Influenza can look like a run-of-the-mill childhood illness, but in an occasional patient it can cause a life-threatening illness known as acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE). This isn't a normal fever or headache—it's a catastrophic neurologic emergency characterized by out-of-control brain swelling and an incessant immune attack.

A new JAMA review illuminates 41 pediatric cases of ANE in the U.S. from late 2023 through spring 2025. In nearly all cases, the patients had previously been healthy before developing acute and severe flu-like symptoms. Of these cases, 27% ended in death, and 63% of survivors had moderate to severe neurologic disability three months after the illness.

What Is Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy (ANE)?

ANE occurs when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive during an influenza infection. Dr. Thomas LaRocca, co-senior author of the study and pediatric critical care specialist at Stanford, describes it as “similar to the sepsis response” in which the immune system causes damage to the brain instead of fighting infection.

Typically, after a few days of flu symptoms—fever, congestion, vomiting—kids suddenly develop neurologic signs like seizures, altered mental status, or coma. In all 41 cases, children suffered significant brain swelling. 95% had fevers, while 68% experienced seizures.

ANE resembles the worst-case scenario of flu complications—fast, deadly, and difficult to treat once it spreads.

Pandemic-Level Numbers During Two Severe Flu Seasons

While ANE is rare historically, researchers identified 41 confirmed cases across 23 U.S. pediatric hospitals over two flu seasons, an unusually high incidence tied to aggressive influenza activity in 2023–2025.

The majority of children were 5 years old, previously healthy, and almost all infections were associated with influenza A (39 of 41), with only two cases attributed to influenza B. Disturbingly, only six children had been vaccinated against the flu that year—fewer than 16%, versus about 55% national pediatric vaccination coverage.

This stark gap raises a critical warning: even though ANE is rare, it’s heavily preventable through vaccination.

Why Timing and Early Treatment Is Important?

ANE progresses quickly. Nearly half of the fatal cases occurred within eight days of hospitalization; survivors spent an average of 22 days in hospital, with 11 days in ICU.

Treatment must start fast. As Dr. Keith Van Haren, pediatric neurologist at Stanford and co-author, stresses: early intensive care—combining steroids to calm the immune system and plasma exchange (replacement of a child’s plasma with donor plasma)—can significantly improve chances.

Despite ANE’s reputation as nearly always fatal, about 70% of survivors regained some mobility: 19 could sit, 16 could stand, and 13 could walk independently within three months—even after severe brain swelling.

Dr. LaRocca and Van Haren also point out that intensive neurocritical care, careful immunotherapy, and early support increase recovery odds even when the diagnosis appears grim.

ANE represents just one extreme of flu’s neurological impact. During the 2024–25 season, 13% of pediatric flu deaths involved encephalopathy or encephalitis (IAE), with ANE being the most severe subtype. Historically, the average rate has been around 9% of child flu deaths—ranging from 0% in the mild 2020–21 season to 14% in 2011–12.

These statistics remind us that while ANE is rare, brain complications from flu are not negligible—and they disproportionately affect young children under 5.

Why Vaccination Is The Best Prevention For Kids?

Both experts and study authors emphatically agree: prevention is better than cure.

“Vaccinate,” Van Haren said plainly. Not only does the flu shot reduce typical risks like respiratory failure—but it also prevents extreme complications like ANE. For children who survive one episode of ANE, vaccination becomes even more critical to avoid recurrence.

Given that only a small fraction of affected children had been vaccinated, these deaths and disabilities were arguably avoidable.

What Parents Should Watch For?

Here’s what families and healthcare providers should know:

• Monitor flu symptoms closely—especially in kids who develop neurological signs like confusion or seizures.
• Act early, don’t wait for symptoms to escalate. Ensure transfer to hospitals equipped for neurocritical care and plasma exchange.
• Remember that ANE progresses fast—every hour counts.
• If your child survives, rehabilitation is possible. Many children regain functional abilities despite initial severe outcomes.
• Don't let hope fade early; survival is real when aggressive care is delivered promptly.

