Top 10 Bizarre Sleep Disorders

June 27, 2009 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Medical · 2 Comments 

Sometimes we don’t get enough, sometimes too much, and others we get just the right amount; but everyone needs sleep and no one can avoid it for too long. It is the single best way way to refresh the body and to relieve daily stress and tension. There’s nothing better than being able to lie in a nice bed at night after a long day drift into a peaceful sleep.

While we all do it, it is very complex in its own nature, being classified into four stages and two types, REM sleep and NREM sleep. During sleep the brain is extremely active, as we dream. However, while some of us dream, others have to deal with a variety of sleep disorders. Sleep disorders are common, and you’ve probably heard of many, but here are some weird sleep disorders that may open your eyes. So relax and enjoy a top 10 list of bizarre sleep disorders. Don’t let them keep you up at night.

10. Sleep Bruxism

stop-teeth-grinding-sleep

More commonly known as teeth grinding, sleep bruxism is when someone, while sleeping, is known to clench or grind their teeth together. Many say that it is caused by stress, tension, anxiety, suppressed anger, or something as simple as a misalignment of the teeth. Simple treatments are given to correct the problem generally, such as a mouth guard or therapy. Though the condition doesn’t seem very serious, in many cases sleep bruxism can become an issue. If the bruxism carries on for too long, it can lead to jaw disorders, damaged teeth, headaches, and other problems.

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Top 10 Internet Illnesses

April 17, 2009 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Internet, Medical · 4 Comments 

FACT: You use most of your body when you are sitting at a computer typing on a keyboard - not just your eyes and fingers. Your muscles allow you to sit in an upright position and all of your organs are working (sometimes, even your brain).

Sadly, despite this amazing fact, surfing the Internet does not qualify as a workout.

Is your surfing position an Igor-style hunch rather than a hang ten? Do you have the wild, crazy Igor eyes to match? Then you need to read this list!

Eligibility: To get on the list, the condition must be directly related to Internet use (I’m defining condition as an illness, disorder, or injury).
Rank: Ranked by the seriousness of the condition and number of people affected, as interpreted by me (it’s my list).

As always I will personally reply to any recommendations or complaints in the comments below, so go nuts (but not nuts like #3 below, please…)

10. Eyestrain

eye-strain

When you use your eyes a lot, they get strained- so when you stare at a computer screen intensely for hours it isn’t a surprise when your eyes get sore. According to mayoclinic.com: “Although eyestrain can be annoying, it usually isn’t serious and goes away once you rest your eyes”, placing it firmly in tenth place on this list.

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Top 10 Most Useless Body Parts

December 7, 2008 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Health, Medical · 12 Comments 

As humans, we have evolved errr… changed over time. Because of the complexity of our bodies, certain organs and parts seem to become less and less needed over time. Whether you’re some big fan of evolution or you’re completely against it, there are parts of the human body that are no longer needed to live or survive. While they may have been necessary to live in the past, in today’s world, there are many different body parts that we just don’t need! Here is a list of the top 10 body parts that are completely useless.

10. Plica semilunaris

Better known as your third eyelid, or maybe not, this organ in our bodies is just one of the many parts that we don’t need. If you pull up on each of your eyelids, the plica semilunaris will be exposed. This part of the eye is known to produce “sleep,” or that weird crust you have in your eyes when you wake up. Thank you plica semilunaris. How could we live without waking up with weird stuff in our eyes?

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10 “Popular” Poisons

September 24, 2008 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Crime, Health, Medical · 7 Comments 

It used to be that poisoning was the murder method of choice for those cunning villains who wanted to “get away with it.”  However, following advances in forensic science, poisoning no longer allows murderers any anonymity.  Nowadays, the use of poison is so easily detectable it is comparable to the murderer writing a confession.  “And, to think, I could have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those pesky CSI investigators.”

10. Castor Bean

Castor Bean Plant
Castor Bean Plant

When you consider that castor oil is used as a food additive in candy and chocolate, it’s disconcerting to discover that the fruit of that plant, the castor bean contains a supertoxic level of the poison ricin.  As little as one bean, well chewed, could prove fatal.  However, according to figures from the American Association of Poison Control Centres (AAPC) only two Castor Bean fatalities were recorded in the period from 1999 to 2004.

