Marco de Innocentis <mdeinnocentis at hotmail.com> writes:
> A friend of mine got married and moved in with her husband last
> October. Prior to that she had never been sick in her life, but
> soon afterwards she started having very strong headaches and
> tingling sensations in her legs, arms, and even in her face. She
> often felt very sick and threw up most of what she ate. At times
> she started saying things which didn't make any sense. Finally
> last week she collapsed and was brought to hospital. The doctors
> put her in intensive care and found that somehow her brain stem
> appeared to have swollen, but they had no idea why.
> The next day she almost died, but then her condition improved
> and a few days later they released her from hospital, although
> they're still doing tests on her. Now she appears ok, but her
> capacity to form new memories seems somehow to have been
> impaired. People go and visit her, and the next day she has no
> recollection of it. She will ask a question, then a few minutes
> later will ask it again, then again. She also has no memory of
> having been to the hospital, says it all seems like a "blur" to
> her.
> How could her brain stem have swollen or "grown", as the doctors
> put it? They say it might be some sort of virus. I don't want to
> sound paranoid, but could she have been poisoned?
>> Marco
There are several possible causes, including an aneurysm, a tumor, or
an atero-venous malformation. If she had a car accident that caused
whiplash, that would also be something to look into. Poison doesn't
seem likely to me -- but then I don't have any expertise in that sort
of thing.
Concerning the memory problems, they are caused by lack of sufficient
oxygen getting to the brain (called "ischemia"). The part of the brain
most easily damaged by ischemia is the hippocampus, which plays a
crucial role in memory. When the hippocampus is damaged, the result
is called an "amnesic syndrome", whose symptoms are just the sort you
have described. The impairment often improves with time, but
unfortunately in some cases it can be permanent. The URL
http://www.psychology.mcmaster.ca/3vv3/chapter9.htm
will give you a bit more information.
Many brain researchers are very interested in the amnesic syndrome,
and search actively for patients to study, particularly patients who
have good basic intelligence and a lack of other neurological problems
that might complicate the amnesia. Patients who are enrolled in
clinical studies often receive particularly good care by doctors who
are experts in their specific problems, so you may wish to ask your
friend's neurologist (if she doesn't have one, she needs to) to make
inquiries. Your email address tells me nothing about where you are
located, so I can't be any more specific.
-- Bill