The unusual spike in ANE during the 2023–2025 flu seasons serves as a wake-up call to both the medical community and families: even previously healthy children are vulnerable. While ANE remains a rare complication, early recognition and intervention can dramatically alter its course.

More broadly, this work underscores the hidden dangers of influenza—and why simple preventive steps matter so much.

Flu-Linked brain swelling in children is rare but when it does strike, it can be fatal or leave lifelong disability. Vaccination, vigilant symptom awareness, and rapid access to advanced care are key to prevention and survival. In cases where the immune system spirals out of control, timely and aggressive treatments like steroids and plasma exchange can make the difference between recovery and tragedy.

Sometimes body pain can be quite difficult to figure out. ‘Is it my shoulder muscle, or is it shoulder joint that’s causing me pain?’ We have all had these questions and struggled while answering them at the doctor’s office. This is a common experience that we all go through, and it can make things like finding what medication will help elevate the pain difficult.

So how do doctors figure this out? Explaining this in a video, Dr Pooja Chopra MD, shares a post on Instagram. Posted on 8th September, in the video caption Dr Chopra explained, “As a PM&R and Pain specialist, my first job is to be a detective. Tracing pain back to its precise source is the most critical step, because each source requires a completely different treatment plan.” She further goes on to give a simplified guide to help people understand their pain better. Understanding where the pain comes from can help people feel more at ease as well as figure out how serious the problem could be.

How To Tell Whether Your Muscle Is Causing Pain, Your Joint Or Nerve?

Muscle Pain

Muscle pain, also called myofascial pain, feels like a dull, deep ache. When you press on the sore spot, you'll feel tenderness and might even find what feel like tight knots or bands. This kind of pain gets worse when you use the muscle that's hurt, but it often feels better with simple things like resting, putting a heating pad on it, or doing some gentle stretches. You can usually point with one finger to exactly where it hurts.

Joint Pain

Joint pain, or articular pain, is a deep, internal ache that feels very stiff. It's not on the surface; it feels like it's coming from inside the joint itself. You might feel a sharp pain when you make a specific movement, like reaching high above your head. This type of pain is often at its worst when you first wake up in the morning, but it tends to get better as you start moving around and warm up the joint. Because the pain is deep, it can be hard to say exactly where it is.

Nerve Pain

Nerve pain, also known as neuropathic pain, is the most distinct kind of pain. It feels like sharp, shooting, burning, or "electric" shocks. People often describe it as a tingling sensation, like "pins and needles," or even numbness. A key sign of nerve pain is that it travels along a clear path, for example, from your neck all the way down your arm. This pain can come on unexpectedly, even when you're completely still and not moving the body part.

It's important to remember that these types of pain can be linked. For example, a problem with a joint could make the muscles around it tense up in a protective spasm, which could then pinch a nearby nerve. This is why a proper diagnosis from a specialist is so important. They use advanced tools like diagnostic ultrasound, which lets them see exactly what's happening inside your body, so they can treat the root cause of the pain precisely.

A new study has pointed out that people who have chronic insomnia could be at higher risk of dementia. One of the best things a person can do to recover from a tiring day, whether it is from a stressful day or after a tiring workout. However, it is not easy for everyone, there are many people who suffer with sleep problems like chronic insomnia.

An estimate of 16.2% of people around the globe suffer with insomnia according to 2025 Sleep Medicine Reviews, which is a condition that makes it hard to fall or stay asleep. A big number of these people have what's called chronic insomnia, meaning they've had this problem for at least three months, with poor sleep happening three or more nights a week.

Previous studies have already connected insomnia to serious health problems like heart disease and diabetes. But now, a new study in the medical journal Neurology has found an even more concerning link: people with chronic insomnia might be at a much higher risk for developing dementia and other memory problems. The study suggests that their brains could be aging faster as a result.

How Does Insomnia Cause Dementia?

