Dede Koswara : Better known “The Tree Man”

The story of Dede’s condition begins 30 years ago when he was 10 years old. Whilst out in the forest near his home on the island of Java in Indonesia, Dede cut his knee whilst out in the forest. Shortly afterwards, small warts sprouted around the wound, which eventually spread to his feet and hands.

As he grew older, his warts continued to grow. Eventually the sheer number and size of them meant that his ability to carry out his job as a tradesman suffered, and though the warts didn’t hurt or itch, they gave off a sickening odour. At 28, Dede’s wife of 10 years left him as he became unable to work to support her and their two children.

Dede ended up travelling with a circus to earn a living. It was whilst he was there, that a photo of him posted online attracted the attention of a group of documentary makers who sought the advice of dermatologist Anthony Gaspari, about what was causing his condition.

The cause of the condition is an inactivating HP mutation in either the EVER1 or EVER2 genes, which are located adjacent to one another on chromosome 17. The precise function of these genes is not yet fully understood, but they play a role in regulating the distribution of zinc in the cell nucleus. It has been shown that zinc is a necessary cofactor for many viral proteins, and that the activity of EVER1/EVER2 complex appears to restrict the access of viral proteins to cellular zinc stores, limiting their growth.

 Dede suffered from a tongue-twister of a disease known as Epidermodysplasia verruciformis. What this means is that he has an abnormal susceptibility to human pappilomaviruses. Human pappilomaviruses (HPVs) are extremely easy to contract, and it has been suggested that up to 80% of people may be infected, though they show no symptoms. There are around 200 known types of HPV, but the majority have no noticeable affect. In rare instances, it can lead to certain forms of cancer, but the most common result of an HPV infection is your simple, everyday wart.

For 20 years, the case has baffled doctors. While scientists understand the cause of his problem, nobody has been able to truly cure it yet. In 2007, Dede made international news when he hit the Internet and was featured in “My Shocking Story” on the Discovery Channel and TLC. (This show is “Extraordinary People” in the United Kingdom.) Later, in 2008, he was the subject of an episode of the popular program “Medical Mystery” as well.

The "Tree Man of Java" is now able to send text messages and eat from his hands after operations to remove growths from his hands and feet.

Ricky McCormick's Strange Encryption

Ricky McCormick is a man that died in St. Charles County, Missouri.  His body was discovered on June 30, 1999.  At the time of his death, Ricky had a collection of encrypted notes in his pocket.  All attempts by the FBI’s Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU) and the American Cryptogram Association have failed to decipher the notes, which are listed as one of the CRRU’s top unsolved cases.  On March 29, 2011, the FBI issued an appeal for help from the public in obtaining the meaning of the messages.
Ricky McCormick was a high school dropout who suffered from chronic heart and lung problems.  He was unemployed, on disability welfare, and 41 years old at the time of his death.  Originally, McCormick’s death was not labeled a homicide and there was no indication that anyone had a motive to kill him.  In 1999, he was not reported missing by anyone and Ricky’s body was discovered by someone driving along a deserted field road.  News stories in 1999 did not mention anything about the cipher messages, which were not announced until 12 years later.
Investigators believe the notes in McCormick’s pants pockets were written three days before his death.  The two notes are written in an unknown code consisting of “a jumble of letters and numbers occasionally set off with parentheses” and are believed by the FBI to possibly lead to those responsible for McCormick’s death.  The case is bizarre as McCormick’s death was never officially listed as a murder.  The FBI’s interest in the case after 12 years is intriguing.

Interesting Fact
According to members of his family, McCormick created encrypted notes since he was a boy.  Nobody had the ability to decipher the codes and McCormick would not speak about them.  The FBI has received a large response from the public and has set up an extra Internet page to handle the traffic.

Edward Mordrake suffering from Craniopagus parasiticus

Edward Mordrake was reportedly a young man that lived during the 19th century.  At birth, Edward was stricken with a bizarre medical condition.  He was born with an extra face on the back of his head.  The face could laugh and cry, but not eat or speak.  Edward begged his doctors to have the “demon head” removed, because it whispered Satanist language to him at night.  However, no doctor would attempt it.  The description of Edward Mordrake’s condition is somewhat similar to those of Chang Tzu Ping and Pasqual Pinon.  Both Mordrake and Pinon are featured in The Book of Lists (1976).

