People can become ill because of imbalances in their bodies or problems caused by harmful organisms. Although many of these diseases are based on ordinary situations, some diseases can arise from very strange situations. In this article, we have compiled 10 strange diseases that you have never heard of before.
10 STRANGE DISEASES
AUTOMATED BREWERY SYNDROME
People with this disease, known as automatic brewery syndrome or abnormal intestinal fermentation syndrome, produce pure alcohol (ethanol) in their intestines after eating carbohydrate-rich foods. This condition is caused by an excess of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a type of yeast in the intestine. The main treatments for this condition are dietary changes and reduction of simple sugars, refined carbohydrates, yeast products and moldy foods.
STONEMAN SYNDROME
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), colloquially known as Stoneman syndrome, is a disease that gradually turns connective tissues such as tendons and muscles into bone. The progression of the disorder begins from the neck towards the shoulders, gradually progressing to the lower parts of the body and finally to the legs. Since the joints are affected by the disease, body movements are also restricted. The patient has difficulty opening his mouth, causing difficulty in eating and speaking. However, since it is a disease that affects one in every 2 million people, there are currently no treatment options for this condition.
HUTCHINSON-GILFORD PROGERIA SYNDROME
Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome is an extremely rare condition in which a person experiences the appearance of rapid aging starting in childhood. This disease, which is one in 4 million, has been seen in more than 131 people since 1886. There is no cure for this disease, which has symptoms such as old-looking skin, brittle bones, kidney failure, and hair loss, but in November 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a drug that may help reduce the risk of death due to the disease.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND SYNDROME
British psychiatrist John Todd first described Alice in Wonderland syndrome in 1955. Todd gave this name to the disease because he compared it to the main character Alice in Lewis Carroll’s famous novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, who experiences magical transformations such as shrinking and expanding. This neurological syndrome usually manifests itself with migraine attacks that disrupt the perception of size and distance. The patient thinks that body parts such as hands are larger or smaller.
FISH SMELL SYNDROME
When a person has trimethylaminuria, popularly known as fish odor syndrome, that person’s sweat emits an odor reminiscent of the smell of rotting fish. So, this condition occurs when the body cannot break down the compound called trimethylamine. Due to this disease, which is an inherited metabolic disorder, a person has a fishy smell in their urine, sweat and breath. There is also no cure, but symptoms can be reduced with a diet that avoids legumes, peanuts, eggs, and certain types of fish and meat.