Live corpse syndrome

People with walking coronary syndrome (Cotard syndrome) feel like they are dead, no organs or organs. Influence from the above illusion, patients refuse to take care of the body and eating leads to death due to depression.

What is the walking syndrome?

Cotard syndrome , also known as walking syndrome, was discovered and named after French neurologist Jules Cotard. In 1880, Cotard published an article about a patient nicknamed Lady X. The woman claimed to have lost many organs and organs including her brain, chest, stomach, and intestines. Lady X believed she was " cursed forever" , refused to eat and then starved to death. Cotard identified this condition as a paranoid form associated with severe depression, "showing the mental retardation, the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms".

Scenes in American TV series - (Photo: collider.com)

The most recent case of the dead body syndrome was recorded as the man named Graham. His illness appeared after a long struggle with severe depression , which lasted for at least 9 years. Eight months from the day he tried to commit suicide by putting electric appliances in the bathtub, he told doctors that his brain had died or died somewhere.

Cotard syndrome is very rare but has not been identified. A study in Hong Kong in 349 mental patients showed that the number of people with walking syndrome is about 0.57% of the population. Another project in Mexico in 2010 indicated 0.62% of 1,321 patients with this problem. In general, walking syndrome usually occurs in people with mental disorders or many health problems.

Symptoms of the disease

Expression of Cotard syndrome is relatively diverse. Researcher Yamada Katsuragi and his 1999 colleagues explain the disease in three stages: germination, development and chronic .

The germination stage is characterized by hypochondriasis and severe depression . The patient can go to a doctor with vague complaints, such as the case of a 28-year-old woman with the name Mrs. S. Medical reports that record her to the hospital, calling her liver " rotten " and her heart" absolutely not ". Previously, Ms. S had insomnia, often feeling lonely due to losing interest in her surroundings. These are all typical signs of depression.

The stage of development is when the patient appears symptoms such as denying the existence of certain parts . To the chronic stage, the symptoms are more severe, hindering the normal life of the patient. They neglect personal hygiene, hurt themselves, lose the ability to recognize their faces and others.

Graham suffers from walking syndrome for nine years, often going to the cemetery because he thinks it suits him.(Photo: AFP).

Specifically, Graham believes he has no brain or head, refuses to eat or drink, doesn't smoke or socialize because he finds " meaningless when he's dead ". Graham also regularly visited the local cemetery because he felt it suited him. " I don't want to face anyone else," the man told New Scientist magazine. " I don't see joy in anything. I used to love my car, but now I don't get close to it. All I want is to go far."

Graham became the first patient to have a brain scan called Cotard. Doctors detect levels of activity in the forehead and parietal lobe that are involved in motor function, memory, and sensory information, which are very low, similar to those of plants. "I have analyzed brain scans for 15 years but have not seen anyone with such low brain activity and still walk and communicate normally, " said neurologist Steven Laurey of the University of Liege (Belgium). "Graham's brain function is like an anesthetist or sleeper."

In addition, the amygdala of the brain is inactive causing patients with Cotard syndrome to lose their ability to recognize. This "may lead to a lack of connection between mirror image and a sense of self, leading to the belief that you don't exist".

The cause to the illness

Pharmacists have discovered one of the mechanisms that activate Cotard syndrome . After the study, European experts have established a relationship between kidney failure status, Cotard syndrome with the use of a topical medicine.

According to a report published in the Journal of Neurological Sciences , Swedish pharmacists have pointed out the relationship between Cotard syndrome and acyclovir , also known as Zovirax , which is often indicated for cases of herpes and marine infections. beans and shingles. Only about 1% of people taking this drug have mental effects, including Cotard syndrome. The team found 8 patients with this syndrome due to acyclovir in the Swedish data bank. In it, a woman with hallucinogenic shingles becomes a "corpse" when treated with acyclovir, according to New Scientist. The patient was hospitalized in extreme panic, according to the study author Anders Helldén of Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. After hemodialysis, she said she was too scared when she was always obsessed with the thought of her death.

Within a few hours, the patient's symptoms subsided, until she felt 'sure' that she was not dead, but insisted that her left arm was broken. Another 24 hours, these symptoms completely disappear. The results of the blood analysis then showed that acyclovir, which normally breaks down inside the body before being expelled through the kidneys, can still leave a low concentration of CMMG inside the body after disintegration. Blood tests done in people with Cotard syndrome show that their bodies contain high levels of CMMG. Only one of these people can escape kidney failure.

Specialist Helldén and co-author Thomas Lindén, of Sahlgrenska Institute in Gothenburg, found that reducing the dose of acyclovir or completely eliminating the substance suggests that the symptoms of 'corpses' can be stopped . 'Some patients have extremely high blood pressure, so we feel that CMMG causes a form of arterial spasm inside the brain,' according to researcher Helldén. The conclusions of Swedish experts provide a hypothesis about the cause and treatment of Cotard syndrome, but of course this result still needs to be demonstrated through other studies.