Top 10 Rarest Diseases
in the World
Each one
of us must have heard of cancer or HIV but have you ever heard of Dercum’s
disease or Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency?
Apart
from the most common diseases that takes away the attention of media and
charities or we have heard of or seen someone suffering from them, there are
many more deadly diseases.
Such
diseases are found in the rarest of the rare cases and are so uncommon that
even a successful doctor is not able to diagnose more than one such disease in
their lifetime.
Here is a
list of 10 diseases that rarely affect people and you may have never heard of
and hope that nobody has to encounter them up close.
1. Human Pappiloma Virus: The Tree Man
Human
Pappiloma Virus (HPV) is a skin disorder which is lifelong.
It is a
rare disease which is hereditary in nature.
HPV is
extremely rare and only 195 cases have been documented till now all over the
world.
It is due
to some immunity deficiency which results into a typical skin disorder, mostly
severe.
The
immunodeficiency allows this virus present on our skin to develop themselves on
the person’s skin.
They are
present all over the body, but sometimes it can be concentrated to the parts of
the body which are exposed to the sun, like face, legs and hands. Yet no
significant treatment has not been found, physicians have proposed treatments
but none of them is working
2. Hypertrichosis: Werewolf Syndrome
Also
known as Werewolf Syndrome, Hypertrichosis is medical hormonal imbalance which
triggers an unusual amount of hair growth on the body.
It can
occur in male or female anyone and can be hereditary in nature.
The
disorder causes abnormal growth of hair in body areas where hair does not grow
normally.
It can be
over the entire body, or in one or more areas. It’s not innate.
Some are
born with it while some develop it later in their life.
This rare
case was also seen in India in 2008, where an 11 year old boy was suffering
from excessive hair on his face and body.
The
family took various measures from homeopathy to traditional Ayurvedic remedies
even they took help of laser surgery but could not find a permanent cure.
3. Hereditary angioedema (HAE)
Hereditary
angioedema is an inherited disorder.
The
symptoms include recurrent episodes of swellings.
The
swelling is due to accumulation of fluids outside the blood vessels, jamming
the normal flow of either blood or fluid which causes rapid swelling.
Swelling
can be seen in the various parts of the body like hands, feet, limbs, face,
intestinal tract and airway.
The
symptom does not show any sign of itching.
This is a
rare case which affects only one among 50,000 people worldwide.
These
swellings make daily activities hard to perform for the patient.
Swelling
in the gastrointestinal leads to cramping, swelling in airway lead to
obstruction, patient suffers very serious complication.
The
disease is due to deficiency or inappropriate functioning of certain proteins
in the body system which maintain the normal flow of fluids or blood through
very small blood vessels.
4. Argyria: Blue Skin
The
Fugate family was suffering from this disease for nearly last 200 years.
The
members of the family suffer from inherited disorder which gives their skin a
shocking blue or purple color.
Medically
known as methemoglobinemia, it is an outcome of a blood disorder that leads to
excessive amount hemoglobin.
Patients
have blue skin, purple lips and somewhat brown blood due to insufficient levels
of oxygen in the body.
High
levels of met hemoglobin can result into heart disorders or even can lead to
death.
This
disorder is permanent.
The main
symptoms include shortness of breath, headache, fatigue, dizziness, and mental
changes.
5. Alien Hand Syndrome
The
victim is completely unaware of its actions and doings.
The
affected person's hand seems to take a mind of its own.
They are
not in the control of the sufferer, hands do not exist for them.
The
terrible symptoms include uncontrolled reaching and grasping for things,
touching the face or tearing of clothes.
This
disorder occurs after conditions like brain surgery, infection, stroke, tumor
and specific degenerative brain conditions.
AHS is
the condition in which the affected limb does not have any purpose and are not
goal-oriented.
Patients
keep all sense of feeling in the hand, but they still have the feelings of
disassociation.
They may
exhibit strange behaviors like talking to the hand or claiming demonic
possession.
Extreme
cases involve involuntarily stuffing food into the mouth and preventing hand
from simple daily tasks.
Since
1909 there have been only 40 to 50 cases.
6. Fatal familial insomnia: No sleep
The
nightmare of FFI is never to have a nightmare or a dream.
It starts
with a mysterious sleeplessness starting from middle age and rapidly develops
as the person grows old.
For
years, the members of an Italian family suffering from this disorder have been
dying as they were unable to sleep.
It is
generally resultant of a genetic mutation which leads to a prion disease,
related in nature to diseases like Mad Cow, Kuru and even Alzheimer’s.
Till date
this disorder has only been found only in 40 families worldwide.
FFI is a
rare genetic sleep disorder.
The main
symptom includes the inability to sleep, high pulse, blood pressure, excessive
sweating and sometimes loss of coordination and motor abilities.
7. Porphyria
Porphyria
leads to purple urine and feces which is caused due to complications in the
production of a protein forming a vital part of the red blood cells.
Affecting
skin and the nervous system, common symptoms of this disease are vomiting,
constipation, abdominal pain, stomach disorder, increasing sensitivity to sun,
swelling, itching and nausea. In few cases, the hair growth of forehead
increases.
Toxins
after exposure to sunlight due to deficiency of heme protein causes coloring of
skin areas like reddish teeth and nails, dark urine etc.
Some of
the known people suffered from Porphyria are Mary Queen of Scots, King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Vincent Van Gogh.
8. Laughing Death or Kuru
Also
known as Laughing Death, Kuru is so rare that it was found only amongst the
tribal Fore people of New Guinea.
The main
symptom of the disease is sudden burst of maniacal laughter which ultimately
leads to death with a hole in the brain.
The
disease was a result of cannibalism, a ritualistic practice where tissues of
the brain of the deceased were cooked and consumed.
The
sufferers are usually not able to eat and stand, begin to sway and stumble,
lose power of speech and ultimately die in a comatose state.
However,
in most of the parts, Kuru has disappeared because of government intervention
to put an end to cannibalism.
9. Water Allergy
Also
known as Aquagenic Urticaria, this disease is extremely rare and has affected
only 30 people till date.
Water
Allergy is a disease confirmed by Medical Review Board where sufferers are
allergic to water.
Mostly it
occurs in the latter part of the life and is often caused due to hormonal
imbalance brought about by giving birth.
In a case
in UK, a 21 year old female developed this allergy where she could not drink
water or touch water because her skin develops a burning rash.
She could
only consume diet coke, bath for 10 seconds in a week and not get caught in the
rain.
This is
basically a hypersensitivity to the ions present in non-distilled water.
10. Progeria
If you
have seen the movie Paa, you must be familiar about this disease.
Affecting
one in about 8 million children, Progeria is a genetic condition where aging of
the patient begins in childhood.
The usual
life span of the people affected by this disease is 13 years while few others
have been able to survive till their early twenties.
Progeria
is not inherited in most of the cases and is an incurable disease though
various cures like anti cancer drugs and hormone treatment have been tried by
doctors.
Victims
of this fatal disease have an appearance resembling premature aging leading to
abnormal development of body parts like bulging eyes, abnormally small face and
wrinkled skin.
The hair
starts falling at the age of two.
In 90% of the cases, the victim dies due to a
heart attack or stroke.
Source: ListDose
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