Woman with genetic disorder takes 22 pills a day

Ms Iris Quek had returned from the United States – where she had lived since 2018 – to attend the funeral of her husband’s grandmother, when she felt unwell.

- Judith Tan

It was June 2020, and she was then 39.

“I was seeing specks flying around in my eyes and subsequently I could no longer control my eye movements,” the petite 43-year-old told The Straits Times recently.

She consulted a polyclinic doctor and was referred to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

The doctors at SGH suspected Ms Quek was having a series of strokes, and she was hospitalised for observation.

When Dr Kaavya Narasimhalu, a consultant with the Department of Neurology at the National Neuroscience Institute, spoke to Ms Quek, the doctor felt there was something more to the problem than strokes.

Ms Quek was then put through a battery of tests and was diagnosed with Melas (mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes) syndrome in July 2021.

“It was the first time I had heard of such a condition,” Ms Quek said slowly. “By then, my brain was not working too well and I was not processing what Dr Kaavya was saying. It was a good thing that my brother was with me.”

She was later transferred to Outram Community Hospital to undergo therapy. Unfortunately, her condition had become worse and she could no longer remember names or recognise faces.

“The Covid-19 pandemic made things worse. Only two people were allowed to visit and for five minutes each time. By then, I could remember only three people – my brother, my husband and my sister-in-law. It took me a long time to recognise my parents,” she said.

The treatment for this condition is different from that for stroke.

Dr Kaavya said: “Instead of blood thinners that we give for stroke, we had to start her on a very high dose of supplements to stop the mitochondrial crisis.”