THE STRANGEST DISEASES IN THE HISTORY

There are diseases that we have never heard of before, they are rare and strange, and as Muslims we have to read about them …

There are diseases that we have never heard of before, they are rare and strange, and as Muslims we have to read about them to realize God’s mercy and blessing bestowed upon us and to thank him the right way…

I read the following article on CNN and would like to pass it to my beloved readers so that we may realize Allah’s blessings on us as with the prevalence of new diseases like swine flu, SARS and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, the interest in the rare diseases, which have only few thousands cases, declined. Among these diseases we have chosen ten to get you acquainted with their symptoms:

1. Morgellons Disease

14 thousand persons around the world suffer from this disease; symptoms appear as black, red and blue fibers emerging from the skin with tingling sensation. This disease is accompanied with fatigue, memory loss and joints pain. Its name originated from the area at which it had appeared for the first time in France where it killed number of children after they had black hair grown on their skin at the 17th century.

2. Progeria disease

It is also known as premature aging in which the patients seem to be old persons while they are actually children. This disease highly affect the look of the patients as they have small heads, big eyes and lose hair fast and it mainly ends in the death of the patients at early ages.

3. Water sensitivity disease

It is estimated that there is 30 cases of this disease around the world, the symptoms of which appear at advanced stage. It results from hormonal disorder that happen to women after delivery, it causes sever itching accompanied with sever pains in the skin when having a bath or even with water drinking.

4. The disease of speaking weird languages

Medicine had recorded 60 cases of this disease all over the world; the patients find themselves speaking language that can not be understood. It was thought that this disease is of psychological background but new studies showed that it is a malfunction in the brain that leads to exchanging the words and letters.

5. Deadly laughter disease

Some scientists call it “Kuru’, it was restricted to the people of “Fore” tribe in New Guinea. It appears in the patient through a sudden paroxysm of hysterical laughter followed by months of suffering starting from joints pain and loss of the ability of correct pronunciation.

Symptoms end with death of the patients that were found to have hollows in their brains after autopsy. The American physician Dr. Carlton Gajdusek studied the disease and concluded that it started to disseminate after the cannibalism by the people of the tribe, this discovery led to the cease of this custom which results in disappearance of the disease in 1976 and Dr. Carlton Gajdusek was awarded Noble Prize for medicine.

6. The disease of joints transformation into bones

It appeared only once in1938 in the American Harry Eastilc, who started to lose the ability to move gradually till he became unable of moving any parts of his body, except his mouth, at the age of 39 years old. After his death, Eastilc donated his bone skeleton to the scientific research of the disease and it is showed currently in the Philadelphia Museum.

7. Alice in wonder land Syndrome.

It is a disease that affect senses in which the patient believe that what he sees, hears or touches is much smaller than what it is in the fact, also he feels that his body is very small and it causes strong migraine headache to the patient.

The doctors inspired the disease’s name from the story of “Alice in Wonder Land” in which the hero faces similar conditions. Despite the medical debate whether the writer of the story, Louis Clark, had this disease is not decided yet, the writer was actually suffering from continuous migraine headache.

8. Porphyria Disease

Despite the uniqueness of this disease, it was famous because the King of England “the mad”, King George the third, was stricken with it in the 18th century. The symptoms of which appear by turning the color of the urine into purple due to complications that affect the body’s ability to produce the “Heme” protein necessary for red blood cells.

Other symptoms of the disease are sensitivity to the sun, pains in the lower parts of the body, growth of hair on the forehead. It was believed that Queen Marie of Scotland was stricken with disease beside the Dutch painter Van Gogh and the King of Ancient Babylon Nebuchadnezzar.

9. Pica Syndrome

Pica is a Latin word means avidity, in this disease the patients tend to eat whatever in their way even paints and dirt.

10. Moebius Syndrome

Extremely rare genetic disorder characterized by having complete facial paralysis where the patients are unable to close or move their eyes, this disease is accompanied with deformities in legs bones or congenital lack in the number of fingers.

All praises to Allah!

Now, my beloved readers, we have to contemplate, even to inquire: why should we always say (All praises to Allah), as our prayer after Basmala (saying in the name of Allah) starts with (All praises to Allah the Lord of all that exists), when we eat, drink or wear new dress we say (All praises to Allah), when we get out of the bathroom we say (All praises to Allah), when we wake up we say (All praises to Allah), even when we are stricken with poverty or disease we have to say immediately (All praises to Allah)but why?

The blessings that Allah granted us are uncountable, even when we are at the highest degree of the disease severity we find uncountable number of blessings when compared to others who are in worse situation than ours. Therefore, we have to repeatedly say all praises to Allah for any situation.

What attracted my attention in this article is the deadly laughter disease which is the result of cannibalism of animals, from which we can realize why Allah the Almighty Had forbidden eating dead bodies, as He the Almighty says: “Forbidden to you are: Al-Maitah (the dead animals – cattle – beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which Allâh’s Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering, and that which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the goring of horns – and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal – unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death) – and that which is sacrificed (slaughtered) on An-Nusub (stone-altars). (Forbidden) also is to use arrows seeking luck or decision; (all) that is Fisqun (disobedience of Allâh and sin). This day, those who disbelieved have given up all hope of your religion; so fear them not, but fear Me. This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islâm as your religion. But as for him who is forced by severe hunger, with no inclination to sin (such can eat these above mentioned meats), then surely, Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (3: Al Mae’da).