Five Diseases I'm Glad I Don't Have

So this will probably be a post full of the delirious ramblings of my illness, but it is imperative that I post today. Right now, I have strep throat, which is a bacterial infection caused by streptococcus bacteria. It isn't a horrible disease to get, but it's still no fun at all. Since there are so many diseases that make me glad that I only have strep throat, I decided to make a blog post of the top five diseases I'm glad I don't have(in no specific order).

5. The Plague

   We've all heard of the infamous black death pandemic that started in 1348 and is thought to have reduced the worlds population by almost one hundred million people. The plague has fascinated me ever since I read Connie Willis's Doomsday Book. There are three forms of the plague, Bubonic(infection of the lymph nodes), Pneumonic(infection of the lungs) and Septicemic(infection of the blood). Bubonic has symptoms that include a high fever, huge buboes developing around the lymph nodes, severe headache, and nausea. Pneumonic causes a high fever, cough, and flowing, red sputum(that conjours a lovely mental image). Septicemic is so deadly that it has a death rate of close to 100%.


4. Ebola
The Ebola virus has some of the nastiest symptoms I have ever heard of. Hemorrhaging, bloody vomit, seizures, and bleeding from the eyes are only a few of the plethora of sickly fascinating symptoms. I can't even imagine how unpleasant it would be to bleed from your eyes. It is feared that some day the Ebola Virus will reach the United States and there will be a huge pandemic.





3. Cotard's Delusion
This one really surprised me. Apparently, there is a rare neurological disease called Cotard's Delusion, or Walking Corpse Syndrome, where a person actually believes that they are dead. They may think that they have lost all their blood or vital organs, or they might think that their body is rotting. This is probably the most disturbing of the diseases I found.




2. Epilepsy
Epilepsy is when the electrical signals in the brain are overly active and cause seizures. I wanted to put this one in because I know several people who have epilepsy, and it is a rough condition to live with. Epilepsy can occur in people without apparent reason, but it can also also be caused by brain injuries, strokes, and tumors. I was too scared of searching epilepsy in Google Images to find a picture for this one.

1. Leprosy
I had to throw this one in, I am a Bible quizzer, after all. Leprosy is a infectious disease that has a long incubation period and slowly progressing symptoms. Its greatest effects are on the nerves and the skin, and it has long lasting effects on each of those. For the skin it causes discoloration, large sores and ulcers, and skin lesions. For the nerves, it causes loss of feeling until you are no longer able to any heat or pressure. It's sort a of strange feeling to read the chilly medical reports on this disease, where such terms as "loss of digits" and "Facial disfigurement" are so coolly slipped in.


I really enjoyed making this post because I spent so much time searching for strange diseases to talk about, that I ended up learning a lot of things that I can add to my compilation of useless knowledge. I'm sure it irritated my mother a lot, the way I kept running into the room saying things like "Apparently, aspirin is used to treat leprosy!" and then running out again.