"People Fear, What they do Not Understand"
All of us have read fairy tales, some time or other in life, and have felt in awe about the variety of creatures described in them. A childlike curiosity, always left footprints of these books and movies seen in childhood, in our minds forever. In recent times the success of movies -- like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, have again successfully revived the interest of the public in fairy tales and fantasy novels.
While most people would believe, that most of these strange characters are just a figment of the imagination of the author’s mind, and maybe they were; but now and then, we come across stories of unfortunate humans, who resemble, those strange characters described in the stories.
If the people concerned, stay in a place where all the modern medical facilities are available, then the story usually has a happy ending in real life. Sometimes these incidents, happen in parts of the world, where superstitions are still prevalent, resources scarce, and modern medical facilities still a distant dream for people; the result may be a misfortunate chain of events, that may lead to strife in the life of all the people concerned.
This article is a humble empathic attempt, in clarifying the popular misconceptions in minds of people, regarding those unfortunate human beings who do not look or behave like the vast majority, because of some underlying medical abnormality. Here we discuss some popular characters, we read about in the fairy tales and underlying medical conditions that may make ordinary human beings resemble characters in the aforementioned stories.
Here is the list of few fairy tale creatures that may be found in some strange diseases in the world:
As described in Fairy tales, a Werewolf is a mythical creature, who is a human being in normal day to day routine, but on a full moon night under the effects of moonlight, they change into a humanoid wolf (whose whole body is covered with hairs ), who have supernatural strength and are very prone to violent mood swings, thereby harming normal human beings in the process.
Also, if these Werewolf were to bite another human, and they survived, those human beings would change into a werewolf, in the next full moon, thereby continuing the cycle. It is no doubt, that these characters have always evoked fear and hate from the common people.
Several conditions can cause a human to resemble the character described above. Some of these are
1) Hypertrichosis
In layman’s term, Hypertrichosis is a condition that means excess hairs are present in the body of a person; It is unfortunately also called Werewolf Syndrome. There are many varieties of this disease – it may appear immediately after birth or may appear much later in life; it may be restricted to a localized area in the body or it may be generalized, the hairs may be short and fine or it may be long and thick.
A particular variety, restricted to women is known as Hirsutism. The cause of this condition is multifactorial, and can range from – Genetics, eating disorder, cancer, and medicational side effects. A very famous character from history – Petrus Gonsalves, a nobleman in the court of the French King – Henry II, suffered from this disease and was the inspirational character of the Beast, in the story of “Beauty and the Beast”, written by Gabrielle Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve more than a century later.
2) Leonine Facies
It is a condition, in which a person’s face resembles that of a lion (yes, the person looks like a lion). Many conditions may cause this appearance, some of these are - Leprosy and Paget’s disease of the bone.
Vampires are the blood-sucking creatures that we read in horror novels, who are supposedly immortals (within certain limits), drink human blood, do not move around in daylight, and can change shape. Thanks to Bram Stoker’s famous novel Dracula (a character loosely inspired on, Vlad Dracula, the 15th-century ruthless ruler of Romania); most people have a basic idea of what a vampire is. Unfortunately, there have been many records of a normal person being mistaken for a vampire, with terrible consequences.
Although no disease can produce flying blood-sucking Vampire/Dracula seen in the movies, however, some of the other classical behavior of vampires have been seen in some medical conditions.
1) Porphyria
Porphyria is a condition in which there is an excess build-up of a compound known as porphyrins in the body. It may affect the Nervous system of the body or the skin and sometimes both. It the variant which affects the skin, that certain manifestations of the vampire may be seen.
Exposure to Sun and sometimes also to artificial light can cause severe burning pain. There may be redness, swelling, and blisters on the skin. Sometimes permanent skin damage can also occur.
Personality changes and mental disorders may be seen. Genetic inheritance is seen in most cases (which may have given rise to the concept of a family of vampires, present in ancient fairy tales).
2) Xeroderma Pigmentosum
Xeroderma Pigmentosum also has some common symptoms like the previously mentioned disease. This is also a genetic disease in which, skin loses the ability to repair the damage caused by UV rays of the sun.
