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by Jannik Decker, Germany

In Germany last Sunday, the 24th, the elections for the Bundestag, the federal parliament  occurred. The results are that Angela Merkel has secured a fourth term as German chancellor and that a new party, the so-called AFD has moved into the Bundestag.

But lets take a look at the exact results:

The CDU (the Union), the party of Angela Merkel, a rather conservative party gained a total of 32.9 % of the votes and is thereby the biggest party in the Bundestag. The next largest is the SPD, the Social Democrats. They got a total of 20.5% of the German votes. The third party is the new party, the AFD (Alternative for Germany) They are politically right and gained a total of 12.6% of the vote, which is concerning since it is the first extremely nationalistic party in the German Bundestag since its beginning in 1949. After the big three, there are the FDP with 10.7%, the Left Party with 9.2% and „Bündnis 90/Die Grünen” a environmentally focused party with 8.9%.

Compared to the last election, the Conservatives and the Social Democrats lost the most votes, which were gained by the liberal FDP and the populist right AFD parties.

Moving on to the future, there now are only two options for possible coalitions:

1: The “big coalition” between the Conservatives and the Social Democrats. This possibility is rather unlikely since they have not been able to work together in the past.

2: The “Jamaica” coalition. This possibility is way more likely. It would happen between the Conservatives, the Liberals and the Greens. But, either way, none of the options would be very stable and effective for the next four years.

Overall, the main result we all can be sure about is that Angela Merkel will be Chancellor of Germany for another 4 years.

By Florian Manert Munich, Germany

The Oktoberfest, in Bavaria called Wiesn, is the biggest festival worldwide. It has 14 beer tents where thousands of people can sit, stand or dance on the benches and tables. People from all around the world come there to celebrate together and have fun. It starts at the last weekend of September and takes place for two weeks. Not every beer brand can come there and sell their beer, only the big six Munich brands are allowed to present theirs. These are Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner and Spatenbräu.

But there are not only beer tents during Oktoberfest. You can get all kinds of sweets there, from apples with chocolate to roasted almonds. And if you love rollercoasters in all their different variations, you’re definitely going to love it. The scary haunted houses or the big wheel, where you have an excellent view over whole Munich, and the Power tower with a height of 70 meters are one of the attractions you can visit. So there are attractions for every age group.

By Lotte Van den Broeck,  Belgium

Aside from your heart to love and your lungs to breath, your brain is the most important thing your body needs to survive. Unfortunately, not every part that works well in every body. My mum always told me for every problem there is a solution, but it looks like there wasn’t one for Arnold Chiari Malformation, a brain disease where just a little is known.

The reason why I chose this topic is because I have suffered a long time from Arnold Chiari Malformation. The hardest thing to deal with was the unknown. For six years we passed so many doctors and professors, but there was no one who knew why I had all the symptoms like: headaches, vision problems, muscles weakness, dizziness and even sometimes paralysis in my arms or legs, but we kept searching and with success. Three years ago we were contacted by a professor for disease of the metabolism system. It was just a coincidence that he just made a paper about this Arnold Chiari. He just described all my feelings, without I telling him anything about it. He just knew that I searched for so long for a reason for my headaches and my dizziness. I had been examined by so many different neurosurgeons and there was no one who could accurately diagnose my condition.

These malformations are usually caused by structural defects in the brain and spinal cord. When you suffer from Arnold Chiari Malformation, you don’t have space enough in the brain where the cerebrospinal fluid can pass.

If this cerebrospinal fluid can’t pass, it will probably cause problems while the fluid will gather and press on the nerves. Behind the cerebellum all the important nerves that go to your back come together, so if there is too much pressure on that specific part of the brain, it can cause not only headaches, but even paralysis.

What to do about it? Because there are many types of Arnold Chiari malformation, not every treatment is the same. Sometimes it can happen that you don’t have any symptoms at all. So why would you do something about it? In this situation, your doctor will just recommend you have regular examinations or MRIs. If you only have the primary symptoms like pain, your doctor will probably give you some pain medication. But when you have some more symptoms in addition to headaches, only a surgery will be sufficient, like it was in my case. It is all about decompression. What they will do is remove small selections of the bone.  This reduces the pressure on your cerebellum and spinal cord and the cerebrospinal fluid will flow again easily. There will be no more pressure on the nerves which lay behind the brain.

Do you know the metaphor “That’s the thing about pain, it demands to be felt”? Well I totally agree with it, BUT maybe you can turn a deaf ear to your pain which cries too loudly for your attention. That’s what I’m going to do in the future. Most of the symptoms are resolved by the surgery, but sometimes the awful headaches are there again… As long as it is just headaches I can handle it. Life continues and I’m so happy with my life now. I’m so thankful to professor Van Calenbergh that he would take the risk to treat me.

In the future, I want to motivate everyone who suffers from pain. It is absolutely not true  that there is nothing to do to reduce the pain. Continiue believing in a solution or treatment. I’m sure there is one. It doesn’t matter what your doctor tells you. Just believe!

Explanations:
– Cerebellum, it’s the part of the brain that controls balance.
– Spinal cord, it’s a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue. The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system.
– Cerebrospinal fluid, it’s the fluid that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord.
– Foramen magnum, it’s a large oval opening in the bone of the skull.