ABC News has an amazing slide show of medical abnormalities and medical miracles. We’ve featured a few here at Healthbolt, like Tree Man, the two-faced baby, and the world’s largest and shortest men, but there are many, many more. Warning, though: viewer discretion is definitely advised, especially if you don’t want to get knee-deep in discussions of “why does that happen?” with the kids.

Staggering visuals that’ll make you feel blessed, indeed…

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A new blog that’s taking the world by storm, Weighting Line has a very interesting perspective on 6 ways to commit discrimination against the obese. Is blaming global warming on them one of those ways?

And speaking of weight, if you’re new to the weight loss game, but you’re looking to hook up with a gym, how do you know which one is the right fit? The fabulous MizFit explores that very notion with some awesomely specific advice.

Of course, getting fit also means eating right. At Best Health Mag, find out why you should be eating more of nature’s candy…bananas!

Switching gears, earlier in the week I talked a bit about skin cancer awareness, remember? Well, Elaine from Genetics and Health goes a step further by covering how a sun-induced skin cancer starting point has been discovered.

And finally, perhaps one of the funniest (and most excruciatingly accurate) posts I’ve read all week (month? year?), Scott at Health and Men shares exactly why men are so much happier. Exactly.

Have a healthy week, everyone!

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But Mathew is not your average college student. He wrote a book before he was 11 years old and was valedictorian of his law and government magnet high school in North Hills, Calif.

And he did all this despite being inflected with a severe form of Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes the mutation of the fibrilin1 gene. This mutation causes the body’s connective tissue of the eyes, blood vessels, skeleton, heart, and skin to weaken. As a result, their joints can become weak and over flexible and they often develop scoliosis. But most concerning is that the weak connective tissues of the blood vessels could easily result in aortic aneurysm or dissection – a life threatening situation.

1 in 5,000 people have Marfan Syndrome but many only have a mild form that is discovered in adulthood.

Mathew, on the other hand, suffers from severe Marfan Syndrome and according to Rena Falk, a geneticist at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, is “…probably one of the oldest surviving, if not the oldest surviving infantile Marfan case…”

Mathew is defying the odds.

Having Marfan Syndrome and dealing with all the painful complications that go with it has not stopped him from pursuing a full and purposeful life.

Here’s what he has to say…

“I have survived my disabilities. I have survived my pain syndrome and I have survived the burning gaze of people who assume that I must be mentally retarded because I am in a wheelchair.”

“You cannot let disability, pain, or worse — people’s assumptions — rule your life: this is my life mantra. I live or die by these words.”

Words we could all live by.

You can learn more about Marfan Syndrome at the National Marfan Syndrome Foundation.

(Source: ABC)

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Now let’s be clear that we are in no way, no how poking any kind of fun at these poor people. But it’s just amazing to see the different ways the body can betray itself, is it not? Of course it is.

So next up in our Weird Deformity Breakdown is Jingle Luis, a 15-year-old girl from the Philippines who was born with feet clubbed so badly they twist backwards and upside down (see a photo slideshow at MSN.com)

Today, Jingle had surgery to begin correction on her feet at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. And while clubfoot occurs in about one in 1,000 births, treatment usually begins before the condition gets anywhere near as far as Jingle’s.

The problem? Jingle also suffers from spina bifida (a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings), leading her early physicians to believe she may not live long; therefore no treatment for her clubbed feet was ever given.

As for now, Jingle’s US surgeon says, “It’s like putting together an Erector Set,” and anticipates it taking a month to rotate the feet a few degrees at a time. And when all is said and done, what does Jingle hope to do? Wear high heels, of course. Good girl!

We sure wish Jingle all the best, but we also wonder:

What is the strangest deformity you’ve ever seen or heard of? Any idea how that patient is doing now? We’d love to hear from you and maybe even see what we can dig up on the deformities you share. Leave us a comment and let us know.

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Image details: Question mark with the Earth as a dot served by picapp.com

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

We’ve been reminded quite a bit today about being green and caring for our Earth. So here’s my question: Can the Earth continue to care for us?!?

Over the weekend, Edna Parker of Illinois (the oldest known currently-living person) celebrated her 115th birthday. Also recently, Barbara Walters did a special on living to be 150. While this is fascinating and the idea of living past 100 sounds intriguing, when it comes right down to it, how will our world be able to support such an aging population? Here are some issues:

1. As it is, we have a dire nursing shortage. And we all know that living long doesn’t always equal living well. We would need more health care professionals to keep our health in check.

2. Living until 150, the new retirement age would be, oh, say…130. Can you imagine working at the same job for approximately 110 years? Of course not! Furthermore, how would our employers cover our healthcare costs? Would there ever be job turnover? Would a mid-life career change happen at about 80 years of age? Really.

3. Logistically, where would we put everybody? We’d have to develop more land, thereby cutting farming space, so what would we all eat? Where would we get all the water we need? What about car and public transportation emissions? Scary.

These are just a few thoughts that come to mind as researchers conduct study after study to discover the secret to longevity. There are many more issues, of course, and these hardly scratch the surface. But on this Earth Day, they are surely thoughts to consider.

So, what do you think? Would you want to live to 150? Do you think our world would be able to handle us? Chime in…

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I first learned about this last month when I read about Leah Garfitt, a six year old child who has Niemann-Pick Type C disease (NPC), a genetic disease that causes large amounts of fatty substances to build up in the liver, spleen, bone marrow and brain resulting in symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s.

Niemann-Pick Type C is very uncommon disease with only 500 known cases worldwide. So it’s not surprising that most of us have not heard.

But for those who have to deal with it and live through it, Neimann-Pick Type C is a real heartbreaker. There is no known cure and those suffering from it usually die before they reach 20.