VERDICT: Flava Beans or Castor Beans?  Perhaps it would be best to just go for a meal with Dr Hannibal Lecter.

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Top 10 Most Famous Preserved Body Parts

September 12, 2008 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Medical, People · 13 Comments 

The final resting places of most historical figures are highly guarded and viewed by many as shrines or at least veritable cash cows for the societies guarding them. For a very few of those figures, some of their remains have been “preserved” for posterity, the sake of science or just egotistical reasons. Sure anyone can see a dinosaur bone in a museum, but wouldn’t you rather see the brain of a famous scientist or the shattered bone of a martyred revolutionary?

The order of this list was derived from the relative popularity of the dead historical figure along with the circumstance of how or why the “artifact” was preserved.

10. Dan Sickles’ Leg

A Union general who lost his leg to a cannon at the Battle of Gettysburg, Major General Dan Sickle was not a brilliant man. After seeing high ground in front of his troops, he ordered them to move about a mile away, which was more indefensible and where they were effectively decimated. His leg was hit by a cannonball and had shattered, but he persevered until his leg was amputated that afternoon. Sickles’ leg and the cannonball are displayed at the American National Museum of Health and Medicine since he remembered that the Army Surgeon General was building a display of morbid anatomy along with the projectiles that caused it. Too bad this insubordinate’s legacy lives on because of that directive.

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Top 10 Inventions in History

September 4, 2008 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Engineering, History, Medical · 22 Comments 

Although humans are not alone as tool using animals, we are definitely the planet’s designated experts in the field. Our use of invention, or the innovation of altering an object or process in new ways, may be what truly defines us as a species. Every once in a long while, something is invented which changes, in some small way, the very nature of our lives. Over time, this has made us unique among the animals. While little inventions come out every day, it is these big ones that move us forward into whatever the destiny of mankind turns out to be.

This list can’t help but be relative and therefore controversial. As always, be kind and appreciate the effort even if you disagree.

10. Alcohol

Near as we can tell, people have been brewing alcoholic drinks for about the last 12,000 years, making booze one of the first human inventions. That is, if you consider it a human invention, as some animals are known to consume fruits that have naturally fermented, and may even become alcoholics. Alcohol has many uses in many fields, but as a drink it is particularly important. The alcohol in wine and beer kills most microorganisms, which historically made it safer to drink than water in the ancient world. And without alcohol, we’d have no excuse to explain why we got caught singing karaoke naked.

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Top 10 Researchers who Experimented on Themselves

August 10, 2008 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Health, History, Medical, People · 6 Comments 

Being a scientist, doctor or a researcher takes dedication and a sometimes a thirst for knowledge…at any price. These ten researchers took the ultimate challenge and tested their theories on themselves, sometimes with fatal results. Here are the top 10 researchers who used themselves as lab rats.

10. Jonas Salk (b. 1914 d. 1995)

Known universally for his 1952 breakthrough in polio vaccination (released to the public in 1955), Salk was a truly altruistic researcher who genuinely worked toward the betterment of mankind. After successful inoculations with monkeys, Salk tested his polio vaccine on himself, his wife, and even his children. When asked who owned the patent to the vaccination, Salk was astonished at the idea that anyone would want to make a profit off of a much-needed cure. Today in the United States, Albert Sabin’s oral polio vaccination is used exclusively.

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Top 10 Infectious Diseases

July 24, 2008 · Filed in List All, Bizarre, Health, Medical · 11 Comments 

Warning: Some of the images and video may be disturbing. The common cold has no cure. Scientists have been trying for centuries to find the cure, which would undoubtedly make our lives easier. However, the common cold has nothing on these 10 infectious diseases. The diseases are, for lack of a better word, so viral that there is a high percentage chance that you will die from the complications. Some of these diseases have vaccinations, some have preventive measures while others are simply deadly with little chance of survival. To be included on this list, the virus has to have been a major cause of death in history with ranking based on fatality rates and impact worldwide. However, if a disease has been contained it will be lower on the list.

10. Smallpox

Smallpox

This variola virus had many forms and continues to be a required vaccination for many countries. Smallpox in its worse forms - hemorrhagic and flat – had the highest fatality rates with only a 10 percent or less chance of survival. Fortunately this disease has been the only one on this list to be completely eradicated from nature since it is only contagious through humans.
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