Disease of the Week: Foreign Language Syndrome

When you hear about a new disease, you can be sure a drug solution won’t be far behind, so beware all of you suffering from Foreign Language Syndrome. It’s just affected Sarah Colwill, a woman from Devon, England, who suddenly started talking in a Chinese accent after suffering a migraine. “I have had friends hanging up on me because they think I’m a hoax caller, “ she says. It’s reckoned that around 20 people around the world suffer from the syndrome, and they include a British man who new sounds Mexican, and an American who speaks with a French accent.

The first ever case was recorded as far back as 1941 when a young Norweigian woman began speaking with a strong German accent after suffering a shrapnel wound to her head. 1941? What is the drugs industry doing?

(Source: The Times, April 20, 2010)