Riddle Of Epilepsy Sufferers Who Predict Own Deaths
[Original headline: Riddle of patients who 'see' death]
An 11-year-old-girl who suffered from epilepsy made a will and told her parents not to buy her any Christmas presents.
The youngster is among a number of sufferers who predicted their own premature deaths, according to new research by Dr Tim Betts, a Birmingham neuropsychiatrist.
He has investigated a series of cases in which patients told family and friends they were going to die just months before their sudden deaths.
They made wills, signed donor cards and wrote poems about dying, all revealing premonitions of their imminent death.
Dr Betts, who runs the University of Birmingham Seizure Clinic in the Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital in Edgbaston, said it was not clear how sufferers are able to predict their own deaths.
"I can't explain it, but it is something I'm aware of and other neurologists have seen the same thing," said Dr Betts.
"I'm trying to collect enough case studies so we can try to understand it.
"The youngest was a child of 11 who made out a will and told her parents not to give her any Christmas presents. She told them 'This is going to kill me soon'."
A total of 17 per cent of people who have epilepsy throughout their lives will die from the condition. This is known as Sudden Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).
Dr Betts said he has treated eight patients who have predicted their own deaths during the past four years - which equates to about one in four of all deaths of patients treated at the clinic.
Their ages range from 12 to 53 and there are no obvious psychological links between the cases, said Dr Betts.
Further interviews carried out with patients' families by University of Birmingham medical student Forough Rashidi revealed only three of the patients had any knowledge of SUDEP. There was no indication that the other five were aware of it.
All eight gave a clear verbal indication that they knew they were going to die shortly. Death occurred within four months or less.
Half of the patients gave a written notice of their anticipated death by making a will or signing a donor card. Two adolescent patients wrote poems about death.
There was no evidence of clinical depression in any of the patients. Seven of the eight had gone through major emotional turmoil related to the epilepsy, but by the time they had a premonition of their death the anxiety was replaced by acceptance.
Dr Betts said: "I think it may be the case that people have decided to cease struggling and fighting. We do encourage people to keep fighting as your will is very important.
"The one theme that does seem to run through these eight cases is that all had passed through a period of emotional turmoil and struggle shortly before death (which occurred relatively soon after the premonition) but had seemed to come through it and passed into a period of acceptance.
"There is evidence from breast cancer survival studies that undue acceptance of the condition leads to a poor survival rate, while denial and anger lead to an increased chance of survival from the disease.
"It might be that is sometimes true for epilepsy. Should we give the advice of Dylan Thomas: 'Do not go gentle into that goodnight, but rage, rage against the dying of the light'?"
There are a total of 1,000 deaths from epilepsy each year, most commonly in people aged 20 to 40. One in ten people suffer from epilepsy at some stage during their lives.
• Story originally published by:
Birmingham Post via icBirmingham / England | Jennt Hudson - Apr 17.02
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