Coming in at #4 - Phillip Ruddock

Story by Brooke Stafford

We’ve all seen an episode of some show where a weird medical condition has a top notch hospital staff wondering what happened.  But did you know that all medical related hilarity is not a work of fiction?  To prove it, we have gathered just 10 of the weirdest health conditions and illnesses below.

1. Lymphatic filariasis – Also known as Elphantiasis, it is a disease caused when a mosquito bites you and fills you with the larvae of parasitic worms.  The eggs can remain dormant for years and then surface later as gross overgrowth.  This disease can be localized to arms, legs, breasts, and even penis.
2. Photosensitivity  – We all know that vampires burst into flames when exposed to the sun, but there is actually a real disease similar to that.  People with photosensitivity can get a rash or worse from just the tiniest exposure to the sun.  It can also be brought on by an adverse reaction to drugs.
3. Hypertrichosis – This disease is also known as Werewolf Syndrome.  People with it experience abnormal body hair growth everywhere, making them look like a werewolf.  There is both a localized form of it and one where hair grows everywhere.
4. Walking Corpse syndrome – The syndrome is as close as we can get to zombies without having the dead actually rise.  Someone with Walking Corpse syndrome believes they have died and are walking the earth as corpses.  For all we know, we all could actually be walking corpses so maybe the rest of us have the real disease.
5. Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis – Remember that James Bond movie where the villain felt no pain?  It is actually a real disorder.  However, it is not as great as the film makes it sound.  People with this condition feel no pain, so they could literally break their arm and keep doing an activity without knowing that they are hurt.
6. Progeria– Remember that movie where Robin Williams played a 10 year old boy who looked 40?
   

   Murdoch turns Six

   The disease associated with this is progeria, which is a rare genetic condition that produces rapid aging in children.  However, the children never grow to adult size like Robin Williams did.

7. Blue skin disorder – It isn’t just for Cameron inspired creations.  There is a strange outbreak of blue skin in Kentucky.  For generations, the family has passed down the odd skin color with no other side effects.  Researchers are still looking into it.
8. Alien Hand Syndrome – A disease seemingly out of science fiction, sufferers have a hand act out of its own accord.  Also called Dr. Strangelove Syndrome, this neurological disorder can have hands performing complex acts without its owner knowing what is happening.
9. Alice in Wonderland syndrome – Actually taken from the work that inspired the name, it is a condition in which people see items as smaller than they really are.  It is also known as Lilliputian hallucinations, inspired by “Gulliver’s Travels.”
10. Foreign Accent syndrome – Maybe Madonna really is suffering from something with her newly found British accent.  Those with FAS normally have received some sort of head injury, trauma, or stroke and begin speaking in a foreign accent.

Brooke Stafford is a nursing practitioner student and also writes for <a href=http://www.onlinefnp.com>Family Nurse Practitioner Degrees</a>.   The site helps International students find the right nurse practitioner degree to fit their needs.