- A strange disorder that can turn your skin blue?
Suddenly start talking with a foreign accent?
- G'day - G'day
- G'day
- Here are seven weird, but very real medical conditions
you need to know about.
(uplifting music)
Today, we're taking out seven
of the strangest, most bizarre medical conditions
on the planet.
Believe me when I say some of these are just straight up
like nothing you've ever seen before,
but that's also what makes us humans so incredibly cool.
We're all unique in our own way,
and you're gonna see a lot of that uniqueness today.
Today, we're not holding back
and discussing the strangest conditions of them all.
All right, let's dive right in.
Number seven, foreign accent syndrome.
Coming in first on our list,
a rare condition causes people
to suddenly develop a foreign accent.
Say what?
Yes, it's very much possible.
For instance, you may live most of your life
with, say, an American accent like me,
and then suddenly wake up one morning,
speaking the Queen's British
or sounding French all of a sudden.
It's definitely a thing that can happen, and here's why.
The disorder is caused by damage
to a part of the brain that is associated with speech.
Stroke is the most common cause,
but also trauma, tumors, and other neurologic conditions
such as multiple sclerosis.
May also cause patients to begin speaking
with a different accent.
According to neurology experts,
they say typically the accident usually
isn't very good or as authentic,
and native speakers can usually recognize
that the new accent is a bit off.
(man speaking gibberish)
- Speech therapy may help,
but symptoms can last years or even become permanent.
Number six, strangers medical condition,
Alice in Wonderland syndrome.
Ready to fall down that rabbit hole?
What if I told you there is a condition
that may just alter your reality as you know it.
I don't know if you've read this book before,
but in Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,"
The main character, Alice,
experiences magical transformations
such as shrinking and expanding.
Well, this kind of thing can happen in real life, too,
and without the aid of magical additives,
if you catch my drift.
This neurologic syndrome, also called Todd's syndrome,
usually presents as migraines
that distorts the perception of size and distance.
Suddenly, things may just be very big
or very small or further away than they actually are.
These wild "Alice in Wonderland" type episodes
can cause a patient to experience hallucinations
as well as inaccurate sense of time passing.
Very slowly at times, or even really quickly.
(indistinct)
So who does this Alice in Wonderland syndrome
typically effect?
In young children and can occur at the onset of sleep.
Number five, geographic tongue.
This oddly named syndrome involves psoriasis-like symptoms
of the mouth, in which harmless,
but potentially painful lesions develop right on the tongue.
Red and white patches are often surrounded
by a slightly elevated yellow border,
resembling irregularly shaped geographic masses on a map.
Hence the name of the condition.
A person's tongue can evolve
into what appears to be a wild new map of the world,
but don't be fooled by the abstract design.
These lesions can cause a burning sensation and irritation.
So what causes geographic tongue?
It's a bit unknown,
but some experts believe things like stress,
allergies, hormonal disturbances, nutritional deficiencies,
psychological disturbances, rare forms of arthritis,
and even spicy foods can spark this strange condition.
Number four, human werewolf syndrome.
With fewer than a hundred cases documented worldwide,
our next unusual medical condition
is called human werewolf syndrome.
No, this is not something straight
out of the "Twilight" series
that will have you battling vampires under a full moon.
This uncommon genetic disorder
will, however, lead to a lot of excess hair everywhere.
Also called congenital hypertrichosis lanuginose.
This condition can be caused by rare genetic mutation
that affects people, regardless of sex or age.
Hair growth can occur all over the body,
and not even laser hair removal an permanently control
the excess hair growth that is caused by this disorder.
Other types of acquired hypertrichosis are possible as well,
which can develop later in a person's life,
and as a range of possible causes,
like things like poor nutrition, certain medications,
anorexia, autoimmune diseases, and more.
Number three, fish odor syndrome.
Some people's odor can get a little funky
after you, say, workout,
or when they perspire a lot
or aren't showering as much as they should be.
Well, what if I told you that one rare condition
causes some people to have a rotten fish smell,
regardless of how often they bathe?
Yep, it's called trimethylaminuria,
and it's an inherited metabolic disorder
that is triggered by an enzyme deficiency
that prevents the breakdown of trimethylamine, TMA,
a chemical byproduct of protein digestion
responsible for the obtrusive smell associated
with decaying fish.
As a result, a fishy odor is detected
in the urine, sweat, and even breath
of people with the syndrome.
And, unfortunately, there is no cure,
but symptoms may be reduced with a TMA-free diet
that avoid such foods as legumes, peanuts, eggs,
and certain kinds of fish and meat.
Number two, body integrity identity disorder.
Sufferers of a strange medical condition
called body integrity identity disorder, or BIID for short,
who are otherwise totally reasonable
or of sound mind feel as if one of their body parts,
their right foot up to the mid calf, for example,
shouldn't be there.
Yep, a very much healthy, able limb, like an arm,
seems horrific and alien to a person
with this disorder.
And the person with BIID can usually draw a line
in the exact place where they desperately wished
to have the unwanted body part removed.
Medical experts say that BIID suffers are missing part
of the body image map in their brains,
meaning that their unwanted limb
is not correctly mapped on the corresponding brain region,
leaving them feeling extremely uncomfortable with it.
Currently, there is no cure
for body integrity identity disorder,
but sometimes sympathetic surgeons will agree
to amputate the emotionally bothersome uncharted limb,
and the BIID suffers report feeling infinitely happier,
but obviously, please seek medical advice and counsel
before making any body modifications.
Number one, methemoglobinemia.
Do you remember the "Smurfs" TV show
back in the day where the character skin
was a bright blue shade? (bell dings)
Well, what if I told you that this is actually a real thing?
Yes, a person can actually have a blue skin disorder
where their skin turns a Smurf-like shade of blue.
It's all due to a blood disorder called methemoglobinemia.
Basically, the body's overproduction of methemoglobin,
a form of hemoglobin. (bell dings)
This is the reason for the blue color.
Instead of the typical 1% of methemoglobin in the blood,
those with this disease can have up to 20%,
and because their hemoglobin is unable
to properly distribute oxygen in the body,
it results in blue skin color, purple lips,
and brown-colored blood.
While this disorder can be inherited,
it can also come about by being exposed
to different chemicals and drugs.
Even in the ER, we sometimes use hurricane spray
to help your throat
that can actually induce methemoglobin anemia,
so you have to be aware of this.
All right, that's been some strange medical conditions
with me, Dr. Wagner.
Which ones did you find most interesting?
Let me know in the comments
if you know of any other uncommon medical questions
or topics you'd like me to discuss further.
Maybe I'll include them in the next video.
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Thank you so much for watching,
and stay healthy, my friend.
(uplifting music)