Medical mysteries

Prepare to be blown away by the 10 most incredible medical conditions

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The human body is full of surprises, and even if you think you've seen it all, some cases defy everything you thought you knew. Some conditions are so strange they sound made up, but they're very real! If you are interested in the wonderful world of medicine, here are 10 medical conditions that are equally rare and fascinating!

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The word aphantasia comes from Greek roots and means "without image formation." People with this condition are unable to create mental images. In other words, they can't "see" the sea or a flower in their mind, nor can they remember things visually. It's estimated that about 2.5% of the population has aphantasia, though many might not even realize they have it!

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If we told you that some people can hear colors or taste sounds, you might think we're making it up. But we're not! Synesthesia is a rare condition in which stimulating one sense automatically triggers another. While each person experiences it differently, these sensory connections stay consistent for them over time. Studies show that people with synesthesia often have stronger memory and creativity.

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Some sources claim that French Queen Marie Antoinette's hair turned completely gray overnight just before her execution. This event inspired the name "Marie Antoinette syndrome," also known as canities subita, an extremely rare condition in which a person's hair suddenly turns totally gray over a short period of time.

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If you ever wake up speaking with an unfamiliar accent, you might have what's known as foreign accent syndrome. As the name suggests, this rare condition causes sudden changes in speech rhythm or pronunciation, making it sound like the person has developed a foreign accent. It typically occurs after head trauma or injury, but it's extremely rare: only about 100 cases have been officially reported since it was first identified in 1941.

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As you know, synesthesia causes some senses to overlap. But there's one type that even involves other people's senses. Mirror-touch synesthesia is a condition in which a person feels physical sensations on their own body when they see someone else being touched or injured. It's believed that about 1.6% of the world's population may have mirror-touch synesthesia, making it rare but not extremely uncommon.

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If we asked what you were doing on a specific day five years ago, you probably wouldn't remember, just like most people. But those who can recall such details have hyperthymesia, also known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). It's a very rare condition in which a person can recall almost every detail of their life with incredible accuracy and little effort. Only about 60 cases have been documented worldwide.

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Some people don't feel pain, and not because they lack empathy, but because they have a condition called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP). It's present from birth and causes those affected to feel no physical pain. While it might sound like a superpower at first, it can be dangerous because injuries may go unnoticed without any warning. People with CIP can still feel touch and detect temperature changes.

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Alice in Wonderland syndrome can occur when the patient suffers from other conditions, such as migraines or viral infections. Much like Lewis Carroll's famous character, people with this syndrome may experience distortions in the size of objects, their surroundings, or even their own bodies. Most commonly seen in young people, the syndrome often fades with age.

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There's a condition that makes it difficult for a person to recognize faces, even those of close friends, family members, or sometimes even their own reflection. It's called prosopagnosia, and it affects about 2% of the population. People with this condition usually rely on voices, hairstyles, or other cues to identify others. This condition doesn't affect a person's memory or overall vision.

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As unbelievable as it may sound, some people develop skin reactions when they drink or come into contact with water. This condition is called aquagenic urticaria and is sometimes referred to as "water allergy," even though it's not a true allergy because it doesn't involve the immune system in the usual way. Aquagenic urticaria is extremely rare, and its symptoms typically last between 30 and 60 minutes.

WHAT IS A MEME, ANYWAY?

Catfishing & Beyond: 10 everyday words with different meanings online

Image: Onur Binay

Each niche of human culture and experience creates its own lingo, with unique expressions to describe the interactions and objects that define its universe. But, being a realm populated mostly by the younger generations, the internet has been brave and unceremonious enough to borrow its slang from various sources. In the online world, a sandbox is not a cube full of sand for the children to play in, and a troll is not a mythical creature to be afraid of. So, scroll on, and discover 10 of these borrowed words that mean different things in the real world and the land of the internet.

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While, in the real world, a bump is an obstacle of some sort, in the online world, the term "bump" refers to the action of moving an online post or thread to the top of the list by adding a new comment or post to the thread.

This is done to make that post or thread more visible and readily available for everyone.

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A word with a similar meaning to bump in the real world, but a very different meaning online, is "block". When we block something or someone in the real world, we are placing an obstacle in the middle of a road or passage, to prevent people or things from passing through.

But when we are referring to the action of blocking someone online, we're talking about preventing someone from contacting you on a social network like Facebook, or from viewing your profile. So, in this case, not quite the same but similar.

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The bottom-dwelling freshwater or marine fish with whisker-like barbels around the mouth, commonly known as a catfish, has no idea that humans call it that way. And even less so, does it know that his name has a completely different meaning on the internet?

In the online world, a "catfish" is a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes.

Image: Emmanuel Appiah

In case somebody needs a reminder, a cloud is a visible mass of condensed vapor particles (such as water or ice) suspended in a planet's atmosphere. It is, without exaggeration, as famous as the sun.

However, in the internet world, a "cloud" is something entirely different, even if there is a poetic resemblance between the two things. The digital version of a cloud is any of several parts of the internet that allow online processing and storage of documents and data as well as electronic access to software and other resources.

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Perhaps one of the most beautiful words in the English language, friend symbolizes a bond between two people who are connected to one another by affection or esteem.

But in the realm of the internet, "friend" is an action that involves adding a person to one’s list of contacts on a social networking site. Again, not entirely dissimilar, but not quite the same thing.

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This one might not be so different after all. In the real world, the act of following means going, coming after, or behind someone or something.

And, in the internet world, to "follow" someone means subscribing to their updates on social media. Therefore, it could be argued that following someone isn't all that different in both instances.

Image: Crystal Mapes

Even though a meme was never a wildly popular concept in the real world, pre-internet, it was still a real idea. A meme is an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.

However, in the realm of the internet, a "meme" is a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that spreads online and is often altered creatively or humorously. In both cases, a meme is a concept that is replicated because of its popularity.

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Most of us have played in a sandbox as kids. It is, as the name implies, a low box filled with sand that children can play in.

But, in the modern world of internet programming, a "sandbox" is an environment in which software developers or editors can create and test new content, separate from the rest of the project.

Image: Jirka Konietzny

Maybe not in the real world per se, but at least in Scandinavian folklore, a troll is a dwarf or a giant who inhabits caves or hills.

The word "troll" is used within the internet world to define a person who sows discord online by starting arguments or upsetting people. Both definitions describe a mischievous creature, but that is as far as the similarities go.

Image: CDC

Something that is referred to as "viral" is anything that is related to or caused by a virus, spreading like an infection to everything around it.

In the internet sense of the word, something "viral" describes content that becomes very popular by circulating quickly from person to person, online. As we can see, both definitions share a common theme of rapid spread, though the contexts differ.