4 Human Medical Oddities
When Biology Goes Awry
Sometimes the human body can be a strange place. All its mechanisms serve a purpose, but sometimes biology even makes mistakes. In this lens, I will highlight some of the weird, gross, and well, odd oddities that can occur in biology and the ever vast field of medicine! It's a crazy place, and often very weird. Just be happy this isn't you. I write not to exploit these conditions, but to educate and let readers know, there is plenty you still have not uncovered in this world, and many subjects you can learn about no matter how long you have been walking this Earth!
I strive to discover more of this subject matter every day. Perhaps I should have been a scientist, doctor, or even mortician, but alas, my math skills are lacking. I have picked the correct field...research and the written word. I digress, on to the weird and wonderful world of medical oddities you may not know about and probably have never seen or have ever wanted to!
Tonsil Stones
Gross Cottage Cheese of The Tonsils
Tonsil stones are the nasty, smelly things that build up when white blood cells, old food, and bacteria gets caught in teeny little tonsil holes called crypts in the throat. If ever there was a reason for tonsil removal, this would be it. Suffering from halitosis? Take a look in the back of your throat with a mirror, get out a Q-tip, and start scraping, because tonsil stones or tonsilliths, which they are often called may be the culprit.
Tonsillith (Tonsil Stone Removal) - Vanquish Those Critters!
Dr. J. is the master. For this reason, I wish I lived in India. I would ask Dr. J. if I could sit in for all his surgeries, because he is just the master of tonsil stone removal! This is just a mess. I bet this patient thanks you, Dr. J.
Teratoma
The Parastic Twin You Never Wanted
Teratomas are sometimes benign, sometimes malignant, but either way, they are the appendage you never wanted. Sometimes, they are even dubbed "parasitic twins" when they meet certain criteria. They often have teeth, hair, and sometimes fat or bone, gross! Luckily, the miracle of modern surgery can remove and banish your unsightly parasitic twin, that can often be in the form of a sebaceous tumor. Get lost bucko! Mom doesn't like you and you are sucking up my life source! Golly, this is a sexy specimen. It looks like something out of Night of The Living Dead. Imagine living with this guy forever!?
Teratoma Dissection - Goodbye Sweet Prince - You Were Never Intended to Be!
Our doctor friend here is dissecting an ovarian teratoma. Its gross and hairy. Teratomas often occur in the ovaries and testes. These are called germ cell teratomas, because they grow in the reproductive organs. I guess this isn't your twin. This is something that was supposed to be, but never was. Maybe it was supposed to be your twin, but obviously God didn't intend for there to be two of you. Lucky you, goodbye sweet prince or princess, whatever it wasn't supposed to be!
People Can Have Tails
Humans, about 99.9% of the time have DNA that let the tail go millenia ago, but in some cases, babies are born equipped with a little tail. They are generally nothing more than a hairless flap of skin, and contain no spinal material or bone, but I suppose this is a left over trait from when we were partial primates. Sometimes the tail does contain parts of the spine, but rarely. This makes me subscribe to the idea of evolution much more when I see a baby who has a tail.
This Brand Spanking New Munchkin - Has a Tail!
This newborn baby was born with a five inch tail. This is the cutest baby ever. I want to pinch its cheeks, but I think its mean that people made ugly comments about it on Youtube and that they keep pulling its tail. Okay, it has a tail, we see it!
Hirsutism
(The Bearded Lady)
Hirsutism is a condition that stems from having too many androgens (a hormonal disorder). People can grow hair on their bodies that looks more like fur than hair. If you have heard of The Bearded Lady at circus side shows at the turn of the century, she was real, and really had a beard. She likely had this disorder. If you take a look at The Bearded Lady's photograph, which I have uploaded here, you can see that she has hair on her temples as well. Note her curvaceous and feminine frame as well as her small, delicate hands and fingers. She is indeed a woman with Hirsutism. This is why products like Vaniqua sell like hotcakes! Back at the turn of the century at The Coney Island Circus Freak Show, they didn't sell Vaniqua, unfortunately for The Bearded Lady.
