Is the book Brain on Fire a true story?
It sounds like something out of a soap opera, but it’s a true story, based on the memoir of the same name by Cahalan herself, chronicling what she went through when she was diagnosed with a condition called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.
What was the disease in Brain on Fire?
anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis
What Vaphiades heard when he met Kassidy eventually led him to diagnose her as having anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the brain. The body creates antibodies against the NMDA receptors in the brain.
Is there a book called Brain on Fire?
An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.
What’s wrong with the girl in Brain on Fire?
Instead, as she recounted in “Brain on Fire,” her best-selling 2012 memoir about her ordeal, she was eventually found to have a rare — or at least newly discovered — neurological disease: anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis. In plain English, Cahalan’s body was attacking her brain.
How was Susannah Cahalan treated?
Cahalan slowly recovers after undergoing immunomodulatory therapies (steroids, IVIG treatment, and plasmapheresis) in the hospital for a month, plus six months of outpatient follow-up.
What causes brain on fire disease?
Summary: A rare autoimmune disorder popularized by the autobiography and movie “Brain on Fire” is triggered by an attack on NMDA receptors. The disease occurs when antibodies attack NMDA receptors in the brain, leading to memory loss, intellectual changes, seizures, and death.
Why does it feel like my brain is on fire?
These conditions are signs of possible brain inflammation, a brain “on fire.” Unlike most of the body, the brain does not produce pain when inflamed. Instead, one of the most common symptoms is brain fog, which makes people feel spaced out and disconnected. Brain inflammation slows down the conduction between neurons.
Where is Susannah Cahalan now?
New York
Today, nearly a decade later, Cahalan still lives in New York and still works for the Post, having published her most recent article for the paper on June 16, writing about her experience of seeing a harrowing time in her life turned into a movie.
What symptoms did Susannah Cahalan have?
She was diagnosed with anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis—a rare neurological condition that can cause psychiatric symptoms, including psychosis and hallucinations.
What causes Brain on Fire disease?
Can a brain be on fire?
Can a brain be on fire? Yes! Over the last 20 years, ample evidence has accumulated to prove that inflammation in the body causes changes in the brain that lead to depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and memory problems. Inflammation comes from the Latin “inflammare” — to set on fire.