Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces That Make Us Who We Are by Bill Sullivan

Author:Bill Sullivan [Sullivan, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science, Life Sciences, Genetics & Genomics, Microbiology, Neuroscience
ISBN: 9781426220562
Google: EjN5DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Published: 2019-08-06T23:57:42.133263+00:00

Is There a Devil Inside Us?

Susannah Cahalan led a normal life until she turned 24 in 2009, when bizarre problems began to plague her. From out of nowhere, she began having problems speaking; her tongue became easily twisted into knots. Next, Cahalan experienced problems with mobility, lurching around like the bride of Frankenstein. In addition to these physical problems, she became paranoid and violent. She suffered hallucinations and adopted other personalities. She was convinced that her father had murdered her stepmother. Cahalan descended rapidly into madness, uttering otherworldly noises and reaching a catatonic state within a month.

The sudden transformation of this young, vibrant woman was truly terrifying and defied all logic. She had no head injury, brain tumor, infection, or toxin in her system; no medication for mental illness had helped her. With known culprits ruled out, what other possible explanation could there be besides demonic possession?

Fortunately, her family called a neurologist instead of an exorcist. With one simple test, Souhel Najjar was able to diagnose Cahalan’s condition. He asked her to draw a clock. Intriguingly, Cahalan put all the numbers on just one side of the clock’s face, which indicated that her brain was malfunctioning. Najjar suspected inflammation and described the illness as “brain on fire,” a phrase that became the title of Cahalan’s memoir of the maddening experience. Much to the chagrin of the International Association of Exorcists, Cahalan’s condition was not caused by an evil spirit; rather, it had a purely biological explanation, just like any other strange neurological anomaly. If Cahalan had not been diagnosed, she most likely would have suffered irreversible brain damage or even slipped into a coma and died.

The disease afflicting Cahalan was first documented just two years before her case, and it is called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. As early as 2005, neurologist Josep Dalmau had been studying a group of patients exhibiting the same haunting symptoms that gripped Cahalan. To gain insight into what might be going on, he took samples of their blood and cerebral spinal fluid and put them onto sections of rat tissues. He discovered that these “possessed” patients possessed a substance that stuck to the brain, specifically to proteins called NMDA receptors found on the surface of neurons.

NMDA stands for N-methyl-D-aspartate, which is a chemical we produce that acts in the brain. The NMDA receptor is important for memory and learning, and it helps nerve cells communicate with one another. For reasons that have yet to be fully resolved, some unfortunate people start making antibodies to this receptor. Our immune system normally makes antibodies to fight off foreign invaders. But sometimes the body makes antibodies against a piece of us (hence the name “autoimmune” disease). It is like nonstop friendly fire in your own body, and it can take a devastating toll. Cahalan’s autoimmune disease represented a new type of brain injury that masquerades as a demonic force.

Neurotransmitters critical for signaling between brain cells work through NMDA receptors but can’t bind to them if antibodies are blocking their access.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.