{"id":15134,"date":"2020-09-21T12:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T16:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=15134"},"modified":"2020-09-29T09:51:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T13:51:17","slug":"dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Dalmau: The Expert on the Brain on Fire Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Who is Dr. Dalmau? How did he establish himself as an expert in anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Dalmau is the neuro-oncologist that wrote about a rare <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-autoimmune-disease-diet\/\">autoimmune disease<\/a>. Susannah Cahalan&#8217;s symptoms were similar and her doctor consulted with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about the discoveries made by Dr. Dalmau and how he helped Susannah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Was Dr. Dalmau?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/souhel-najjar\/\">Dr. Najjar<\/a> 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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drs. Russo and Najjar send Susannah\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Medical Aside<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Everything we do, from lifting a glass to reading a book, results from a chemical signal triggering specific brain cells to fire or not. If a cell can\u2019t receive a signal, it can\u2019t initiate or inhibit behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cells receive signals through <em>receptors<\/em>. NMDA receptors excite cells that participate in learning, memory, higher functions, and personality. In 2007, Dr. Dalmau identified a new disease that would come to be called anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis. This condition is caused when antibodies disable NMDA receptors. Experiments indicate that a 40 percent loss of NMDA receptors results in psychosis. A 70 percent loss results in catatonia. An absence of any working NMDA receptors results in death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Receiving Results From Dr. Dalmau<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While they\u2019re waiting for the results of Dalmau\u2019s tests, Susannah\u2019s team decides to assess Susannah\u2019s cognitive skills. They\u2019ll use the assessment as a baseline for judging future progress.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That afternoon Dr. Russo gives Susannah\u2019s dad the news they\u2019ve been waiting for: Dr. Dalmau has confirmed a diagnosis of anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8217;s symptoms were similar and her doctor consulted with him. Read more about the discoveries made by Dr. Dalmau and how he helped Susannah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,33],"tags":[130],"class_list":["post-15134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-people","tag-brain-on-fire","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dr. Dalmau: The Expert on the Brain on Fire Disease - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who is Dr. Dalmau in Brain on Fire? He wrote a paper on a rare autoimmune disease that helped Susannah&#039;s doctor diagnose her. Here&#039;s how.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Dalmau: The Expert on the Brain on Fire Disease\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who is Dr. Dalmau in Brain on Fire? He wrote a paper on a rare autoimmune disease that helped Susannah&#039;s doctor diagnose her. Here&#039;s how.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-21T16:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-29T13:51:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brain-on-fire-dr-dalmau.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1293\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"699\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"Dr. Dalmau: The Expert on the Brain on Fire Disease\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-21T16:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-29T13:51:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/\"},\"wordCount\":378,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brain-on-fire-dr-dalmau.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Brain on Fire\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"People\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. Dalmau: The Expert on the Brain on Fire Disease - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-dalmau-brain-on-fire\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brain-on-fire-dr-dalmau.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-21T16:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-29T13:51:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"Who is Dr. Dalmau in Brain on Fire? 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