Diagnosis Quotes

“This was stress cardiomyopathy, also called “broken heart syndrome.” First described by the Japanese in 1990, this disease occurs when an emotional trauma causes the brain to release high doses of stress hormones. This hormonal blast paralyzes the muscle cells of the heart, preventing them from working to pump the blood. Typically only one section of the heart is spared this devastating paralysis—the part closest to the aorta so that with each heartbeat only the upper portion contracts and the heart looks like a narrow-necked vase. The Japanese called it takotsubo, after a type of trap that is used to capture octopus and has the same vase-like shape. For reasons that no one understands, this mostly affects postmenopausal women. There is no cure. There is no clot to bust, no bugs to kill. Like its metaphorical counterpart, the only treatment is support and the passage of time. The initial burst of hormones subsides and the patient must be kept alive until the heart recovers. For those who survive long enough to reach the hospital, the prognosis is good.”
― Lisa Sanders, Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries

“Hemicrania continua is a type of daily headache characterized by persistent pain on one side of the head punctuated by episodes of sharp pain. The painful flare-ups are often accompanied by other symptoms, including watery eyes, runny nose, eyelid swelling, or constriction of the pupils. Remarkably, most patients with this type of headache get better when treated with an inexpensive medication that has been around for years: indomethacin.”
― Lisa Sanders, Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries

“In medicine, it is essential to rule out diseases that can kill, and then move on to those that may only make you wish you were dead.”
― Lisa Sanders, Diagnosis: Solving the Most Baffling Medical Mysteries