TECH WORLD

We’ve all had to deal with the coughing, sneezing, itchy eyes, a rash or some other skin irritation, and maybe even hives. And for what? Usually do to some substance that our body is allergic to, causing annoying and sometimes painful symptoms.

It’s safe to say that most people are allergic to something. Whether it be pet dander, dust, chocolate, or that lovely yellow powdery substance we like to call pollen, most people have to deal with being allergic to one thing or another. Being allergic to dust or pollen or certain types of foods seems common these days, but can you imagine being allergic to something else? Say…the sun? Here’s a list of the top ten oddest allergies.

10. Wood

Wood allergies can definitely be troublesome. While people are allergic to certain types of wood or sawdust, there are cases when people are allergic to any type of wood in many types of forms, whether it is dust or solid. Along with wood allergies comes the fact that you can’t touch paper, use a pencil, or be a lumberjack! The allergy can be so strong that it can cause the skin to look as if it was burned. In most cases wood allergies cause skin irritation, coughing, sneezing, and hives.

9. Plastic

In today’s world, I can’t imagine being allergic to plastic. As more everyday items are being turned into plastic items in order to be recycled, being allergic to plastic definitely has to be a hassle. Having plastic dermatitis means no drinking from water bottles, no Tupperware, certain types of glasses can’t be worn, no credit cards, or even plastic utensils. This allergy usually causes skin irritation such as a rash, swelling, redness, or itching.

8. Nickel – Nickel dermatitis

Nickel dermatitis  is said to affect about 1% of the population today. While not a rare allergy, this allergy has become more widely known as the use of cell phones and other technical gadgets has skyrocketed. As more people use cell phones and iPods, there are more cases of nickel allergies popping up throughout the world. An allergy to nickel can make life hard, as many everyday items usually contain it. For instance, coins, jewelry, certain types of clothing, scissors, kitchen utensils, and even metal chairs.

7. Caffeine

Caffeine intolerance is a pretty common ailment. However, there are people that cannot ingest the smallest amount of caffeine without having to deal with life threatening allergic reactions. We all know caffeine to be the wonder drug when we need a little energy boost during the day. Those allergic to caffeine can experience delusions, anxiety attacks, hallucinations, muscle jerks, rashes, hives, heart palpitations, and blurry vision. Some even experience seizures which can be deadly.

6. Kissing

Sometimes a kiss isn’t just a kiss. This is exactly the case for those who are said to be allergic to kissing. No we’re not talking about a dwindling marriage either. Though this allergy doesn’t mean one is allergic to another’s lips or…tongue, the person who suffers from this allergy is usually one with a severe food or medicinal allergy. Because of the close contact and sharing of saliva, food particles or particles from medicine can be left in the mouth, causing an allergic reaction in some.

5. Computers – Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

Allergies to computers seems almost impossible these days, and even more impossible to imagine. However, computer users have complained or nasal congestion, sneezing, itching, and even headaches after using the computer. Studies have found that computer monitors and other parts contain a chemical called triphenyl phosphate, which is used as a flame retardant. Fortunately, levels of the chemical usually decrease after the computer is used for a longer amount of time.

4.  Exercise – Anaphylaxis

You’ve probably heard someone joke and say that they are allergic to exercise out of the mere cost of being funny and probably lazy. However, there is in fact a real allergy that makes some allergic to exercising. Only 1,000 people are said to have the allergy. Called exercise-induced anaphylaxis, this allergy is only noticed after someone eats a certain type of food, say peanuts, and goes to exercise. That person can easily eat peanuts without having a reaction, but when exercise is added, the person may experience fainting, vomiting and difficulty breathing.

3. Cold – Familial Cold Autoinflammatory Syndrome

Not many people love being in the cold, but imagine being allergic to it. Known as familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome (FCAS) or simply cold urticaria, this allergy is caused by cold temperatures. The cold weather will trigger the body to release histamine in the skin which causes rashes, hives, redness, and swelling. This condition can be deadly, especially if undiagnosed, as most people may at times swim in a cold pool or take a cool shower. Both of these can cause the body to go into shock.

2. Sun – Erythropoietic Protoporphyria

It is very rare that people are allergic to the sun, but the allergy does exist. It is said that only 300 people in the world are allergic to the sun. It’s medically known as solar urticaria. There is also a more serious condition known as erythropoietic protoporphyria. When exposed to direct sunlight, the immune system activates inflammatory cells that are within the skin. Most people allergic to the sun are told to limit their exposure and to wear sun block. Others need to wear special clothing or avoid the sun at all costs.

