Top 10 Bizarre Birth Defects

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10 Siamese Twins

We are all familiar with the tales of Siamese twins (named for the country of birth of the first known conjoined twins). It is, of course, a rare disorder in which twins are born joined together at one or more parts of their bodies. In the most rare cases, children can be born joined at the top of their head. Sometimes Siamese twins can be separated, allowing both to live full lives, but more frequently, this is not possible.

9

Ambras Syndrome

Ambras Syndrome is a disorder that causes someone to be born with excessive hair over the face and body. This is fortunately a very rare disease; in fact, there are only 40 humans in the world with it at present. The disease is extremely debilitating for children, as they are often rejected by their peers.

8

Fused Limbs

Fused limbs are two limbs which are joined together. This can happen in some cases with toes or fingers, but in a recent case in Peru, a young girl was born with her legs completely fused, giving her the appearance of a mermaid. One in every 70,000 babies has this disorder.

7

Cyclopia

Cyclopia is named for the famous mythical creature the Cyclops. Children born with cyclopia have one eye in the middle of their head. It is believed that the cause may be related to certain cancer treatment drugs taken by pregnant women.

6

Craniopagus parasiticus

Craniopagus parasiticus is a condition in which a child is born with a parasitic extra head from their unborn twin. There have only been ten cases of it in documented history, with only three surviving birth. In one bizarre case, the second head was able to smile, blink, cry, and suckle

Foetus in Foetu

Foetus in foetu is when a child is born with his twin inside him, giving the appearance of pregnancy. Both twins are usually formed from one egg, but during the pregnancy, one is absorbed by the other and it begins to live off it like a parasite. Surgery can usually remove the undeveloped twin from the stronger one with no ill effects.

4

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva

Children who are born with this disease grow bone in areas that are hurt. Where a child is injured and would normally scar or have their skin grow back, the child suffering from fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva develops bone in sufficiently large quantities that it can become debilitating, with the excess bone fusing joints. The bone cannot be removed in surgery because it would cause more bone to grow in the surgery wounds.

3

Progeria

Progeria occurs in one in eight million births. It causes a child to look aged well beyond their years. Children with progeria lose their hair, develop wrinkles, and take on the facial characteristics of the very old. Severe arterial damage caused by the disease means that most sufferers die by the time they hit adolescence.

2

Vestigial Tail

Vestigial tail is when a child is born with a semi-functional tail, complete with muscles, nerves, skin, and blood vessels. It is believed to be caused by a mutation of the genes that exist in infants to cause the cellular death of body parts that are not needed.

1

Anencephaly

Anencephaly is the absence of a brain and spinal chord. There is no cure and most anencephalic babies die during childbirth. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, “a baby born with anencephaly is usually blind, deaf, unconscious, and unable to feel pain. Although some individuals with anencephaly may be born with a main brain stem, the lack of a functioning cerebrum permanently rules out the possibility of ever gaining consciousness. Reflex actions such as breathing and responses to sound or touch occur.”

Bonus

Gigantism

Pictured above is the bonus item – a giant baby born to a mother who was a mere 5 foot tall! The baby weighed in at 400 tons. In the picture you can see a team of family members preparing the baby to go to hospital for its shots. This item is the bonus because it is obviously not real 

Top 10 Vitamin Deficiencies

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10 Beriberi

Beriberi is a disease whose symptoms include weight loss, body weakness and pain, brain damage, irregular heart rate, heart failure, and death if left untreated. It was endemic in Asia for a long time. Strangely, Beriberi occurred almost exclusively amongst the richer members of society, and was unknown in the poor. Although recognized to be a nutritional deficiency, doctors were baffled as to why wealthy people with plentiful and clean food would fall victim to beriberi whereas the poor with limited food did not. As it turned out, beriberi is a deficiency of vitamin B1 (thiamine) which is found in cereal grain husks. The rich had been washing their rice so well that they removed the husk with its vitamin B1, whereas the poor did not wash their food as well and consumed enough vitamin B1. White bread can also potentially cause beriberi, so today developed countries add extra vitamin B1 to it. Beriberi is now found mostly in alcoholics whose bodies become poor at absorbing vitamin B1.

9

Pellagra

After the discovery and exploration of the Americas, corn was grown by settlers and all around the world. The natives who had originally grown it would treat it with lime, but the taste was unpleasant to the Europeans and they omitted this part of the preparation. As corn was increasingly farmed, the disease pellagra began to spread. Symptoms included diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and finally death. Many people believed that corn was in some way toxic, but could not explain the lack of pellagra among native New Worlders. After thousands of deaths, it was discovered that corn, although high in carbohydrates, lacked vitamin B3 (niacin). Farmers would sometimes eat little other than corn and succumb to the deficiency. The Native Americans had actually been using lime as a way of adding vitamin B3. Today it is well known that by eating a variety of foods vitamin B3 is freely obtained and pellagra is easily treated.

