In a tasty new paper, British neurologists Kate El Bouzidi et al report on the case of a woman who suffered epileptic seizures whenever she saw, smelled, or ate food:
A 44-year-old right-handed woman was walking in the Scottish highlands. Upon unwrapping her lunch, she had a focal seizure with witnessed onset on the right side of the face and secondary generalization... She was airlifted to hospital. Three weeks later, the smell of food triggered another seizure and she was admitted to the neurology unit...
Even hospital fare was able to provoke the attacks:
The next morning, the patient had a simple partial seizure after eating a spoonful of porridge. Thereafter, most meals triggered seizures, as did other food-related stimuli such as being offered a piece of cake, seeing her visitors pass around food at her bedside, and smelling the hospital dinner trolley.
Anti-convulsant drugs failed to control the seizures. ...
