# Grammy reporter 'feeling fine' after garbled speech



## David Baxter PhD (Feb 14, 2011)

*Grammy reporter 'feeling fine' after garbled speech* 
by Wency Leung, _Globe and Mail_
Monday, February 14, 2011

A video clip of a CBS reporter?s incomprehensible speech at the Grammy Awards last night is making its way around the Internet, leaving many viewers flabbergasted at her stumbling on-air performance. 

The video of the tongue-tied Serene Branson has been posted on YouTube under titles, such as, ?Serene Branson Epic Fail,? ?Hilarious CBS-LA Reporter, Serene Branson,? and ?Grammy Reporter Serene Branson Forgets English.?



Initial news reports quickly put a stop to the online ridicule with concerns she had suffered a stroke, but according to a statement on the CBS Los Angeles web site , Ms. Branson is now ?feeling fine.? 

Earlier reports had said Ms. Branson was sent to hospital for tests, and even CBS News questioned whether the reporter from the network?s Los Angeles affiliate had ?a stroke, a strange slip of the tongue or something else?? 

CBS Los Angeles, however, said Ms. Branson was not hospitalized. The brief statement did not offer an explanation for the reporter?s unusual behaviour. 
?Serene Branson was examined by paramedics on scene immediately after her broadcast. 
Her vital signs were normal,? it said. ?She was not hospitalized. As a precautionary measure, a colleague gave her a ride home and she says that she is feeling fine this morning.? 

Certainly, her performance was uncharacteristic of the two-time Emmy nominated reporter. 

Strokes can cause sudden speech problems by disrupting the brain?s ability to recognize and form words, or preventing facial muscles to work properly. 

Early diagnosis is critical, which is why health professionals often emphasize the importance of recognizing the warning signs of stroke. 


According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the following five symptoms may be signs of a stroke: 
*Weakness:* Sudden loss of strength or sudden numbness in the face, arm or leg, even if temporary
*Trouble speaking:* Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding or sudden confusion, even if temporary
*Vision problems:* Sudden trouble with vision, even if temporary
*Headache:* Sudden severe and unusual headache
*Dizziness:* Sudden loss of balance, especially with any of the above signs


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## David Baxter PhD (Feb 18, 2011)

*TV reporter speaks about speech problem at Grammys*

*TV reporter speaks about speech problem at Grammys *
_Globe and Mail_
Friday, Feb. 18, 2011

A TV reporter who lapsed into gibberish during a live shot outside the Grammys said she was terrified when it happened and knew something was wrong as soon as she opened her mouth.
KCBS-TV reporter Serene Branson's incoherence Sunday fueled Internet speculation that she suffered an on-air stroke. But doctors at the University of California, Los Angeles where she went to get a brain scan and blood work done ruled it out. Doctors said she suffered a type of migraine that can mimic symptoms of a stroke.

Ms. Branson told the station in an interview Thursday that she ?started to get a really bad headache? but assumed she was just tired.

?At around 10 o'clock that night I was sitting in the live truck with my field producer and the photographer and I was starting to look at some of my notes,? she said. ?I started to think, the words on the page are blurry and I could notice that my thoughts were not forming the way they normally do.?

?As soon as I opened my mouth I knew something was wrong,? Ms. Branson said. ?I was having trouble . remembering the word for Grammy,? she said. ?I knew what I wanted to say but I didn't have the words to say it.?

The station quickly cut away, and she was examined by paramedics and recovered at home.
Most people with migraines don't have any warning. But about 20 to 30 per cent experience sensations before or during a migraine attack.

?A migraine is not just a headache. It's a complicated brain event,? said UCLA neurologist Dr. Andrew Charles, who examined Ms. Branson.

The most common sensations include seeing flashes of light or zigzag patterns. In Ms. Branson's case, she felt numbness on the right side of her face that affected her speech, Dr. Charles said.

?She was actually having the headache while she was having these other symptoms,? he said.
Ms. Branson told doctors she's had migraines since a child, but never suffered an episode like this before, Charles said.

