10 strangest diseases in the world

A survey of Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald listed some of the strangest syndromes affecting humans. They may seem madness, but for each of these diseases there is a battalion of doctors trying to find the cause. And especially healing.

1. Foreign Accent Syndrome

After suffering a stroke or any other type of brain injury, the victims of this disorder are talking with a French accent ... ... or Italian or Spanish. The language varies, but in most cases, victims are unaware of the new language. According to scientists, the pronunciation is not actually foreign, only gives the impression that. Researchers at Oxford University in England, believe that the symptom is caused by a trauma in areas of the brain responsible for language, causing changes in intonation, pronunciation and other characteristics of speech. A very recent case of carpal accent rolled with the British Lynda Walker, last month. After a heart attack, Carter agreed talking Jamaican accent.

2. Capgras delusion

After conceding a disillusionment with the spouse, parents or any other relative, a person comes to believe they were kidnapped and replaced by imposters. The symptoms sometimes turns against the victim: you look in the mirror, she also believes that seeing the image of a fraud. Neurosis total! The problem tends to reach more people aged 40 and their causes are not known. The syndrome was discovered by the French psychiatrist Jean Marie Joseph Capgras, who described the first time in 1923. In the most extreme degree, the victim thinks that even inanimate objects such as chairs, tables and books were replaced with exact replicas.

3. FOREIGN HAND SYNDROME

"My hand acted on his own ..." That excuse used by some miscreants may be true. Syndrome in question alien hand syndrome, in English makes one of the victim's hands seem to life itself. The problem mainly affects people with brain injuries or who have undergone surgery in the region. The hard part is that the patient does not pay attention to the silly hand, until she does something stupid. A crazy hand is capable of complex actions such as opening zippers ... The effects of lack of control over the hand can be reduced by giving it a task, any task, such as holding an object.

4. SYNDROME OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Disease that causes distortions in visual perception of the victim, causing some nearby objects appear disproportionately tiny. The disorder was first described in 1955 by the English psychiatrist John Todd, who named it in honor of the book by Lewis Carroll. In this book, the protagonist Alice sees things out of proportion, as if on a "trip" caused by LSD. The victims of the syndrome also see distortions in the body, believing that part of it is changing shape or size.

5. PICA

This name also strange is nothing pornographic: pica is derived from a Latin word for magpie, a kind of pigeon you eat anything. And pica syndrome, of course ... does exactly that: a person feels a compulsive appetite for non-edible things, such as clay, stones, cigarette butts, paint, hair ... The problem affects more pregnant women and children. After eating too much junk involuntarily, are gluttons with calcified stones in the stomach 2004, French doctors attended a master of 62 years that devoured coins. Despite the efforts, he died. With about $ 600 in the stomach ...

6. Ondine's curse

The bizarre name is a reference to Ondine, the water nymph in mythology pagan Europe. The disease, even stranger, causes victims to lose control of breathing.

If you are not careful, the subject simply forgets to breathe and eventually suffocated! The syndrome was discovered 30 years ago and there are about 400 cases in the world. Researchers at the Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris, believe that the disease is related to a gene called THOX2B. The central nervous system is neglected in breathing during sleep and the patient needs to sleep with a fan in the face for not running out of air!

7. Cotard syndrome

Extreme depression, where the patient comes to believe that's been dead for some years. He thinks he's a walking corpse and everyone around them are also dead. In extreme cases, the guy says he can feel his rotting flesh and worms strolling through the body ... In the end, until the victim is sleeping and his illusion may actually become reality. The disease's name refers to the French doctor Jules Cotard, who described the first time in 1880. Although depression and certain that he is dead, the sick, paradoxically, can also present ideas megalomaniac, as the belief in immortality.

8. SYNDROME RILEY-DAY

If you ever dreamed of never feeling any pain, careful what you ask ... The victims of this disease do not feel pain, but this is a big problem. They are much more likely to suffer accidents because they stop registering any notice of damage to body tissues, such as cuts or burns. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene IKBKAP of chromosome 9 and was first described by doctors Milton Riley and Richard Lawrence Day Without warning of danger that gives the pain to ordinary people, the majority of patients with the syndrome of Riley Day-tend to die young, before age 30 because of injuries.

9. REDUCTION GENITAL SYNDROME

Also known as koro, mental disorder that leaves one convinced that their genitals are disappearing. Most cases to date was reported in countries in Asia or Africa, and in many of the syndrome appears to be contagious! One of the strangest episodes occurred in Singapore in 1967, when the local health service recorded hundreds of cases of men who believed that his penis was gone. A single case of genital syndrome reduction was recorded today in Brazil, the Institute of Psychiatry, USP. Convinced that his penis was missing, the patient tried to kill himself with two stab wounds in the abdomen!

10. EMOTIONAL BLINDNESS

The term "blind emotion" exists in practice, and can happen to any normal person. The problem was discovered recently by researchers at Yale University in the United States. After looking at some strong, especially with pornographic content, most people lose sight for a short time - tenths of a second actually. So far, no expert was able to explain why this reaction. The discovery of the emotional blindness has led to a movement in Congress to be banned all advertising of erotic appeal on major roads in the country.

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