There are a lot of strange medical conditions that exist in the world that seem to have no explanation. From being allergic to water to having blue skin, the world has seen it all. In 2015 we wrote a blog post on 8 strange and rare medical conditions that plague today’s societies. Today we bring you ten additional strange medical conditions that will peak your interest in the medical field.
10 Strange Medical Conditions
1. Cold Urticaria (aka Cold Allergy): It’s quite common to not like the cold, after all, extreme temperatures are not the most ideal. However, for those suffering from cold urticaria, also known as the cold allergy, any contact with the cold can cause irritation (hives) and swelling of the contacted areas. The severity of this condition ranges among those who have it, but a total body immersion in cold water can cause the body to go into anaphylaxis shock. Although there are no official known causes for this strange medical condition, it is believed that a hereditary trait or the contagion of a virus could be the source of this development. Fortunately, cold urticaria usually goes away but seeing as how it mostly affects children, can you imagine life without ice cream?
2. Aquagenic Urticaria (aka Water Allergy): Can you imagine being allergic to water? Human beings are composed of 75% water! Aquagenic urticaria is an allergic reaction to the exposure of water to the skin that causes hives. Unfortunately, causes of this medical condition could be due being lactose intolerant or being related to someone with the Bernard Soulier Syndrome. Similar to cold urticaria, children are more likely to develop this condition with women having a higher probability than men.
3. Xeroderma Pigmentosum (aka Vampire Syndrome): A rare medical condition, xeroderma pigmentosum, also known as the vampire syndrome, is a skin condition that causes severe damages to the skin when exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. This genetic condition is caused by the body’s inability to repair skin damaged from the sun’s UV rays. Those with this condition have a higher probability of developing skin cancer and various other skin diseases.
4. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS): Anyone who has seen Alice in Wonderland remembers the scene where Alice consumed various foods and drinks that caused her to change in size. The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a neurological medical condition that causes a person to have an impairment in his/her visual perception of the sizes of their body as well as of various objects around them. Although there are no definitive causes for AIWS, it is assumed that psychoactive drugs and temporal lobe epilepsy are potential causes for AIWS.
5. Kleine-Levin Syndrome (aka Sleeping Beauty Syndrome): A rare disorder, the Kleine-Levin Syndrome is a disorder in which the affected patient develops flu-like symptoms followed by episodes of excessive sleep per day. In fact, these episodes could last up to weeks. Those affected by this sleeping beauty syndrome often do not remember what happened prior to their episode. It is believed that an impairment in the hypothalamus, as well as the thalamus, could be the cause of this disorder.
6. Alien Hand Syndrome: This strange medical condition sounds like it’s coming straight out of a horror movie. The Alien Hand Syndrome, one of the strangest condition on our list of 10 strange medical conditions, is a neurological disorder that causes one hand to have individual control over its own functions. This disassociation of the patient’s hand is caused by damage to the corpus callosum, causing a loss of connection between the two cerebral hemispheres of the brain. This is commonly caused by brain aneurysms or brain surgery.
7. Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis (aka Tree Man Syndrome): Also known as the Tree Man Syndrome, epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a hereditary skin disorder caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Symptoms of EV consists of the spread of wart-like lesions on the skin, which can develop into skin cancers.
8. Argyria (aka Blue Skin Disorder): Argyria is a medical condition caused by concentrated exposure to silver particles that cause your skin to become blue. This is common in those who work with silver such as at a silver mining.
9. Lymphatic Filariasis (aka Elephantiasis): Although this may not be the strangest medical condition in our list of 10 strange medical conditions, lymphatic filariasis is a disease that causes the enlargement of a person’s lymph nodes. According to the World Health Organization, lymphatic filariasis is caused by nematodes, a parasite that infects the lymphatic system.
10. Trichotillomania (aka Hairpulling Disorder): Trichotillomania is a mental disorder that causes a person to develop a compulsion for pulling hair out of his/her body. This chronic disorder is derived from the psychological positive and negative emotions associated with the act of hair pulling. In other words, trichotillomania is a disorder that stems from an individual response to troubling situations.