Ms. Branson, a Los Angeles native and two-time Emmy nominee, worked at the CBS affiliate in Sacramento before joining KCBS. Prior to that, she was a reporter and anchor at TV stations in Palm Springs and Santa Barbara.


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## Retired (Feb 18, 2011)

This report has personal interest for me as I exerience migraine several times a month, and have had migraines as long as I can remember.  Fortunately my prescribed medication (a triptan), specific for migraine, allows me to control how migraine affects my life, so being debillitated by migraine is no longer an issue for me.  However, I was not aware that migraine could cause this type of loss of function that has been a popular news story this week and especially today.

As I understand it, the constriction of blood vessels caused by migraine, extended to the part of her brain that controls speech, thereby causing the unintelligable speech.

I'm interested in learning more about this, especially if this could happen to anyone who is diagnosed with migraine, or is this part of a pattern in specific people afflicted with migraine and is not a random effect that anyone with migraine might experience.


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## David Baxter PhD (Feb 18, 2011)

Steve, do you use Maxalt RPD by any chance?


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## Retired (Feb 18, 2011)

Not anymore and not for close to a decade, perhaps...maily because I had difficulty opening the package at 3:00 am in the dark while experiencing a severe migraine....but I digress

I have been using  ZOMIG? (zolmitriptan) *Rapimelt*? tablets. 2.5 successfully for about a decade with effectiveness in relieving symptoms and aborting the migrain greater than 95% of the time.

Rapimelt tabs do not require water to be swallowed.

Is Maxalt implicated in speech dysfunction?


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## David Baxter PhD (Feb 18, 2011)

Steve said:


> Is Maxalt implicated in speech dysfunction?


 
No, not as far as I know. One of my clients has just been prescribed Maxalt which is a "tript" medication. I was just curious what you were using.


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## Dragonfly (Feb 19, 2011)

Steve said:


> As I understand it, the constriction of blood vessels caused by migraine, extended to the part of her brain that controls speech, thereby causing the unintelligable speech.
> 
> I'm interested in learning more about this, especially if this could happen to anyone who is diagnosed with migraine, or is this part of a pattern in specific people afflicted with migraine and is not a random effect that anyone with migraine might experience.


 
Steve,  you have it exactly right.  It sounds like she had Wernicke's aphasia (Aphasia)  - with the caveat that I didn't examine her.  Just listened and watched the video.    And here is a reasonable overview article on migraines in general  (Classic Migraine Headaches: Epidemiology and Prodromal Symptoms).   Indeed, in general, the symptoms of a migraine can easily mimic a transient ischemic attack, or a stroke.  The biggest symptom that indicates the aphasia is due to a migraine, is the presence of a headache.

I believe that aphasia with migraines is relatively rare.  More common are the visual phenom., nausea, and vomiting.  More common than aphasia, but less common than the visual phenom. with migraines is associated parathesias - or numbness and tingling of either the face (less common) or arm and hand (more common).  My memory says that in this case, this would let the clinicians know that is is the middle cerebral artery that has constricted / is in spasm.  (please note the caveat about my memory.  This isn't knowledge I use every day anymore ... but if you really wanted, I would be happy to help you find out for sure.)

Most people with migraines establish a pattern that is true to them - that is, they usually either experience visual auras, or they don't.  They either experience facial numbness and tingling or they don't, etc.  The problem of course happens when the natural course of a person's migraines change the pattern that had previously been established.  Which sounds like happened to Ms. Branson - because it sounds like she was aware that she has / had migraines, but the aphasia was new.

Here's the thing that I really hope Ms. Branson and CBS capitalize on - it is a great opportunity to educate the public about stroke recognition.  Because seconds - minutes count if it is a stroke.  If I suddenly experienced aphasia - whether or not it was associated with a headache, I hope that the people around me (since I don't usually talk out loud to myself ....) would help get me immed. medical help.  I would rather the professionals scan my brain and then tell me it was "just" a migraine, than risk having a stroke that was not treated.  Cause even people with migraines can have strokes that cause aphasia.  

