NMDA

 

The disease or condition called AutoImmune Encephalitis  (otherwise known in the Medical Community as NMDA) is a relatively rare and new disease that has only been around since about 2007.  The disease is so new they don’t have a defined protocol for treatment. Usually this rare disease effects young women with onset psychiatric symptoms.  Male cases are rare. 

 

Essentially with NMDA
antibodies produced by the body’s immune
system attack NMDA receptors in the brain.

 

When this happens people may experience all of some of these symptoms:

 

• Flu-like symptoms

 

• Memory deficits, including loss of short-term memory;

 

• Sleep disorders;

 

• Speech dysfunction

 

• Cognitive and behavioral disturbances – confused thinking,
  hallucinations, delusional thinking, disinhibited behaviors;

 

• Seizures

 

• Movement disorders - usually of the arms and legs and
  the mouth and tongue, but may include full body spasms.

 

• Sometimes patients are unable to move, and may appear like
  a statue, holding the same position for hours or days (catatonia);

 

• Loss of consciousness – The patient may be semi-conscious
  or may slip into a coma;

 

• Autonomic dysfunction – erratic breathing, heartbeat and
  blood pressure; loss of bladder control and bowel movements;

 

• Central hypoventilation – the patient may stop breathing, and may
  require a mechanical breathing machine.

 

• Vision and/or hearing may also be impaired.

 

Jackson’s seizure was in his left front temporal lobe (the area right over your left ear), which controls language, speech, memory, body movement, twitching of the mouth, learning and a person’s emotion center (laughing, crying, fear etc.) 

 

He’s had two large doses of steroids, then treating the blood with an IV-IG treatment.  

 

Plasmapharesis treatment is the treatment of choice, leading to a better prognosis when followed up an autoimmune drug, Rituximab.

 

The treatment calls for all the blood to be removed out of your body, it is cleaned of infected antibodies then the blood is place it back into the body. 

 

Jackson did 5 rounds of this treatment.