The rare autoimmune disease that hijacks patients’ brains, and treatments in development
Autoimmune encephalitis stole years of father Christy Morrill’s memories and can lead to psychosis. But it is being caught early more often
“My year of unravelling” is how a despairing Christy Morrill described the nightmarish months when his immune system hijacked his brain.
Autoimmune encephalitis attacks the organ that makes us “us”, and it can appear out of the blue.
Morrill went for a bike ride with friends along the California coast, stopping for lunch. None of them noticed anything wrong. Neither did Morrill until his wife asked how his ride had gone – he had forgotten.
Morrill would get worse before he got better. “Unhinged” and “fighting to see light”, he said delusions set in and holes in his memory grew.
But doctors are getting better at identifying the condition as they discover more of the rogue antibodies responsible for it. Finding these in the blood or spinal fluid can aid diagnosis.