8

Biotin Deficiency

Biotin deficiency is caused by a lack of vitamin B7 (biotin). It causes rashes, hair loss, anaemia, and mental conditions including hallucinations, drowsiness, and depression. Vitamin B7 itself is found in meat, liver, milk, peanuts, and some vegetables. Its deficiency is quite rare; however, there was a brief spike in the number of cases when it became popular for bodybuilders to consume raw eggs. One of the proteins found in raw egg white binds vitamin B7 and makes it difficult for the body to use, leading to a deficiency. Cooking egg whites makes this protein inactive. Mild biotin deficiency is also found is about half of all pregnant women due to a higher use of vitamin B7 in their bodies, and supplements are recommended for such women by the World Health Organisation.

7

Scurvy

Scurvy was first noted among people who spent a long time at sea. Boats would only carry non-perishable foods such as salted meats and dried grain, so sailors ate few if any fruits or vegetables. Scurvy causes lethargy, skin spots, bleeding gums, loss of teeth, fever, and death. Ancient sea-faring civilizations would cure it with various herbs. In more recent times, these ancient cures were not used consistently and their value was not realized. In the 18th century horse meat and citrus fruits were found to cure scurvy, and British sailors consumed limes to the extent that they were nicknamed ‘limeys’. It is now known that these foods contain vitamin C, and in modern times scurvy is rarely fatal as it once consistently was. Today, there are groups who advocate vitamin C megadoses of hundreds of times the recommended daily requirement; although any positive effects have not been firmly demonstrated and harmful overdoses can occur.

6

Rickets

Rickets causes muscles and bones to become soft, which can cause permanent deformities in children. It is most common in children and infants who have a poor diet or who are housebound, but is nowadays relatively rare in developed countries. Breast-fed babies are at higher risk if they or their mothers do not take in enough sunlight, and baby formula is now designed to prevent this. Rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D or of calcium. Vitamin D is required for calcium to be properly absorbed into bones to strengthen them. Adults rarely develop rickets because their bones are not growing and do not need much calcium. Vitamin D itself is obtained from many foods but the body can only use it if it has been converted into its active form via sunlight. In recent years there has been a slight increase in children with rickets possibly due to too many of them staying indoors.

Ariboflavinosis

This condition is present mostly in people who suffer from malnutrition and in alcoholics. It causes distinctive bright pink tongues, although other symptoms are cracked lips, throat swelling, bloodshot eyes, and low red blood cell count. Ultimately it can cause comas and death. It is caused by a lack of vitamin B2 (riboflavin), but easily treated by eating foods rich in vitamin B2, including meat, eggs, milk, mushrooms, and leafy green vegetables. Vitamin B2 is also used as artificial orange color in foods. It is absorbed through the liver, so alcoholics might eat enough of it but be unable to use it. True deficiencies are rare, but about 10% of people in developed countries live in a state of slight deficiency, thought to be from a diet of highly processed foods. Constant slight deficiencies can increase the risk of mild health problems.

4

Vitamin K deficiency

This deficiency affects nearly half of all newborn infants worldwide. In severe cases it causes uncontrolled bleeding and underdeveloped faces and bones. Many hospitals give newborns vitamin K injections to avoid the more severe symptoms. Unfortunately babies born outside hospitals are statistically at a much higher risk of serious deficiencies. Vitamin K is found chiefly in leafy green vegetables, although human gut bacteria help produce it in humans. Newborns have not yet developed gut bacteria which is why they are so prone to deficiencies. Other than newborns, vitamin K deficiency is found in alcoholics, bulimics, strict dieters, and people with various severe diseases such as cystic fibrosis. Adults who bruise or bleed easily sometimes have vitamin K deficiency which itself may be indicative of one of these more serious disorders.

3

Hypocobalaminemia

This mouthful of a disease was first noticed as a symptom of an autoimmune disease. It causes gradual deterioration of the spinal cord and very gradual brain deterioration, resulting in sensory or motor deficiencies. Mental disorders from the gradual brain damage begin as fatigue, irritability, depression, or bad memory. As the disease progresses over several years, psychosis and mania can appear. This damage is irreversible and is caused by a deficiency in vitamin B12. Fortunately, this vitamin is easily found in meat, dairy, and eggs. Vitamin B12 is stored in the liver and can last for years before deficiency sets in. Hypocobalaminemia is most common in developing countries amongst people who eat few animal products. The most at-risk groups in developed countries are vegans, as no plant produces enough B12 for a human diet. Children need much more B12 than adults because they are growing, so infants who are only breast-fed can become deficient and suffer permanent brain damage if their mother is only slightly deficient. Supplements are recommended for people of all diet types as an easy way to avoid the devastation of this disease.

