Book: Legends or rare diseases?
Book summary
“At the root of many legends lies a certain reality. Just think of the various legendary characters our storytellers have been referring to for centuries: fairies, elves, goblins, giants, dwarves, vampires, werewolves and other curious creatures. Throughout the world, descriptions of similar beings are regularly reported and found in the memories of all peoples. But what if the source of the description of many legendary beings was the observation of people suffering from rare diseases? We know that certain illnesses alter the appearance of those affected. If the disease is relatively well-known, there’s nothing surprising about it. On the other hand, if an individual has a disease so rare that there are only a handful of cases worldwide, it’s obvious that, in the past, a change in his appearance could lead those around him to consider a curse or a spell, or to believe that he could be a creature of an unknown race. Based on this hypothesis, the author has taken the time to list the rare and strange illnesses from which a normal human being could have suffered, sometimes leading him to resemble a being that frightened his contemporaries.
This book is about unusual beings: from the Vichy anencephalus (on the cover), a brainless creature born to a 16-year-old girl whose father was thought to be an ape, to the children known as frog babies because of their appearance. Or how about the rat-men of Pakistan, who, although normal in childhood, grow up to display a physical transformation and aggressiveness that surprises those around them. Joseph Merrick, to whom several books and a film have been dedicated, needs no introduction. The disease known as neurofibromatosis is said to be responsible for the appearance of the man nicknamed the Elephant Man (on the cover), with which, in the case studied by Merrick, Proteus syndrome is also associated. The unusual appearance of these human beings, like the diseases that once surprised our ancestors with their physical transformations, is the author’s quest.
This book is a search for explanations of legendary tales through a medical exploration that can lead to an understanding of what our ancestors observed but could only interpret according to the knowledge available at the time. “
