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‘Dystextia': Mangled Texts Can Point to Brain Disorders

Doctors say garbled messages might be diagnostic tool

By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 26, 2012 6:15 AM CST

(Newser) – You might want to turn off your phone's autocorrect, because your garbled typing could save your life. Doctors are calling it "dystextia," when brain-related problems such as strokes start showing up in text messages, resulting in bizarre ones, reports Reuters. Researchers say the first documented case of dystextia occurred last December when a 25-year-old pregnant woman sent a series of messages to her husband, who knew her auto-correct was not on:

  • "every where thinging days nighing"
  • "Some is where!"

At the hospital, doctors found she had stroke symptoms, and an MRI confirmed her brain wasn't getting enough blood. The good news is that her symptoms soon went away, and the pregnancy turned out fine after doctors gave her blood thinners. "As the accessibility of electronic communication continues to advance, the growing digital record will likely become an increasingly important means of identifying neurologic disease, particularly in patient populations that rely more heavily on written rather than spoken communications," wrote the researchers in the Archives of Neurology.

Researchers say that text messaging could be another tool for diagnosing brain problems.
Researchers say that text messaging could be another tool for diagnosing brain problems.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 13 comments
LenettW3
Dec 27, 2012 1:37 PM CST
Normal People worry me.
elderban
Dec 26, 2012 6:53 PM CST
Yes, lets see how many "brain disorders" we can come up with so the pharmaceutical industry can medicate us for them.
myflap.blow
Dec 26, 2012 5:59 PM CST
course everyone has to rip on newser commenters. Not like this is a literary contest or every where thinging days nighing.
 

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