2

Paraesthesia

Vitamin B5 is found in nearly every food, and deficiencies are found in people who have been starving, volunteers of particular medical studies, and people on diets restricted to a very small number of foods. A deficiency in vitamin B5 causes chronic paraesthesia. Paraesthesia is most familiar to us as the numbing sensation we feel as ‘pins and needles’ or a limb ‘falling asleep’. This kind of paraesthesia is perfectly normal; however, in vitamin B5 deficiencies it occurs constantly. Malnourished prisoners of war sometimes reported prickling and burning sensations in their hands and feet which is now thought to have been paraesthesia. As this is nearly unseen today, most vitamin supplements do not include B5.

1

Night Blindness

The Ancient Egyptians and Greeks wrote about night blindness, or ‘nyctalopia’. This affliction makes it impossible to see in dim light, and sufferers become completely blind when night falls. The Egyptians found that they could cure sufferers by feeding them liver, which contains high levels of vitamin A, the deficiency of which causes night blindness. Vitamin A deficiency still affects one third of all children on Earth under the age of five, resulting in over half a million deaths each year. Most high dose vitamins obtain their vitamin A from liver, which is dangerous at high levels and can cause various health complications. In the past, starving Antarctic explorers would eat their dogs for food but became sick when they ate too much liver. Vitamin A found in carrots is a slightly different molecule to that found in liver and is not toxic in high doses, although it can cause skin to turn yellow. During the Second World War, the Allies announced that they ate carrots to see well, although carrots only help maintain normal vision and do not improve it beyond this. Actually they were lying to hide their development of radar

TOP 10 BEST Picture Winners

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10

The English Patient

1996

I actually like this film, but given the other notable films of that year, I had to put this on the list. I mean, come on…who actually fell in love with this movie and can watch it over and over? It certainly has the looks of a “Best Picture” winner. It’s grand and epic in scope – Oscar loves that, I know. But with films like “Fargo,” “Secrets and Lies,” “Breaking the Waves,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Sling Blade,” (my personal #1 film for 1996) and “Big Night,” I sadly had to include this. Elaine Benes from “Seinfeld” had this film pegged – she was at least honest enough to admit her displeasure of this film – and was alienated by everyone (including her current boyfriend) for her candor.

9

Gigi

1958

There have been a number of musicals to win for “Best Picture” (“Oliver!,” “The Sound of Music,” “My Fair Lady”), but this is an average-at-best MGM musical that no one really remembers today. It’s overlong and there is hardly any dancing in the film, if any. The passage of time also shows “Touch of Evil,” “Vertigo,” “Mon Oncle,” “The Defiant Ones” and “A Night to Remember” as being much stronger films. I mean, really…what film class is breaking down and analyzing “Gigi” over classics by Orson Welles and Jacques Tati from that same year?

8

Chariots of Fire

1981

Another example of a good film that, for some reason, got away with the grand prize. I would think most people look at this movie and think how slow and boring this is. How engaging can a movie about running be to begin with? I know it’s considered by many to be a classic “sports” film, but, like golf and billiards, running is not a sport. I think Warren Beatty’s “Reds” was a masterpiece of a film. Also, released in 1981 and remembered with much greater fondness than the scintillating “Chariots of Fire” are “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “On Golden Pond,” and the extraordinary “Das Boot.”

7

Forrest Gump

1994

Run, Forrest, run! For 15 minutes of film, just run! I know, I know, it’s a modern, American classic, right? You laughed, you cried, it had great music and Tom Hanks was amazing. Whatever. I did like it though. It was hard not to like. The visual effects of putting Forrest next to a whole slew of notable 20th century figures was cool (but really, how many times could you do it?) and the love story at the core of the movie is sweet and touching. But 1994 was actually a great year for film. I couldn’t even put this movie in my Top 15 with other great achievements like: “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Quiz Show,” “Il Postino,” “Hoop Dreams,” the masterful “Natural Born Killers,” Krzysztof’s “Red” and yes, even “Pulp Fiction” which is over-rated in its own right, but still, a better choice than this schmaltzy, calculating, and poorly edited film. For Academy voters, this was the easy, safe pick for that year. Yeah, Forrest…keep running!

