Depends if you're looking for viral infections, bacterial infections or genetic disorders (all of which are kinds of disease)...or maybe any of the above?
I'm particularily 'fond' of nystagmus, a disease of the eye featuring uncontrollable muscular contractions; reducing visual acuity and the eye's ability to focus (basically the eye shakes back and forth, rapidly), caused by genetic disorders, mineral deficiencies and on occasion, toxins.
Escherichia coli (<i>e. coli</i>) is fairly popular as well; I'm sure you could just spout off about how it's usually found in under cooked meats based on ground up animal stool found in the meat instead of talking about the symptoms...but pfft, what's not fun about talking about:
Along with the fact that antibiotics don't usually work and sometimes result in complications like kidney failure...all together it's not overly deadly though, only small children and the elderly usually have trouble.
There are all sorts of cool and rare mutations poking around the human genome.
Including but not limited to -
Thick scaly skin Photosensitive skin similar to a chameleon Horns As yet unnamed condition which causes any clothing to spontaneously combust. Violet or yellow coloured eyes Ability to dislocate limbs at will and without pain Ability to excessively stretch skin without pain Ability to excessively stretch tendons/muscle (with pain, gg)
And many more besides.
Personally I enjoy the more cerebral of mutations -
Fatal familial insomnia - the patient loses the ability to fall asleep. Prognosis is poor and the inability to sleep is gradually degenerative and eventually <b>fatal</b>.
Diseases are fun but just don't affect people in interesting ways. They're made for survival, not for messing people up.
<!--QuoteBegin-RustySpoon+Nov 18 2004, 06:20 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (RustySpoon @ Nov 18 2004, 06:20 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> What was this disease that was recently brought up here on the boards? Something about convulsing so bad you crap your own intestines out.
Something to do with undercooked food?
*edit*
<!--QuoteBegin-EEK+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (EEK)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Your spleen clots into a huge blood clot - your organs begin to liquify as a virus attempts to literally convert your body into the virus. Your liver becomes a semi-clear jelly. Inside your stomach, a virus attacks the lining and it peels away. It festers in there, growing in the cells in small black inclusion bodies of pure viral doom. In your intestines, the same thing happens, and it peels away into layers inside of you. After your spleen clotted up and used all your platelets, you begin to bleed a little bit. Any small incision will not stop bleeding. You begin vomitting up blood, including bits and pieces of your esophagus, stomach, and tongue. You begin running a fever and your brain gets slowly destroyed by it. Your eyes are bloodshot and possibly bleeding on the inside. Your entire body, still functioning to the very end, is filling with blood. Finally, just before your body fails from the lack of functioning organs, you 'bleed out', going into a massive siezure, and your continue vomiting up blood, and your bowels expel their contents: Muscular action causes you to literally **** out your own intestines. Everything inside of you has turned to soup. It's a 'miracle' that you've even survived as long as you have. In your siezure, you spray blood all around you, infecting even more people, and if you're one of the "lucky" ones, one-in-ten, you survive the ordeal before you 'bleed out', at the hands of the deadliest virus known to man.
It actually just causes parts of your body to die and decompose (<a href='http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=necrosis' target='_blank'>Necrosis</a>), while you're still alive. This is in truth the real-life zombie disease. It's really spooky because the victims looks like zombies with missing limbs and decomposing skin.
And don't worry about ebola, you only get that if you live in an unhygienic subtropical village where the people bathes in the same river they take a crap in.
<!--QuoteBegin-cookman+Nov 20 2004, 01:02 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (cookman @ Nov 20 2004, 01:02 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> And don't worry about ebola, you only get that if you live in an unhygienic subtropical village where the people bathes in the same river they take a crap in. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Where on Earth did you hear that? Last information I heard was that they still haven't found its original breeding ground. Besides the fact that theres 4 different versions of Ebola, each one found in different African countries, I know this isn't true.
<!--QuoteBegin-Necrosis+Nov 19 2004, 04:28 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Necrosis @ Nov 19 2004, 04:28 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> There are all sorts of cool and rare mutations poking around the human genome.
Including but not limited to -
[...] Ability to dislocate limbs at will and without pain [...] <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif' /><!--endemo--> maybe I have some sort of that, I have this odd ability to make my arms "drop out" of my shoulder socket by about half an inch O_o
A lot of you are confusing diseases with viruses and infections. Though viruses and infections may be the start of a disease they are not the disease itself.
If you are really interested I suggest that you visit the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. It originally started as a collection for the Physician's College of Philadelphia. The Museum's collections include over 20,000 objects, including fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens, medical instruments, anatomical and pathological models, items of memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians, and medical illustrations.
The museum is a sobering experience. Most people enter it with the amused feeling that often accompanies people looking at how things were done in 'the old days'. However everyone leaves with a better understanding and empathy for the human condition.
This is a one of a kind museum that you cannot find anywhere else in the world. In fact, it remains the largest and most complete collection of medical conditions in the world.
Here is a brief description of their Diseases exhibit <a href='http://www.collphyphil.org/emerging_dis/emdsmain.htm' target='_blank'>Disease exhibit at the Mutter Museum</a>
If you ever visit Philadelphia be sure to make a stop at this museum. I mean, where else can you see a tumor that was secretly removed from President Grover Cleveland
They convienently lack information on Nystagmus (although, it's not always a genetic disorder or disease caused by nutrient deficiency); however, they do actually have a page for it... <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nystagmus' target='_blank'>here</a>.