Yesterday, I came across this video on You Tube….

It was put together by Danielle LaVerde. Her six year old daughter Gabreille is one of only 300 children in the United States with this very rare disease.

Danielle’s goal in creating the video, blog, and website is to raise awareness of the disease and also to raise money to help fund state-of-the-art experimental treatment for Gabrielle.

Gabrielle’s classmates have responded in kind. Ryan, one of the students at Gabrielle’s school, got his mother to put together these videos to help raise awareness…

and raise money…

I don’t know about you but by the end of these videos I was not only digging deep in my pockets for a tissue but also for some money to donate.

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Photo Credit

Okay, maybe not in your head, but definitely on it. Because if you are one of the nearly 50% of Americans suffering with dandruff, you’ve got enough white in your strands to put a Northeastern blizzard to shame.

Contrary to what you’ve been told, however, dandruff is not caused from a dry scalp. In fact, those with oily scalps are even more susceptible. Here’s the scoop:

Dandruff is caused by a naturally-occurring microscopic yeast called Malassezia. Malassezia’s job is to feed off the oil your scalp produces to keep itself hydrated. Under normal circumstances, this yeast gets washed off in the shower or scraped away with your brush. In some instances though, the little buggers get a little crazy and begin wreaking havoc on your scalp. Mad, your scalp begins to make too many extra skin cells to compensate for the itchiness and irritation and voila – flakes!

So how do you rid yourself of these unwelcome white tattletales? Start with a medicated shampoo (hello, Head & Shoulders), limit your styling products, and keep scalp oil in check by adjusting the room’s temperature downward, if possible, or by applying an oil-absorbing glycerin treatment. These quick fixes should help most dandruff cases. There are some poor saps, however, who have flakes in their genes (and we don’t mean Aunt Edna!) If your fam wears white to a funeral to avoid embarrassment, I’m afraid you’ve got some shampooing to do. And lots of it!

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Sounds to me like something out of a horror or science fiction movie but it’s not. Regenerative medicine, the ability of the body’s cells to re-grow, is making amazing breakthroughs.

And at the forefront is Dr Atala and his team. So far they have grown 18 different types of tissue from blood vessels and heart valves to muscle tissue. But their pride and joy so far is the work they have done with the human bladder.

In 2006, a patient at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia was transplanted with a regenerated bladder from her own bladder cells which were isolated, multiplied, and seeded onto a biodegradable scaffold. The growth of the new bladder took only eight weeks.

It bodes well for a future. Doctors will be able to not only diagnose diseases, but also order replacement organs or body parts, custom made just for you, using your own cells. Amazing.

Currently thousands of people worldwide, on waiting lists for transplants, often die before they get one. With regeneration medicine, instead of waiting for a donated organ, it is hoped that they will be able to grow their own in a matter of weeks.  This, of course, is still some way off. But it sure looks like it will be happening in the future.

(source – CBS News)

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How about giving something truly unique and totally you – your DNA.

Here’s three ways to do that:

DNA Portrait

Imagine your saliva being transformed into a work of Art. That’s the concept behind DNA 11, a  company that offers DNA portraits based on a persons unique genetic code. No two pictures will ever be the same. And you’ll be seen in a whole new light. 

MyDNA Fragrance

Get your own individualized perfume or cologne made based on your genetic code.  Interesting idea, but not sure that DNA has any part in creating an amazing perfume. But there will be a part of you in it.

DNA Song

Everyone has music inside them.  And now you can use your DNA to create your own musical signature to serenade your loved one.

Wonder what’s next for your DNA? 

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As we all bid adieu to Sara, the fact that she was a lefty, I am a lefty, and co-blogger Liz is a lefty, got me thinking that not only are lefties quite possibly the coolest group of peeps ever, but there must be some traits we all have that lead us down similar life paths. Naturally, I also wanted to know if being a lefty meant anything in the health department. Here are some interesting factoids I unearthed. Any southpaws out there, weigh in with any thoughts and observations of your own.

• According to data published this past July, there has been a gene found that might possibly account for left-handedness. Unfortunately, that same gene may indicate a slightly increased risk for developing psychotic mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Super.
• A UK study has shown that lefties may be a smidge more vulnerable than righties to diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), colitis, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease.
• Stuttering and dyslexia occur more often in lefties, particularly those who have been forced to take on right-handed tendencies by parents, teachers, or society.

So there’s some good news along with your morning coffee, eh? Actually, these risks are all said to be quite minimal, and there are plenty of cool traits that lefties have, so it’s not all bad. Here they are:

• Lefties are not plagued with a shorter life span as once was thought. The original study claiming this myth had a million holes in it and was proven unfounded. Phew.
• Southpaws adapt more easily to seeing underwater. Woot! A new excuse to go diving in Hawaii!
• Lefties tend to really excel in hand-eye sports such as tennis, baseball and fencing. And given that underwater factoid from above, it’s no surprise that they also rock it out in swimming.
• 4 out of 5 of the original Mac designers were left handed. And we all know how I feel about Macs, wink-wink.
• Lefties can generally think more quickly when carrying out tasks like playing computer games and sports.
• Lefties tend to reach puberty 4 to 5 months later than righties. Which, of course, is excellent news for the Mommas all across the world.

So there you have it. Given the photo above, it’s pretty easy to see why Sara, Liz and I all ended up at Healthbolt. We southpaws have emotion and creativity, definite traits required for blogging. We also have a love and appreciation of the whacked-out human body, so while we wish Sara all the best, Liz and I are wholly looking forward to making Healthbolt even better than ever.

Long live lefties!

Photo credit

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