Former senator Norm Coleman diagnosed with Bell's palsy

[sabra]

Source: CNN

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) — Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, widely considered a potential candidate for governor next year, confirmed to CNN Friday that he has been diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a generally temporary condition that affects the nerves of the muscles on one side of a person's face.

"(I was) heading back to the Twin Cities, I'm getting on a plane taking a little sip of water, and realize I'm dribbling out of the left side of my mouth," Coleman told CNN in a phone interview from his home in St. Paul. "I'm smiling, but only half of my face is smiling, so I realize I think we have a problem here."

Coleman said when the symptoms first came on last week on the plane he wasn't sure if it was a stroke or something else, but after seeing his doctor the next day, he had his answer.

"Bell's palsy, paralysis on the left side of my face," Coleman said. "The good news is that…I had a little movement, and by having a little movement it says the prognosis recovery is really pretty good."

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/11/former-... /

[Barack_America]

1. He'll be fine.

Note to DUers, however, avoid sleeping with air blowing over one of your ears. That's the cause of this in most cases.

[OswegoAtheist]

22. So what you're saying is...

...avoid all of that hot air blowing from the right?

Oswego "Yeah, I went there" Atheist

[wroberts189]

29. Thx...Ya know I was just realizing the left side of my head felt a bit numb.

I was wondering what the hell? But I have been running a fan right on my face all night.

Thx for the post.

[FarPoint]

42. It's my understanding that it is a virus.

It goes away on it's own in about 6 weeks.

[dflprincess]

2. Norm drooling?

I don't understand how did he realize anything was wrong this time.

[Frosty1]

6. Duzy

[aquart]

3. I would feel okay if...

He had the palsy for the exact amount of time he prevent Franken from taking his seat. It would be so nice to know God cares.

[Barack_America]

4. Actually, it can last that long. nt

[Posteritatis]

12. It might; even minor nerve injuries can stick around for awhile. (nt)

[sharesunited]

5. I'm thinking a car air conditioning vent blowing on that side triggered it.

[TayTay]

7. I had that a dozen years or so ago

He'll be just fine in a week or so.

[nolabear]

8. My father had that. He'll be fine.

Irritating and humility-inducing, but he should fully recover in a bit.

[leahcim]

9. Isn't that what Jean Chretien had?

And that buggered up his face for life?

[Posteritatis]

11. Yeah, though that happened quite awhile back; I imagine there's better treatments now

A friend of mine had it as a side effect of an auto accident about five years ago; it cleared up in a few months for him.

[MineralMan]

10. My mom had that once. Lasted for almost two months.

Poor, poor Normie. God punishes!

[glinda]

13. I am sure his health care coverage is good.

[Historic NY]

14. Its actually from talking out both sides of his mouth at the same time.

[Cleita]

15. I had an attack of it and wouldn't wish it on anyone even an idiot

Republican, who didn't know when to concede graciously when he lost an election. However, it's not that awful in the long run, and he will recover with few lingering side effects.

[Algorem]

16. paralyzed on his left side?sounds like obama.

[AlinPA]

27. That got a rise out of me. nt

[robcon]

17. Two people who work with me got Bell's Palsy at the same time.

Unexplained.

[Kceres]

18. My hubby had an extremely bad case.

He never fully recovered but has learned to live with it. Oddly, since his partial recovery his left eye waters terribly when his mouth waters. He sits at the dinner table dapping his eye with his napkin. We laugh it off!

[Ganja Ninja]

25. I was hit with a case back in 2005 and never fully recovered.

My eye watered a lot for the first 6 to 8 months then it dried up and now I have to use eye drops because it's so dry. My mouth and sinuses are always abnormally dry too.

[katkat]

28. Ganja

Ganja, not necessarily related. Have yourself checked for vitamin/mineral deficiencies, a frequent cause of dry eye/dry mouth.

[du_grad]

45. About 20% never fully recover

My mother got BP back in 1995, shortly after she was diagnosed as being diabetic. Her onset was a lot of pain on the left side of her face, and her eyelid and face drooped a lot. It looked like she had had a stroke.

She had some recovery, but her eyelid drooped to the point that they had to do a repair to sew it shut at the outside edge to prevent her lower lid from getting infected due to air exposure. After a year or so, she went to a ophthalmologist specializing in plastic surgery to get a permanent repair. A gold bar was implanted in her lid so she could close her eye. She still does not have full functionality of blinking in that eye, and her eyes tear a lot. Her doctor said there are two different types of tears involved in one's eye; the type of tears she produces aren't necessarily lubricating ones, and she has to use eye drops on a daily basis. She always has tissues with her to dab at her eyes. She is going on 88 this October and the affect on her over the years has been truly sad.

A few years later, she had another BP attack on her right side. This one wasn't as severe, but she did end up with a surgical repair on the lids again.

Her appearance has permanently changed. Her doc said she was the only patient he had ever had with bilateral Bell's, and he took a lot of pictures for a conference.

A coworker of mine suffered an attack of BP back in the 70's or early 80's. Her appearance was severely affected for quite some time. She eventually went back to "almost" normal, but she had some eyelid drooping that never went away.

I did a lot of reading on it when my mom got it. Herpes virus has been implicated in the attacks, but has never been proven to be the culprit.

