• Advanced therapies First success story of CAR-T therapy against lupus: "It opens a possibility of long-term cure for patients"
  • Mental health Another look at schizophrenia: "The diagnosis is the beginning of a story of overcoming"

A curious case revealed by 'The Washington Post' opens a window to hope for many mentally ill people around the world. April Durrell, an American woman who was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in a catatonic state after being diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis, woke up 20 years later after a doctor discovered that the disease she suffered from was actually lupus.

April's story begins in 1995 when she was a college student. She was a normal girl, with very good grades and a lot of friends and family who loved her. But a traumatic event, which the US media has not wanted to reveal, changed his life.

Because of this episode he had to enter a psychiatric hospital, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis. He then began a spiral in which he stopped talking to others and had erratic behavior. She no longer recognized her friends and family, was unable to perform almost any tasks on her own, and did not let anyone have physical contact with her. Soon after, she became catatonic.

Catatonia is a symptom that occurs in some cases of schizophrenia. When it develops, the patient enters a state of mutism and immobility that often leads to catalepsy. In this case the patient enters a vegetative state in which he does not react to stimuli despite being conscious. So you can spend hours, days and even as in the case of April, years.

In 2000, resident physician Sander Markx, now director of precision psychiatry at Columbia University, appeared in April's life. As he recalls in 'The Washington Post': "She is the sickest patient I have ever seen."

He could do little for her in those times but years later, in 2018, their paths met again. Markx then assembled a group of 70 specialists in neuropsychiatry, neurology, neuroimmunology and rheumatology who worked on April's case.

After many tests and investigations they found the cause of his condition, lupus. They found that although she had no physical symptoms of this autoimmune disease, her brain was being attacked by it right in the areas where schizophrenia and psychosis develop.

He was given personalized treatment to treat neuropsychiatric lupus and began to have symptoms of recovery. So much so that in 2020 she was declared mentally competent and left the psychiatric hospital to continue her recovery in a rehabilitation center.

This case that may seem like a miracle is nothing more than proof that many mentally ill people who are evicted can have a chance to get their lives back. And it is that several current investigations link many mental illnesses with inflammatory processes and autoimmune diseases.

If these theories are proven, it may be that the 20 years that April has spent 'forgotten' in a psychiatric center will serve for many other patients to have a more accurate diagnosis that allows them to access a speedy recovery and not see their lives stopped.

  • Mental health
  • Schizophrenia

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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