‘Dystextia': Gibberish texts sound stroke alarm

Reuters ^ | Mon Dec 24, 2012 4:22pm EST | Ivan Oransky

[null and void]

Imagine you were a devoted husband, waiting to hear from your wife ... after a visit to the obstetrician, and you saw these on your phone:

"every where thinging days nighing"

"Some is where!"

... You'd probably be tempted to make sure your wife got to the emergency room...

A[n] MRI - revealed that part of the woman's brain wasn't getting enough blood, clinching the diagnosis. Fortunately, her symptoms went away quickly, and the rest of the pregnancy went just fine after she went home from the hospital on low-dose blood thinners.

The case, say three doctors from Boston's Harvard Medical School who reported it online today in the Archives of Neurology, suggests that "the growing digital record will likely become an increasingly important means of identifying neurologic disease, ..."

The authors describe the phenomenon as "dystextia," which is the word used by other doctors in an earlier case involving a migraine, and symptoms of a stroke diagnosed for other reasons.

... Dr. Sean Savitz, who directs the stroke program at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, said he has seen a few patients who sent emails suggesting they were having difficulty with language, a condition known as aphasia.

... "So, this case report per se does not indicate to me if dystextia is going to be more common to pick up strokes," Savitz told Reuters Health by email, "but I do think it will be a valuable addition to the collection of information that neurologists should obtain when taking a history."

... Autocorrect, said Savitz, a professor of neurology, can confuse matters - even for doctors.

"I have often joked with my colleagues when using the dictation of the smartphone, that it gives me an aphasia," he said. "Potential for lots of false positives!"

[null and void]

My best friend sent me this text:

it r
uns in y
the

I said:

huh?

She said:

Me -after
5 cups of coffee! I thought
msg was "it runs in our
fanliy"

This was the last I ever heard from her.

She was found dead the next a little over a day later.

I've since wondered if I'd missed a sign of a stroke, and if I could have gotten her medical care.

I guess I did at that. *sigh*

[momtothree]

I am sorry about your best friend, null! Coulda, shoulda, woulda... that isn’t what she would have wanted you to do. Just my two cents but most of us, if not all of us, would miss something on a text message. I’m done mom lecturing you. Hugs and Merry Christmas!

[null and void]

Yeah, I miss her, but I'm not beating myself up about missing that particular clue.

It was atypical, but she was rushed, trying to do housecleaning before her mom and sister showed up for the weekend. They found her.

I wrote it (and the end of the conversation) off to that. It is my hope that this gives some other FReeper that little bit of extra incentive to check should a friend of theirs text oddly.

[SunkenCiv]

Dericulous.

Thnksn null and void.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[gorush]

Didja hear about the agnostic, dyslexic insomniac?

The poor guy laid awake all night wondering if there really IS a dog.

[tet68]

I was having lunch with my friend and he was telling me
about someone going to Haiti for relief work when he
knocked over his water glass and started talking in
gibberish, after a minute or two he got his voice back
and would not believe me when I told him I thought he
had had a stroke, finally when he got in the car and
couldn’t operate the gears he let me drive.
His wife met us and took him to the hospital.
Unfortunately he had several more over the next 24 hours
and died.

Know the signs of stroke, it’s important.
Make them touch their nose, if they can’t do it, that’s one.
Make them stick out their tongue, if it is bent to one
side, that’s another indicator.
Sure miss that guy, he was a great friend to me and it
was an honor that he considered me his friend.

[Mears]

I had stroke in June.

I live alone but recognized the symptoms IMMEDIATELY.

I called 911 and was at the hospital in 10 minutes. (I live in the center of town)

I was home in 3 days-—needed some speech therapy and hand therapy on an out-patient basis.

All went well,but I’ll never be the same person again.No advance warning. None.

.

[tet68]

Good for you. Glad you survived.
Merry Christmas.
tet.

[BenLurkin]

In spite of all the official denials, exposes and investigations, this story still resonates some 60 years after the event.

Here is one rhetor.p.,pical reason why. We all know that computers use binary logic 0 & 1 And we all know that 4 bits is a byte and 2 bites is a word And there are 16 bit words, and 32 bit words, and 64 bit words and so on everything is in groups of 8

Why?

It could have been worked out in base 10 just as easily as base 8 We have 10 finger, we all use base 10 - it would have been natural

But what if you were reverse engineering a computer system? One that was built by grey men with 3 fingers and a thumb that system would be done in their natural counting system - Right?

You got it - Base 8

[BenLurkin]

Wrong thread.

Sorry

[Revolting cat!]

I once fell on my head from 3-4 meters high (it happened in a metric region.) I fell on a concrete floor on which there were set wooden floorboards, or crates, what are they called?, I lost the word, they have them in industrial kitchens or factories where floors can get wet and slippery. I fell from one floor to the one below, bouncing off a platform in between them. I was shook up, obviously, but several people approach me and absurdly demanded that I state my name, and that I touch my nose and count fingers that were shown me, which upset me more than that fall had. I was pissed, I tell ya!

[null and void]

Duck boards.

[Revolting cat!]

Thanks, duckboards indeed!

[null and void]

Well??? It’s interesting, where’s the right thread?

[bravo whiskey]

text i don’t
perhaps doomed i am

[Yardstick]

Which symptoms did you recognize? Did you have language problems or was it mainly physical stuff?

[Salamander]

“to check should a friend of theirs text oddly.”

I must scare you every day.

:)

[Salamander]

Yoda?

That you?

[null and void]

‘Oddly’, it’s the new ‘Normal’.

[Tunehead54]

You just need a smart phone like my Samsung Galaxy III - you just talk into it and hit send like this recent message:

Thanks so much sweetheart for gummy um let me be there after 4 this is just how this is just a text test um in the message never know me up I will just try and speak slowly in this thing this tingling I'm outside I'm well there's a little traffic problem of a down by the mall on countryside um flashing lights and stuff thought I'd let you know it'll be interesting to see how this turns out I love all wheel later it'll be interesting I love you bye

With a little luck they'll be able to figure out what you were trying to say ... Merry Christmas! ;-)