Saturday 20 February 2010

DR. JOHN'S CASE NOTES : MOEBIUS SYNDROME
The Moebius Syndrome is a neurological disorder that affects bridge players in particular. Victims of this condition would be remembered as lively, happy smiling players, but their ability to display exuberance and form facial expressions has now completely gone. The syndrome is often associated with, or linked to, their inability to derive any enjoyment or pleasure from the game. Players with this condition find it impossible to move their facial muscles, but as yet the neurological reasons behind this strange phenomenon remain unknown. However, some of the possibilities relating to bridge players are (a) the fear of being accused of using facial expressions to convey unauthorised information about their hands to partner, or (b) the complete numbness that overwhelms players following their embarrassing cock-ups in the bidding and/or play of the cards.
Acute sufferers lose the ability to smile, frown, suck, or even blink their eyes. Indeed, they are similarly unable to move their eyes from side to side, and have great difficulty in swallowing liquidised food and drinking beverages.....without dribbling on themselves. Outsiders, who have inadvertently stumbled across a duplicate event, all claim to have witnessed a world of the living dead, or one packed full of elderly people locked away in a comatose state . The reality of course is that they have witnessed large numbers of players with the moebius syndrome .....all displaying the classic characteristics of stiff upper-body postures, passive expressions and dead-pan faces. Not a sight for the faint-hearted.

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