Kim Kardashian usually makes headlines for Skims or some wild Met Gala outfit, but things got heavy fast during the Season 7 premiere of The Kardashians. She dropped a total bombshell: doctors found a "little aneurysm" in her brain.
Honestly, the way she told her sister Kourtney was almost too casual for how scary that word sounds.
She was basically sitting there, talking about the "hardest week" of her life, and then mentioned this bulge in her brain. It came out of a preventative MRI, the kind of high-end health screening she’s been obsessed with lately.
The Scan That Started It All
You’ve probably seen her posting about those full-body Prenuvo scans. She calls them "life-saving," and it turns out, that's exactly how she found this.
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A brain aneurysm is basically a weak spot in an artery wall that balloons out. If it stays small, most people never even know it’s there. But if it pops? That’s a hemorrhagic stroke, and it’s a legitimate medical emergency.
Kim’s doctors told her the aneurysm had actually been there for "years." It wasn't some new growth that appeared overnight.
When she heard the news, she didn't just sit around. She called Dr. Keith Black, a heavy-hitter neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai, to get the real deal on what she was looking at.
Is Stress Actually to Blame?
The most controversial part of the whole story was the "why." On the show, Kim mentioned that her doctors pointed toward stress as a major factor.
She's been through the ringer with the Kanye West divorce, raising four kids, and studying ten hours a day for the bar exam. She even joked that people think she has the "luxury of walking away" from the drama, but her body was clearly keeping score.
Here is where it gets a bit nuanced.
Most neurologists will tell you that stress doesn't create an aneurysm out of thin air. It’s usually genetics or long-term wear and tear.
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However, stress spikes your blood pressure. High blood pressure is the number one enemy of a weak artery wall. So, while the stress might not have put the "balloon" there, it definitely makes the risk of it bursting a lot higher.
The "Holes" in Her Brain and SPECT Scans
Later in the season, Kim went to see Dr. Daniel Amen, a celebrity psychiatrist famous for brain imaging. This is where the internet started getting skeptical.
He did a SPECT scan, which measures blood flow, and told her she had "holes" in her brain—specifically in the frontal lobe.
- Low Activity: These aren't literal physical holes like Swiss cheese. It’s "functional" holes, meaning certain areas have lower blood flow.
- The Frontal Lobe: This is the "CEO" of your brain. It handles decision-making and impulse control.
- The Controversy: A lot of mainstream doctors call these SPECT scans "snake oil" for general wellness. They argue that blood flow changes based on how much sleep you got or even what time of day it is.
Regardless of the "holes" drama, the actual aneurysm was confirmed by traditional MRIs at Cedars-Sinai. That part wasn't up for debate.
What This Means for You
You don't need to be a billionaire with a reality show to learn something from this. Most of the 6 million Americans living with an unruptured aneurysm have zero symptoms.
If you have a family history of aneurysms or polycystic kidney disease, you should probably talk to a doctor about screening.
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Watch out for the "Thunderclap Headache." It’s often described as the worst headache of someone's life, hitting like a bolt of lightning. If that happens, you don't wait for a doctor's appointment; you go to the ER immediately.
Kim eventually gave an update on Good Morning America saying "everything works out," which usually implies the aneurysm is small enough to just monitor rather than needing invasive surgery like coiling or clipping.
Actionable Steps for Brain Health:
- Monitor your blood pressure: This is the single most controllable risk factor for preventing a rupture.
- Quit smoking: Tobacco is a massive contributor to weakening those artery walls.
- Know your history: If two or more first-degree relatives had an aneurysm, get an MRA.
- Stress management: It sounds cliché, but keeping your cortisol down keeps your blood vessels from taking a beating.
Managing your health is basically a full-time job, but catching something like this before it becomes a crisis is the ultimate win. If Kim's scare does anything, it’s a reminder that "health is wealth" isn't just a caption—it's the truth.