1. Water – Aquagenic Urticaria

Known as aquagenic urticaria, this condition is said to only affect one out of every 23 million people in the world. Being allergic to water is extremely rare, and most that are allergic to it are confined to their homes. Being allergic to water means being allergic to sweat as well as tears, and even allergic to foods that contain water, such as juices, tea, and coffee. This means that bathing and showering are extremely difficult. The person is hypersensitive to the ions found in non-distilled water, so most have to be very careful when drinking water, or they drink non-distilled water. Here is an article from an actual case of aquagenic urticaria.

While we’ve all heard of diseases, seen someone with a disease, and had a disease personally, it’s unlikely that we’ve encountered a rare disease. In the non-medical world, people use and interchange disease to mean infection, sickness, illness, or something similar. In the medical world, a disease is an abnormal condition that impairs bodily functions and is often associated with certain signs and symptoms.

Also called an orphan disease, rare diseases are those that are extremely uncommon and often have such low prevalence that a common doctor would not run into more than one case of that disease over a course of years, if ever. Here is a list of 10 diseases that rarely affect people.

Warning: Some of these images are disturbing, younger readers or those not wishing to see these images may want to look at some of the smartest animals.

10. Morgellons

Today, Morgellons stands as a very poorly understood disease that some doctors seem to believe if a chronic infectious disease. Sadly, the disease is usually disfiguring as well as disabling. The disease is classified by biting, itching, or crawling sensations, filaments that grow from the skin, and skin lesions, as well as memory loss, joint paint, and fatigue. Morgellons is still not recognized by the entire medical community, but there have been about 2,000 people within the U.S. who believe they suffer from the disease. Some of the reports are children, who are said to be unable to do normal things such as going to school or playing sports. There is no known cure or effective treatment for Morgellons.

9. Paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP)

Though there are many forms of pemphigus, paraneoplastic pemphigus is the least common and most serious. PNP is a rare autoimmune bullous disease that causes blistering. Keratinocytes, which are what make up the epidemus, separate from each other, leaving gaps. Many times the gaps become filled with fluid peel off, leaving the skin raw and open to infection. These blisters usually appear in the mouth, throat, lips, and random places on the skin. The disease is also extremely fatal, as 90% of those diagnosed with the disease die due to sepsis, multi-organ failure, or cancer that caused the disease.

8. Microcephaly

Microcephaly is a very rare condition that is noticeable immediately at birth, and sometimes even before. It affects 1 in every 666,666 in the U.S. With microcephaly, the brain is unable to develop properly, or in some cases ceases to grow at all, while the baby is still in the womb. This causes the head to be smaller than a normal infant’s head at birth. Many believe that the disease is caused by exposure to harmful substances while in the womb, exposure to radiation, or genetic problems. The disease is usually paired with Down’s syndrome. Those who have microcephaly are usually mentally retarded and will have issues with hyperactivity, dwarfism, seizures, balance issues, speech and motor problems, as well as others.

7. Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)

Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) is said to affect one in 35,000 people. It is an extremely rare genetic condition that is characterized by the growth of tumors in different parts of the body. Many of the tumors will grow within the central nervous system and are often benign, but are made of blood vessels. Medically known as hemangioblastomas, these tumors can start to grow in the retina, the brain, and the spinal cord. Different tumors are also known to grow on the pancreas, adrenal glands, and kidneys. If left untreated, the disease can cause strokes, heart attacks, and cardiovascular disease.

6. Kuru

As rare as it is, Kuru is one disease that is fatal. However, it is so rare that the disease is confined to an area in New Guinea, more specifically the Fore tribe that lives in the highlands. The disease came about as a result of cannibalism, which is a ritualistic practice in which the tissues of others, especially the brain, were cooked and consumed. Those affected with the disease usually become unable to eat or stand, and then about 6-12 months later die in a comatose state. It is said that about 1,100 people died from Kuru during the 1950s and 60s. Because of government intervention and a wide-spread effort to end cannibalism, Kuru has now mostly disappeared.

5. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP)

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare genetic disease that affects the connective tissue. The disease is said to only affect 1 in 2 million people. Around the world there have been 700 confirmed cases of the disease, 285 of those being in the U.S. FOP is classified when the body causes fibrous tissue, such as ligament, muscle, and tendons, to become ossified, or to change into bone when damaged. This means that a fall can cause bone to grow within the muscles and tendons throughout the body. FOP stands as the only disease known that causes one type of organ system to turn into an entirely different one. At birth, the classic symptom of the disease is a malformation of the big toe. There is no known treatment for FOP, as surgery to get rid of the bone, seems to cause the body to produce even more.

