Health. Struck by Lightning: How to Treat Unexplained Symptoms of Lightning Strikes?

Rémi Foussat has followed and continues to follow the 14 lightning victims of Azerailles (Meurthe-et-Moselle), a group of men and women struck by lightning in 2017. This extremely rare collective lightning incident has revealed a biophysical trace of lightning passing through the human body. This is the beginning of an explanation for their numerous symptoms, even though their medical examinations are normal.

How many people are victims of lightning each year in France?

Dr. Rémi Foussat : Between 200 and 500 people are victims of lightning . But we only monitor about thirty of them on average. 90% of lightning victims survive. We call them lightning victims, not lightning victims, which are victims who die immediately or a few hours later.

In numbers, what does love at first sight represent?

A lightning strike is 30,000 degrees on average, between 10,000 and 100,000 amperes (the amount of electricity, editor's note) and can reach 1,000,000 million volts (the strength of electricity, editor's note). It lasts from a few milliseconds to a few hundred milliseconds.

Concretely, what happens when lightning strikes?

Lightning strikes are defined by five different mechanisms. A direct lightning strike is the most common, in which the victim is struck by lightning directly on the head. In a lateral lightning strike, the lightning strikes a tree, for example, and a lightning arc is created between the tree and the victim.

It can also be a contact lightning strike; a person is struck by lightning because they are in contact with an object struck by lightning. There is also a step-voltage lightning strike: lightning strikes the ground and propagates there. If people are standing, the lightning current enters through one leg and exits through the other.

This happens, for example, when lightning strikes a sports field. The last, lesser-known, is the "point ionization" lightning strike. In layman's terms, it's an incomplete lightning strike, the very first stage of the lightning strike.

Is the body a conductor of lightning?

According to theoretical models, some organs in the human body are indeed conductive. In practical models, this is uncertain. The path of lightning through the body remains a mystery to this day. According to autopsies, lightning passes from one organ to another or follows the same organ.

What does a person feel when struck by lightning?

Every lightning strike is unique, in terms of power, electron density, temperature, duration… And every victim is different in terms of their body, but also their clothing or the metal objects they are carrying. When you are struck by lightning, you suffer a huge range of injuries, ranging from extremely serious cardiac and neurological injuries, with heart and brain burns or arterial lacerations…

Or we can have completely normal tests even though the victims present neurocognitive, neuropsychological or neurological disorders (memory lapses, reasoning disorders, behavioral changes, anxiety, anxiety-depressive disorders, pain, tremors, cramps and balance disorders). An enormous chronic fatigue is undoubtedly the symptom found in a very large majority of fulgurés.

Do these disorders become chronic?

Serious or somewhat surprising disorders will only last a few hours. Then, two types of disorders appear: prolonged disorders lasting several months (fatigue, pain, memory lapses) and neurological or neuropsychological disorders that are delayed and appear two to three months after the accident.

These are the disorders that leave us perplexed because the medical investigations we conduct come back negative in more than 90% of cases. This can be difficult for patients to accept.

The psychological significance of the flash is a very important variable to take into account?

Of course! When you've been struck by lightning, you may develop keraunic disease, a very intense post-traumatic stress disorder that can develop into chronic stress or major depressive disorder.

Patients struck by lightning in the head may experience neurological disorders that resemble those of head trauma . It is our job as keraunologists to define what is caused by lightning illness, psychotrauma, or head trauma.

And as for post-traumatic stress disorder , it too is unique to each individual. There are those who see people fall or lose consciousness and in turn understand that they have been struck by lightning. They feel the shock without losing consciousness. Other victims have lost consciousness and wake up with large memory lapses and panic around them.

You just said the term "keraunic disease." What is it?

We are four specialist doctors in France, and we are indeed talking about keraunic disease, with symptoms that are not seen elsewhere. We are dealing with a rather neurological physical attack on the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves, but for the time being, we have neither examinations nor imaging that can reveal the lesions.

So how do you take care of patients?

We try to find symptomatic treatment, at least for pain. Medications are often partially effective. What works best is early, intensive, and prolonged rehabilitation.

For pain and cramps, physiotherapy is recommended, and for balance disorders, postural or neurovestibular physiotherapy is recommended. For vision and balance disorders, an orthoptist is preferred, and for coordination, a psychomotor therapist is preferred. Finally, for neurocognitive disorders, a neuropsychologist is preferred.

You launched a study for your thesis with the 14 fulgurés of Azerailles. What did you discover?

We looked for a biophysical trace of lightning in their bodies. When I was preparing this study, we met a CNRS geologist, Marie-Agnès Courty, who was able to identify a lightning tracer. They are found wherever lightning strikes; they are nanocomposites.

These are tiny amounts of carbon and metals that polymerize during the energetic phenomenon of lightning. It was wondered whether these lightning tracers could also be observed in lightning victims. Blood and urine samples were therefore taken from the 14 lightning victims of Azerailles.

And we found some. We are now able to establish a link between this lightning tracer and lightning. And traces can remain for up to a year afterward.

What will this discovery be used for?

This is helpful to the patient. When they are sick as a result of the accident, and all tests are negative, but a lightning tracer is found in their urine, this can provide an explanation for their condition. They were indeed struck by lightning. This can also be used to obtain medical and insurance recognition.

And, this gives us a valid scientific hypothesis to explain delayed neurological disorders. Now that we have been able to identify nanocomposites in the blood or urine, we are interested in their possible influence on cells, neurons, and blood vessels. A future international study could be launched to understand pathologies due to nanocomposites and not just lightning.