Latest news with #Grunch
New York Post
5 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
I have ‘Harlequin sign' — only half of my face sweats and gets red from exercise
Feeling flush? Harlequin sign might sound like a fun card game or Halloween outfit — but it's actually a rare nervous system condition characterized by asymmetrical sweating. Sydney Patrice, 26, a physical therapist from Baltimore, shared a video on TikTok in which she explained that only half her face turns red and sweaty during exercise — while the other side stays ghostly pale and completely dry. Harlequin sign might sound like a fun card game or Halloween outfit — but it's actually a rare nervous system condition characterized by asymmetrical sweating. SalmArina – 'One of the nerves got messed up in one of my neck surgeries last year,' she said. 'And so now, whenever I go running, only half my face gets red.' Neurosurgeon Dr. Betsy Grunch chimed in online to share how something like this can happen. 'There are two syndromes that could potentially happen after damage to your autonomic nervous system,' she said. 'If you're stressed out, your eyes get really big, your face gets flushed, you sweat, you get dry mouth — that's all part of our body's fight or flight mechanism and it travels through the sympathetic chain, which lies in front of the spine.' When that chain gets damaged, it can cause two conditions: Horner syndrome and Harlequin syndrome. 'Whenever I go running, only half my face gets red,' Sydney Patrice said on TikTok. TikTok/@sydneypatrice9 Horner syndrome is characterized by drooping eyelids, constricted pupils and a lack of sweating on one side of the face. Meanwhile, Harlequin syndrome causes only one side of the face to get flushed and sweaty, while the other remains completely dry. Why only one side? 'Because you have a sympathetic chain on either side and each supplies one side of your face,' Grunch noted. 'So if it's damaged on one side, it will affect that one side.' While it is a known risk with anterior cervical surgery — where doctors operate on the part of your spine that's in your neck by accessing it through the front — it's extremely rare. Though exact numbers are difficult to pin down, Harlequin syndrome is estimated to affect fewer than 1,000 people in the US, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It was first described in medical literature in 1988. Harlequin syndrome is generally a temporary and benign condition, but symptoms can become permanent in some situations, according to Grunch. While extraordinary, it is possible to have Horner syndrome and Harlequin syndrome — as Sydney appears to — since both involve injury to the sympathetic chain.
Hindustan Times
10-07-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Neurosurgeon explains how you can contract deadly brain eating amoeba: Symptoms include fever, headache, stiff neck
Dr Betsy Grunch, a neurosurgeon, took to Instagram on July 8 to educate her followers about the death of a Texas woman from a brain-eating amoeba infection after using tap water from an RV's water faucet for nasal irrigation. The amoeba, known as Naegleria fowleri, causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare and deadly brain infection. Also read | Texas woman dies due to brain-eating amoeba after using tap water The amoeba enters the body through the nose, usually when contaminated water is forced up into the nasal passages during activities like swimming, diving, or nasal irrigation. (Representative picture: Freepik) Cause of infection In her Instagram post, Dr Grunch shared details of 'Naegleria fowleri aka brain-eating amoeba' and wrote, 'This case is tragic —but awareness can save lives.' She added, 'Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) caused by Naegleria fowleri, also known as the brain-eating amoeba. It enters through the nose, usually after swimming in warm freshwater, and travels along the olfactory nerve into the brain. Once there, it destroys brain tissue — fast.' Symptoms and prevention tips Dr Grunch said, 'Early symptoms mimic meningitis: fever, headache, nausea, stiff neck. But within days, neurological decline sets in — confusion, seizures, coma. Without rapid recognition and treatment, PAM is almost always fatal.' According to Dr Grunch, treatment includes 'IV and intrathecal amphotericin B, miltefosine, dexamethasone, and hypothermia protocols. A few survivors exist — but survival is rare and depends on immediate diagnosis'. The amoeba is typically found in warm freshwater environments like lakes, rivers, and hot springs. Hence, Dr Grunch added that when swimming or engaging in water activities, avoid warm freshwater environments known to potentially harbour the amoeba. Moreover, she suggested you use sterile or distilled water for nasal irrigation, and avoid using tap water that may be contaminated. Dr Grunch listed these prevention tips: ⦿ Avoid forceful water entry into the nose ⦿ Use distilled or boiled water in neti pots ⦿ Avoid swimming in warm freshwater during peak summer heat Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
CNN
04-04-2025
- CNN
Airport theory: The new viral trend that has people missing their flights