6

The Departed

2006

The year of the “Long Overdue” award masking as “Best Picture” and “Best Director” respectively. I love Martin Scorsese and am a huge fan of so many of his films, but this had no business winning the top two awards of the night, let alone have the honor of being nominated. If any film actually stood out that year, Scorsese would have gone home empty-handed once again. But alas, no such film existed. Here, the thinking was, “Well, he’s made some brilliant films in the past, but because there was stiff competition those years, he just never won the big one. Let’s give him his Oscar now.” Nicholson is over-the-top (shocker), Wahlberg (who I actually like) was a disaster and really, it doesn’t even measure up to the original 2002 film “Infernal Affairs.” The Departed was up again Babel, Little Miss Sunshine (which should have won in JFrater’s opinion), The Queen, and Letters from Iwo Jima.

5

Cavalcade

1933

The movie is downright dull and overlong. There’s no way around it. It made for a boring play and here it is a boring and stilted British movie. The film follows a pair of British aristocrats over the span of three decades and the turbulent times in which they live (1899-1933). There have been some terrific British films over the years. This is not one of them. If I wanted to see how World War I, the death of Queen Victoria, & the sinking of the Titanic affected society, I could watch a special on the History channel and be more entertained. Some excellent films that were snubbed in lieu of this snoozefest were: “King Kong,” “I am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang,” “Little Women” and “She Done Him Wrong” (yes, even at 66 minutes…it leaves much more of an impact than the siesta that is “Cavalcade”).

4

How Green Was My Valley

1941

I am not sure how this film beat out a film that changed the face of motion pictures as we know it (“Citizen Kane”), but it did. I’m not one of those people who think that “Citizen Kane” is the end-all-and-be-all, but come on…it changed the way we view and create cinema. John Ford was a terrific filmmaker, but this is another lackluster, tedious film whose only claim to fame is that it bested Orson Welles’ magnum opus. The movie centers on the sorrowful lives of coal miners and is better suited for viewing in a college class on sociology or labor relations than as a piece of entertainment. Other worthy films that were released this year besides “Citizen Kane”: “Suspicion,” “The Maltese Falcon,” “Little Foxes,” and yes, even Disney’s “Dumbo” is the greater work.

3

Driving Miss Daisy

1989

This is a sweet film with some very touching moments. Morgan Freeman is outstanding here as is Jessica Tandy (who won a “Best Actress” Oscar here). But “Best Picture”? Do you really look back to 1989 and think back on this as being the year’s Best Picture?! If you are saying, “Yes” as you read this now, I’m calling you a liar. The film’s director wasn’t even recognized as a “Best Director” nominee. This was a year where voters wanted to feel good about themselves by selecting a movie that (haphazardly) shows the evils of racism. On that level, I felt the film to be a bit insulting, to be honest. It treats its viewers like idiots, thinking we had no idea how poorly blacks were treated in the South in 1948 and that yes, racism is bad. Thank you. It ranks so high on the list for these reasons and because it indefensibly beat out such grand triumphs of film such as: “Cinema Paradiso,” “Dead Poet’s Society,” “Born on the 4th of July,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors” and “Sex, Lies and Videotape.”

2

Around the World in 80 Days

1956

On any list like this one, this film you will most surely find. For all of its impressive locations and cast of actors, this is another long (3+ hours), tedious, uninteresting film. It is outdated, to be sure, with no sense of adventure or wonder to it at all (unlike the Jules Verne story that it is based on). Watch it now – tell me it doesn’t feel like you’re watching some homemade travel videos – or even those archaic educational videos you used to watch in the 6th grade. How this won “Best Picture,” I have no idea – but with cameos by more than 40 of Hollywood’s stars at the time, my thinking is that there were so many people associated with this film in one way or another, that enough votes went its way. “The Searchers,” “The Ten Commandments, “Giant” and “Anastasia” would have been much more admirable picks – all films that when we watch them today, over 50 years later, still entertain and engage us.

1

Chicago

2002

This one was a travesty. I’ll start by saying that I did see it on Broadway years ago and loved it. It was great, sexy entertainment filled with wonderful choreography. And unlike some Broadway musicals that made successful transitions to the world of film, this just plays as silly entertainment geared to the “Glee” demographic. It plays more like the failed musical adaptations such as “Rent” and “Phantom of the Opera” than it does the ones which actually encapsulate the essence of what made the musicals great in the first place (like “West Side Story” or “An American in Paris”). The songs are great, sure – it’s a great musical. But when you leave it to a Hollywood cast who are there for box-office power and not their singing chops (John C. Reilly, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere), the songs fall flat. It was a weak year for good movies, but no one is ever going to look back at 2002 and think, “Oh, ‘Chicago’ was the best movie that year!” “Chicago” isn’t a good movie that beat out the more deserving…it is a poor, glitz-over-substance film that beat out the more deserving. Those films would be: “Adaptation,” “Talk to Her,” “Gangs of New York,” “Frida” and “The Pianist.”


Source : listverse