4. Fields’ disease

Fields’ disease is said to be the rarest disease in the world. It is named after two twins, Catherine and Kirstie Fields from Wales. The disease doesn’t have a medical name, but doctors have been able to call it a neuromuscular disease. The muscles within the body slowly deteriorate, which limits movements. The girls’ disease has been studied by doctors from all over. Because the disease is so rare and unknown, doctors aren’t sure what will happen next. The disease has since limited the lives of the girls, binding them to wheelchairs and making a simple task such as writing, hard.

3. Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria

Usually known as just Progeria, this condition is one that only affects one in about 8 million children born. Most born with the condition only live to be about 13, while others have been able to live into their early twenties. Progeria is a genetic condition that occurs due to a new mutation characterized by the dramatic, rapid appearance of aging beginning in childhood. In most cases, the disease is not inherited, though there has been a case of a similar condition where the parents carry the protein genetically and then pass it on to their children. There is no cure for Progeria, though doctors have tried growth hormone treatment as well as anticancer drugs. Usually doctors try to focus on reducing complications of the disease.

2. Polio

First known and recognized in 1840, polio is a disease that is spread from person to person, or through the means of contaminated food or water. Most cases of polio exhibit no symptoms, unless the disease is introduced through the blood stream. In most cases, polio causes paralysis and muscle weakness. Though a widely spread disease during the early 90’s, polio has since became eradicated in 36 countries. In 2002 Europe stated that it has no seen a case of polio since the poliovirus vaccine. Only four countries in the world as of 2006 still consider polio to be an endemic.

1. Smallpox

We’ve all heard about smallpox, probably more so about the vaccine itself, which today is rarely used unless there is a high-risk of the disease. It is said that smallpox may have been around in as early as 10,000BC. Smallpox is characterized by a high fever, fatigue, and a rash with flat red sores that can eventually cover the entire body. Many believe that smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases, killing around 300-500 million in the 20th century, in 400,000 each year throughout the 18th century. However, due to immunization worldwide, the last reported case of smallpox was in 1977. Because of this, the disease is said to be extremely rare. Today, the threat of smallpox still exists, but in the form of bioterrorism.

Read about more bizarre medical conditions.

Okay, it’s that time of the year again when the entire universe conspires to get you sick. You have tried all chemical permutations and combinations, exercised regularly and even gulped down many of grandma’s home-made concoctions.  Perhaps, it’s time to give some alternate healing methods a chance? No, we are not talking about Yoga, Tai Chi or Acupuncture. We are going to go deep, in to a world where people will use your urine, birthing memory or even your ear to treat your health problems. Here are our top ten weird alternative remedies.

10. Ho’oponopono

For those of you who have had many stormy arguments and heated discussions, Ho’oponopono will take time, a lot of time. This Hawaiian practice believes that the roots of an illness lie in disputes, anger or even guilt. The healing process targets these evils and calls for forgiveness and reconciliation. The magical words to be uttered here are “sorry” and “let’s make up” for the healing to begin.

9. Urine Therapy

Urine is considered a miraculous curative in many parts of the world. In some pockets of China, it is used as a baby’s face wash to protect the skin. In India, it even got a brand ambassador: the country’s Prime Minister, Morarji Desai attributed his good health to daily pint of urine.

8. Ear Candling

This process is also called thermal auricular therapy, probably to make it sound like a normal healing method. The attempt is absolutely futile because lighting up one end of a candle and placing the other end in to your ear is something very far from normal. Most of the leading health organizations strongly dissuade people from trying this therapy.

7. Rebirthing-Breathwork

Does your mom always remind you about the immense pain she suffered to bring you into this world? Here is something you can tell her, too. According to Leonard Orr, who developed this breathing technique, being born is a very traumatic experience for a baby. He felt that through some sort of connected breathing, you can relive your birth and heal the stressful event. This, he claimed, improved overall health of the patient.

6. Beer Spa

In some parts of this planet, you can have your bath and drink it, too. Don’t start hiccuping bubbles, it’s not soap suds we are talking about. This bath is full of beer. Many beer spas have recently sprung up in Czech Republic, Germany and Austria to rejuvenate people through their enticing beer-bath weekend offers.

