Alex Carson
Medical Conditions
We have all had a medical condition at one point in our lives. For most people, it is something simple like a cold, the flu or poison ivy. For others, the conditions are much more serious, such as cancer or heart disease. Some people have very rare conditions. Here are 29 bizarre medical conditions you’ve never heard of.
Stendhal Syndrome
This is a rare condition that comes on after viewing beautiful art. It is unique to Florence, Italy, and one hospital reports admitting patients for feeling faint, dizziness, and having heart attacks after seeing the statue of David and other impressive works.
Cotard’s Syndrome
This is a rare condition where people think that they have died. They believe that their organs are decaying, and some even believe that they are missing limbs. In severe cases, people have died of starvation from this disease because they think that they don’t need to eat anymore since they are dead.
Kluver-Bucy Syndrome
This condition is caused by brain lesions, and it can cause you to want to have sexual relations with inanimate objects, like a car or a shoe. Other symptoms include hypersexuality with other people, overeating, and licking things in public.
Foreign Accent Syndrome
This condition occurs after a head injury, and it causes you to start speaking in a foreign accent. Even if you have never been to the country, you can pick up the accent. Strokes can also cause this.
Jumping Frenchmen of Maine
The 19th-century lumberjacks were very excitable. If you told them to jump or shout something, they would do it immediately. It is considered a convulsive tic illness, and it is similar to Tourette’s syndrome.
Alice In Wonderland Syndrome
This is a neuropsychological condition. Even if your eyesight is perfect, you will still perceive things around you, and even yourself as being much larger or much smaller.
Fish Odor Syndrome
This is a rare metabolic disorder that causes a buildup of a specific enzyme that causes your sweat and breath to smell like fish. What makes this condition even more strange is that the person who has it cannot smell themselves, and the odor won’t go away no matter how many times they shower.
Alien Hand Syndrome
People with this condition believe that their limbs are acting on their own and find themselves trying to restrain the “alien hand.”
Gourmand Syndrome
A stroke or a head injury can cause a person to become a gourmet foodie suddenly. A Swiss political journalist became a food critic after a stroke.
Auto-Brewery Syndrome
This condition occurs when you have too much brewers yeast in your gut. It turns sugar into ethanol, and you can suddenly feel intoxicated without ever having drunk a drop.
Exploding Head Syndrome
People who suffer from this condition hear a loud bang right before drifting to sleep. It occurs in 10 percent of people, and it affects women more often than men.
Prader-Willi Syndrome
This is a genetic disorder that causes you to eat and eat, and never feel full. It is also known as polyphagia. There was one case where a man from France who weighed 100-pounds at everything he could, including garbage, live animals, and even a toddler.
Paris Syndrome
This condition affects people who weren’t impressed with Paris. The symptoms include dizziness, hallucinations, delusional feelings, and heart palpitations.
Boanthropy
People with this condition think that they are cows. They go into pastures, graze, and moo. They even hang out with the rest of the herd, thinking they are one of them.
Fatal Familial Insomnia
This very rare genetic disorder is a form of insomnia that gets progressively worse. Over time, it leads to hallucinations, dementia, and it always results in death.
Capgras Delusion
This is a terrifying psychiatric disorder that occurs after a brain injury, dementia, or schizophrenia. It causes the sufferer to think that someone close to them, even their pets, has been replaced by an impostor.
Genital Retraction Syndrome (Koro)
This syndrome causes the sufferer to believe that their sex organs are shrinking, and will eventually disappear. In severe cases, the person thinks that their genitals will kill them.
Ekbom’s Syndrome
This is a horrifying disorder that makes you think that you are infested with bugs. To treat the disease, antipsychotics are prescribed.
Jerusalem Syndrome
This condition occurs when people are in Jerusalem, and it causes them to want to dress in white and preach in the streets. On average, 100 tourists come down with this every year, and it resolves itself once they leave the city.
Nice Guy Syndrome
Men with this condition believe that wealth, good looks, and dominance are real factors in romantic success.
Olfactory Reference Syndrome
People who suffer from this condition believe that they smell bad, even when they don’t. It is related to anxiety, OCD, and body dysmorphic disorder, and can be treated with medication and therapy.
Pica
Pica is a disorder where you want to eat non-food items, such as soil, plaster, chalk, wood, metal, and other strange materials.
Apotemnophilia (Body Integrity Identity Disorder)
People who have this condition believe that their limbs are not their own and want them removed. Since doctors won’t do this, people who suffer from this often resort to horrifying DIY methods.
Mobius Syndrome
This is a rare neurological condition that causes complete facial paralysis. It is so serious that the sufferer cannot even move their eyes.
Geographic Tongue
This condition affects just 2 to 3 percent of the population. The condition causes a pattern where the taste buds have disappeared, leaving a snake-shaped area that is darker red and more smooth than the rest of the tongue. The cause is unknown, and there is no treatment. Fortunately, it doesn’t cause any pain or discomfort.
Syndrome X
This is a rare genetic disorder that has only affected seven people in history. It causes extreme physical and mental development delays. The girl pictured here looked like a toddler and acted like a toddler until she died at the age of 20.
Human Werewolf Syndrome
Human Werewolf Syndrome is an inherited condition, and it causes an abnormal amount of hair to grow all over the body. There is no cure for this condition, and the hair grows back quickly after shaving.
Stockholm Syndrome
This is a condition where a hostage feels sympathy and affection for their captors. Patty Hearst claimed to have this in 1975 after helping her kidnappers rob a bank.
Marie Antoinette Syndrome
This condition was named after the French queen, and it causes the hair to turn white due to fear, stress, or working too hard. The hair may or may not go back to normal.
