Have you ever envied those unforgettable prodigies? Do you also get heartbroken when you see a face that looks like a doll? Have you ever envied someone else having a loving mother who can take care of a seriously ill child without complaint? But maybe all of this is not as good as it looks.
Unforgettable "genius"
10 years ago today, what did you do? More than 99% of the people in the world cannot answer this question based on their own memory, but there are still dozens of people who can answer this question.
In 2006, James McGaugh, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Irvine, first described hypersomnia. He found that a woman with hypersomnia could accurately recall the large and small things that happened in her life for more than 20 years. , and said it without hesitation. After McGao's research was published, people with the same symptoms came to consult one after another, and medical professors from various countries also began to look for patients with hyperamnesia in China.
Brad Williams of the United States is an announcer who can still remember what happened on his entry day 34 years ago, when the sun was shining and Williams was in a good mood and bought a sweet tooth on the way to the company. donuts. Williams' family and colleagues trust him very much, because as long as he is with him, friends around him will never have to worry about not finding what they need or remembering the wrong way. Williams can remember everything, and friends are kind Call him "the living Google". Williams also beat Ken Jennings, the champion of the famous American puzzle show, in a memory test. After hearing about Professor McGaugh’s research, Williams approached him, and Williams now travels to UC Irvine every week to allow scientists to connect electrodes to his brain. Whenever his brain moves or answers a question, scientists can use these electrode responses to find out which part of his brain is working, in order to solve the mystery of hyperamnesia as soon as possible.
Amnesiacs aren't as geniuses as people think, and Aurelian Heyman, a hypermemetic patient in the UK, says his ability to remember things doesn't help his studies much. From the age of 11, Heyman can clearly remember the details of any day, what he said and did on a certain day, he remembered clearly. As long as he thought about it, what had happened would appear scene by scene in his mind like a movie. It is a pity that these memories are disorganized. Although the knowledge in the book can be recalled, it is difficult to understand. It is not easy to recall and extract knowledge points in the exam and then understand them.
For ordinary people, using pleasant memories to cover bad memories and gradually forgetting bad memories over time is a good way to effectively clear bad memories, but it is generally ineffective for patients with hyperamnesia. Those unpleasant memories often haunt people with hyperamnesia, such as Hyman, who still remembers being rejected by the girl he liked for the first time. The founder of a technology company in Beijing was also depressed due to hyperamnesia. In the dead of night, he would always be tortured by the experience of failing to start a business, so he could not sleep at night.
It is hoped that scientists can unlock the code of brain memory as soon as possible and find a way to regulate memory, which will be a great boon for hyperamnesia, amnesia and ordinary people.
Beautiful can also be sick
In 1981, Japanese scientists discovered a class of patients. Their appearance was very peculiar, and it could even be said to be very beautiful, with big doll-like eyes and thick and curled eyelashes, which looked like a makeup artist. The condition is called Kabuki mask syndrome. This is a rare condition that is more commonly found in Japan, with a prevalence of 1:32,000 in newborns and 1:86,000 in Australia and New Zealand. There are not many patients in China, and a total of three cases have been reported so far.
In 2009, the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University announced that it had treated the first child with Kabuki mask syndrome in my country. Mascara, long and curly". It is a pity that in addition to his beautiful appearance, he also has many physical defects, multiple skeletal deformities, severe mental retardation, congenital heart disease, and moderate hearing loss in both ears. Two patients were later found to be in much better condition. The second patient was found to have only one abnormality in the absence of fingerprints in addition to external features, and the third patient was associated with intellectual disability.
Clinical studies have found that most of the Kabuki mask syndrome is accompanied by intellectual disability. A study of 27 patients found that more than 90% of the patients were mentally retarded, and more than half of the patients had retarded childhood development. In addition, facial abnormalities, skeletal abnormalities and fingerprint abnormalities are also common symptoms of the disease, and may also be accompanied by a variety of diseases such as ear, nose and throat abnormalities, cardiac malformations, and neurological diseases.
