Various studies have shown that the brains of women who become biological mothers change: Structures within the organ regulating "theory of mind" (how we think about what others are thinking) and primitive functions like emotion and motivation actually alter in size and shape. A lot of this can be attributed to the effects of pregnancy-related hormones.

New research suggests the brains of fathers change, too. There appears to be greater plasticity, which is the ability of neurons to reorganize and do different things based on stimuli. In this case, regions in the brains of new dads involved in the cognitive, physical and emotional demands of caring for a newborn became more active and interconnected. Studies found that the more fathers interacted with their children, the greater the effect.

Maternity Care Deserts

Parenthood may do wonders for the brains of parents, but in some places it can be a struggle to become one. A new March of Dimes report says significant regions in the United States have little or no access to obstetric care providers, affecting up to 6.9 million women and almost 500,000 births.

That includes a 5% increase in counties that have less maternity access than they did in 2020.

Most maternity care deserts occurred in the Midwest. Florida reported the most women impacted by improvements to maternity care access (more than 92,000). Ohio had the most women impacted by overall reductions in care access (more than 97,000).

Body of Knowledge

So-called fever dreams are described as vivid, often bizarre or unpleasant. They can be emotionally intense, sometimes remembered years later. Their exact cause is not known, but the most likely reason: The sleeper actually has a fever, which disrupts normal cognitive processing and interrupts REM sleep.

Get Me That, Stat!

Some disposable vaping devices are filled with more nicotine than 200 cigarettes.

Counts

23.8: Maternal mortality per 100,000 live births in U.S.

8.7: In France, the next highest maternal mortality rate among industrialized nations

4 in 5: Pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. deemed preventable

Source: CDC

Best Medicine

With great reflexes comes great response ability.

Observation

"In the end, every hypochondriac is his own prophet." — American poet Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Medical History

This week in 1957, the first total artificial heart implantation in an animal kept a dog alive for 90 minutes in a pioneering experiment at the Cleveland Clinic by Dr. Willem Kolff and Dr. Tetsuzo Akutsu. The first permanent artificial heart transplanted into a person occurred in 1982, also involving Kolff. Patient Barney Clark, 61, lived with the Jarvik-7 artificial heart for 112 days post-transplant before succumbing to complications.

Med School

Q: A patient comes in with a case of unguis incarnatus. What kind of specialist are you?

a) Cardiologist

b) Infectious disease

c) Podiatrist

d) Oncologist

A: c) A podiatrist. An unguis incarnates is the medical term for an ingrown toenail.

Sum Body

Seven times since 2007 that the World Health Organization has declared a "public health emergency of extraordinary concern," or PHEIC.

2009-2010: H1N1 influenza. By the end of the declaration, there were an estimated 18,000 attributed deaths worldwide, but modeling put the true number between 123,000 and 203,000.

2014-ongoing: Poliomyelitis. In 2014, there were just 74 global cases of polio, mostly in Pakistan, but the disease is so contagious and easily spread that a PHEIC was declared.

2014-2016: Western Africa Ebola. The largest Ebola outbreak in history included 28,000 cases of the hemorrhagic fever and 11,310 deaths, a case-fatality rate of 40%.

2016: Zika. Clusters of viral cases appeared in Brazil, with cases eventually appearing in more than 100 countries.

2019-2020: Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola. Cases first appeared in 2018, but a public health emergency wasn't declared for nearly a year. More than 3,400 people were infected and 2,000 of them died — a mortality rate of 66%.

2020-ongoing: COVID-19. WHO declared a PHEIC on Jan. 30, 2020. Globally, there have been at least 641 million reported cases since and 6.6 million deaths.

2022-ongoing: Mpox. Previously known as monkeypox, tens of thousands of cases have been documented in more than 75 countries. Less contagious and deadly than COVID-19.

Curtain Calls

On July 7, 2015, Jose Rey Escobedo, 50, was reported missing. A day later, authorities were alerted that his car had been found near Highway 239 in Goliad County and the San Antonio River, where Escobedo liked to go swimming.

Game wardens investigated and discovered Escobedo's body 350 yards from the car. He was stuck in quicksand up to his waist and appeared to have drowned when he collapsed face-first into the river.

Actual death by quicksand is practically impossible because at some point, the density of sand and water exceeds the human body, making the latter buoyant and difficult to completely sink.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: skalekar1992 at Pixabay