Hooria Aqleem - Neurosurgery


Neurosurgery

Hooria Aqleem

You survive the crash. You survive the surgery. But no one tells you that there’s still more to overcome.

Every two minutes, someone suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet a lesser-known condition follows: post-traumatic epilepsy. Post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) is a shadow that haunts survivors. This form of epilepsy develops after a brain injury, sometimes weeks, months, or even years later. Unlike a broken bone, you can’t see it. And in many parts of the world, you can’t treat it either. 

PTE hides in plain sight, especially in low-resource countries where imaging technology is rare, and long-term neurological care is nonexistent. But, PTE is preventable. Research shows that early intervention with antiepileptic drugs or surgical options may reduce seizure risk. However, that is where we face another problem: neurosurgical care is painfully underrepresented in global health. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, there is only 1 neurosurgeon per approximately 5 million people. Whereas, there is 1 per 60,000 in higher-income nations. That’s not a statistic–it’s a warning siren. Imagine knowing exactly how to stop a person’s suffering, but having no tools, no team, no time.     

In war-torn countries and areas with rising accident rates, brain injuries are common. Without neurosurgical intervention, PTE becomes a lifelong burden for survivors. Many of whom face stigma, job loss, or abandonment due to misunderstood seizures. 

But there’s light at the end of the tunnel; neurosurgeons across the globe are pushing for change and greater access to healthcare. Neurosurgery isn’t just about saving lives in the OR, it’s about demanding that everyone deserves to heal. 


Sources

World Federation of Neuorological Societies. “Global Neurosurgery.” https://wfns.org/WFNSData/Uploads/files/current%20and%20potential%20impact%20of%20neurosurgeons%20at%20the%20WHO%20and%20the%20WHA.pdf

National Library of Medicine. “Addressing Africa’s outrageous neurosurgeons deficit: what could the problem be?” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10389622/


Meet the Author


Hi! I’m Hooria Aqleem, a 14-year-old with a big dream: to become a neurosurgeon. I’ve always been fascinated by the brain, how it works, how much it defines who we are. But more than that, I care more about the people behind the scans. Those who don’t get care. I believe in science, but I also believe in empathy, and that medicine should never depend on your zip code or passport. Thanks for reading, I hope this piece made you think a little deeper about the future of neurosurgery and the stories waiting to be heard.

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