These people rarely live among us, but they are. They are the same as we are, only very unlucky: terrible on the face - good inside. Today we will tell you about the most terrible and rare diseases on the planet.
Each unhappy person is unhappy in its own way, so it is simply impossible to compile a "horror rating" of their diseases. Unlucky for all of them equally.
Man Without a Face
58-year-old Portuguese Jose Mestre (Jose Mestre) is famous for having no face. Instead, he has a tumor the size of a young pig - about 40 square meters. cm area and weighing 5 kg.
However, once Jose's face was completely ordinary, like all people. The only difference was the tiny education he was born with. This is a benign hemangioma tumor, it is quite widespread and, as a rule, disappears quickly. In Jose's case, it started to grow - doctors called it venous pathology. The first signs of the disease appeared on the lips when the boy was 14 years old.
Local doctors could not immediately make an accurate diagnosis, but even after this happened, in order to get rid of the growing tumor, Jose needed a blood transfusion. However, the mother, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect, was categorically against this, so the disease progressed. As a result, Jose not only lost his face as such, but also stopped seeing in one eye and lost his teeth.
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Any hemangioma is rich in blood vessels, so by the age of 50, on top of that, the tumor began to bleed profusely, posing a real threat to Jose's life. It became difficult for him to eat, speak and even breathe. To get around, Jose had to support the tumor with his hand. Fortunately, by that time, Jose's mother had died and he was finally able to start treatment.
Now - only operational. After undergoing several extremely dangerous and unprecedented in complexity operations, Jose finally found a face. And although it is difficult to call him handsome, the man is happy. He himself goes grocery shopping, spends time with friends, and most importantly, enjoys life.
Elephant man
Another incredible case of a huge facial tumor is the case of a Chinese man named Huang Chuncai. His face weighs 20 kg. He suffers from a severe disease called neurofibromatosis.
Despite the fact that this is one of the most common hereditary diseases, it has several forms, including extremely rare species. Juan's case is considered one of the most serious in the world to date.
Juan's parents first noticed signs of illness when the boy was four years old. To the doctors' credit, they immediately advised the parents to undergo an operation to remove the tumor. But, alas, Juan's parents were too poor. The boy went to school, and the tumor continued to grow. Four years later, it became so big (15 kg!) That he had to leave school - the children began to tease him "the elephant man".
Juan could only afford the operation when he grew up. In July 2007, doctors removed 15 kg of his tumor, and in 2008, about 5 kg more. Unfortunately, the tumor has grown again. Therefore, five years later - in 2013 - Juan had to undergo another operation. And this is not the end: according to doctors, the treatment of the "elephant man" is far from complete. Juan has at least two more surgeries ahead of him.
The most famous "elephant man" John Merrick, who lived in the 19th century, also suffered from the same form of neurofibromatosis.
Bubble man
An Indonesian named Chandra Vishnu also suffers from neurofibromatosis. Only in another - a peculiar form. Chandra was once an attractive young man, but a mysterious illness has changed him. Wherever he turned - both to the doctors and to the healer. He cut off a piece of the tumor and advised to bury it under a banana tree.
There was no improvement. The doctors gave up, and so did the witch doctor. Now Chandra is about 60 years old, his illness is incurable and, moreover, it was passed on to his children - characteristic bumps have already appeared on their skin. True, the doctors reassure: it is far from the fact that their disease will develop into such a severe form as that of Chandra.
In the meantime, Chandra is trying to work more and look less in the mirror. “When people look at me, I say to myself: it's because I am beautiful,” Chandra jokes. “I always try to be optimistic about everything.”
Chandra Vishnu with his son Martin, who also has neurofibromatosis
Kuru disease occurs almost exclusively in the highlands of New Guinea among Aboriginal Fores. It was first discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. The disease spread through ritual cannibalism, namely, through the eating of the brains of the person suffering from this disease. With the eradication of cannibalism, kuru has all but disappeared. However, isolated cases still occur because the incubation period can last over 30 years. The media dubbed the Kuru "laughing death", but the tribe themselves do not call her that.
The main symptoms of Kuru are trembling and violent head movements, sometimes accompanied by a smile similar to that of tetanus patients. Within a few months, brain tissue degrades, turning into a spongy mass.
The disease is characterized by progressive degeneration of cells in the central nervous system, especially in the motor areas of the brain. There is a violation of the control of muscle movements, tremors of the trunk, limbs and head develop.
Today, Kuru disease is considered one of the interesting cases of prion infection, which are caused by special disease-causing agents - not bacteria, not viruses, but abnormal proteins. The disease mainly affects women and children and is considered incurable. After 9-12 months, the sick Kuru dies.
Tree Man
Indonesian Dede Koswara has suffered all his life from a mysterious disease that causes growths on his body that look like tree roots. Each year they grow by 5 cm, and several years ago they have already reached 1 m in length. And if in all of the above cases the doctors could make an accurate diagnosis, then in the case of Dede they simply shrug their shoulders. His case is unique and, apparently, the only one in the world - such a disease has not been described in any medical reference book.
Dede was born a healthy and, by the way, a very pretty child (traces of beauty are still visible on his face). But after a minor injury to his knee, when he fell in the forest as a teenager, in a strange way he began to … grow a "forest" on his body. At first, small warts appeared around the wound, which later spread throughout the body. Dede tried to cut them off, but after a couple of weeks they grew back, and "branched" even more.
