The Strange, the Unusual and the Human Body: Understanding Alien Hand Syndrome

There are many strange diseases and rare conditions that can affect the human mind and body. Perhaps one of the most peculiar is a rare condition known as Alien Hand Syndrome, or AHS. Often brought about by a stroke or similar trauma, Alien Hand Syndrome is a very real and very disturbing medical condition that often sounds as if it came straight out of a B-rated horror flick.

What is Alien Hand Syndrome?

Have you ever watched the old horror films about a person who becomes possessed, and a certain part of their body (usually a hand) seems to have a life of its own? It moves of its own free will, without the person being able to control it, sometimes carrying out complex maneuvers, whether the limb's owner is conscious of the fact or not. Before you laugh and shrug it off as some writer's over-active imagination, you need to realize that this is a very real and frightening condition.

First diagnosed in 1908, individuals who suffer from this neurological disorder are able to feel what their alien, or rogue, hand is doing and yet they are unable to control its movements. In most cases, the hand feels deceptively strange and unusual - they can see it's attached to them and yet, oddly enough, it doesn't "feel" like a part of their body... despite their having full sensation in it. Needless to say, this is a very disturbing condition and is very upsetting to the victim. In many cases, they will outwardly deny that the limb is even theirs.

What Causes Alien Hand Syndrome?

AHS, also know as Anarchic Hand, is a neurological disorder that is caused by a trauma, or injury, to the brain. These can include blunt force head trauma, an infection, aneurysm, tumor or a stroke. Additionally, this rare condition may arise after the patient has the lobes of their brain separated; a condition used to help relieve severe epilepsy. Depending on the type of injury, the alien hand may be either random or can be purposeful, and the condition may affect either one of the patient's hands.

Random Alien Hand Movements: When a person's brain is injured during surgery or they suffer an injury to the area which connects the two halves of the brain, known as the corpus callosum, the victim will usually experience strange grasping motions with their non-dominant hand. If the injury is caused by trauma, however, this rare condition will usually surface as strange grasping motions in the dominant hand. Random movements can include grasping at thin air, reaching for non-existent objects, or touching the face.

Purposeful Alien Hand Movements: Perhaps the more disturbing of the two types, purposeful alien hand movements usually manifest after the patient has suffered an aneurysm, brain tumor, or had a stroke. In these cases, the rogue hand acts independently of the rest of the body, yet can perform complex motions, such as unfastening buttons, tearing at clothes or even manipulating objects as tools. This quite often occurs without the patient even realizing that the hand is doing these things, unless it's pointed out to them by someone else, or they happen to just glance over and witness it for themselves. In some cases, purposeful alien hands have been known to interfere with the workings of the non-affected limb, stuff food in the victim's mouth, punch or even attempt to choke the victim. Needless to say, this neurological condition is not only distracting, but it can be horrifying for the person that suffers from it.

Treating Alien Hand Syndrome

Treating AHS has been very difficult, especially since there have been less than 50 cases reported since this rare condition was first discovered. Because of this and the complexities of the human brain, there is no known cure for Alien Hand Syndrome. In most cases, the patients are given various tasks and treatments, in order to keep the rogue hand "occupied" and less likely to act on its own. Most commonly, this means giving it an object to hold or squeeze, though some patients have even resorted to wearing oven mitts or tying down the affected limb, so it cannot cause them further fear or embarrassment. In some cases, a slow recovery has been documented in those who sustained an injury to only one hemisphere of the brain, though this is not always the case.

Studies continue in hopes that, one day, we might understand how to better treat and even cure this strange and unusual condition of the human brain.

Sources:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/rare/alien-hand.htm - Information on AHS

http://www.rense.com/politics6/hand.htm - Further information on Alien Hand Syndrome