Was the raw dogging travel trend not spicy enough for you? How about something more heart-pounding, more dangerous — and definitely not recommended by airlines? We're talking about 'airport theory,' a TikTok trend that invites people to arrive at the airport as little as 15 minutes before their flight boards. The idea is that if you've checked in online and are traveling with just hand luggage, you can zip through security and make a beeline to your boarding gate, just in time for your fashionably late entrance to the airplane cabin. Sounds more than a little perilous, right? We spoke to content creators who've tried out airport theory and also found out what airports have to say. Airport theory is 'about whether or not you really need to arrive at the airport within a certain period of time to catch a flight,' says Betsy Grunch, a neurosurgeon with 2.4 million TikTok followers. 'Is it really necessary to arrive the two to three hours beforehand as recommended to make your flight?' The concept is about people testing out airport theory and reducing the unnecessary airport wait time to as little as their nerves can handle. Grunch gave the theory a shot when bad traffic and a luggage mishap meant she arrived at her local airport with around 26 minutes to spare before her boarding time. That airport just happened to be Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International, the busiest airport in the world. As a content creator, she instinctively got out her phone and started recording. 'It doesn't slow me down at all. It's kind of a natural part of my life,' she says. Having grabbed a parking space, she headed up the escalator to security screening. 'I kind of just quickly jogged. I think running in the airport draws a lot of attention to you,' she says. As luck would have it, her boarding gate was the one closest to her exit after security, and she says she got there in around 18 minutes. 'The biggest thing was that there were no lines,' she says. Her bag did, however, get stopped at security and had to be pulled out for a routine check. 'I thought that was just a little extra something that … the spirits gave to me, if you will, just to make me rethink my decision.' Content creator James Shaw tested airport theory alongside his wife Terri and daughter Naomi at Tampa International, their local airport in Florida. They did a risk-averse version rather than the full nerves-of-steel approach. They arrived 90 minutes in advance, then for their video they used a stopwatch to time their airport journey. They got to their gate in under 13 minutes. 'We don't check bags, so we already had our carry-ons,' says Shaw. 'It was a good time to do it because it was a spring break week here, so it was one of the busiest days that Tampa airport had seen.' He adds, 'We never ran, we walked the whole time. It was super simple.' The Shaws have TSA PreCheck, an expedited screening process for eligible US travelers, and without that they 'definitely would have waited in security a lot longer. That line was really long that day,' he says. They also got lucky by catching the in-airport tram just before the doors closed, although, he says, 'if we did wait, it would have added like 60 seconds to the amount of time it took us.' Grunch, who is a frequent business traveler, is also similarly prepared. 'I have PreCheck, Clear and Digital ID. So through any airport, I can try to get through security as quickly as possible. In Hartsfield, Digital ID is typically the fastest,' she explains. 'But that is something specific with Delta that uses facial recognition to get you through and most people haven't signed up for that.' For domestic flights at familiar airports, with PreCheck and no checked bags, Shaw and Grunch are both agreed on being 'around an hour before departure' people. 'I think that traveling can be so stressful for so many people,' says Shaw. 'And so that's why we go, 'I need to be there three hours early or four hours early or whatever.' And I don't think you need to do that.' However, he thinks that people should do whatever they're comfortable with, particularly if they're not regular travelers. If 'you're not sure, yeah, get there a little bit early so that you don't have to stress about it. And then go grab a cup of coffee or pay $22 for a bag of candy and just relax and enjoy your travel,' he says. What didn't make it into his Tampa airport video, he adds, is their timed trip to Starbucks after reaching the gate. 'It was over 25 minutes to get our cup of coffee,' he says. 'So if you want coffee and a plane, you cannot do airport theory.' Our comfort levels with cutting it close come down to personality as well as experience. Grunch says that unexpectedly testing out airport theory was 'fun, to be honest.' As a neurosurgeon 'fueled by adrenaline' she says she's 'super-competitive' and that she likes to win. She found it an 'exciting' challenge. Her husband, however, she describes as the 'typical airport dad' who wants to arrive two to three hours ahead. 'I would never try it with my husband because we would be divorced,' she says. Both Grunch and Shaw agree that they would never try the trend on an international trip, with the extra security processes involved and because the financial risks of messing up are even higher. Many of the airport theory videos online have proved that it's possible to get to one's gate in just 15 or 20 minutes, but what those videos haven't proved is that you should. The two or three-hour guidance is a 'buffer for anything that happens that you just don't expect, whether it's weather, a malfunction in the trains or anything like that,' a spokesperson for Denver International, the world's sixth busiest airport in 2023, told CNN Travel. 'TSA wait times can vary from airport to airport, and even from day to day within each airport, especially during peak travel times,' said a spokesperson for Dallas/Fort Worth, the third busiest airport in the world in 2023. Grunch, as a frequent air traveler who hates to wait, is not averse to repeating the experience on a tried-and-tested route. 'Me, myself, traveling alone — absolutely a believer, would do it again,' she says. Shaw is less convinced. 'I am not a fan of airport theory. I think it's stupid. I wouldn't risk missing the flight. It's just dumb.'
