Bizarre Illnesses You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Over the last few centuries, we’ve been captivated by the mysteries of the human body. From wondering about the purpose of each organ and how they work together, to understanding the body's ability to survive without certain body parts and how the body can fight diseases, many questions remain unanswered. However, despite making leaps in our understanding, there is still much that we do not know, and there are many diseases that exist to show this lack of understanding. Here is a list of bizarre illnesses that many don’t understand and have probably never heard of.  

1. Alien Hand Syndrome The first strange disease on this list is Alien Hand Syndrome, also called Dr. Strangelove Disease. It is a neurological condition that affects thousands of people worldwide. Caused by damage to specific parts of the brain, this condition caused one hand to act independently of the other and the owner's wishes. This phenomenon often leads to bizarre and sometimes dangerous behavior. For example, while one hand may try to button a shirt, the other may undo the buttons. There have been some cases where people’s hands have become aggressive. Many individuals have sat on their hand to limit its movement, but it eventually gets loose and starts acting on its own again. 

2. Cutlery Cravings The second disease is Cutlery Cravings, and this involves the urge to eat metal objects, mainly silverware, hence its name. While it is relatively common, some cases are more extreme than others. That was the case of 47-year-old Englishman Allison Johnson. During his life, Johnson was a burglar who had the compulsion to eat silverware and underwent 30 surgeries to remove various objects from his stomach. In 1992, he needed surgery to remove eight forks and the metal sections of a mop head in his body. Every time he was released from jail, he would find himself right back there. 

 3. Art Attack Art Attack, also called Stendhal Syndrome, is a condition whereby people become ill in the presence of great works of art. Dr. Graziella Magherini, who wrote a book on the syndrome, studied over 100 people who exhibited symptoms, including heart palpitations, dizziness, and stomach pains. Most people are between 26 and 40 years old, and they all rarely leave home. Dr. Magherini believes that it was due to a combination of jet lag, travel stress, an overwhelming sense of the past, and thoughts of death. The disorder was named after a French novelist who was overcome by works of art, including Michelangelo's statue of David, Caravaggio's painting of Bacchus, and the concentric circles of the Duomo cupola.

 4. Hula Hoop Intestines Hula Hoop Intestines is another bizarre condition that arose after a hula hoop craze swept China in 1992. A Beijing worker named Xu Denghai was hospitalized with a twisted intestine after playing excessively with a hula hoop, the third case in several weeks. The Beijing Evening News advised people to warm up before playing and avoid hula hooping straight after eating.

 5. Muddy Wrestling Rash In 1992, at the University of Washington, a group of 24 individuals engaged in a muddy wrestling competition, something which was quite common back then. Within 36 hours of the competition, several wrestlers developed patches of red, pus-filled bumps that looked like pimples on the parts of their bodies that were left uncovered during the med wrestling event. One unfortunate wrestler had participated in the nude and understandably so, had the worst case of muddy wrestling rash.  Today, the condition is known as dermatitis palastaie limosae, but some people still call it "muddy wrestling rash." The infection is said to be because the muddy water was tainted with animal manure.