To those of you who fully recovered from this, you were lucky.

[MineralMan]

19. Now Coleman is literally talking out of one side of his mouth.

Sumanabitch!

[Hubert Flottz]

20. I thought he looked like he had spuffit's disease...

[rurallib]

21. Amy Goodman on Democracy Now had that a couple years ago.

She had a hard time talking at firt. Frequent watchers saw her sowly recover over a space of months.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

23. Causes of Bell's palsy......

The exact reasons why you may develop Bell's palsy aren't fully understood at present. However, it's thought that a viral infection that affects your facial nerve is the most likely cause. Herpes simplex - the virus responsible for cold sores - has been suggested as responsible for many cases. This virus may lie inactive (dormant) at the root of the facial nerve, causing swelling when it reactivates (wakes up). Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a condition that is similar to Bell's palsy, but here the virus - Varicella zoster (a strain of the herpes virus that causes chicken pox) - has been identified as the cause. Blisters in the ear are often found in Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

You may be more likely to develop Bell's palsy if you have diabetes or are pregnant.

[liberaltrucker]

24. Get well soon, Norm

Here's hoping you live to a ripe old age.
And get "killed" at the ballot box a few
more times.

[mac56]

26. Not a fan of Norm, but I wouldn't wish this on anybody.

I hope it's resolved quickly.

[truthisfreedom]

30. The appearance of Bell's palsy can be disturbing enough that norm may choose to lay low for a few

months. Luckily it's just an annoyance.

[kayakjohnny]

31. I got it in a kayak accident.....it was gone in 3 months

[A Brand New World]

32. I had Bell's Palsy 28 years ago during my pregnancy. Still to this

day, I have difficulty blinking and my face draws a little when I blink. I'm considered 90% of normal. It's not pleasant.

[damntexdem]

33. Does it usually happen to those who can't face reality and just "let it go"?

Just wondering.

[PassingFair]

34. I'm sure he'll be back to speaking out of both sides of his moutht soon enough....

jerk.

[Joey Liberal]

35. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy..... nt

[SandWalker1984]

36. Isn't he lucky to have a Senate cadillac health plan instead of COBRA?

Since all members of Congress get to keep their coverage for life, isn't it nice to know he won't have to fight with his insurance company as well?

Too bad the rest of us don't have that same opportunity.

[Alcibiades]

37. A twitching, drooling Republican

Pretty typical.

[pennylane100]

38. Amy Goodman had that a while back.

It got better after a few months.

[Ozymanithrax]

39. Will this keep him from talking out both sides of his mouth?

I don't think so.

[Hasnt Happened Yet]

40. Gee, I know this is crass of me..

but I just can't find it in my heart to give a shit.

[steven johnson]

41. Steroids and Antivirals Improve Chances for Complete Recovery from 71% to 84%

There is a good chance that Norm Coleman would recover completely but it would be improved by adding corticosteroids to antivirals.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2009) — Among patients with Bell Palsy, a facial paralysis with unknown cause, treatment with corticosteroids is associated with a reduced risk of an unsatisfactory recovery, and treatment with a combination of corticosteroids and antiviral agents may be associated with additional benefit, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of previously published studies, reported in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

In background information provided by the authors, they note that Bell Palsy "is an acute weakness or paralysis of the facial nerve," and has an annual incidence of 20 to 30 per 100,000 population. "While 71 percent of untreated patients will completely recover and 84 percent will have complete or near normal recovery, the remainder will have persistent to moderate to severe weakness, facial contracture, or synkinesis ." The authors explain that a herpes infection likely causes the disorder. DNA samples from patients have yielded herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation is also associated with Bell Palsy.

"… high-quality evidence suggests that corticosteroids alone reduce the risk of unsatisfactory recovery by 9 percent in absolute terms, with a NNTB (number of patients needed to treat for one patient to experience benefit) of 11," the authors report. "Corticosteroid therapy combined with antiviral agents reduced the risk of unsatisfactory recovery compared with antiviral agents alone. Corticosteroids were also associated with a 14 percent absolute risk reduction of synkinesis and autonomic dysfunction (NNTB, 7; moderate quality of evidence). Corticosteroids were not associated with an increased risk of adverse effects."

"Our results suggest a possible incremental benefit of antiviral agents in addition to corticosteroids, with an absolute risk reduction of 5 percent compared with corticosteroids alone. This effect, however, is not definitive and did not quite reach statistical significance," the authors write. "Further primary studies are needed to definitively establish – or refute – an incremental benefit of combined therapy compared with corticosteroid mono therapy," the authors conclude.



Study Evaluates Use Of Corticosteroids And Antiviral Agents For Treatment Of Bell Palsy

[Lagomorph]

43. I had it.

Half my face was paralyzed. I could still see out of both my eyes, but I couldn't always track with both of them. The dribbling was amusing at times, as far as the baristas were concerned. My face was creepy looking, but when I took a sip of my latte', they'd crack up.

[CreekDog]

44. That's not his most significant problem

[Hekate]

46. It affected Ralph Nader for years, if my observations were correct. Hopefully Norm will...

... get better faster.

Hekate

[Delphinus]

47. He's lucky to have health insurance

to go get this diagnosed and treated. Or, if he doesn't have insurance, he at least has the money to afford to see a doctor.