Archive for the ‘Mutations’ Category

[Video]: Woman Grows Fingernails…All Over Her Body!

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

We’ve seen a LOT of weird things before in the medical field. But THIS? This is a whole new level.

Back in 2009 a woman by the name of Shanyna Isom had an asthma attack. No biggie, right? Wrong. Isom experienced an allergic reaction to the steriods used to treat the asthma attack.

The result? A reaction like a d-lister from the Xavier Institute…she’s growing fingernails where she would normally grow hair.

No…really…fingernails are sprouting from her body.

Johns Hopkins University doctors are baffled at the condition. There’s no precedent for what’s happening to Isom. She began growing skin cells at 12 times the rate of a normal person and each follicle began producing a fingernail!

Doctors seem to have the bizarre disorder under control and are working to figure out how to fix whatever strange effect the steroid treatment created which caused this entire mess to start in the first place.
[I09]

Rare Disorder Causes Girl to Feel No Pain!

Monday, July 9th, 2012

Imagine not being able to feel pain. Sounds great, right? Games of ‘Slug Bug’ or ‘Butt Ball’ would be much easier to handle, right? Stubbing your toe wouldn’t suck as much. Banging your head would never be an issue again. You’d feel like a freakin’ warrior because you don’t feel a damn thing.

Now for the downside…

What if you developed appendicitis or something else as internally life-threatening? You’d have no indication anything was wrong until it was seriously too late.

That’s the case with 12-year-old Ashlyn Blocker of Georgia. Ashlyn was born with Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis (CIPA), a extremely rare condition that kills most people born with it when they’re just toddlers. Babies born with CIPA might have something severely wrong, yet they won’t cry because they just don’t feel anything.

As an infant, Ashlyn had a huge corneal abrasion across her eye. Everyone was astonished that she wasn’t crying over what, to most people, would be a painfully excruciating sensation.

CIPA affects about 100 people in the United States every year.

Ashlyn is not letting anything stop her from doing what she wants. Described as a determined girl, she is currently working with doctors at the University of Florida to understand how our brains interpret pain. This tough little girl has also started a summer camp called ‘Camp Painless But Hopeful’ to help other families whose children suffer from CIPA.

[Daily Mail UK]

Chernobyl To Open For Vacationers

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Bound to be the hottest tourist spot next year, the 30-mile radius surrounding Chernobyl is set to open for day trips starting next year. While “illegal” tours already operate in the zone, these new tours will be government sanctioned.

“The Chernobyl zone isn’t as scary as the whole world thinks,” ministry spokesperson Yulia Yurshova told The Wall Street Journal. “We want to work with big tour operators and attract Western tourists, from whom there’s great demand.”

Start saving now.
[NY Daily News]

Radioactive Mouse Evades Hunters

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

At least one radioactive mouse is on the loose in the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site, a former plutonium facility in Washington state. Workers found and tested mouse droppings that turned out to be radioactive and now the hunt is on. Even though 60 mouse traps have been set so far, the mouse has managed to avoid them all. Aside from trap avoidance, no word yet on any super powers that the mouse may have obtained.

[AolNews]

Zedonkulous in Georgia

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

A hybrid zebra/donkey was born this past week at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega, Georgia.

According to the Preserve’s staff, “zedonks” (as the hybrids are known) are very rare. Turns out zebras usually find donkeys “out of their league.” Darn prissy zebras! You know they always settle for a donkey after they turn 30.

[Gainsville Times]

Mutant Baby Counts In Base 12

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

This baby was recently born in California with 6 perfectly functional fingers and toes on each hand and foot, respectively.  The condition, known as polydactylism, is not uncommon. What is unique about this case is that the baby’s extra fingers and toes are all proportional and work perfectly. One thing is for sure, you don’t want to play this kid in Mortal Kombat.

And while we are talking about mutations, do the muttonchops on the Doctor in this video count as a mutation? Like Wolverine needed another power…