For this study, researchers followed 2,750 older adults for an average of five and a half years. At the beginning, everyone was mentally healthy. The researchers found that the people who had chronic insomnia had a 40% higher chance of developing dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Researchers explain that this is a huge finding because it means chronic insomnia could be a bigger risk factor for memory loss than having both high blood pressure and diabetes. They also discovered that those who slept less had more of the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer's disease in their brains, like amyloid plaques, and other signs of damage to their brain's blood vessels. This shows that poor sleep isn't just about feeling tired—it's linked to real, physical changes in the brain.

Why You Should Prioritize Sleep?

Experts believe that a big part of the problem is that insomnia is often overlooked. Many older adults just assume that bad sleep is a normal part of getting older. However, doctors stress that chronic insomnia is a real medical issue that goes beyond typical age-related changes. They urge doctors to start talking to their patients about their sleep habits during every check-up.

The good news is that chronic insomnia is a treatable condition. The main treatment is a type of talk therapy called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). The hope is that by recognizing and treating insomnia, doctors can help protect a person's brain health for years to come.

How Does Insomnia Affect Our Memory

Previous studies have shown that our cognitive abilities are affected by how much we sleep. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, explained that there is a strong connection between a person's sleep and their risk of developing Alzheimer's. We know that sleep is crucial for learning and creating memories. Studies have found that a lack of sleep and conditions like insomnia are not just a symptom of Alzheimer's—they may also play a role in its development.

This means that sleep disorders can have a significant impact on whether someone gets Alzheimer's and how fast the disease progresses. Because of this, it's important for doctors to pay more attention to sleep issues when diagnosing and treating patients. By properly screening for and managing sleep disorders, we might be able to help prevent or slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

A new study from Stanford University suggests that daylight saving time isn't just an inconvenience; it could actually be bad for our health. The research shows that our twice-a-year routine of changing the clocks disrupts our bodies' natural rhythms, which can lead to serious health issues. This is a big deal because it provides the first real scientific evidence that this time-switching practice has a biological cost.

What is Daylight Saving Time?

According to the Sleep Foundation, daylight saving time (DST) has been an official practice in most of the United States since 1966. Only a few places, like Hawaii and parts of Arizona, don't follow it. The routine is simple: on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward by one hour, losing an hour of sleep. Then, on the first Sunday in November, we set them back, gaining that hour of sleep. This is why many people remember it as "Spring Forward, Fall Back."

How Daylights Saving Time Affects Our Health

According to the study, if the U.S. got rid of daylight saving time and stayed on standard time all year, it could prevent thousands of strokes and significantly reduce obesity. The researchers, using mathematical models and data, estimated that this single change could prevent 300,000 strokes and lead to 2.6 million fewer people with obesity every year. This adds to what we already know about the negative effects of the time change, such as a spike in heart attacks and car crashes in the days after we lose an hour of sleep in the spring.

How Does Daylight Saving Time Affect Sleep?

Our body's internal clock is heavily influenced by light. When the clocks change, the amount of natural light we get in the morning and evening shifts. This can throw off our sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to feel alert in the morning and sleepy at night.

The “spring forward” change is particularly hard on us. One study found that on the Monday after the time change, the average person gets 40 minutes less sleep. This lack of sleep can build up over time, affecting our mood and increasing the risk of accidents.

While the "fall back" change in November can give us an extra hour of sleep, some people still struggle to adjust to the new schedule. For most people, the effects fade after a few days, but some studies suggest that others never fully adjust, leading to ongoing health problems.

Why Time Changes Mess With Our Bodies

The core problem lies in our body's internal clock, or circadian rhythm. Think of it as the conductor of an orchestra, directing all your body's processes. When it's working well, everything is in sync. But when it's thrown off, like by getting light at the wrong time of day, your body's systems can become disorganized.

This can weaken your immune system, mess with your sleep, and increase your risk for diseases like stroke and obesity. The study found that switching between standard and daylight saving time is the worst thing we can do for our body clock, much worse than staying on either time year-round. It's a bit like having the conductor suddenly change the tempo for no reason—the whole orchestra, or in this case, your body, gets thrown off.