11 Weird Diseases That You’ll Think Are Fake

You might think you’ve heard of some weird diseases – but we promise you haven’t seen them all.

The world is full of strange and surprising things, including many interesting genetic disorders and other non-genetic diseases that can have surprising effects. Luckily, the weirdest diseases also tend to be the rarest.

In this list, we’ve put together a guide to some diseases that are sure to surprise you. Keep reading for a fascinating look at some of the strangest things the human body and mind do.

1. Stone Man Syndrome

The medical name for this disorder is fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, but Stone Man Syndrome is a good way to describe it. This mutation makes your fibrous tissue ossify when it becomes damaged. Gradually, the joints get frozen into place.

The disease is incredibly rare, but the symptoms make diagnosis easy. It has no known cure, although some scientists think that squalamine may help slow its progression.

2. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome

In this rare disorder that affects the brain, people start to experience a sense of exaggerated perception and distorted size in the things they see around them. They might also hear sound volumes incorrectly.

These episodes don’t last forever, but they can be incredibly disorienting. The reason for this syndrome is electrical activity in the brain, which creates unusual blood flow to the parts of the brain responsible for vision. The ability to correctly process things like shape, size, and texture is affected.

This condition happens most often in childhood, and sufferers tend to grow out of it. However, it has also been documented in older adults.

3. Water Allergy

Did you know that it’s possible to be allergic to water? The few individuals who suffer from this allergy experience pain when their skin touches water. The pain might last for 20 minutes, or up to two hours.

Unfortunately, even sweat triggers this pain, since it contains water. People who have a water allergy have to avoid heat, sweating, and any situation that might make them come into contact with water.

4. Lewandowsky-Lutz Dysplasia

Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia has no cure, and it’s hereditary. This disorder affects the skin, and doctors think it’s caused in part by HPV, combined with immune system issues.

People with this disorder start to develop rough, bark-like growths in their skin that are actually warts. If they’re surgically removed, they’ll just grow back again, so there’s no effective way to treat this disorder yet.

5. Fish Odor Syndrome

Fish odor syndrome, or trimethylaminuria, is rare, which you might be grateful for. The people who have it have a body odor that smells strongly of fish.

This odor is caused by a buildup of trimethylamine, which comes out in sweat, breath, and urine. Women are more likely to have this disorder than men, and there are no physical symptoms along with it. It seems to be harmless, aside from being very unpleasant.

This condition wasn’t documented until 1970, but scientists believe that it’s been around much longer.

6. Alien Hand Syndrome

What if one of your hands wasn’t really yours? That’s what Alien Hand Syndrome, or Anarchic Hand Syndrome, can seem like.

Kurt Goldstein first documented this syndrome in 1908. He had a patient whose left arm seemed to be controlled by someone else.

Alien Hand Syndrome is a neurological disorder that can happen when a patient has had the hemispheres of their brain separated, or when they’ve had a stroke. It can also happen in people who have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is Mad Cow Disease in humans.

No matter what the cause, the result is that one hand seems to develop a mind of its own.

7. Methemoglobinemia

In this disorder, the blood has an unusually high amount of methemoglobin. This hemoglobin is responsible for transporting iron. Without it, the oxygen levels get reduced throughout the body, since the red blood cells no longer have what they need to provide it to tissues.

This can result in the organs and tissues becoming deprived of oxygen, which can have serious consequences. But the weird part is that it can give skin a bluish-brown tint, since that’s the color of methemoglobin.

8. Cotard Delusion

This psychological disorder makes patients think they’re dead – it’s sometimes called Walking Corpse Syndrome. Oddly, it can also come with the delusion of immortality. After all, if you’re already dead, you can’t die again!

There are three stages of the syndrome: first germination, then blooming, and finally chronic. The syndrome was named for Jules Cotard, who described it for the first time in an 1880 lecture.

9. Parry-Romberg Syndrome

This syndrome is also known as progressive hemifacial atrophy. People who suffer from this weird disease see the tissues under the skin on one side of their face start to shrink and atrophy.

This rare syndrome is much more likely to happen to women than men. The atrophied tissue causes other parts of the face, like the mouth and nose, to gravitate toward the shrinking tissue. The left side of the face is more likely to be afflicted than the right.

10. Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome

This syndrome is rare, but it’s sporadic, not hereditary. (If you’re worried about protecting yourself from sporadic disease onset, visit this website.) It was first documented in 1955, and has mostly been seen in Japanese men.

The first symptoms are polyps that develop in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the result is swollen organs and extreme weight loss.

11. Kleine-Levin Syndrome

This syndrome affects just one in a million people, and causes them to sleep for days or weeks at a time. They’re also prone to excessive hunger and hypersexuality.

Although strange, this disorder isn’t fatal, and tends to go away when the afflicted patient gets older.

Weird Diseases and More Weird Stuff

Weird diseases offer plenty of fodder for awe. The human mind and body form a remarkable system that’s mind-blowing when it’s working correctly. But when one small thing goes wrong, the results can be truly bizarre.

Interested in more weird things the body and mind can do? Check out this guide to getting high without using drugs.

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