Haden's syndrome

Haden's syndrome is the popular name for what was initially known as "The Great Flu" or "The Super Bowl Flu", in which individuals diagnosed with the syndrome (commonly referred to as "Hadhens") will exhibit flu-like symptoms, often followed by a state of cerebral and spinal-inflammation which has the potential to result in a third stage of body paralysis, also referred to as "lock in". The syndrome is named after Margaret Haden, former first lady of the United States of America.

The disease has three documented stages, not all of which guaranteed to be experienced by a person with Haden's. The first, most common symptom of Haden's Syndrome is a stage of flu-like illness, which is often recovered from within two or three days. About 25% of affected individuals will move onto a second stage of the syndrome, which manifests in symptoms resembling viral meningitis, and can inflict permanent brain damage. Those who survive the first two stages have the potential to move onto "lock in", a state of full-body paralysis and deficiency of the voluntary nervous system, while a select few experience significant changes to their brain structure, but no experience of lock in (also referred to as "integrators").

Since Haden's Syndrome was first diagnosed, various technologies have developed to counteract the formerly confined nature of lock in. Much of the funding for can be attributed to then-president Benjamin Haden's large financial focus on research into Haden's syndrome.