Photo from open sources
For fifty years now, a resident of France has been living without a brain. Moreover, a man has a full life: he has a good job, family and children, and no deviations in the physical and mental plan practically not observed.
The case of a French civil servant named Mathieu is a real mystery to world medicine. A few man for decades lived with such a tiny brain that in 2007, when doctors accidentally discovered this anomaly in him, they first they didn’t even notice the organ in the skull of the patient. Amazing French doctors made the discovery when Mathieu turned to him complaining of leg pain. Standard examinations and analyzes are not allowed to establish a diagnosis, and then the medical staff institutions decided to conduct a full health survey customer.
When doctors reached the Mathieu brain scan, they turned out to be literally shocked. The man’s brain was so small that in the pictures it was practically not noticeable. After a series tests, doctors determined that cerebrospinal fluid, circulating in a healthy person in the brain and excreted in circulatory system, filled the skull of the patient, leaving a very small amount of gray matter. Struck by this the find experts began to understand the nature of the phenomenon and found that in childhood a man was treated for hydrocephalus – other in words, he was pumped out of his brain excess fluid. For this, doctors Mathieu had a shunt, and then removed the shunt. But, as seen, the problem after that did not disappear.
A photo from open sources
For half a century, excess fluid accumulated in the cranial Frenchman’s box and crowded out his brain. Amazing but pain in the legs became the first and so far the only complication associated with his a disease. For the past eight years, scientists have carefully studied the body. Mathieu. The tiny sizes of his brain are supposed to be the result of hydrocephalus, however how the man lived quietly all these years is a real mystery.
According to the patient himself, he lives a very typical life. His neurological and mental development were normal. Mathieu long married and currently raising two children who completely healthy. If not for pain in the legs, which, by the way, are already managed to heal, the Frenchman would probably live quietly and further, even without realizing that he has almost no brain. According to scientists, his only non-physical deviation was relatively low level of intelligence. The average a resident of the planet, he is one hundred points, while for Mathieu – only seventy five. However, this did not stop the Frenchman from getting good public office and from twenty one years work for the good of their native country.
This astounding event made world scientists wonder question: is the brain so important for a person, as is customary count?
A life
