I recently read about Fetus in Fetu, which just struck me as sooo weird.
What are some of the weirdest medical conditions of any sort?
Teratomas in general, which Fetus in Fetu might be.
Progeria. Otherwise known as “accelerated aging disease”. Wow. :eek:
I recall a dying girl whom I read about, who had a rare genetic condition where the muscles in half of her body were slowly turning to bone.
I’d really like to see a cite for that.
Yikes! :eek: I’d say we got a thread winner. So far, at least…
Calcified fetus.
Michelin Tire Baby Syndrome, sort of a human Shar-Pei equivalent (there can be other associated abnormalities beside the exaggerated skin folds).
Epidermodysplasia verruciformis
Pics here (Tree Man): The Human Tree man *Warning Graphic* (13 photos) :
Fairly not-gruesome illustration in the wikipedia article, but Google Image search for the strong-of-stomach only. Severe/fatal cases are pretty, um, severe. :eek:
Was that really the most sensitive name they could come up with for a congenital disorder? Seriously?
My vote is for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, already mentioned in posts 4-7.
My mother worked at a middle school, that had a student once with a severe form of Ondine’s curse. Breathing was not autonomic for him - he could* forget to breathe*. He had to wear a respirator at night, and his teachers were warned to wake him immediately if it looked like he was falling asleep in class. Or focusing too hard on his work and starting to turn blue. Not an easy life for this kid, who was otherwise pretty normal and healthy.
Or, the “reverse,” known only in one or maybe three people, so it doesn’t have a name yet…
Brooke Greenberg doesn’t mature. She’s 20 years old and looks (and acts) like a toddler. She’s “aging” in that her telomeres are shortening as normal, but she doesn’t grow and doesn’t change, physically, neurologically or behaviorally. Her *younger *sister is holding her in this picture.
The strangest thing about her medical condition is that she doesn’t seem to have one.
Well, I really hope I forget that I read this the next time my brain decides I need a nightmare.
The Tree man (graphic photos but nothing that would make most people faint): The Human Tree man *Warning Graphic* (13 photos) :
Neural tube defects like Cyclops or Anencephaly.
I’ll add Fatal Familial Insomnia to the list. Dominant gene that manifests between about 30 and about 60. The patient stops being able to sleep, then goes insane from lack of sleep, then dies. Oh, and BTW, the age of onset gives the future patient plenty of time to have children before finding out that oops, they inherited the gene. Additionally, in women, childbirth can trigger onset.