13 Weird Diseases You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
People around the globe struggle with various illnesses and diseases. The disorders range from life-threatening to minor conditions that make life difficult. However, even the minor ones cause immense pain and health issues. There are so many different conditions that a few of the bizarre ones fly under the radar. These weird diseases are so unbelievable that they seem unreal.
These disorders affect different parts of the body, such as the blood and heart, while also impacting the mind. They might make sleeping difficult or cause the body to break out in hives. Several diseases also affect the perception of reality. These abnormal conditions exist in many parts of the world. Despite being rare conditions, it’s common for people to contract these diseases.
In some cases, they seem like something out of a movie. Many of these illnesses cause immense pain and sometimes even death. These diseases remain mysteries to the greatest minds. Here’s a look at 13 of these weird diseases.
1. Walking Corpse Syndrome
To some people, zombies and the undead are more real than individuals realize. For instance, Cotard’s syndrome is a rare disorder that causes the affected person to believe they’re dead. Also known as walking corpse syndrome, it causes the patient to have delusions that they don’t exist or are near death. Furthermore, they often deny the existence of body parts and internal organs.
Named after neurologist Jules Cotard, roughly half the patients believe they’re dead, while the other half think they’re immortal. These patients often refuse to eat because they’re confident they don’t have a digestive system. In mild cases, they suffer intense bouts of self-loathing. Luckily, there’s treatment and medication to help the affected.
2. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome
Alice in Wonderland syndrome is a neuropsychological disorder that causes distortions in reality. Also known as dysmetropsia, the sufferers believe objects are smaller or larger than they appear. Furthermore, they often think they’re shrinking or growing rapidly. Doctors cannot name a reason for the rare disease, although many believe migraines might be a cause.
The author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, often complained about having intense migraines. Doctors speculate that Carroll might have suffered from dysmetropsia and wrote about his experiences in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Hence the name, Alice in Wonderland syndrome.
3. Exploding Head Syndrome
First reported in the 1870s, exploding head syndrome is a sleep or headache disorder that occurs as people are falling asleep or waking up. It’s a rare disease that usually goes unreported. The person experiences a hallucination of a loud sound, such as gunfire, as they fall asleep. The loud noise is often terrifying and includes a bright light.
At this point, there’s still no cause or cure for exploding head syndrome. It most likely occurs due to intense stress or other mental health-related issues. The condition only happens once or twice in a person’s life.
4. Fatal Insomnia
Fatal Insomnia is a dangerous sleep disorder that often ends in the worst-case scenario. The rare genetic illness begins with difficulty sleeping. Eventually it becomes full-blown insomnia resulting in hallucinations, panic attacks, weight loss, and dementia.
The sufferer usually dies anywhere from six months to a year. At this point, doctors can’t agree on a cause or cure for the rare condition. It remains one of the rarest and deadliest illnesses.
5. Foreign Accent Syndrom
Foreign accent syndrome is a rare condition often resulting from a stroke or head injury. Sometimes a person suddenly develops an accent from a different native tongue without living in that region. While it seems they’re speaking with an accent, the disease affects speech patterns making it appear that way. The disease likely occurs due to lesions in the part of the brain that produces speech.
Additionally, there’s also a possibility it’s a neuropsychiatric condition. Despite the first reported case in 1907, there were roughly 62 reported cases between 1941 and 2009. Foreign Accent syndrome is one of the rarest diseases on earth.
6. Marie Antoinette Syndrome
Sufferers of Marie Antoinette syndrome experience cases of their hair turning grey or white overnight. Also called canities subita, doctors can’t agree on a cause for the rare condition. The name’s origin comes from tales of the Queen of France Marie Antoinette’s hair turning grey after her capture during the French Revolution.
An older case involves Sir Thomas More, whose hair turned white the night before his beheading. While there are no known causes, doctors believe stress is a significant factor. It’s an autoimmune disease that targets melanin, attacking pigment production.
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7. Pica
Pica is a rare disorder that gets its name from the Latin version of the magpie. Magpies are exotic birds found in Europe, Asia, and North America. Additionally, magpies eat anything, even if it’s not edible. Pica is an eating disorder in which the person craves items that are not food, such as dirt, clay, soap, chalk plaster, and paint.
Diagnosis often occurs a month after the patient continues eating these various items. It’s a mental and emotional disorder frequently found in children and pregnant women.
8. Progeria
Many of these rare medical conditions cut people’s lives short. For instance, progeria is a rare disease that causes individuals to age faster and appear older than they are. It often begins very young and includes hair loss and wrinkles.
Also known as Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome, patients often have a short life span, with most cases surviving til their teens or early 20s. The condition usually attacks the cardiovascular system causing premature death.
9. Congenital Insensitivity to Pain
While it might sound like a superpower, insensitivity to pain is one of the most dangerous diseases. Congenital insensitivity to pain is a genetic mutation that causes the sufferer to feel no pain. They feel nothing when being pinched, punched, or kicked. Of course, nobody likes to feel physical pain, but it’s an essential element of survival. Therefore, the lack of pain can often lead to early death in childhood.
Those with the rare condition suffer severe injuries and burn themselves without realizing it. Congenital insensitivity to pain is a devastating condition with dire consequences.
10. Hyperthymesia
Most people remember key moments in their life, but even then, it gets pretty hazy. However, a small number of people suffer from a rare disorder known as hyperthymesia. With just over 60 reported cases, the rare disease causes a person to remember every moment of their life in vivid detail. They remember everything from life-changing moments to the most mundane activities. They often remember every detail from a day once they see the date.
Since it’s involuntary, it often disrupts a person’s day and life. They’re overloaded and overwhelmed with memories consuming their day. Two main characteristics of the condition are an uncanny ability to remember the past and spending hours thinking about past events.
11. Mirror-Touch Synesthesia
Several medical disorders are so rare that there’s no way of finding a cause or cure. Doctors and scientists spend years researching a particular subject but still have no answers. Mirror-touch synesthesia is a fascinating condition that’s extraordinarily rare.
It often occurs when a person feels a similar sensation when seeing someone else touched in the same spot. If someone gets punched, they feel it on the same part of their body. The sufferers of this rare illness often feel high levels of empathy for other people.
12. Porphyria
Porphyria is a rare condition, but it’s appeared throughout history several times. It’s a rare disorder that builds up porphyria in the liver, turning urine and excrement purple. It often includes intense mood swings, chest pain, vomiting, and seizures. Furthermore, evidence suggests it occurs due to a mutation in one of the genes.
Historians believe that King George III’s mental illness was due to porphyria. However, other historians dispute the findings. The other most famous possible cases were Vincent Van Gogh and Vlad The Impaler, which might relate to the folklore of vampires. Regardless, it’s one of the most puzzling and bizarre diseases.
13. Aquagenic Urticaria
Aquagenic Urticaria is a rare water allergy. It often results in hives when the individual comes into contact with water. There are many rare diseases, but few compare with the puzzling aquagenic urticaria.
Another form of the illness known as aquadynia causes intense pain after coming into contact with water. In some cases, drinking water can lead to oral damage. Like many diseases on this list, there appears to be no cause or cure for the rare disease.
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