Your tongue

The amazing thing about our bodies is how unaware we are when everything is functioning normally. I’m worried about a friend who’s loosing control of her 12th cranial nerve, the hypoglossal nerve. Never heard of it? Well that’s OK. There are several mnemonics that we learned in medical school about the cranial nerves. It’s unusual to have just one conk out. A trip back to the Mayo Clinic found my friend “interesting” and she was added to their case studies, but no therapeutic options were offered to help her progressive loss of speech. Maybe it’s best to remain blissfully unaware yet deeply appreciative of the amazing physiology of our bodies.