Also known as hair-felting, this condition causes hair to form a tangled mass. In a case reported in 1993, a 39 year old woman鈥檚 hair fell out and was replaced by dry, coarse, curly hair which was so tangled that it was impossible to comb. It lacked knots, kinks, or twists that would explain the [[...]
Posts Tagged ‘Bizarre Illnesses’
Foreign Accent Syndrome 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:30 § in Science
There are about 50 recorded cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome, in which people who have suffered strokes or other injuries adopt a new accent. For example, Tiffany Roberts of Florida suffered a stroke and then began speaking with an English accent. She even adopted such Anglicisms as 鈥榖loody鈥 and[...]
Mary Hart Epilepsy 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:29 § in Science
The case of Dianne Neale, 49, appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the much-publicised 1991 event, Neale apparently suffered epileptic seizures at hearing the voice of Entertainment Tonight co-host Mary Hart. Neale experienced an upset stomach, a sense of pressure in her head, and con[...]
Electric People 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:24 § in Science
According to British paranormalist Hilary Evans, some people are 鈥榰pright human [electric] eels, capable of generating charges strong enough to knock out streetlights and electronic equipment.鈥 Cases of electric people date back to 1786, the most famous of which is that of 14 year old Angelique [...]
Mud Wrestlers Rash 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:23 § in Science
Twenty-four men and women wrestled in calf-deep mud at the University of Washington. Within 36 hours, 7 wrestlers were covered with patches of pus-filled red bumps similar to pimples, and the rest succumbed later. Bumps were on areas of the skin not covered by bathing-suits 鈥 one unlucky wrestler [...]
Dr Strangelove Syndrome 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:22 § in Science
Officially known as Alien Hand Syndrome, this bizarre neurological illness affects thousands of people. It is caused by damage to certain parts of the brain, and causes one of a person鈥檚 hands to act independently of the other and of its owner鈥檚 wishes. For example, the misbehaving hand may do t[...]
Cutlery Craving 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:20 § in Science
The desire to eat metal objects is comparatively common. Occasionally there is an extreme case, such as that of 47 year old Englishman Allison Johnson. An alcoholic burglar with a compulsion to eat silverware, Johnson has had 30 operations to remove strange things from his stomach. In 1992, he had e[...]
Carrot Addiction 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:19 § in Science
In 1992, the British Journal of Addiction described three unusual cases of carrot dependence. One 40 year old man had replaced cigarettes with carrots. He ate as many as five bunches a day and thought about them obsessively. According to two Czech psychiatrists, when carrots were withdrawn, he and t[...]
Hula-hoop Intestine 鈥 Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:17 § in Science
On February 26, 1992, Beijing worker Xu Denghai was hospitalised with a twisted intestine after playing excessively with a hula-hoop. His was the third case in the several weeks since a hula-hoop craze had swept China. The Beijing evening news advised people to warm up before playing, and to avoid h[...]
Stendhal Syndrome – Top 10 Bizarre Illnesses
August 22nd, 2011 - 01:13 § in Science
Dr Graziella Magherini, author of The Stendhal Syndrome, has studied more than 100 tourists in Florence, Italy, who became ill in the presence of great works of art. The symptoms include heart palpitations, dizziness, and stomach pains. The typical sufferer is between the ages of 26 and 40 who rarel[...]