5. Psychic Surgery

Scalpel, scissors, surgical staplers, anesthesia…We can go on but these words are enough to paint a picture of a helpless person strapped down in an operating room under the mercy of a complete stranger. The idea then of a surgery that does not require any body-poking objects whatsoever is really appealing. It has found many believers in countries like Brazil and Philippines. The process involves pressing and touching the diseased area of the body to heal it. Blood or tissue-like substances might be produced to make it look believable.

4. Virtual Dolphin Therapy

This is a tailor-made healing therapy in times of recession. You don’t need to spend fortunes on a therapist; an imaginary dolphin can do an equally good job. Welcome to the world of virtual dolphin therapy. Lie down on a couch but don’t close your eyes this time. All you need to do is watch dolphins frolicking in deep sea and hear the sounds of waves and ocean. The treatment claims to bring about a deep state of relaxation and rejuvenation.

3. Bee Sting Therapy

Yes, you read it right. The treatment involves stinging yourself away to a healed state. The practitioners of the system believe that bee venom has anti-inflammatory properties that can be used in illnesses like arthritis and keloids. Depending upon the condition, the patient might be subjected to any number of bee stings.

2. Past Life Regression

This is as weird as it can get. A person can blame his gluten allergy to something like death in wheat fields in his past life. Practitioners induce hypnosis in patients to help them recollect their past life memories. These “doctors” claim to heal the roots of existing health problems by helping to find out the unresolved issues in previous lives.

1. Snake Massage Therapy

This therapy makes a massage sound anything but relaxing. A heap of non-venomous snakes are piled on your body. Their slithering and crawling actions are supposed to give you that ultimate soothing sensation to your tired and aching body. Don’t worry if your facial muscles have stretched in horror because these spas offer you special small snakes to work on those areas as well.

by Deepa Mankani sponsored by Chiropractor Service

Celebrities and addiction continue to be media’s favorite cocktail. But it’s not the Courtney Loves and Nicole Richies that excites them anymore. Alcoholics and drug addicts do get coverage on the inside pages and the last sections of news bulletins, but the headlines have now been grabbed by other modern addictions. Interventions targeted towards other forms of behavioral addiction are just as essential as the drug addiction interventions being done to help people who are hooked on drugs.

Don’t we all want updates on Tigers Woods’ sex addiction, Lindsay Lohan’s shopping sprees and Donatella Versace’s “want-to-look-like-an-alien” addiction? Sorry, we messed up with Versace- addiction to plastic surgery would be a more apt description.

But it’s not just the celebrities bringing these addictions to the headlines, are you a victim to any of the ten listed below?

10. Workaholism (Work Addiction)

Workaholics often earn respect in the modern commercial world, where every second is your chance to earn more. But this excessive commitment to labor draws every bit of energy from the addict. The lines between hard work and workaholism begin to blur. Workaholics, like other addicts, get a reality jolt only when something critical happens to their health and relationships.

In Japan, they have a word for that fatal blow. It’s called Karoshi or “death by overwork”. The phenomenon created a stir when in 1980’s a few Japanese executives died without any history of illness.

Workaholic Anonymous, a self-help group, provides a 12-step treatment plan for workaholics.

9. Love Addiction

There is only one a slight difference between a love addict and a jilted lover. The love addict will never let it go, affecting his health and relationships until he falls in love again (and that might take a long time).

A recent CNN report (“Love Addiction – How To Break It”) quoted Psychology Today, explaining how infatuation can produce a rise in phenylethylamine (PEA), a neurological chemical that gives euphoria when someone falls in love.

The report also featured the study done by anthropologist Helen Fisher who found that people who are infatuated share symptoms with cocaine abusers, like sleeplessness and loss of sense of time.

The addiction has fueled the growth of self-help groups and therapists trained in love addiction. Currently, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous offers a 12-step program for recovery.

8. Television Addiction

“The problem with television is that people must sit and keep their eyes glued to the screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it. Therefore the showmen are convinced that for this reason, if no other, television will never be a serious competitor of broadcasting” (New York Time Editorial, 1939).

Today, an average American watches his TV set for more than four hours a day, if one A.C. Nielson Co. survey is to be believed. This means that by the age of sixty-five this sad old man would have spent nine years of his life glued to the “idiot box”.

TV addicts share many clinical abuse symptoms like helplessness in putting an end to the addiction, using television to soothe nerves, and irritability when forced to discontinue the habit.