CNN
04-04-2025
- CNN
Airport theory: The new viral trend that has people missing their flights
Was the raw dogging travel trend not spicy enough for you? How about something more heart-pounding, more dangerous — and definitely not recommended by airlines? We're talking about 'airport theory,' a TikTok trend that invites people to arrive at the airport as little as 15 minutes before their flight boards. The idea is that if you've checked in online and are traveling with just hand luggage, you can zip through security and make a beeline to your boarding gate, just in time for your fashionably late entrance to the airplane cabin. Sounds more than a little perilous, right? We spoke to content creators who've tried out airport theory and also found out what airports have to say. Airport theory is 'about whether or not you really need to arrive at the airport within a certain period of time to catch a flight,' says Betsy Grunch, a neurosurgeon with 2.4 million TikTok followers. 'Is it really necessary to arrive the two to three hours beforehand as recommended to make your flight?' The concept is about people testing out airport theory and reducing the unnecessary airport wait time to as little as their nerves can handle. Grunch gave the theory a shot when bad traffic and a luggage mishap meant she arrived at her local airport with around 26 minutes to spare before her boarding time. That airport just happened to be Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International, the busiest airport in the world. As a content creator, she instinctively got out her phone and started recording. 'It doesn't slow me down at all. It's kind of a natural part of my life,' she says. Having grabbed a parking space, she headed up the escalator to security screening. 'I kind of just quickly jogged. I think running in the airport draws a lot of attention to you,' she says. As luck would have it, her boarding gate was the one closest to her exit after security, and she says she got there in around 18 minutes. 'The biggest thing was that there were no lines,' she says. Her bag did, however, get stopped at security and had to be pulled out for a routine check. 'I thought that was just a little extra something that … the spirits gave to me, if you will, just to make me rethink my decision.' Content creator James Shaw tested airport theory alongside his wife Terri and daughter Naomi at Tampa International, their local airport in Florida. They did a risk-averse version rather than the full nerves-of-steel approach. They arrived 90 minutes in advance, then for their video they used a stopwatch to time their airport journey. They got to their gate in under 13 minutes. 'We don't check bags, so we already had our carry-ons,' says Shaw. 'It was a good time to do it because it was a spring break week here, so it was one of the busiest days that Tampa airport had seen.' He adds, 'We never ran, we walked the whole time. It was super simple.' The Shaws have TSA PreCheck, an expedited screening process for eligible US travelers, and without that they 'definitely would have waited in security a lot longer. That line was really long that day,' he says. They also got lucky by catching the in-airport tram just before the doors closed, although, he says, 'if we did wait, it would have added like 60 seconds to the amount of time it took us.' Grunch, who is a frequent business traveler, is also similarly prepared. 'I have PreCheck, Clear and Digital ID. So through any airport, I can try to get through security as quickly as possible. In Hartsfield, Digital ID is typically the fastest,' she explains. 'But that is something specific with Delta that uses facial recognition to get you through and most people haven't signed up for that.' For domestic flights at familiar airports, with PreCheck and no checked bags, Shaw and Grunch are both agreed on being 'around an hour before departure' people. 'I think that traveling can be so stressful for so many people,' says Shaw. 'And so that's why we go, 'I need to be there three hours early or four hours early or whatever.' And I don't think you need to do that.' However, he thinks that people should do whatever they're comfortable with, particularly if they're not regular travelers. If 'you're not sure, yeah, get there a little bit early so that you don't have to stress about it. And then go grab a cup of coffee or pay $22 for a bag of candy and just relax and enjoy your travel,' he says. What didn't make it into his Tampa airport video, he adds, is their timed trip to Starbucks after reaching the gate. 'It was over 25 minutes to get our cup of coffee,' he says. 'So if you want coffee and a plane, you cannot do airport theory.' Our comfort levels with cutting it close come down to personality as well as experience. Grunch says that unexpectedly testing out airport theory was 'fun, to be honest.' As a neurosurgeon 'fueled by adrenaline' she says she's 'super-competitive' and that she likes to win. She found it an 'exciting' challenge. Her husband, however, she describes as the 'typical airport dad' who wants to arrive two to three hours ahead. 'I would never try it with my husband because we would be divorced,' she says. Both Grunch and Shaw agree that they would never try the trend on an international trip, with the extra security processes involved and because the financial risks of messing up are even higher. Many of the airport theory videos online have proved that it's possible to get to one's gate in just 15 or 20 minutes, but what those videos haven't proved is that you should. The two or three-hour guidance is a 'buffer for anything that happens that you just don't expect, whether it's weather, a malfunction in the trains or anything like that,' a spokesperson for Denver International, the world's sixth busiest airport in 2023, told CNN Travel. 'TSA wait times can vary from airport to airport, and even from day to day within each airport, especially during peak travel times,' said a spokesperson for Dallas/Fort Worth, the third busiest airport in the world in 2023. Grunch, as a frequent air traveler who hates to wait, is not averse to repeating the experience on a tried-and-tested route. 'Me, myself, traveling alone — absolutely a believer, would do it again,' she says. Shaw is less convinced. 'I am not a fan of airport theory. I think it's stupid. I wouldn't risk missing the flight. It's just dumb.'