The patient presents with a sunburn on exposure to sunlight. Eyes are also painful when exposed to the sun and may appear bloody red.
3) Aquagenic Urticaria
Aquagenic Urticaria is a very rare disease in which a patient’s skin develops a severe allergic reaction when it comes in contact with water; the development of rashes and hives are seen in any part of the body. The concept of holy water, to ward off evil entities like vampires, may be linked to similar illnesses.
4) Rabies
Bite by infected animals is what causes Rabies in human beings. The reason is the transmission of a virus, that affects the nervous system of human beings. Although most people know that bite by an infected dog causes rabies, but the fact remains that animals in the wild like Bats – also causes rabies.
So after a Bat bite, if a person developed signs and symptoms of Furious Rabies, like - Insomnia (Lack of sleep), Agitation, Hallucination, Hypersalivation (Production of excess saliva), difficulty in swallowing, Hydrophobia (excessive fear of water due to difficulty in swallowing it)- again gave rise to the myth of fear of holy water; in Paralytic Rabies, the person may slip into a coma, and may not respond to outside stimulus.
These people may have been confused to be vampires in old times – first getting bitten by a bat and followed by fear of (holy) water, making things more confusing to surrounding ignorant people.
5) Lupus
It is an autoimmune disease, in which photosensitivity is present i.e. skin lesion that appears or worsen with sun exposure.
Commonly known as the walking dead, these are described in popular folklore as dead people who have come back to life but do not have any thinking or judgemental capability. They are mostly shown in movies, as individuals with the neck twisted in one direction and rather with a slow and bizarre gait.
In modern days, many Hollywood movies have tried to portray it like some kind of infection – mostly viral. World war Z was a very popular Hollywood blockbuster, which scientifically explored the fictional concept.
Luckily to date, there has been no medical disease that exactly replicates the condition of zombies as described in the literature, but there are some medical conditions that do mimic certain selective features. Some of these are –
1) Walking Corpse Syndrome
This is also known as Cotard Delusion, this is a mental disease. The people suffering from this syndrome believe that they are already dead, and their body is decaying, and they have lost their internal organs, but despite all these - they are immortal. They ignore their hygiene and health, thereby getting a rather unpleasant appearance.
2) Torticollis
This is rather a much simpler condition, in which the patients are mentally fit; but the only problem is that neck is twisted in one direction, with restricted mobility. There are multiple reasons, which may cause this condition; and so, this can be either temporary or permanent.
The patient may have one shoulder higher than another, and chin tilted to one side. Sometimes a patient may have difficulty in performing routine tasks and difficulty in normal social interactions, along with difficulty in walking in a normal fashion; thereby causing depression and isolation.
This rather unfortunate categorization has caused multiple tragedies in Europe in the middle ages, when witch trials were very common and continue to do so in the modern world too, in certain poor and undeveloped parts of the world. Religious persecution and social ostracization have destroyed many happy households.
Witches were classically described as old women, with ugly facial appearance, with multiple warts and swellings. Although history gives ample evidence of normal-appearing females burnt at stake, here we will restrict our discussion to only those with disfigured appearances, who may have been branded with the ignoble description discussed previously.
The dark ages were an era of ignorance and science was still in an infant stage, so people had no ideas about the disease that can cause distorted appearance. Some of the disease which can cause some similar disfiguration are –
1) Neurofibromatosis
This disease is divided into many different subtypes. But the important features are – Multiple tumorous growths in the skin, which may sometimes grow into a huge size and give a grotesque appearance to the person affected.
A curved spine may be present, due to bone deformity. Children may have short stature and larger head size. Sometimes hearing deformities and balancing problems may also occur.
10-strange-diseases-that-people-hardly-know-about
In the old times, people did not realize that these problems may be due to gene defects and related health issues, and for their convenience or vendetta, they went for easy categorization of these unfortunate people as witches.