Sadly, Edward Mordrake committed suicide at the age of 23.  It is hard to establish the true facts behind his condition because of the lack of reliable medical records.  His birth was not recorded and conflicting accounts exist regarding his suicide, as well as the placement and position of his extra face.  Much of what is known about Mordrake is based on oral retelling.  A viral image does exist that supposedly shows Edward, but the picture can’t be authenticated.  In 2002, Tom Waits wrote a song about Edward Mordrake titled “Poor Edward” for his opera Alice.

Interesting Fact

Craniopagus parasiticus is a medical condition in which a parasitic twin head with an undeveloped body is attached to the head of a developed twin, giving the impression of two heads.  There have been ten documented cases of this phenomenon.  However, at least eighty different accounts have been written about in history.

Meet the man with the world's stretchiest skin

The 41-year-old suffers from an extreme case of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that has weakened his skin.

In most cases the disorder weakens people's joints and blood vessels and affects around one in 10,000 people. Mr Turner's strain is very rare.

He told ABC News: If you 'look at your own skin cells under a microscope, they'd be nice and round and lock in many places. But my skin cells tend to be more jagged, and don't fit together quite so well. The best way to describe it is I'm built rather like a badly woven basket, if you can imagine that, which will pull apart."

Luckily for Turner, his skin doesn't unravel when pulled — instead it stretches far enough away from his body as to allow him to carry up to three pints of beer at once on his belly flap.

Turner suffers from an extreme case of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can severely weaken a person's joints, blood vessels and in Turner's case, skin. The disorder, which most commonly attacks a person's joints, affects about one in 10,000 people. However, the odds of Turner's special variety of the disease are astronomical. Turner's condition was obvious from the day he was born. "The midwife said that I had very loose skin, and that was the only clue [my mother] remembers … I had loose skin."

Growing up, Turner loved sports, but injuries were constant until his condition was diagnosed at age 13.

"I used to get horrendous bruising when I used to take a knock, and a blood vessel would burst," he said. "The blood would just keep pumping and pumping, and there's no tension in the skin to hold the bleeding. The physicians just thought I was a hemophiliac."

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Turner actively promotes the Circus of Horrors on British television, often accompanied by the circus ringmaster, who goes by the name "Dr. Haze

Chang Tzu Ping:The two headed man

You know, it’s not often that I’m stunned into silence by what I see on the internet. Meet Chang Tzu Ping, a man from small village in China who was born with the face (consisting of a mouth with a rudimentary tongue and several teeth, a bristly patch of scalp, and vestiges of eyes, nose, and ears) of a partially formed twin attached to his own.Also known as two-Faced Chang, was born with two faces. His second face, on the right side of his head, consisted of a mouth and teeth. The rest of the mouth and throat were not fully developed. The second face also had traces of scalp, eyes, nose, and ears. When Chang would open his mouth on his first head, the second mouth would also open. the reason why chang had a second face is because he had a condition called fetus infetu, which causes one twin to form inside the body of the other twin. in most cases, the twin is a complete fetus inside the living twin, but in chang's case, his twin partially developed outside his body. in another case of fetus infetu, a baby was born with his unborn twin's foot in his brain. chang's second face was eventually removed, along with the rest of his twin. the only remaining sign of the surgery is chang's right ear, which was deformed to compinsate for his extra mouth. the large black mass on chang's face was most likely the location of his twin's brain.

Girl with a strange hair brushing syndrome

Sounds strange but in this strange world there are people who have to face the worse.We all know Combing the hair is part of every teenager’s daily routine.

This Scottish schoolgirl has been given a dire warning that she could die by simply brushing her hair.

Megan Stewart dices with death each time she combs her locks or touches balloons because of an extremely rare medical condition.