Hope this is helpful.  So sorry you are up in the middle of the night struggling with migraines and trying to get access to the meds.  Sounds dreadful.

---------- Post added at 09:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 PM ----------

So, after some self reflection .... and remembering some comments from former office mates ..... maybe I do talk out loud to myself more than I initially thought.    However, I would still hope that if people overheard me speak in a garbled manner, they would help me get medical attention.


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## Retired (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks for the info, Dragonfly!  The pattern for my migraines has remained pretty stable for decades, and with the known triggers, based on logs my neurologist had me keep years ago, I can control some of them.  Uncontrollable triggers are weather, (barometric pressure changes), flashing lights such as sunset through trees and a few other environmental triggers.  Thankfully with my meds constantly nearby, I can abort the event before it takes hold.

Oh yes, sometimes if I feel one coming on and I'm half asleep, I hope against hope it won't get worse, and eventually fall asleep to be awakened with the migraine getting started.  That's when easy to use packaging to access the medication is most important, and the reason I abandoned Maxalt because the package required Hoodini accompanied by a team of safecrackers to get the package open in order to get to the medication.

At that time, I knew the product manager at Merck, so I called him to tell him the problem; however at that time Merck was having other problems, so a package problem was not a priority.  I wonder if that was ever resolved!


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## Dragonfly (Feb 19, 2011)

Steve said:


> Oh yes, sometimes if I feel one coming on and I'm half asleep, I hope against hope it won't get worse, and eventually fall asleep to be awakened with the migraine getting started.



Steve,  I have so been there and done that.  I have no idea why I would think that it would somehow go away without intervention.  It never does.  For me, its kinda like when the engine light on my car comes on ....  I have never had it spontaneously go out without some kind of intervention ....  




Steve said:


> That's when easy to use packaging to access the medication is most important, and the reason I abandoned Maxalt because the package required Hoodini accompanied by a team of safecrackers to get the package open in order to get to the medication.



lol.  Not at your pain or your difficulties.  But your description was so vivid ...  and accurate for some meds.  I don't know what county you are in ...  In the US, I ran into the same issue with Immitrex (Sumatriptan).  As well as a dosing issue with the pills - essentially it is much easier on my body to start with a lower dose and take more if needed.  But much, much cheaper to buy the higher dose and cut the pill in 1/2.  But in the throws of a migraine (that inevitably had been bubbling happily for hours cuz I was asleep and thought it would just go away ....), I couldn't manage a pill cutter.  So, I finally took the pills out of the terrible packaging, cut a bunch of them when I wasn't blinded by pain and the lights in the room, and put them in a container that is very, very easy to open.   



Steve said:


> At that time, I knew the product manager at Merck, so I called him to tell him the problem; however at that time Merck was having other problems, so a package problem was not a priority.  I wonder if that was ever resolved!



Wow!  I applaud your tenacity.  It never would have occurred to me to contact the pharm company ....

All the best,  vlh / dragonfly


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## Retired (Feb 19, 2011)

> I have no idea why I would think that it would somehow go away without intervention



For me there can be occasions when the migraine can be relieved with sleep, with eating something (for me the therapeutic meal is toast with peanut butter and a glass of cold milk) or Anaprox DS 825mg (naproxen sodium).

My neurologist recommended using the Anaprox for a mild onset attack, to see if the anti-inflammatory effect might provide relief, thereby saving the triptan for the more severe attacks.  In fact, the recommendation is to combine the triptan with the Anaprox to provide a two pronged treatment.

As you are probably aware, Dragonfly, recent studies have shown effectiveness of triptans can be improved by combining an NSAID, specifcally naproxen.  In fact GSK hs recently began marketing Treximet  that combines Imitrex and naproxen to act on vasoconstriction along with inflammation, the two actions thought to cause Migraine.



