Photo: Natalie Adler.
Remember these words of Gogol's Viy? And now, here in Melbourne, journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation managed to talk to a young woman who puzzles doctors that every week she cannot raise her eyelids for 3 days in a row. In other words, for three days in a row she is blind, for the next three days she is sighted. And this has been going on for several years …
I SEE - I DO NOT SEE
This resident of Melbourne's name is Natalie Adler. On certain days, waking up in the morning, a girl discovers that her eyes are closed and, no matter how hard she tries, she simply cannot raise her eyelids! And, therefore, he sees nothing. The next day, too. And on the third. And then - again everything is in order, her eyes open normally, close and she sees perfectly. But here's the bad luck: after three days, the day will inevitably come again when she will not be able to open her eyes. This is such a strange and mysterious "routine" she has to observe, or rather, endure. The situation, of course, is extraordinary and, as doctors believe, it is possible that Natalie Adler is the only person in the world who has to experience such a clear alternation of days of blindness and sight.
She is now 21 years old. However, four years ago, when Natalie was 17, something incomprehensible began to happen to her eyes. “One Sunday I woke up and found that I could not see anything,” I thought that my eyelids were very swollen. It was on the eve of the English exam, Natalie tells Melbourne's Herald Sun. - From that day on, my eyes began to periodically close by themselves, and at first this was haphazard, but after a few weeks they began to close for three days in a row. Every third night, something happens to me. I go to bed as usual and can open my eyes normally, and when I wake up the next morning, I can no longer do this. And nobody knows why this is happening …”
NO DIAGNOSIS ?
During this dramatic change in her life, Natalie Adler was in 11th grade. Since then, the girl has undergone hundreds of various examinations, analyzes and tests. Doctors at the Royal Victoria Specialty Clinic for Eye and Ear Diseases say the situation is dire. “Natalie is a mystery! - says the adjunct professor Justin O'Day, head of the department of neuro-ophthalmology at the same Royal Clinic. “She looks like she's one of a kind, and we don't have a diagnosis yet. It is unusual to see someone with such severe muscle spasms, especially at this age. And there seems to be no known reason."
When Natalie Adler's eyes are completely closed, she cannot see anything at all but a glimpse of light through a tiny slit in her left eye. On days when the eyes are open, they function as normal and she can see clearly, but sometimes her left eyelid drops involuntarily.
Professor O'Day said that in such a situation, the diagnosis of blepharospasm (from the Greek "blepharon" - eyelid) can be considered as a starting point, while involuntary closing of the eyes does indeed occur, but this does not explain why the eyes of State Lady Adler close and open according to some three-day "schedule".
NOT FOR BEAUTY, BUT AGAINST BLIND
Many Russian women are well acquainted with botox - they use it to eliminate wrinkles or for; giving a sexy swelling to the lips (not everyone, however, knows that this is a drug made on the basis of the poisonous toxin of botulism, the infection with which causes paralysis of all muscles, including the respiratory ones). But botox is successfully used in diseases accompanied by: pathological muscle activity. And what is blepharospasm? This is an involuntary persistent spastic closure of the eyelids due to a tonic spasm of the orbicular muscle of the eye, which can last from several minutes to many days.
Here is Botox, formulated with highly purified and precisely dosed botulinum toxin, to relieve cramping. Efficiency is above 90%. That is why Australian doctors treated Natalie Adler with it for almost two years, giving Botox injections around the eyes. In some periods, the girl became sighted for five days out of every six.
“However, this treatment no longer works,” Natalie complains now. This, however, is also not surprising. Botox does nothing "forever" and after a while the effect stops. The drug, for which it would be necessary to lay out at least $ 1000 per year, is valid for 3-6 months, after which the injection must be repeated. But it's scary! And although there is almost 20 years of experience with Botox, there are still no data on the possible long-term effects of its repeated use.
Now Natalie hopes that a new remedy will help, say, electrical stimulation. In the meantime, she plans her life, adapting to these unusual conditions. On good days, which are marked in her diary for months ahead, Natalie tries to squeeze in as many things and events as possible. But there are also things that cannot be transferred to another date! “On my 18th birthday, my eyes were closed, but on my 21st birthday they were open, and thanks to this I threw a party,” she says. “Going to football or just seeing friends is what I often miss …”
SHE IS NOT ONE SUCH
It is not surprising that this story caused a stir among the journalistic fraternity. But it is surprising that Australian doctors suffer with the diagnosis. First, Natalie is not "one of a kind." This can be seen even on the Internet forum. A few years ago, the Russian Internet was talking about a certain Maria Petrovna. She came to see her grandson. “The happy daughter brought the baby closer, and the grandmother suddenly closed her eyes. Delight?.. Several minutes passed, but Marya Petrovna did not open her eyes. During this time, the daughter managed to both take offense and get scared. It was hard to believe that her mother could not control her own eyes. A few years later, Marya Petrovna was diagnosed with blepharospasm.
Alas, usually both in our country and abroad, the correct diagnosis is made no earlier than in 4-6 years! Now, however, you can do it faster - X-ray computed tomography of the brain and facial skull helps.
“My neighbor is suffering something like that - his eyelids close by themselves. Even the poor man had to leave his job,”writes Haim Sujirus from the USA.
“I also had this at the age of five,” says Taroudant Umabd. And she says that in the south of Morocco, where she was born, there were no doctors, so she was treated by a local healer, who made two small horizontal incisions on her face and one vertical. However, she still has nightmares about the time when she could not open her eyes.
And after all, what is surprising: the healer probably knew that it was necessary to cross the nerve branches that fit the circular muscles of the eyes! This is how they treat now, but only the most experienced (!) Surgeons.
DEBATE
In general, the people on the planet turned out to be surprisingly knowledgeable. And compassionate. Many sympathize, pray for unfortunate Natalie, send her the addresses of their doctors, give advice, and encourage her. Some, on the other hand, show amazing perspicacity - they guess that the root cause was "something that she saw, or something that she did not want to see."
But in fact, let us remember that it all began before the exam (apparently, the thought of this did not cause delight in the schoolgirl, to put it mildly). And, by the way, doctors admit that the disease can be of psychogenic origin - this is the so-called hysterical or essential blepharospasm.
"It looks like something has happened to the 'software' of the brain: we know so little about it!" - reflects a technically oriented forum member. True, we know little. But we still know that the commands to the muscles come from the brain! He is also responsible for the regulation of their tone and automated movements, which we do not think about (the same blinking). “And if a girl“expects”that after three days her eyes will not open again, then maybe she involuntarily“programs”it herself”? - suggests a wise forum member.
How to find out? To go, for example, to a hypnologist - maybe he will get to the bottom of the trouble - another advises. Well, and there are those who believe only the wise men: "Let them open the" third eye "to the girl, then everything will settle down with ordinary eyes …" But what conclusions should we, readers, draw from this story?
First, the conclusion that in case of trouble you need to stubbornly look for a way out - ask, read, in order to know a lot yourself.
And secondly, to appreciate what you have. And not to accept every day of life as some kind of eternal and worthless given. If you woke up, opened your eyes and see everything around - this is already a great happiness, for which you need to thank Fate!
