When CBS Los Angeles reporter Serene Branson suffered her now-famous verbal problems while reporting from the Grammys, I knew immediately that I could relate.
Branson's aphasia turned out to be a symptom of a migraine. Doctors say aphasia and disorientation can stem from a person's experience of aura, which is connected to migraine.
Thousands of people who saw the video expressed concern that Branson had suffered a stroke on-air.
In the video on this page, you can watch a clip of my own migraine moment, live on air. It happened September 1st, 2010 during the 8am hour on Rochester's CW. I was reading the TelePrompter when my vision suddenly left me. I could see nothing but sparkles and wavy lines.
For me, it was a clear and instant sign of migraine. For Serene Branson, it was a frightening moment that left her in the hospital and wondering for days what went wrong.
"There is a huge percentage of people who have migraine that are undiagnosed, treating themselves," says Dr. Deborah Friedman at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the Flaum Eye Institute. "Maybe they think they have severe sinus headaches or stress headaches, and they never get a good diagnosis so they end up inadequately treated."
Dr. Friedman tells 13 WHAM News that roughly half the population of people who suffer from migraines don't get diagnosed. Eighteen percent of women suffer from migraines, while six percent of men and six percent of children do as well. Getting diagnosed means a better quality of life, because doctors are making progress in understanding what causes migraines. New medications are in development.
"We know there's a genetic component," Dr. Friedman says. "Some of the genes have actually been identified for certain universal types of migraine. And we have a pretty good idea of what's going on in the brain when migraine occurs."
If you have symptoms of migraine -- even more rare symptoms like slurred speech -- it's worth calling your primary care phsyician. You might not be suffering a migraine, but talking to a doctor is the first step to finding out.
Serene Branson says she's feeling much better but is not yet ready to return to work for CBS Los Angeles.
