He got here down with a nasty case of blarney.
An American cancer patient developed an “uncontrollable” Irish accent in a possible neurological disorder triggered by his immune system, in accordance with researchers who studied the medical oddity.
The unnamed man in his 50s was being treated for prostate cancer by doctors from Duke University in Durham, NC, when he began speaking in an “Irish brogue accent” for the primary time in his life, in accordance with a report published within the January issue of BMJ Case Reports.
“His accent was uncontrollable, present in all settings and progressively became persistent,” in accordance with the report, which was co-authored by researchers from Carolina Urologic Research Center in South Carolina.
Despite never having lived in Ireland or traveled to the country, the person developed the speech pattern roughly two years after he was diagnosed with a metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, in accordance with the report, which notes he developed a case of foreign accent syndrome (FAS).
Researchers noted that the patient had no history of psychiatric disease before picking up an accent fit for a scene from “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Additionally they noted he had lived briefly in England and had Irish friends and relations.
The almost certainly reason for the speech shift is a so-called paraneoplastic neurological disorder, which was set off because the patient’s immune system fought the cancer, the doctors said.
The person’s cancer-fighting agents likely attacked parts of his brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves or muscle, causing the foreign accent syndrome, in accordance with the report.
Over time, the patient developed paralysis in his legs and arms, which the researchers said is an indication of paraneoplastic syndrome, before eventually dying.
“To our knowledge, that is the primary case of FAS described in a patient with prostate cancer and the third described in a patient with malignancy,” the report states.
Foreign accent syndrome can be often known as dysprosody and is defined by a consistent change in speech that presents as a foreign accent.
The syndrome can be linked to stroke, head trauma and history of psychiatric disease, in accordance with past research.
