- Is there a cure for baldness yet?
A brother's getting impatient!
So many of us are fascinated with the human body,
not just what it's capable of,
but what can go wrong with it.
Medical dramas are some of the most popular
shows on television for that very reason,
because, not only do they entertain us and teach
us a little bit about how our body works,
but they introduce us to some pretty freaky illnesses.
But those shows always end with an explanation
as to what happened to the patient,
unlike real life where there have been many
documented diseases that have yet to be explained.
So this week, I gathered some of the strangest
ones to share with you guys, so here they are,
10 bizarre diseases that science can't explain.
Number one is Aquagenic Urticaria.
Aquagenic Urticaria, also known as the water disease,
is an extremely rare disease that has
only ever affected about 30 people.
Those who have have it are affected within minutes
of being exposed to water, everything from bathing, to rain,
to their own tears, can cause them to break
into a severe rash or hives.
In the most extreme cases, those affected are perpetually
sick from their own body, as the majority
of the body's made up of water.
The most recent reported case of Aquagenic Urticaria was in
2009 when a 21 year old from the UK was diagnosed with it.
The only way for her to get her liquids is by
drinking diet coke, and she can only be in the shower
for a maximum of ten seconds a week.
Yeah, and you thought your allergies were bad.
Number two is Kuru Disease.
Kuru is an incurable disease that has effects
similar to that of Mad Cow.
The disease has two notable effects.
The first is that is makes millions of tiny holes
in your brain that grow larger over time,
causing the infected person to shake uncontrollably.
The second, more bizarre effect is that it causes
the person to burst pathologically into laughter,
making it also known as the laughing sickness.
Nobody can explain where the disease comes from,
although it's believed that it could be caused
by a protein created within our
own bodies that simply goes bad.
This is an especially bad disease to get,
because not only is it pretty scary,
but random uncontrollable laughter sounds pretty awkward.
(Crazy laughter)
Just awful.
Number three is Nodding Disease.
First discovered in Tanzania in the 1960's,
this bizarre disease causes those afflicted with it
to nod their head uncontrollably.
It also stunts growth, making those affected with it
appear much younger than they really are.
It originally was never given much attention by doctors,
however in recent years, it's made a big reemergence.
Despite the reportedly large number of cases
in countries like Sudan and Uganda,
doctors remain clueless as to exactly what this is.
It's believed that it could be an illness caused by
a parasite, but that's really just a guess.
The worst part about it is that the nodding is triggered
by simple everyday events, like eating, causing it's victims
to be malnourished, which makes
a lot of sense if you think about it.
Kinda makes it hard to eat soup when
you're a living bobble head, you know what I'm saying?
Number four is Sweating Sickness.
Sweating Sickness is a particularly frightening disease,
because not only does nobody know what causes it,
but death occurs within only a matter of hours
of first seeing symptoms.
The disease occurs in two specific stages.
The first stage is the cold stage, accompanied by violent
shivers, headache, pain in the limbs, and giddy laughter.
The second stage is the hot stage, which is accompanied by
delirium, rapid pulse, intense thirst, and of course
buckets and buckets of sweat.
There have been six different outbreaks
of this disease in the past that have killed so many
people so quickly, that there was no time
to diagnose why it happens.
I think it's interesting that almost all of the symptoms
of this disease are identical to that of the common flu,
so basically you wouldn't know you had
Sweating Sickness until you, well, died.
Or of course, unless you're a grown man and you start
giggling like a little school girl, that should tip you off.
Number five is the Marburg virus.
The Marburg virus is one of the nastier
diseases on this list.
It's clinical symptoms are indistinguishable from that
of the Ebola virus and include disruption of the central
nervous system, tissue necrosis, and seizures,
among several others that are equally disturbing.
The scariest thing about this disease is that
not only does nobody know how it's transmitted,
but it's not confined to any one part of the world.
In fact, the most recent cases occurred
in the Netherlands and Colorado.
It's believed that the infection could be contracted through
direct contact with an animal host,
such as monkeys and bats.
So basically, don't go playing with monkeys and bats,
and you should be fine.