2) Progeria
This is again a disease caused by a genetic mutation, in which children age very fast and soon start looking like old people and usually die in their twenties. So, this can be described in the simplest terms as – premature aging seen in children.
Bald & old looking people, who are much younger; were vulnerable to attacks by ill-educated people in old times, who found these unfortunate individuals, easy to blame for their shortcomings.
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button “and “Paa” are some examples of how even Hollywood and Bollywood movies (respectively), have been influenced by this disease.
Thanks to movies like – The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, The Conjuring; common people (at least in underdeveloped countries) have a lot of ideas about being possessed. The medical fraternity has never believed in this kind of paranormal activity and has tried to find a more rational explanation.
Some Strange diseases that may cause some features mimicking the above condition are -
1) Somnambulism
This is commonly also known as sleepwalking. In this, the person concerned, rises from bed, while he/she is supposed to be asleep and performs complex actions (which a normal sleeping person cannot perform).
The individual can’t be awakened from this state easily and later has no memory of the events done by him or her. This condition has been related to stress and many times recovery is seen when the precipitating factor was removed.
2) Catalepsy
This is a disease of the Nervous system in which a person suffers from certain muscular rigidity and abnormal postures, without any external precipitating cause. From time to time, the body and limbs of such a person become rigid and show abnormal positions.
The patient’s pain threshold may also increase.
Catalepsy is seen associated with other Strange diseases like Parkinson's syndrome and Epilepsy. It can also be caused by Drug abuse. No doubt, most people would be terrified, to see their loved one, suffering from such conditions. But it is always better to seek medical attention in these cases, rather than that of a preacher or priest.
Most children's fairy tale would be incomplete without scary giants, attacking terrified ordinary people. From time to time many movies in Hollywood and other places tried, to entertain and thrill viewers with these terrible creatures, but in real life are the facts so terrifying? The answer is a resounding "No"
Tumour of Pituitary Gland
The commonest cause of Gigantism in the modern world is a benign tumor of the pituitary gland. This tumor causes excess growth hormone secretion, causing increased height, large hands, and feet with thick toes and fingers, coarse facial appearance with a prominent jaw and forehead. So, most of these Giants are unfortunate individuals, who need medical treatment.
We all fell in love with “Legolas” in the Lord of The Rings Movie series. An Elf, with golden hair and a tall and handsome appearance, he was the personification of, what a Fairy tale hero looks like. But do Elf exist? Or is it just a figment of imagination?
Williams Syndrome (Also Known as Elfin Facies Syndrome)
In this condition a person may present with a facial appearance known as Elfin Facies, which has some similarity to those, that described for the Elves. In Williams Syndrome, the patient suffers from a wide range of abnormalities, which include – mouth & dental underdevelopment, smaller mandible, full cheeks, raised Nose, widely spaced eyes, and a prominent forehead.
These individuals have a friendly disposition, remarkable verbal abilities, and a liking for music. On the downside, they suffer from serious heart and blood vessel problems.
In fairy tales, we often come across trees that can walk and talk and interact with human beings. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fantasy Tale – The Lord of The Rings; a race of beings called Ents, are described, who talk – walk, and finally also fight against the bad guys in the story, but can something like this happen in the real world?
Some Strange diseases do distort the human body in a certain way, where the body starts to appear like a part of a tree (but never actually becomes a tree). Some of these are –
1) Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis
It is a disease, which causes multiple diffuse warts like outgrowth to appear in either a small area of the body or an in a very large area. It is caused due to human papillomavirus infection. A genetic role has also been described. With serious involvement, the affected person’s body parts start resembling the trunks of a Tree, and hence the disease is also known as Tree Man Disease or Tree Man Syndrome.
In recent times (2016), a Bangladeshi citizen named Abul Bajandar was admitted into Dhaka Medical College & Hospital with the mentioned condition and underwent multiple surgeries, for the improvement in his condition.
2) Elephantiasis
This is a symptom caused by different diseases, where a person’s body parts (usually limbs), swell into excessively large sizes. Filariasis is one of the commonest reasons behind this condition, where the body limbs may become so hugely enlarged, that it resembles the trunk of a tree. Elephantiasis may also be caused due to lymphatic channel involvement by inflammation or cancer.
