When I was going through my news feed, I only find out about common diseases, such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes to name a few. What about diseases that never make it to mainstream media, but interesting to know
What is an interesting illness/disease?
Broken Heart Syndrome
If you have heard people dying minutes or hours apart after their loved ones pass away, then you have heard of the broken heart syndrome. When people face tremendous emotional stress, their heart muscles become weak temporarily. Although it is quite similar to a heart attack, the only difference is that it occurs without blockage or a drastic increase in heart enzymes.
Luckily, the chances of surviving from this illness are quite high, as its effects are reversible. Due to this reason, it won’t damage your heart. Also, you should know that the emotional stress can amplify when you are extremely happy. For instance, winning a sports event, a surprise party, and/or hitting the jackpot can cause this illness to occur.
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive
Also known as the bone turning disease, it is an illness where your ligaments and muscles start transforming into bones, after suffering from an injury or spontaneously. Patients afflicted by this disease often go by the name ‘statues’ because of what it does to their bodies. Over time, their mobility will decrease as their ligaments and muscles have become bones.
Although doctors have tried to defeat this problem through surgery, their attempts were unsuccessful as it quickened the horrific transformation. The sad thing about this disease is that there is no cure, which means that patients have to use wheelchairs.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD is an illness that I came across where your body doesn’t produce enough hydrochloric acid. As a result of this, your stomach will push the food up. As hydrochloric acid is extremely corrosive, it can damage the linings of your esophagus over time. If there are no immediate changes, GERD can cause a myriad of diseases such as esophageal cancer.
People who suffer from GERD have to stay away from citrus fruits, coffee, alcohol, black pepper, raw onions, and peppermint, as they are responsible for the symptoms. However, it is manageable, as long as you eat the right diet and drink adequate amounts of water every day.
Kuru disease
One of the most interesting illness that I came across was the kuru disease or laughing sickness. It is quite common in Papua New Guinea, as it affects some of the tribe members. It is a neurological disorder, which causes uncontrollable laughter.
When you compare it to the mad cow disease, you will find similarities in the symptoms, along with the fact that they affect the brain. Kuru disease is progressive, which means that the patient won’t be able to talk or walk during the final stage. They also have laughing episodes and extreme tremors, before kicking the bucket. What I find interesting about this disease is that only the people in Papua New Guinea are the ones who get affected.