> lol. Not at your pain or your difficulties.



If you think that was funny, I shouold tell you about a migraine med that was popular before the triptans came along.  It was called Migrainal
 Dihydroergotamine.  At the time it came in a glass vial that attached to a contraption that administered the medication as a nasal atomizer.

Let me tell you that trying to break a sealed glass vial at three in the morning, half asleep with a splitting migraine, on the verge of vomiting, cutting your finger on the broken glass, looking for a bandaid, assembling the atomizer, blood pouring from the cut finger, stub my toe on the side of the bathtub....soon the migraine was the least of my concern...:lol:

BTW the first triptan that I was prescribed was Imitrex, to which I developed a tolerance and noticed an effectiveness for less than 50% of attacks.  To date after a decade, Zomig continues to provide relief virtually every time.

I have used Relpax (eletriptan) on a few occasions and found effective relief as well.  The benefit of Relpax is that a follow up dose can be taken if the initial dose does not provide adequate relief, unlike the other triptans with which a follow up dose for the same episode cannot be taken, according to my understanding.

For anyone following this discussion and interested in more information on migraine, Psychlinks has a vast store of information on migraine HERE


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## David Baxter PhD (Feb 19, 2011)

> If you think that was funny, I shouold tell you about a migraine med that was popular before the triptans came along. It was called Migrainal
> Dihydroergotamine. At the time it came in a glass vial that attached to a contraption that administered the medication as a nasal atomizer.
> 
> Let me tell you that trying to break a sealed glass vial at three in the morning, half asleep with a splitting migraine, on the verge of vomiting, cutting your finger on the broken glass, looking for a bandaid, assembling the atomizer, blood pouring from the cut finger, stub my toe on the side of the bathtub....soon the migraine was the least of my concern...:lol:


 
I'm guessing it was actually a placebo - what "got rid of" the migraine was the distraction of all the other pain caused by the placebo.


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## Retired (Feb 19, 2011)

> what "got rid of" the migraine was the distraction of all the other pain caused by the placebo



Exactly..the same technique I use when I hit my thumb with a hammer...I hit the other thumb with the hammer to take my mind off the other thumb!...:bonk:


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## David Baxter PhD (Mar 23, 2011)

*Toronto news reporter has episode of incoherence on-air*

*Toronto news reporter has episode of incoherence on-air*
by Kate Allen, Toronto Star
March 23, 2011

A Global News Toronto reporter is feeling better after letting loose a stream of Serene Branson-esque gibberish on air Monday night.

During a segment on strife in Libya, cameras turned to reporter Mark McAllister who began speaking about defence minister Peter MacKay. But in videos of the episode posted on the Internet, McAllister can be seen quickly losing his way and falling into a stream of garbled sentences.



Global put out a statement Tuesday saying McAllister “suffered a minor medical issue causing him to experience a moment of disorientation” during the 6 p.m. broadcast.

“Paramedics were immediately called to the scene, where Mark was fully checked out and is feeling better. As a precaution, Mark will be pursuing this matter with his own doctor.”
In an email, McAllister said he couldn’t provide an update on his diagnosis as the matter is still being looked at. He was back on-air Wednesday reporting on the federal budget.

Video of CBS reporter Serene Branson letting loose a burst of incoherent speech in a live hit before the Grammys in February went viral, with many viewers speculating that Branson had suffered a stroke.

In later reports, however, Branson has revealed that doctors concluded she suffered from a severe form of migraine called “migraine with aura” that can cause loss of vision, dizziness, garbled speech and other stroke-like symptoms.

These symptoms may appear up to an hour before the onset of a headache, and sometimes the head pain never materializes, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website. The majority of sufferers experience visual cues such as blind spots, flashes of light, or shimmering areas. 

Symptoms such as difficulty with language, muscle weakness and numbness on one side of the body or the face are less typical. The causes of migraine with aura are not fully understood, although women are more susceptible, as are those whose family members suffer from these migraines.


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