The world is truly a mysterious place; it’s full of thousands of painful and ambiguous medical conditions that vary from more common cases to highly unusual human diseases. Although as a society we have made many crucial advancements in the medical field, there are still some unknown occurrences about the human body that we are unaware of. If you are interested in learning about 7 human diseases you don’t see every day, keep on reading!
The werewolf syndrome is also known as Hypertrichosis and it’s characterized by excessive growth of hair all over the body, even in places in which hair usually doesn't grow. There are less than 50 cases of this condition worldwide and many victims of this disease suffer from other symptoms like enlarged gums and teeth defects. However, just like other unique human diseases, this disorder doesn't have a known cure!
Toward the middle point of their lives, women dread the symptoms of aging, but they are luckier in comparison to some people who suffer from Progeria. It is an extremely rare disorder that is mostly found in children who begin to look elderly only at the age of two years old and rarely live past the age of thirteen. They suffer from the same physical impairments like arthritis and cardiovascular disease as do the elderly. This condition of accelerated aging still remains a mystery in the medical field!
You might have heard about the tree bark skin disorder from a story of Dede Koswara, an Indonesian Man who has been named the “Tree Man”. He suffers from a hereditary skin disorder in which skin grows due to HPV spreading out of control. Although surgeons have previously removed 95% of his warts back in 2008, most of it grew back. Now he has to have at least two surgeries a year to keep his health in check.
You might be stressing about not getting tanned enough, but at least your skin is not a shade of blue, unlike people who suffer from a rare blood disorder called methemoglobinemia. This trait is acquired as this rare blood disorder is genetically passed down from one generation to the next, and since their blood is less oxygenated it appears to be blue instead of red. Another human disease that yields the same symptom of blue skin is argyria, which is caused by a consumption of the health supplement colloidal silver.
One of the most uncomfortable disorders is trimethylaminuria which causes you to emit strong smell of fish odor from sweat, urine or even breath. People with this disorder are not able to properly break down a fishy smelling organic compound in food, which can cause the life disrupting smell. There is no known cure for this unfortunate disease, but many people learn to deal with it by following certain diets and taking antibiotics.
To some people, getting injuries may be fatal for their mobility because they suffer from fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (whew!). They are way so proficient at healing that their joints turn to stone. Their body has a defense mechanism which causes muscles, tendons and ligaments to ossify whenever damaged. Repetitive surgical operations and injuries can result in complete immobility of the person! How crazy is that?
If a person sees objects much smaller or larger than they should, they might be under some serious drug influence or they might have the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. It’s a condition that skews our perception of the world. It is usually associated with migraines and disturbances that might be affecting the brain’s occipital lobe which is in charge of visual information.
Regardless of how advanced we may be as a society in medicine, in reality we are still clueless about a series of human disorders that most of us are not even be aware of. Which of the following human disorders shocked you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments!