MetaFilter posts tagged with disorder

Camp Sundown visits the Yankees

zarq — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:20:58 -0800

"The Yankees' best game this season came after the lights were dimmed." On July 24th, the New York Yankees hosted Camp Sundown in the Bronx -- a group of kids with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). XP is a life-threatening sun-sensitivity disorder, in which DNA cannot repair damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) light. Kids with the disease develop malignant melanomas and carcinomas if they are exposed to sunlight or bright fluorescent lights. "Camp Sundown gets its name because the youngsters that attend cannot go outdoors during the daytime or even stand under fluorescent lights because ultraviolet radiation, any UV radiation, is their mortal enemy. It will give them severe burns, it will give them squamous cell skin cancer, it will cause malignant tumors to grow in their eyes and mouths, and make many of them blind as their condition reaches its late stages. The sun and blue skies we wish for in spring and summer will cruelly ravage their bodies. The kids, these fragile, beautiful kids, who want nothing more than to be whatever we like to call ordinary in this world, are afflicted with a genetic condition called Xeroderma Pigmentosum that takes the lives of most people with the disorder before they reach the age of 20. It is rare, so rare there are only between 150 and 250 sufferers in this country, maybe two or three thousand around the world."
For more information, see the XP Society, and their Camp Sundown page. The NJ Star-Ledger site has a video of the event.

I can even see his legs

baphomet — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:29:39 -0800

THE BUGS ARE CRAWLING UNDER MY SKIN

DIY DNA research

jacalata — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:29:15 -0800

Hugh Reinhoff has sequenced his daughters DNA at home attempting to diagnose her unique genetic mutation. Although most parents don't have his background, he also started a website to bring together the parents of children with undiagnosed disorders, and doctors who are interested in the area. At least one family has found their answers through the community already.

No Man's Land

WPW — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:46:38 -0800

The geography of fear. Children map the no-go areas that blight their lives.

Moving at a speed of 100 inventions per year

Shepherd — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:00:08 -0800

Madman or genius? Well... madman. But being confined to an asylum (with one of his symptoms described as "manic invention") didn't keep Karl Hans Janke from developing elaborate theories of atomic energy, flight, space travel and the history of humanity, creating over 4,000 complex drawings and even models over 40 years of incarceration for paranoid schizophrenia. This PDF (found courtesy of things magazine) is the catalogue of a museum exhibition of Janke's work in Peenemünde in 2007, and features English and German articles and loads of scans of Janke drawings. I don't read German, so I suspect I'm missing all the best bits. I discovered Janke through Cabinet Magazine (previously), which I think is the best periodical in North America at the moment. Incidentally, the link to the gallery from the main page of the Janke site doesn't work; the correct link is this one. There's even a shop if you want your own Venusland poster.

Stop and smell the roses. While you still can.

allkindsoftime — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:33:55 -0800

Flowers are losing their smell. The discovery could be one of several factors in the "colony collapse disorder" that is wiping out honey bees around the world. Even a brief glance at the titles of the news articles on Wiki reads a bit frighteningly, as do the previous mentions here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Consider the pixies....

dersins — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:11:35 -0800

Williams syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by distinctively "elfin" facial features, an uncanny ability to socialize with strangers, and, often, enhanced musical abilities.

Oh Isabelle... eat something. Anything. Pleeeaaaase.

miss lynnster — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:47:55 -0800

"I've hidden myself and covered myself for too long. Now I want to show myself fearlessly, even though I know my body arouses repugnance. I want to recover because I love life and the riches of the universe. I want to show young people how dangerous this illness is." French Comedienne Isabelle Caro, 27, an anorexic who weighs just 68 pounds, was displayed on Milan billboards (NSFW) for fashion designer Nolita as the city celebrated fashion week. The prevalence of eating disorders within the fashion industry have only recently been addressed officially, however Georgio Armani has complained that since Caro isn't a model herself it proves "even people who take no notice of fashion get anorexic."

ptsd

augustweed — Thu, 11 May 2006 19:21:33 -0800

Only 2,029 out of 9,145 veterans with post traumatic stress disorder resulting from combat have been referred to mental health for evaluation/treatment. I say give them the same treatment the IDF gets.

Voyageman — Wed, 20 Mar 2002 06:52:50 -0800

"The messy desk is not necessarily a sign of disorganization. It may be a sign of complexity ...what we see when we look at the piles on our desks is, in a sense, the contents of our brains." I do feel better.

harrycaul — Tue, 12 Feb 2002 10:31:43 -0800

Eating Healthy Can Make You Sick With the current societal obsession with getting thin, what happens when people take this obession too far? Steven Bratman has researched this obession extensively and labeled it "orthorexia nervosa". But as interesting as this disorder is... (more inside)

owillis — Wed, 22 Aug 2001 23:29:59 -0800

Anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder. While I understand that these disorders exist, the skeptic in me tends to believe that the seemingly increasing diagnoses are more a symptom of our culture's need to blame external causes for behavior versus personal responsibility. Is this a post-60s/80s "Me" thing or am I way off base?

moz — Tue, 17 Jul 2001 14:11:34 -0800

What's your problem? Find out just how screwed up you are with this handy test of common personality disorders. (thanks to evhead.)