C€vonHerald,
N€9g2
NE\[S
prcrun."* u,ouo"
nssreeose"ovoun
"ews.
TVdramaanswerscallto highlightheadiniury risks
10:1oam
Saturday
14thMay2011 inNCI!!
TRAGEDY;
ChrisLane,who diedaged31
WhenlT specialist
Christopher
Lanecommitted
suicidein 2008,hisdistraught
motherwanted
answers.
JoannaLanewasdesperate
to knowwhathaddrivenher31-year-old
sonto takehisownlifeandnowshels on a queslto ralseawareness
ofthecondition
which,shebelieves,
laybehlndhls
death.
ShesaysChris,wholivedin Skiptonfor fiveyearsandworkedfor SkiptonBuilding
wasa
Society,
happy,lively,intelligent
boy.
At theageof seven,hefelloutof a treeandfractured
hisskull.HErecovered
well,grewup,and
wentto univeBity buthisbehaviour
becameunpredictable.
It wasonlyafterhisdeathhismotherdiscovered
hewasimpotent
andhadprobably
been
suffering
fromhypopituitarjsma hiddenbraindamagethatcandestroyyourabilityto conceive
a
baby,andcanrobyouof yourenergy,relationships
andhappiness.
Herinternetresearch
alsorevealed
thata headinjury- evena slightone- canmakeyouthree
orfourtimesmorelikelyto commitsuicideandthatonein fourhead-injury
survlvors
suffer
glandandtheeffectsmaynotshowuntildecadeslater.
damageto theirpituitary
'We alsofound,bitterestof all,you
couldtreatpeoplewithhormone
therapy.Chriscouldhave
beensavedff we'dknown,"saysJoanna,wholivesin Suney.
In an att€mptto raiseawareness,
shewroteto GillianRichmond,
scriptwriter
for BBC,sHolby
City,andnextweeksepisodeof thehospitat
drama,StepOnUp,wi spotightth€condition.
Joannasaidr'Since2008,whenChrisdied,I haveworkedto raiseawareness,
sendinghundreds
of e-mailsto hospitals,
doclors,rehabcentres,politicians
andpatientsafetyorganisations.
"Head-injury
patientsneedscreening
for pituitary
damage,andpatientsshouldbe warnedof the
riskin theirhospital
discharge
letters.
- NHSDirectandothermedicaldatabases
"l'vehada fewsuccesses
givetheinformation
now,
as do charities
likeHesdway
andthe Pituitary
Foundation.
Butthegovemment
hasn,tbeen
helpful- theheadinjurygujdelines
sti don'tmentiontherisk.Research
suggosts
around30,OOO
'come
people
undiagnosed
on themarket'eachyear.'
* HolbyCityis on BBC'1on Tu€sdayat 8pm.