In 2012, scientists finally found the cause of the disease. Mutations in two genes on the autosomal and X chromosomes, respectively, may cause Kabuki mask syndrome. At present, there is no specific medicine for the treatment of this genetic disease, and only the right medicine can be prescribed for various complications.
It seems that children who are too beautiful should also attract the attention of parents.
Unexpected "mother"
The poor girl suffers from various serious diseases: paralysis of the lower limbs and can only use a wheelchair; she is allergic to sugar and can never eat sugar, so she must always keep insulin at home; she has leukemia and her hair is shaved; she has severe asthma and sleeps on a ventilator ...Her single mother never gave up on her and took care of her in every possible way. The mother takes her daughter around to see a doctor. She has all kinds of medicines at home and is ready to give first aid to her daughter at any time. Even when she goes to bed at night, she has to check on her from time to time. Being discriminated against, she never let her daughter go to school or go out alone to socialize...
But disaster struck this unfortunate family again. One night, a man broke into the house, and the poor mother was stabbed several times by the burglar. Died in a pool of blood. After months of investigation, the police finally caught the murderer, but in the dock with the murderer, there was also the "seriously ill" daughter, who was accused of conspiring with the murderer to kill her mother. .
Seeing this, you may be filled with righteous indignation. How could there be such an unfilial daughter who could do this to a mother who loves her so much? But if you saw the scene of the lawsuit, you might be wondering, the daughter, who is said to be paralyzed and severely asthmatic, not only stood upright in the dock, but also eloquently argued that she had no part in the murder of her mother. What exactly is going on?
This is a story based on the true story of the American documentary "The Bad Deeds". After the divorce, the mother Didi raises her seriously ill daughter Gypsy alone through hard work and social assistance. Everyone who has seen or heard of Didi People who have suffered tragic experiences will praise her as a great, strong and loving mother. But it wasn't until after seeing the gypsy in court that people realized that it was nothing like the gypsy we know! Later, the truth finally came out. It was not Gypsy who was sick, but Didi.
Didi suffers from a mental illness called agency Munchausen syndrome, which usually manifests as fictitious illnesses and symptoms of others, especially children, juniors and other vulnerable groups who need to be cared for, and then subject to personal restrictions and drug treatment. and surgical treatment. Patients with more severe proxy Munchausen syndrome will also falsify their symptoms by putting poisonous drugs into the drinking water and food of the people they care for, in order to take care of the patients and gain the sympathy and praise of others.
Gypsy's "serious illness" is what Didi "made". Gypsy fell off the bed because she was playing at a young age, and Gypsy has since been "paralyzed in the lower limbs", and she has to travel in a wheelchair; Gypsy lost a tooth because of eating sugar, and Didi never let her eat all sweets again. Sugar immediately injected her with insulin; Didi took Gypsy to the doctor, described to the doctor that she had muscular dystrophy, had hearing and vision problems, prescribed a lot of drugs, and watched Gypsy take it every day; because Suffering from "cancer", Gypsy was shaved, and she was not allowed to go to school, go out, or even surf the Internet alone...
As Gypsy grew up, she slowly realized that she was not sick, and became more and more unbearable for Didi's restrictions on her And all kinds of abuse in the name of love. Finally, unable to bear it, she encouraged her boyfriend Nick to kill her mother. Gypsy was sentenced to ten years in prison and is still serving time in prison. Although her personal freedom was restricted, Gypsy felt unprecedented freedom. She grew long hair in prison, her complexion became healthy and rosy, and she even gained weight.
This one Didi dies, and in exchange for that, Gypsy is free. But when the next Didi shows up, how is the other Gypsy going to live a normal life? Why did Didi suffer from such a strange disease and how to treat it? There is currently no medical answer.
Diseases that look beautiful are diseases after all, and they leave indelible wounds on the patient's mind and body. And there may be many more diseases that we don't know much about.
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