A woman who convinced herself she was speaking to the Virgin Mary was actually battling a brain tumor, doctors discovered.
The unnamed 60-year-old, who lives in Spain, suddenly became religious, finding God in just two months.
Family and friends described the woman as being happy and positive.
But they told doctors she was not particularly religious.
Yet within a two-month period people began to notice a change in her personality and behavior.
She became sad and withdrawn.
And fascinated by the Bible and other sacred writings, doctors noted in a case report published in the journal Neurocase.
Initially medics suspected depression, triggered by a period of time caring for a relative with cancer.
However, when doctors performed an MRI scan they noticed a number of growths.
Following a biopsy specialists at the Hospital General Universitario Morales Meseguer in Murcia, diagnosed astrocytoma – a common but aggressive brain tumor – in the front right region of her brain.
The tumors were too large to operate on, LiveScience reports.
But the 60-year-old patient went through chemotherapy and radiation to treat the cancer.
Over the course of her five-week treatment, her religious visions gradually disappeared.
Doctors treating the patient, led by Dr. Alberto Carmona-Bayonas, wrote in their case report, “it is clear that the religious experience represented a fracture,” from her normal behavior.
They noted this change was “not preceded by a gradual change in her thinking and acting”.
They added: “Nor was there any kind of trigger or reason [for the behavior change] except for the disease, and hence, it can be considered a clearly pathological experience.”
Though the symptoms eased, the woman’s condition deteriorated and she suffered a stroke two months after starting treatment.
Eight months after her diagnosis she died.
Though the doctors do not know exactly why the woman became so religious, brain tumors are known to cause changes in personality.
Those changes are dependent on where the mass is growing inside the skull.
As a tumor grows it puts pressure on surrounding tissues, and that pressure can affect the function or part of the body that region of the brain controls.
Personality changes are most common in patients when their tumor is located in the frontal lobe.
This is the part of the brain that controls personality, behavior, emotions, long-term memory and problem solving.
This article originally appeared on The Sun.
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