5 mysterious ailments, the causes of which are unknown to medicine
Some people believe that there are almost no secrets in the field of human health for the medicine of the XXI century. It's not like that at all. The more answers scientists receive, the more difficult questions life puts before them. In addition, there are diseases that have not been explained in any way by science, about which people have known for 100-150 years. Such diseases are not very common, but from some of them no one is immune.
Sleeping sickness, or lethargic encephalitis
This disease first appeared in 1915. Until the end of the 20s of the XX century, according to various sources, from 45 to 70% of the population of Western Europe had been ill with it. After 1927, the mass morbidity began to decline, and now there are only isolated cases of infection.
The illness usually begins with a high fever and other symptoms similar to those of the flu. Then comes a state similar to lethargic sleep. Patients cannot wake up for a long time, they have numerous visual disturbances with characteristic oculomotor disorders. After a couple of weeks, attacks of hiccups, nervous tics, and malfunctions of the vestibular apparatus may occur. The acute period takes several weeks; during this time, up to 30% of cases die. The rest go into remission, which sometimes lasts more than a year, followed by almost half of the survivors developing a condition resembling Parkinson's disease. It is characterized by tremors of the limbs and head, increased muscle tone, impaired coordination of movements, depression, intermittent attacks of irritability and aggression, and a general decrease in intelligence.
The causative agent of the disease has not yet been found. It is assumed that this is a virus that spreads by airborne droplets and quickly dies in the air. There is no specific therapy for the acute stage, and the prevention system has not been developed.
Source: depositphotos.com
Maine French Jumping Syndrome
In 1878, a disease was discovered at logging facilities near Lake Moosehead (Maine, USA) that astonished doctors. Some lumberjacks became extremely nervous. They literally jumped and shied away from any sound, even a quiet call. It is surprising that strong men, who were engaged in rough physical work, people who were not at all of a fine mental organization, suffered from such fearfulness. The fact that all the patients were ethnic French, immigrants from Canada, seemed no less strange to the doctors.
In some patients, echolalia (involuntary repetition of heard phrases and words) manifested over time. Scientists have not found the cause of the mysterious illness. It was believed to be a nervous system disorder related to Tourette's syndrome, which is characterized by a combination of motor and vocal tics.
Source: depositphotos.com
Nodding syndrome
The disease is expressed in uncontrolled movements of the head, similar to nodding, in a rhythm that is audible only to the patient himself. Attacks sometimes occur as a reaction to cold, but more often accompany each meal. Those who are ill cannot eat and quickly become exhausted. Only children suffer from the disease.
The nodding syndrome was first observed in 1960 in Tanzania, but these were isolated cases. In 2010, the disease returned in the form of an epidemic, and it took over the entire eastern part of the African continent. The causative agent for some time was considered to be a nematode worm common in the region, but one circumstance remained unclear: the local population is infected with this parasite almost without exception, and the nodding syndrome is not observed in everyone. The latest version of the origin of the disease states that it develops against the background of vitamin deficiency and metabolic disorders as an autoimmune reaction to the presence of a parasitic worm in the body.
Source: depositphotos.com
Diarrhea in Brainerd
Everyone faced the unpleasant consequences of eating not quite high-quality food, however, as a rule, diarrhea, which arose for this reason, torments a person for a maximum of a day. Residents of the American town of Brainerd (Minnesota), where the disease was first noticed, had bouts of diarrhea for several months, and the cases of ailment were not directly associated with food poisoning. In addition to stool disorder, sufferers complained of nausea, vomiting and constant fatigue.
During the first epidemic of diarrhea in Brainerd, 122 people fell ill in a year. In total, in 1983, 6 outbreaks of the disease were recorded in the United States and 2 more in Europe. The reason remained unclear.
Source: depositphotos.com
Porphyria (vampire disease)
People suffering from this ailment look as if they are filming in one of the Hollywood "horror films": their gums and lips seem to dry out, which makes their teeth seem excessively long, the skin becomes thinner and darker, and intolerance to daylight develops (in the sun, the skin bursts and becomes covered abscesses). Deformation of the joints and tendons leads to curvature of the fingers. In general, a person becomes like a classic cinematic vampire.
Such patients constantly experience severe pain, causing mental disorders and changes in character for the worse. Only fresh blood brings relief, therefore, food addictions change in patients: they give preference to meat that has not undergone heat treatment.
Porphyria is not contagious. Its origin is associated with a genetic disorder that causes a failure in the production of red blood cells by the body. No radical cure is known, but patients can be relieved with massive blood transfusions.
Source: depositphotos.com
Nature never stops asking people difficult questions. There are still many mysteries related to the field of human health, and scientists have serious work to do.
YouTube video related to the article:
Maria Kulkes Medical journalist About the author
Education: First Moscow State Medical University named after I. M. Sechenov, specialty "General Medicine".
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