Dede is the father of two children. His wife left him due to illness, many fellow villagers mocked him. And Dede could not work (the growths prevented him from performing even everyday activities) to feed the children, so he had to earn only one way - to perform with a traveling "freak show" in the circus.
His life changed dramatically when, interested in the strange disease of Dede, one of the best dermatologists in the world, Dr. Anthony Gaspari from the University of Maryland (USA), visited the fishing village. After doing many tests, Gaspari concluded that the Indonesian's illness was caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts.
Dede's problem turned out to be a rare genetic disorder that prevents his immune system from keeping these warts from growing. The most amazing thing is that the rest of Dede has enviable health, which doctors did not expect from a person with such a suppressed immune system.
Today, Dede had about 95% of the growths removed and he was finally able to see his fingers. They say that after he managed to hold the pen again, he even became addicted to crosswords and still hopes to improve his personal life. However, doctors say that the growths are likely to grow again, so Dede will have to operate at least twice a year.
Old children
These people age 10 times faster than everyone else. They are sick with the rarest genetic disease - Progeria. In children, this disease is also called Hutchinson-Guildford syndrome. There are no more than 80 cases of progeria recorded in the world.
Despite the fact that childhood progeria may be congenital, clinical signs of the disease appear, as a rule, in the second or third year of life. At the same time, the growth of the child sharply slows down, atrophic changes are visible on the skin, they are especially noticeable on the face and limbs. The skin itself becomes thinner, becomes dry and wrinkled, and age spots characteristic of old people may appear. Veins shine through the thinned skin.
Children with progeria do not resemble their mother and father, but each other: a large head, a protruding forehead, a beak-shaped nose, an underdeveloped lower jaw … At the same time, mentally, they remain absolutely healthy, and in terms of development, they are no different from their peers.
If you look at the internal organs, you will see the same picture. Children with progeria suffer from the same ailments as the elderly, and usually die from senile diseases - heart attacks, strokes, atherosclerosis, renal failure, etc.
The average life expectancy for childhood progeria is only 13 years. Many, however, do not live to see seven, even less to adulthood. The record for such patients is 45 years.
The famous progerik Sam Berns from Massachusetts died just a couple of months ago, at the age of 17.5 years. Doctors noted that Burns's body was worn out, like a 90-year-old man. Last year, the documentary "Life According to Sam" was released, thanks to which the teenager gained worldwide fame.
According to the people who knew him, Sam was an amazing boy: people changed internally only after one meeting with him, he was called "inspiring to life." The teenager was very fond of hockey, and after the release of the film about him he became a friend of the Boston Bruins. However, optimism, kindness and the ability to appreciate every day of your life are qualities that are characteristic of all progerics.
The scariest woman in the world
If you are a teenage girl who periodically comes to mind such thoughts - calm down: this place is already taken. The scariest woman in the world was dubbed the American Lizzie Velasquez by the tabloids.
She has an extremely rare condition called neonatal progeroid syndrome, in which the body is unable to store fat. The body of such a patient is poorly protected from infection, and most of them die in early childhood. But Lizzie has survived all possible periods.
However, in order to live, she must eat every 20 minutes, otherwise she may simply die. At the same time, Lizzie never weighed more than 30 kg.
Despite her illness, the girl writes books on how to accept herself. Lizzie's books have already gained considerable popularity in the United States. And Lizzie also has many friends, she regularly speaks to an audience and loves to visit … a nail salon.
Lizzie Velazquez, who was dubbed the most terrible woman in the world by the media, could in fact be called the most resilient.
Third floor
For about 500 thousand people, a child is born whose gender cannot be determined. It's about intersexuality. Unlike hermaphroditism, the sexual characteristics of both one and the other sex are less pronounced. In addition, they appear together in the same areas of the body. The embryonic development of such people begins normally, but from a certain point it continues along the path of the opposite sex.
Hermaphrodites are no more fortunate. Distinguish between true (gonadal) and false hermaphroditism. The first is characterized not only by the simultaneous presence of male and female genital organs, but also by the simultaneous presence of male and female genital glands. Secondary sexual characteristics incorporate the properties of both sexes: low timbre of voice, bisexual type of figure, etc.
False hermaphroditism (pseudohermaphroditism) is a condition in which the contradiction between internal and external signs of sex is visible to the naked eye, that is, the sex glands are formed correctly according to the male or female type, but the external genital organs have signs of both sexes.
Wolf people
Perhaps everyone remembers about this disease - it is described in any biology textbook. Hypertrichosis, or, simply, excessive hairiness has been known to science for a long time. The disease is characterized by the fact that hair grows on those areas of the skin for which it is unusual.
The disease affects both sexes equally. Distinguish between congenital and acquired (limited) hypertrichosis. We are not talking about the second, since when the cause is identified, the disease is curable, and it does not look at all as scary as congenital hypertrichosis. This form of the disease is incurable.
A Thai girl named Sasuphan Supattra was overjoyed when she was officially named the hairiest girl in the world. This nickname made her more popular at school, they practically stopped calling her "wolf girl", "werewolf girl", and calling her face a monkey. Sazufan Supatra got into the Guinness Book of Records.
Mexican showman Jesus Aceves.