7. Teeth Whitening Addiction

They have been called bleaching junkies and they have made teeth whitening the top requested cosmetic dental procedure in the U.S. (American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry). There has been a 300 per cent growth in the number of people who get hooked on to teeth whitening products and treatments. The consequences are as horrible as in other addictions. Excessive teeth sensitivity, bleeding gums, and transparent teeth are common complaints at dentists’ clinics. The treatment involves making the patients more confident about their appearance and smile.

6. Exercise Addiction

A compulsive excessive exerciser seems like a creature from another planet to those of us who need an earthquake to move us off of our couches. However, this species does exist and is as human as the rest of us. The only difference is that even an earthquake would find it difficult to dislodge these addicts from their treadmills.

Exercise addiction statistics are hard to find because it usually co-exists with other eating disorders. Like other addicts, the treadmill abusers sacrifice their health and social life for their addiction.

A study published by Behavioral Neuroscience in August 2009 found similarities between excessive running and drug-abuse behavior.

5. Oniomania (Shopping Addiction)

If you type “Lindsay Lohan shopping” into Google Image search, you will be flooded by over 1.3 million results. A popular tabloid even claimed that Lohan has turned to a hypnotist to cure her shopping addiction.

It’s not just celebrities who are afflicted by this addiction: we don’t have to look far to find Oniomaniacs or compulsive shoppers in almost every neighborhood and family. Compulsive shopping can often lead to hoarding and requires help through hoarding treatment centers. According to a 2006 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, compulsive buying affects more than 1 in 20 American adults.

This impulse to buy beyond needs or means has been linked to depression and has led many shopaholics to the brink of bankruptcy.

4. Tanorexia (Tanning Addiction)

Thank goodness for Donatella Versace. Not for her fashion line, but for her recent images that have deterred many people from falling prey to a tanning addiction. The medical community is concerned about tanning, and advises against the use of tanning beds. “The International Agency for Research on Cancer has raised their warning of tanning beds from “probably carcinogenic to humans” to “carcinogenic to humans” (livescience.com). Yet, tanorexia (or tanning addiction) continues to be a problem, especially among women.

Addicts might feel that they are just getting a healthy glow, but a 2006 study at Wake Forest University study found that the UV rays of tanning beds produce feel-good endorphins in body. So, a disruption in tanning schedules triggers withdrawal symptoms like in cases of alcohol/drug abuse.

3. Sex Addiction

The story doing rounds is that Tiger Woods is being treated at a behavioral health and addiction center in Hattiesburg because he just couldn’t get enough sex.  The craving for sexual gratification is as old as human history. But modern dysfunctional families are often blamed for turning a human urge into sexually compulsive behavior, and some feel that easy Internet access has only added to the woes.

The American Psychological Association does not put sex addiction under a disorder that can be diagnosed. But growing numbers of self-help groups and sex recovery centers like Sexual compulsive Anonymous and Sex Addicts Anonymous show a problem that is present and needs medical attention.

2. Internet Addiction

If you have been online for hours at stretch, browsing through the net aimlessly and do not want to shut down your PC, it is probably okay for now. But if this happens to be your daily routine, a disruption in which leaves you irritable, you might be suffering from an Internet Addiction Disorder (IA).

Psychiatrists world over are acknowledging the mood-altering effects of online pornography, gambling, gaming, networking, blogging, etc.  In some countries, Internet addiction has become a serious social problem. A South Korean government survey of 2007 found that 30 per cent of its citizens under 18 were in danger of becoming Internet addicts. Here in the U.S., a residential treatment center opened its doors for Internet addicts in 2009.  Located near Seattle, Washington, it is called ReStart and offers a 45-day program for recovery.

1. Plastic Surgery Addiction

When God gives you lemons, make lemonades. This is past tense. Now, when God gives you lemons, you can turn them into anything of any dimension.

Negative body image is driving hordes of people under the surgical knife. A little nip, a bit of a tuck, some enlargement, and a whole lot of alignment…People are doing everything and paying anything to get closer to perfection.

In 2006, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons warned its members about patients with a body dysmorphic disorder or “imagined ugly syndrome”. Aesthetic surgery is an unending journey for these addicts because they are never happy with the results. The organization reported an alarming study that found forty percent of Botox users admitting to being lured by the attraction of continued treatment.

The image of Jocelyn Wildenstein, an American socialite who has spent millions to get the perfect look, mirrors the horrors of being a plastic surgery addict.

Visit Narconon today for help with your addiction.

by Mankani Deepa