Strange and Deadly diseases?

T

Tall

Registered Member
Can anybody name a few strange diseases? I know, that's vague...Let me explain. :p

I want to know the names of a few obscure diseases that have weird symptoms...You know, like the flesh eating disease. It eats your skin, or the inside of you, makes hugs boils of blood, etc. I love this kind of stuff, and I want to make a website on strange and unknown diseases. The problem is I can't seem to find any sites on the subject, just huge databases of diseases that I would have to search through.

So I was wondering if anybody could just point out a couple diseases you know of...I'll eventually search through the databases, but I think I'll ask around first. :)

Thanks! ;)
 
Hey, thanks! That looks like it'll be a lot of help. :)

I'm still open for more, if anybody has any more information. ;)
 
Urrr... I've heard somewhere that being vampire is because of desease. It teeth not become longer but the gum is shrinking. Body-hair grow longer and allergic to sunlight.

Another thing I've heard that Egyptian pyramid is not cursed, but there is a kin of bacteria living in it. That bacteria kills experts who explore the pyramid.

But personally I'm not sure on both of these reports.
 
I think that pyramid report might be as accurate as the one I thought up. A little conspiracy theory that has nothing to do with virii but I'll put it here anyway.

I had a suspicion that due to the egyptians accumilating such ores as "Magnite" due to it's magnetic property. They use to create magnetic ornaments that would float due to the same opposing magnetic forces.

This had me wonder what if one of the mines that they used to get Metals and ores from actually was Radioactive?

Afterall a dosing of radioactive materials could kill grave robbers with a cures? And might even explain how so many people died will transiting certain artifacts.
 
Hmm... I forget the name, but there's a very rare disorder that causes people to see sounds, taste images, etc. Could be interesting. Just imagine a composer who "saw/heard" the music he wrote performed. :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
strange diseases

Dear Ryan,

I love weird and interesting facts about those things too! I believe that the 'vampire' illness that some of the others have responded with is actually a disease known as xenodermaphobia. This disease manifests itself as a phobia to sunlight - an intolerance that disrupts the DNA of the sufferer and causes skin welts (cancers). You may also be interested to know that the writer of Dracula was an irish guy called Bram Stoker and most of his ideas for this mythical character derive from Irish folklore. Indeed Dracula (dra cul) translates in to irish as 'bad blood'. Stoker never visited Transylvannia!
There is also a form of epilepsy that occurs in the frontal lobes of the brain and instead of the characteristic fit that some sufferers exhibit, the patient hears music (as that part of the brain related to sound is stimulated etc).
I've loads more stored away so if these are of any use let me know and I can give you some more.
Blue
 
Here's one for ya


FISH ODOUR SYNDROME :D:D

This is a genetic defect which means the body cannot produce an enzyme called FM03.

No big deal you may say, however without FMO3 the liver cannot process a certain protien called T M A.

Unprocessed T M A causes the whole body to smell like rotting fish.

True Story!!:eek:

Can you imagine?????
 
Brucellosis

I read an interview once, don't remember where now, of a scientist who thought that brucellosis would be an interesting biological weapon, as the effects are primarily mental. A good way to debilitate and pacify an enemy population.

John Le Coq


From:
www.nbc-med.org/SiteContent/MedRef/OnlineRef/FieldManuals/medman/Brucellosis.htm

BRUCELLOSIS


Summary


Signs and Symptoms: Incubation period from 5-60 days; average of 1-2 months. Highly variable. Acute and subacute brucellosis are non-specific. Irregular fever, headache, profound weakness and fatigue, chills, sweating, arthralgias, mylagias. Depression and mental status changes. Osteoarticular findings (i.e., sacroiliitis, vertebral osteomyleitis). Fatalities are uncommon.


Diagnosis: Blood cultures require a prolonged period of incubation in the acute phase. Bone marrow cultures produce a higher yield. Confirmation requires phage-typing, oxidative metabolism, or genotyping procedures. ELISA’s followed by Western blotting are used.


