Contents:
- Medical Video: Top 5 Charlie Zelenoff Losses (MUST SEE)!
- Not magic, not magic: five diseases that look like magic witchcraft, even though there are real medical conditions
- 1. Epilepsy
- 2. Mental disorders
- 3. Fetus-in-fetu
- 4. Poisoning Ergot fungus
- 5. Lethargica encephalitis
Medical Video: Top 5 Charlie Zelenoff Losses (MUST SEE)!
In the past, the appearance of diseases that seemed strange and it has never been known before that it can make the public suddenly nervous. As a result, not infrequently people think that the disease is caused by sorcery or the science of witchcraft.
Lois N. Magner, a historian in medical science tells this story in her book, A History of Infectious Diseases and the Microbial World ". The public's belief in supernatural powers or the science of witchcraft to cause illness has even existed since 3500 years ago. Ancient Indian myths, for example, believed that disease existed because of occult forces so that "smart people" and the gods had to work together to fight Satan to cure him.
But thanks to the advancement of technology and medical science, now humans can know the origin and causes of various diseases as well as their treatment. Here are five real diseases that are recognized by the world of modern medicine, even though they were once thought to be due to the use of magic science.
Not magic, not magic: five diseases that look like magic witchcraft, even though there are real medical conditions
1. Epilepsy
Certain cultures still have the belief that when a person actually seizes he is possessed by an evil spirit, but in fact the seizure is purely a medical condition.
Epilepsy or what is known by the public as ayan, is a chronic brain nerve disorder characterized by spontaneous recurrent seizures. Not all seizures are epilepsy, but usually every epilepsy is always characterized by seizures.
Some types of seizures have symptoms such as the body is still frozen or stiffens that often comes suddenly. Symptoms of epilepsy like this sometimes make the patient stop what is being done. The sufferer's facial expression can appear empty and confused, not even responding to his surroundings. This is where the assumption of epilepsy as an effect of the use of magic science.
2. Mental disorders
Mental disorder is a big term that covers many mental illnesses. Some examples include depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, trauma, and eating disorders. One of the most common mental illnesses found in Indonesia is schizophrenia, or what people know as "crazy".
Mental disorders themselves have very broad symptoms depending on what conditions they suffer, with varying degrees of severity in each sufferer. The common thing is to feel hopeless and always sad, want to stay away from society, even angry and angry. Not a few people who see this as a symptom of the use of magic science, even attached genie since childhood.
Even the ancient stigma of Indonesian society towards this mental disorder is still inherent today. In 2014 it was reported that there were 1274 cases of mental disorders in Indonesia.
3. Fetus-in-fetu
Fetus-in-fetu is a very rare occurrence. This happens because of it malformed fetus or a fetus that develops imperfectly attaches or is in a person's body. Supposedly, this person was his twin brother since in his mother's womb first. Because it is in the body, sometimes the sufferer just realizes after he grows up.
In 2006 in India, a 9-year-old child had a lump on his body. After checking with ultrasound and CT scan on his body, a fetal mass with bone and surrounding tissue was seen with a size of about 10 × 10 cm. Once removed, there are even 30cm long hair.
4. Poisoning Ergot fungus
Ergot fungus or Claviceps purpurea is a fungus that attacks wheat plants. The attacked wheat plant will turn black. If this is eaten, the eater will experience symptoms such as muscle pain, vomiting, hallucinations, and skin like being scratched. These symptoms are recorded inside Salem witch trials.
Salem witch trials is one of the most well-known cases in early modern times. This event occurred in colonial America in 1692-1693 which resulted in nearly 300 accused and 30 people being sentenced to hang because of the spread of strange symptomatic diseases. At present, experts suspect that the disease that occurred at that time occurred because their crops were attacked Ergot fungus.
Researchers found that a series of symptoms above were caused by the active substance ergot alkaloids (lysergic acid) that are present in the fungus. As the era evolves, lysergic acid is the basis of the emergence of LSD (Lysergyc Acid Diethylamide), a hallucinogenic type of synthetic narcotics that can cause severe hallucinations on its users. LSD is made from dried ergot mushroom juice.
5. Lethargica encephalitis
Encephalitis lethargica or also called disease von Economo is a disease that has no known cause. Encephalitis lethargica has symptoms of high fever, headache, even the absence of physical and mental responses. In addition, sufferers also experience abnormal eye movements, weakness of the upper body, muscle aches, tremors, stiff neck, behavior changes even to coma.
In the years 1917-1928 the epidemic of encephalitis lethargica spread throughout the world. Recorded up to thousands of people affected by this disease experience Parkinson's afterwards. The strange symptoms, rapid spread, until the sudden disappearance of the epidemic make people afraid and think this is the work of a sorcerer who uses the science of witchcraft.
