This Sunday, July 28’th, I saw a BBC-documentary .
Mystery of the forgotten plague
But the contents of the paper were astonishing. In it was a potential solution to what has been called the biggest medical mystery of all time.
Two young doctors had tracked down the probable cause of one of the most baffling epidemics of the 20th Century - a disease called Encephalitis Lethargica.
Encephalitis Lethargica was a devastating illness that swept the world in the 1920’s.
It attacked the brain, leaving victims like living statues, speechless and motionless.
During the outbreak, nearly a million died, and millions more were left frozen inside their useless bodies, in institutions.
Noone knew what had caused it, or how to treat it.
After the 1920’s apparently the disease left as mysteriously as it arrived. No new cases were reported.
For virologist Professor John Oxford, the disease was not just a disease of the past. As an expert on the condition, he was convinced that it could reappear.
“I certainly do think that whatever caused it could strike again. And until we know what caused it we won’t be able to prevent it happening again.”
And in 1993, it seemed his fears were being realised.
Becky Howells was 23 years old, when she suddenly became very ill. She started shaking, becoming feverish, hallucinating."
Research on these new cases has finally led to the understanding of this disease. It is apparently caused by a mutant strain of a very common bacteria, in conjunction with the patient’s own immunesysteme going berserk.
Neurologist Oliver Sacks described the treatment, in the 1970’s, of these forgotten patients in his novel: “Awakenings”. Sacks has been presented with the results of this research and considers them a major breakthrough.
Absolutely *fascinating * stuff.
Oh, c’mon. I mean, seriously. BBC is just flogging a dead horse. We all aready know it was because Dream was trapped and imprisoned by Roderick Burgess and his followers on June 11th, 1916 !
lol this is exactly what I was thinking when I read the OP
Color me clueless. Dream? Roderick Burgess?
