What Is Autoimmune Encephalitis?
Our brains are fairly well protected. It will take a significant impact to cause physical trauma to the organ, and pathogens are also unlikely to be able to penetrate through defensive barriers. This does not mean to say the brain is completely safe, however, and some medical conditions can cause problems for the brain.
Problems with the brain can cause it to become inflamed, and this will mean it will not be able to function as well as it otherwise would. This is potentially a very serious condition and it will be fatal in some cases. It can also cause some other very unwelcome symptoms, but the condition can often be managed.
1. Autoimmune Encephalitis
There are different types of encephalitis. Usually, the disease is caused by the presence of a virus or bacteria. Pathogens can sometimes infect the brain and the infection can result in the brain tissue becoming inflamed. This type of encephalitis can be broken down into two main categories. These are primary and secondary encephalitis.
Primary encephalitis means that the brain is infected directly by pathogens, while secondary encephalitis is caused by an abnormal response to an infection elsewhere in the body. The condition is usually caused by infection from viruses, bacteria, or parasites, but this is not always the case. In much rarer cases, the inflammation is caused by an autoimmune condition, in what is known as autoimmune encephalitis.
2. Causes
Our immune system helps to keep us safe from disease. For the most part, it is very effective at its job, but it is not impervious. We will sometimes fall ill, and sometimes the immune system can even be the cause of illness. In some people, the immune system can even cause encephalitis.
Autoimmune encephalitis means that our brain is being attacked by our own immune system. It is a rare disease, but it can cause some very serious complications. The symptoms the condition causes mean it is often mistaken for a psychiatric condition. It can be very dangerous, but treatment is available that will help to at least manage the condition and its symptoms.
3. Cognitive Impairment
In cases of autoimmune encephalitis, the brain’s ability to function properly can be adversely affected. This means that the patient can suffer from cognitive impairment, which means that they can begin to struggle to understand what is happening around them. The patient’s problem-solving skills can become weaker, and they can become confused more easily than usual.
Patients with autoimmune encephalitis will also sometimes begin to lose their memory, and even remembering people close to them can become a problem for them. The condition can also mean that the patient’s speech is affected, and some may struggle to communicate with other people at all.
4. Insomnia
Most people need around 8 hours sleep every night, although this varies from person to person. If we don’t get enough sleep then we are likely to feel pretty bad the following day. Prolonged periods of not getting enough sleep can even mean that we develop serious mental and physical health problems.
Autoimmune encephalitis can result in the patient suffering from insomnia, and this can have a considerable negative impact on the patient’s overall quality of life. To make matters even worse, patients with the condition will also sometimes suffer from severe anxiety, and some may experience debilitating anxiety attacks.
5. Behavioral Changes
Most of what determines a person’s personality is located in their brain. This means that if something was to affect the brain, then the patient’s personality is also sometimes affected. This very thing will happen in some cases of autoimmune encephalitis.
Patients with the condition will sometimes become agitated more easily than they otherwise would. Some will also experience a loss of inhibition and become more likely to throw caution to the wind. This might sometimes lead to them having problems with the authorities, financial difficulties, and maybe also injuries. The condition will also cause the patient to become paranoid in some cases.
6. Weakness
Our brains are also responsible for controlling our movements, meaning patients with autoimmune encephalitis will experience difficulties with moving their body also. For example, they will sometimes perform certain movements completely involuntary, with little to no ability to stop themselves.
Some patients will also experience numbness as a result of the brain not being able to detect and process sensations as well as it usually would. Many patients will also find that they begin to lose strength in their muscles as the brain loses its ability to control those muscles. Many patients with the condition will also develop a loss of balance.
7. Hallucinations
Autoimmune encephalitis will also sometimes cause the patient to have hallucinations. This means seeing, hearing, and even smelling things that are just not there. The hallucinations can be very real to the patient, despite the fact that they are entirely a product of the patient’s brain. The patient can also suffer from vision problems.
The impact on the brain can affect the flow of electricity through the organ, and this can cause the patient to develop seizures. In addition, the patient can gradually lose their consciousness, becoming decreasingly aware of what is happening around them. In the more severe cases, the patient can go into a coma, and death is also a possibility.
8. Who’s At Risk
Autoimmune encephalitis can affect people of both sexes. However, the majority of people with the condition are female and, in some studies, around 80% of patients with the condition were female. The disease can also affect people of all ages. However, most are quite young and the average of patients with the condition is around 20 years old.
There is also a connection with autoimmune encephalitis and cancer. People with brain tumors in particular are at a higher risk of developing the disease. It is all but impossible to tell who is likely to develop the condition, and this helps to make it very difficult to prevent.
9. Diagnosis
In order to diagnose the condition, the doctor is likely to want to perform a brief physical exam. They are also likely to want to ask about the patient’s medical history and their symptoms. If autoimmune encephalitis is suspected then the patient will likely be referred to a specialist.
Tests are likely to be requested, including a lumbar puncture so the patient’s spinal fluid can be analyzed. This can help the experts to look for the antibodies that are responsible for attacking the brain’s cells. An MRI may also be requested, which will help to rule out other potential causes of the patient’s symptoms.
10. Treatment
There is no cure for autoimmune encephalitis so far. However, the condition can be treated to help lessen the severity of the symptoms. The treatment will be decided on a case by case basis, and will depend largely on how severe the condition is.
Medication is available that will help to suppress the immune system, thus reducing the attacks on the brain.
Corticosteroids can also be used, while medication is also available for psychiatric symptoms and seizures. Any cancers present will also need to be removed where possible. Therapy can be prescribed to help the patient regain any functionality they may have lost.
