Speaking with a French accent may seem like it would be music to your ears but what if you woke one day to find your usual flat tones suddenly supplanted by a heavy Gallic accent? That is the plight of those who suffer a little-known neurological condition called Foreign Accent syndrome.
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Kay Russell, 49, from Gloucestershire in England found herself the subject of a media maelstrom recently when it was reported that she woke from an afternoon nap to find her clipped English accent had been replaced by a Gallic lilt. Having endured a series of hemiplegic migraines that caused minor brain damage, it is highly unlikely that her former accent will return.
The syndrome alters the intonation of the sufferer's speech, giving the impression they are speaking with a foreign accent. Arising from damage to the brain's left frontal lobe, the condition is occasionally found in stroke victims and is often transitory.
Other sufferers have included a migraine sufferer from the West Country, who woke one day with a distinct Chinese accent.
Professor Nick Miller, of England's Newcastle University, says the syndrome has less to do with foreign accents than the name implies.
''The notion that sufferers speak in a foreign language is something that is in the ear of the listener rather than the mouth of the speaker. It is simply that the rhythm and pronunciation of speech has changed.''
Other intriguing conditions include:MORGELLONS SYNDROME
While yet to be officially classified as a disease, those who claim to be afflicted - and there are several thousand in the United States - report the presence of subcutaneous parasites that manifest themselves as long, fibre-like worms that move around the body.
There is considerable debate as to whether Morgellons is a real illness at all. Some doctors point out that it bears all the hallmarks of delusional parasitosis, a phenomenon connected to schizophrenia.PORPHYRIA
This enzymic disorder was first recognised in the 4th century BC by the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates. Taking its name from the Greek term for ''purple pigment'', the disease causes a build-up of toxic porphyrins, which discolour sufferers' urine and, in some instances, trigger paranoid delusions. It can also cause pain, cramps and seizures.
The most prominent victim was King George III. A spartan regime of blistering and leeches was prescribed by royal physician Francis Willis to no avail. The disease was thought to have led to ''the madness of King George'', though arsenic poisoning from medication he was taking may also be the culprit.
''Leeching is not something that we would recommend today,'' says expert Joanne Marsden of King's College Hospital in London. ''We prefer dietary adjustment and pain control.''TODD'S SYNDROME
Author Lewis Carroll is said to have been inspired to write Alice's Adventures in Wonderland after the onset of this bizarre neurological condition. Prey to ''bilious headaches'', Carroll recorded in his diary his experience of ''curious optical effects … seeing disordered fortifications''.
Although historical diagnosis is risky, scholars agree that these ''disordered fortifications'' were likely to be a product of Todd's syndrome, a condition that distorts perceptions of size and induces the shrinking feeling that Alice experiences in Carroll's novel.
Only formally recognised 60 years ago, Todd's syndrome affects just a tiny number of people each year.PICA
Often manifesting itself in the early stages of pregnancy, Pica leads to the uncontrollable desire to consume certain foods and, in some cases, inedible objects. Sponges, lengths of wood and bricks have all been reported as objects of desire for sufferers, as have soil, coal and paper.
''There has been the suggestion that the cravings are the result of an iron deficiency but the connection has yet to be proven,'' says Sue Jacob of London's Royal College of Midwives.COULROPHOBIA
Coulrophobia describes a terror of clowns. The condition is surprisingly common and affects mainly children.
Other surprising phobias include chorophobia, a socially disabling fear of dancing, and gephyrophobia, a fear of bridges, a relatively common condition and a potentially dangerous one. So much so that authorities are available to guide drivers over the Tappan Zee Bridge in the state of New York.
The Independent
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