"Doctors Didn't Know"... US Woman in Her 20s Diagnoses Paralysis With ChatGPT

A Woman in Her Twenties Diagnoses Rare Disease with ChatGPT

A story has drawn attention about a woman in her twenties who, after years of suffering from unexplained paralysis and seizures, diagnosed her own condition through the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT.

According to U.S. media outlet People and others on April 18 (local time), Phoebe Tessieriere, 23, from Wales, United Kingdom, had been visiting numerous hospitals due to walking difficulties that began in childhood. However, doctors diagnosed her symptoms as anxiety disorder, depression, or epilepsy. In particular, when Tessieriere collapsed at work from a seizure at around 19 years old, the medical staff concluded it was simply an anxiety symptom. She explained, "I have always had a cheerful personality and have never experienced anxiety symptoms."

In 2022, after being diagnosed with epilepsy, she began medication, but her symptoms worsened. Her condition deteriorated to the point where walking became difficult, and early last year she fell down the stairs and had to be hospitalized for three months. In July of the same year, she experienced a severe seizure and fell into a coma for three days.

Despite these circumstances, the medical staff continued to suggest that her symptoms might still have originated from anxiety. Eventually, she summarized her symptoms and medical history and input them into ChatGPT. The chatbot suggested the possibility of 'Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP),' a rare genetic disorder in which the muscles in the legs gradually become paralyzed.

She presented these results to her doctor, who agreed that the diagnosis by ChatGPT was plausible. A detailed genetic test subsequently confirmed that Tessieriere did indeed have HSP.

Tessieriere now relies on a wheelchair in her daily life. She also had to give up her job as a special education teacher for children. "I understand the challenges doctors face in diagnosing rare diseases, but the process of fighting alone to make people believe me was incredibly lonely," she shared. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in psychology to help others in similar situations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.