The 13-year-old suffers from Hair Brushing Syndrome, which was only discovered by her mother as she was getting her daughter ready for her first day at primary six.

Brave Megan Stewart is also at risk if she wears polyester clothing and can't touch balloons at parties as static electricity could cause her brain to shut down.

And her mum Sharon said: "When we comb her hair, we have to lay her down and cover her head with water to stop any static building up.

"She can't rub balloons on her head at parties and she can't wear any shiny clothing."

The condition came to light in 2008 as Megan got ready for her first day in primary six.

Little is known about the condition, but it's thought it may be a result of birth complications.

Sharon, of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia three months before she was due to give birth.

It meant there was a problem with the placenta, leaving her with dangerously high blood pressure, and she had to have an emergency caesarian.

The teenager, from Wishaw, Lanarkshire, was rushed to Wishaw General Hospital where it was diagnosed and it is thought the little-known illness may be a result of her birth complications.

Megan was born weighing just 2lb 5oz and fit in the palm of a man’s hand.

She had a diaphragmatic hernia, or a hole in her diaphragm.

This meant her stomach moved right up through and into her chest, only allowing space for one lung to grow.

But the bizarre condition means Megan now has to avoid static charges in her day-to-day life.

Megan, also suffers from asthma and a condition called dorsal stream dysfunction, which makes it difficult to see fast-moving objects, like footballs.

'She really did defy all odds. She’s a little miracle.'

Case of Didier Montalvo suffering from Congenital Melanocytic Nevus,popularly the turtle boy

Little Didier Montalvo suffered from Congenital Melanocytic Nevus, which meant a mole grew so large it almost entirely covered his back.

The boy’s mole grew so big that by the age of six it covered his entire back like a turtle’s shell, earning him the nickname of Turtle Boy.The rare birthmark - congenital melanocytic nevus – affects around 1 in 20,000 new born babies but a top surgeon described Didier Montalvo’s condition as the worst he’d ever seen.

Didier’s life was severely affected by the growth, covering more than half of his body circumference, both in the painful itchiness of his skin and how it affected his confidence.

He and his family were shunned by villagers in his home in rural Colombia in South America and his mother Luz was even told it was her fault for looking at a solar eclipse while pregnant.

 

 The six-year-old, from Colombia, was teased and banned from going to school because of the growth.

Locals in his village feared he had been cursed by evil forces because he was conceived during an eclipse.

And mum Luz could not afford to pay for surgery to help rid her son of the birthmark blighting his life.

But when plastic surgeon Neil Bulstrode, from Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, heard about the boy’s plight, he and his team flew to capital Bogotá to operate on him.





They eventually managed to remove the mole with a series of skin grafts.

Mr Bulstrode said: "Didier's was the worst case I had ever seen. Effectively three quarters of the circumference of his body was affected.

"Obviously he has had to go through a number of painful operations, but we feel it was worth it. It’s great to see the photos of how Didier is getting on now. I'm really happy with how things have healed."

Didier had said: "I want to grow up. But the mole won't let me."

A Chinese Man Living with Massive Hole in His Head

China’s Huanqiu website recently posted pictures of incredible people living with holes in their heads.

This man from Sichuan was in some sort of accident that left a fist-sized hole in his head.

This photo was taken in Taiyuan, China on the street, where you can clearly see the man getting along in a wheelchair, despite the massive hole in his head.

We have been unable to find out how it happened or what effect it has had on the man, but you have to admire this man’s courage and strength to continue living


These pictures were found on the website unfortunately there weren’t any information on what happened to this man’s head, but one thing is for sure that he has been into a serious accident. I’m not even sure if there is enough space on his head for the Brain.But as per my view . First of all that hole is not due to accident its made by d surgeon. This surgery is called craniotomy. After an accident with head injury the intra cranial pressure increases that can damage brain tissue to reduce that pressure a part of skull is removed and preserved for replacement until d pressure is reduced this may take a few days to months till then the skin is replaced and as the pressure comes down the skull part is reattached.Though real but very shocking.



Reference:
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2012/07/10/hole-head-lives/