Though I doubt many people care; <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola' target='_blank'>ebola</a> is so much more exciting.
Comments
I'm particularily 'fond' of nystagmus, a disease of the eye featuring uncontrollable muscular contractions; reducing visual acuity and the eye's ability to focus (basically the eye shakes back and forth, rapidly), caused by genetic disorders, mineral deficiencies and on occasion, toxins.
Escherichia coli (<i>e. coli</i>) is fairly popular as well; I'm sure you could just spout off about how it's usually found in under cooked meats based on ground up animal stool found in the meat instead of talking about the symptoms...but pfft, what's not fun about talking about:
-Severe abdominal cramps
-Diarrhea lasting upto 24 hours, becoming watery and bloody
-No fever
lasting for 5 to 10 days.
Along with the fact that antibiotics don't usually work and sometimes result in complications like kidney failure...all together it's not overly deadly though, only small children and the elderly usually have trouble.
Roger, we have "Zing" over.
<!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Note to self: Don't google image search the fish babies.
edit: Oh god I did... why!? Yuck.
Including but not limited to -
Thick scaly skin
Photosensitive skin similar to a chameleon
Horns
As yet unnamed condition which causes any clothing to spontaneously combust.
Violet or yellow coloured eyes
Ability to dislocate limbs at will and without pain
Ability to excessively stretch skin without pain
Ability to excessively stretch tendons/muscle (with pain, gg)
And many more besides.
Personally I enjoy the more cerebral of mutations -
Fatal familial insomnia - the patient loses the ability to fall asleep. Prognosis is poor and the inability to sleep is gradually degenerative and eventually <b>fatal</b>.
Diseases are fun but just don't affect people in interesting ways. They're made for survival, not for messing people up.
Something about convulsing so bad you crap your own intestines out.
Something to do with undercooked food?
*edit*
<!--QuoteBegin-EEK+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (EEK)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
Your spleen clots into a huge blood clot - your organs begin to liquify as a virus attempts to literally convert your body into the virus. Your liver becomes a semi-clear jelly. Inside your stomach, a virus attacks the lining and it peels away. It festers in there, growing in the cells in small black inclusion bodies of pure viral doom. In your intestines, the same thing happens, and it peels away into layers inside of you. After your spleen clotted up and used all your platelets, you begin to bleed a little bit. Any small incision will not stop bleeding. You begin vomitting up blood, including bits and pieces of your esophagus, stomach, and tongue. You begin running a fever and your brain gets slowly destroyed by it. Your eyes are bloodshot and possibly bleeding on the inside. Your entire body, still functioning to the very end, is filling with blood. Finally, just before your body fails from the lack of functioning organs, you 'bleed out', going into a massive siezure, and your continue vomiting up blood, and your bowels expel their contents: Muscular action causes you to literally **** out your own intestines. Everything inside of you has turned to soup. It's a 'miracle' that you've even survived as long as you have. In your siezure, you spray blood all around you, infecting even more people, and if you're one of the "lucky" ones, one-in-ten, you survive the ordeal before you 'bleed out', at the hands of the deadliest virus known to man.
<Insert dramatic pause here>
Ebola.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
... Wow thats ****** up.
I was going to say Down Syndrome... but that takes the cake. Jesus.
(also known as Sydenham's chorea).
It actually just causes parts of your body to die and decompose (<a href='http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=necrosis' target='_blank'>Necrosis</a>), while you're still alive.
This is in truth the real-life zombie disease. It's really spooky because the victims looks like zombies with missing limbs and decomposing skin.
And don't worry about ebola, you only get that if you live in an unhygienic subtropical village where the people bathes in the same river they take a crap in.
Where on Earth did you hear that? Last information I heard was that they still haven't found its original breeding ground. Besides the fact that theres 4 different versions of Ebola, each one found in different African countries, I know this isn't true.
Including but not limited to -
[...]
Ability to dislocate limbs at will and without pain
[...] <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif' /><!--endemo--> maybe I have some sort of that, I have this odd ability to make my arms "drop out" of my shoulder socket by about half an inch O_o
If you are really interested I suggest that you visit the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. It originally started as a collection for the Physician's College of Philadelphia. The Museum's collections include over 20,000 objects, including fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens, medical instruments, anatomical and pathological models, items of memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians, and medical illustrations.
The museum is a sobering experience. Most people enter it with the amused feeling that often accompanies people looking at how things were done in 'the old days'. However everyone leaves with a better understanding and empathy for the human condition.
This is a one of a kind museum that you cannot find anywhere else in the world. In fact, it remains the largest and most complete collection of medical conditions in the world.
Here is a brief description of their Diseases exhibit
<a href='http://www.collphyphil.org/emerging_dis/emdsmain.htm' target='_blank'>Disease exhibit at the Mutter Museum</a>
If you ever visit Philadelphia be sure to make a stop at this museum. I mean, where else can you see a tumor that was secretly removed from President Grover Cleveland
God, I love Wikipedia.
Though I doubt many people care; <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola' target='_blank'>ebola</a> is so much more exciting.