A little common sense, folks, it goes a long way,
Number six is Sleeping Sickness.
Also known as encephalitis lethargica, this illness
causes those affected to be unable to move
despite being fully conscious, giving them
a strange half-asleep appearance.
It begins innocently enough with a sore throat,
but ends in hallucinations, insanity,
and an emotionless state.
Those who are lucky enough to survive this disease
live the rest of their lives as unresponsive vegetables
who sometimes break out in violent fits.
Neither the origin of this sickness or what causes it
are known, but it's believed to
most likely be a virus of some kind.
Number seven is Stiff Person Syndrome.
SPS, or Stiff Person Syndrome, is a rare neurologic disease
that causes the body of a person affected to be become
progressively rigid as time goes on.
Their muscles become increasingly constricted
until eventually, their body becomes
so rigid that they're paralyzed.
Unfortunately, it doesn't end there,
as it has other effects as well, including
problems swallowing, difficulty breathing,
muscle ruptures, and even broken bones.
Now there is good news, which is that there are
treatment options for those who contract this rare disease.
The bad news is that the doctors have absolutely
no explanation as to why it develops or who will get it,
condemning those who do get it, to spend the rest
of their lives doing their best hot dog impression.
Number eight is Porphyria Disease.
Porphyria is affectionately known as the
vampire disease, and for good reason.
Those affected with it get receding gums,
giving them the appearance of fangs.
In addition to that, when they are exposed
to light, their skin bubbles and they start
pooping and peeing purple.
Scientists speculate that this could be caused by
a DNA mutation, but that's just a hypothesis.
But luckily, despite not knowing what causes it,
there is treatment available, if caught early enough,
so if one day, you pop a tiny Grimace in the toilet,
you should definitely go see your doctor right away.
Although, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that.
Number nine is the Jumping Frenchmen of Maine Disorder.
This disease was named after a group of 19th century
French-Canadian lumberjacks, who lived in Maine,
who started to exhibit a strange disorder that caused
them to be extremely jumpy and scream
over the slightest provocation.
Additionally, they also suffered from heightened
suggestibility, meaning that they would act out any
simple command that was yelled at them.
So if you yelled "Do a cartwheel!"
at them, they would do a cartwheel.
Interestingly, this disease only seemed to affect
those French-Canadian lumberjacks,
suggesting that the cause could be
environmental, psychological, or genetic.
Honestly, did the guy who named this disease
really have to call it Jumping Frenchmen of Maine Disease?
I mean what does he have a against French-Canadians anyways?
Did one of them spill poutine on him or something?
Also if you don't know what poutine is, you definitely need
to google it, you Americans are missing out.
And finally, number ten, the Dancing Plague.
The Dancing Plague, also known as dancing mania,
is exactly as it sounds like, but it is
definitely not as fun as it sounds.
It's a mysterious disease that's affected thousands
of people over the last several centuries that causes
them to dance uncontrollably until they drop from exhaustion
or, in many cases, until they drop dead.
One of the most famous cases of Dancing Plague was
in 1518 in France, when a woman named Frau Troffea
danced for six days straight.
Within a week, there were 34 others that joined her,
and within a month, there were 400 people
dancing uncontrollably in the streets of France,
many of which just dropped dead.
To this day, there's still no consensus among scholars
as to what caused the illness, all that they know
is that it was contagious.
So next time you're like, "I just wanna dance, I just
feel like I need to dance," that could be you talking,
or it could be that some diseased Frenchman
sneezed on you, think about it.
Anyways, that's all for this video, guys.
I hope you enjoyed it, and keep in mind, that this was not
an exhaustive list of all the unsolved diseases out there.
There were many more, I just thought I would come up
with the ten that I thought were most interesting.
If you'd like to add me to Facebook and Twitter,
or check out my second channel, the links to all
of those will be in the description below, along with
all of the other important links, and I will see you guys
next Saturday with the brand new video, peace.
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weekend, don't be too paranoid about these diseases.
They're pretty rare, so no need put yourself in a bubble,
baby, just go have some fun and I'll see you next week, bye!