patients, he said. They are individuals. You cannot say, ‘Oh, we have no assistance or treatment for you’
Due to the fact that scientists are still unaware and uncertain of how DBS actually works and where to place the electrodes, the introduction of this to the world has been met with harsh criticism.
Some have called for the prohibition of DBS. The current state of the technique is insufficient and will not address the numerous social, psychological, and biological causes of addiction.
Adrian Carter, the head of the neuroscience and society group at Monash University in Melbourne, stated that the concept of a switchable device is probably unrealistic at the present time.
In the end, it appears that scientists were more concerned with whether they could conduct these experiments than whether they should. Yan, however, claimed that BDS had improved his life.
While it is uncertain whether this result can be replicated on a larger scale, we will likely soon learn how widespread this eerie new phenomenon is. The West Virginia clinical trial approved by the FDA is scheduled to begin in June.
Next, read about how unbelievably severe China’s pollution has become. Then, read this shocking article claiming that when you die, you will realize that you are dead.

Summary

It’s called Deep Brain Stimulation and requires two holes to be drilled into a patient’s skull where electrodes are then connected and controlled by a touchscreen device.

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