Beautiful females with the lower part of the body looking like a fish, found swimming in seas and rivers. That would be the classical description of mermaids, found in the old fairy tales, where the bravery of sailors and ruthlessness of pirates, in a bygone era, would be described. We all read those books with fascination and laughed at the writer’s imagination. But was all of it, just imagination?
Sirenomelia (Mermaid Syndrome)
Sirenomelia is a very rare disease of humans, in which abnormality of lower limbs and lower spine is present. Most individuals have a partial or complete fusion of legs.
Most children die because of associated system disorders in, the first year of life; but very rare survival up to adulthood has been recorded.
Although descriptions have been found in other popular folklore too, it was Greek mythology that first introduced the world to the Cyclops. According to these descriptions, Cyclops was a race of one-eyed giants, who roamed the earth unmindful of the norms or conventions of the world.
Cyclopia or Cyclocephaly
Fortunately, no medical condition has been described, which describes adult human beings, with features described previously. But in unborn embryos and some stillbirths, a condition which resembles the described features has been found, it is known as Cyclopia or Cyclocephaly.
The child suffering from a condition like Cyclopia is born without a nose or nostrils, and in the middle of the forehead, there is a large eye, without an eyelid or eyebrow. If these new-borns, who died at the time of birth or soon after, influenced the legendary stories about Cyclops is not established.
The Fantasy Novel “Alice in Wonderland” was written in the 19th Century by English Author – Lewis Carroll, in which the main protagonist – Alice, falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world. The story that follows isn’t exactly logical, but is entertaining and provides a message at the same time.
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a neurological disorder, in which a person’s perception is severely altered. Vision is affected and things may look smaller than they are or may appear to be larger or may appear to be nearer or further.
Sometimes sensations like touch and hearing also may be affected. There may be a severe headache. It can be caused due to a viral infection or due to drug abuse. Body image perception is altered, as described and somewhat resembles the problems faced by the main character – Alice, in the novel, described.
Sleeping Beauty is a 17th Century fairy tale written by Charles Perrault, which describes a story about how a young beautiful princess, falls under the evil spell of a witch and spends the next 100 years sleeping (which she does in a secluded and isolated area) & finally the curse is lifted by the arrival of a young & brave and handsome prince.
1) Sleeping Beauty Syndrome or Kleine Levin Syndrome
Sleeping Beauty Syndrome or Kleine Levin Syndrome is a sleep disorder, which is characterized by a recurrent episode of excessive time spent on sleeping. Some people also develop increased hunger and increased sex drive in this condition.
Sometimes during these episodes, the person sleeps for most of the day and night hours. This medical disorder can also severely affect the social and professional lives of the people concerned and patients try to isolate themselves further.
It has been described that some form of brain dysfunction may cause the disease, although some association with viral infection has also been noted.
2) Sleeping Sickness
Sleeping Sickness is a disease caused by infection by a protozoan(parasite), Trypanosoma brucei. There are two stages of the disease. In the first stage, there is fever, headache, joint pain. A few weeks later, the second stage develops, which involves the nervous system, and causes personality changes, lethargy, and sleep disturbances (daytime sleep episodes and night-time periods of wakefulness) and may even cause death without proper treatment.
So, it is quite obvious that all those fairy tales which we read & listened to while growing up do have some kind of association with real facts. Were they influenced by the authors of those stories, who may have witnessed/experienced the marvels of nature (or the accident) somehow, is something we will never know? But it is a fact, that truth is always more than what is apparent to the eye on first look, so to know the truth, maybe we just need to look closer and deeper.
(Disclaimer – This article is just written for raising awareness regarding some rare diseases that alter physical appearances and give rise to a wrong impression in the mind of those uneducated about the problem & hence are susceptible to superstitions. However, this article is not to be taken as treatment advice and is not a substitute for a direct medical consultation & examination for people who need it.)