Treatment: Doxycycline and rifampin for a minimum of six weeks. Ofloxacin + rifampin is also effective. Therapy with rifampin, a tetracycline, and an aminoglycoside is indicated for infections with complications such as endocarditis or meningoencephalitis.


Prophylaxis: No approved human vaccine is available. Avoid consumption of unpasteurized milk and cheese.


Isolation and Decontamination: Standard precautions for healthcare workers. Person-to-person transmission via tissue transplantation and sexual contact have been reported but are insignificant. Environmental decontamination can be accomplished with a 0.5% hypochlorite solution.
 
Originally posted by Lesion42
Hmm... I forget the name, but there's a very rare disorder that causes people to see sounds, taste images, etc. Could be interesting. Just imagine a composer who "saw/heard" the music he wrote performed. :eek: :eek: :eek:
Click to expand...

It's called synesthesia. People "afflicted" with this also "feel" sounds in particular parts of their body. An interesting, non-debilitating disorder, but not really a disease...

In reference to the mummy's curse, I had heard that the cause was fungal spores or cysts that can stay viable for centuries.

John Le Coq
 
One theory for vampirism is congenital porphyria. People with that disorder have photophobia (because they get burnt skin very easily) and stay inside so are very pale, they develop stained teeth with retracted gums, and in theory at least blood-drinking would be beneficial. Oh yes and excessive garlic can cause hemolysis in normal individuals, so would be even worse for people with porphyria.
 
A great place to start would be the NORD (National Organization for Rare Diseases) website- there is a list of thousands of rare diseases, not bad. Of course, a low-tech solution would be to pick up a Merck Manual of Medicine- you can find things like Creeping Eruption, Maple Syrup Urine Disease, and Menke's Kinky Hair Syndrome on every page. Here are a few I know of:

ISOVALINEMIA is a condition in which a person produces too much of an amino acid. In addition to seizures and brain damage, patients have an odor resembling sweaty feet.

ONDINE'S CURSE causes a patient to stop breathing hundreds of times while asleep. It's like the worst case of apnea imaginable.

Award for really cool name goes to FATAL FAMILIAL INSOMNIA, a disease caused by the same type of thing as Mad Cow Disease. People afflicted develop dementia, as well as intractable insomnia that does not respond to sedatives.

Runner-up for that category is HAPPY PUPPET SYNDROME, a genetic disorder that is also known as Angelmann Syndrome. Patients have jerky movements of the limbs, a mouth that hangs open, and uncontrollable bursts of laughter.
 
For the vapirism disease, tuberculosis may be the one. It makes your skin pale, and blood sometimes drips from the lungs out the mouth. Also it can make you seem dead. In the 1800's people with TB were sometimes burried alive, and after exiting thier coffins(at the graveyard even) with blood around thier mouth and pale skin, it gave people quite a fright.
 
What do you mean by diseases, something that is caused
strictly by bacteria and viruses or also by parasites and genetic disordes and such?
If so, there are many diseases to look for. I heard of a genetic disorder where the person doesn't have sweat glands (is that the word?) and he cannot sweat. Another one is having hair all over your body (from Ripleys' Believe it or Not). One more, a disorder that affects one out of 35,000 people, having your nuts swallen to the size of your torso. You look like a siamese twin.

Illnesses caused by parasites:
-Elephantitis
-An illness that is caused by an African underwater parasite that gradually eats away your eyes and they become yellow and bulky, and your skin also becomes wrinkly and you look like a blind chameleon.

Anyway, if you want pictures of rare diseases, go to shownomercy.com. Just make sure you haven't eaten anything for the past... 10 hours.:eek:
 
necrotizing fasciitis is a flesh eating deisese that eats away the skin and mussel tissue and such o.o also the vampire deisese is called Cutaneous Porphyria
 
necrotizing fasciitis is a flesh eating deisese that eats away the skin and mussel tissue and such
Click to expand...
Yanno what else eats flesh?
Zombie-Eat-Flesh-lg.gif

(Thread from 2003! dude, the date! ;))
Welcome to sciforums...:)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top