Experts talked about the ailments that occur in one of millions of people and at first glance may seem like a fiction.
Scientists have named 5 rare unusual diseases that many do not even know about. They may even seem fantastic, but they still exist in reality, although a very small number of people suffer from them. A rare disease is called if less than 200 thousand people are sick with it.
1. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome
It is associated with the perception of the size of the surrounding objects. People who have this syndrome periodically begin to see things or even their body parts smaller or larger than they actually are. So far, doctors cannot say what causes such a reaction - a tumor in the brain, epilepsy, a virus or something else. A 24-year-old British woman with Alice's syndrome said that she had her first attacks when she was 5 years old. According to the woman, at this moment she feels how the room is decreasing, and she herself is increasing. Now she has seizures about once a year.
2. Allergy to water
This happens extremely rarely, but still: when water gets on the body, severe itching occurs, especially in the upper body. Such people should not wash, swim in water, walk in the rain and even cry. Why this happens, scientists cannot say for sure, there are only theories. It is possible that the immune response is caused by substances dissolved in water.
Promotional video:
3. Walking corpse syndrome
This is a mental disorder in which a person feels that he has no body parts or is already dead. As a result, the patient may not eat, take care of himself, go to the cemetery, etc. For example, a 53-year-old woman from the Philippines claimed to smell rot and asked to be put in a morgue, while a man named Graham, after attempting suicide, was convinced that his brain was dead.
“I just felt like I had no brain,” he said. The man's condition was alleviated with the help of treatment.
4. Stone Man Syndrome
It is a rare genetic disease caused by a mutation in the ACVR1 gene. With it, muscles and connective tissues, such as ligaments and tendons, become as hard as bone when damaged. Gradually, a second skeleton is formed, which causes immobility. The disease affects one person in 2 million. For example, 23-year-old Weldon injured her neck at the age of 9, and this led to ossification of her back. She has been in a wheelchair since the age of 19, and, unfortunately, the disease is only progressing.
5. Alien hand syndrome
Those with this ailment experience a strange condition: their limb acts involuntarily, but purposefully. Moreover, these can be very dangerous actions that a person cannot control in any way. In 1998, an 81-year-old woman reported that her own hand was trying to strangle her.
Scientists have found that the cause of the disease can be damage to certain parts of the brain, as well as Alzheimer's disease or a tumor in the head.
