Identical twin brothers, Craig and Brenton Gurney, were inseparable as little boys and have remained very close into their adult lives.<\/p>\n
So close are the two, they have experienced a telepathic connection that seems common\u00a0amongst many identical twins. When Brenton injured his shoulder, for example, Craig felt the\u00a0pain too although he was in another state and knew nothing of his twin\u2019s plight.<\/p>\n
It was their close bond that saved Craig\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Brenton , who was concerned about headaches he\u2019d been having, got his brother to join him\u00a0in a twins study at the Westmead Millennium Institute, the University of Sydney, because the\u00a0study included an MRI scan.<\/p>\n
His scan came up clear. But when his brother underwent the scan, a brain tumour showed\u00a0up.
\nCraig underwent a complex ten-and-half-hour operation at Sydney\u2019s Westmead Private\u00a0Hospital to remove a nearly five centimetre tumour.<\/p>\n
The twins say Craig\u2019s illness has reinforced to them the importance of giving back to the
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was participating in a research study as a way of helping others but, as it turned\u00a0out, it probably saved my life,\u201d says Craig.<\/p>\n
The Australian Twin Registry brings twins and researchers together to undertake medical\u00a0research to benefit the health not only of twins but of all Australians, says Professor John\u00a0Hopper, director of the Australian Twin Registry.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwins can help find cures faster by helping researchers to better understand genetic and\u00a0environmental causes in many diseases.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Craig and Brenton\u2019s mum registered the twins with the ATR when they were just babies.\u00a0Since then, they have participated in many twin studies, the most recent being The\u00a0Emotional Wellbeing Project at the Brain Dynamics Centre at the Westmead Millennium\u00a0Institute where Craig\u2019s tumour was first detected.<\/p>\n
By comparing over 1500 identical and non-identical twins, the study aims to identify the\u00a0gene, stress and brain markers that predict emotional resilience and wellbeing over time. By\u00a0examining healthy twins, researchers are hoping to better understand those factors that may\u00a0protect someone from becoming mentally ill, even if they have been exposed to some risk\u00a0factors.<\/p>\n
Craig and Brenton urge twins to become involved in the registry and twin studies.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs twins, we have something special that we can use to help others. You could potentially save a life \u2013 and it may be your own \u2013 by becoming involved,\u201d says Craig<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Identical twin brothers, Craig and Brenton Gurney, were inseparable as little boys and have remained very close into their adult lives. So close are the two, they have experienced a telepathic connection that seems common\u00a0amongst many identical twins. When Brenton injured his shoulder, for example, Craig felt the\u00a0pain too although he was in another state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2446,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2473","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}