This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "Brain On Fire" by Susannah Cahalan. Shortform has the world's best summaries of books you should be reading.
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Who is Dr. Dalmau? How did he establish himself as an expert in anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis?
Dr. Dalmau is the neuro-oncologist that wrote about a rare autoimmune disease. Susannah Cahalan’s symptoms were similar and her doctor consulted with him.
Read more about the discoveries made by Dr. Dalmau and how he helped Susannah.
Who Was Dr. Dalmau?
Dr. Najjar recalls a paper written by a Dr. Dalmau at the University of Pennsylvania, describing four young women stricken by a rare autoimmune disease. Could Susannah have the same condition?
Drs. Russo and Najjar send Susannah’s cerebrospinal fluid to Dr. Dalmau, the neuro-oncologist who had conducted the study on four young women that Dr. Najjar remembered when he saw Susannah’s clock test. Like Susannah, the four women in the study had a high white blood cell count and suffered from hallucinations, confusion, and memory deficits. They also had two other things in common: an ovarian tumor and antibodies that disable a critical apparatus in the brain called the NMDA receptor. By the time Susannah is struck by the disease, Dr. Dalmau has developed two tests that allow for a swift and accurate diagnosis.
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Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best summary of Susannah Cahalan's "Brain On Fire" at Shortform .
Here's what you'll find in our full Brain On Fire summary :
- How a high-functioning reporter became virtually disabled within a matter of weeks
- How the author Cahalan recovered through a lengthy process and pieced together what happened to her
- How Cahalan's sickness reveals the many failures of the US healthcare system
