So I believe this is the one that Janet has been waiting for!
Question: Is There Such Thing As A Werewolf?
Answer: (taken from the book--shortened!)
Lyncanthropy refers to the delusion that one is a wolf. This can definitely be seen in psychiatric illness, but it may be that in some cases this is not a delusion at all. The werewolf legend may have originated out of two medical conditions.
Porphyria is a rare hereditary blood disease. There are two types of porphyria. In one type, cutaneous porphyria, the symptoms can resemble the characteristics of a werewolf. These patients become extremely sensitive to sunlight, grow excessive amounts of hair, and develop sores, scars, and discolored skin. Porphyria also leads to tightening of the skin around the lips and gums, and can make the incisors stand out (think fangs!)
Another disease that may have contributed to the werewolf myth is congenital hypertrichosis universalis, sometimes known as the human werewolf syndrome. This is another rare genetic disorder characterized by excessive hair growth over the whole body, including the face.
Question: Why Do You See Stars When You Are Hit In The Head?
Answer: (you know the drill)
It always happened to Wile E. Coyote. The Road Runner drops an anvil on his head and then the poo coyote sees stars circling his head. Not only does this happen in cartoons but it is actually a sign of a concussion. A concussion is simply when an injury to the head causes your brain to move around inside your skull! As for the stars, what probably happens is that the portion of your brain that is responsible for visual information, the occipital lob, bangs up against the side of your skull.
So there, now that that is settled :-) Is anyone enjoying these? I've gotten some good feedback, but I'm just curious. We leave Friday afternoon for our vacation. Is there any way on blogspot to have posts that will post themselves when I'm gone? I was thinking about having "Guest" Bloggers, but I didn't know if anyone would be willing to do that. These are things I'm going to have to think about. Any suggestions?
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3 comments:
I think blogger shows all the posts even if you date them in the future... or at least it did when I tested it.
If you need a guest blogger - although I'll be gone Jul 7 I'll sign up!!
Interesting about the werewolf. I learned about porphyria but not the cutaneous form... the "interesting" fact we learned with it that probably King Mad George probably had it, I think that's who it was. ;)
Ooh. I like the werewolf one. I just read a romance about a werewolf (yes, I like that trash). I like anything about werewolfs and vampires. (Stems from my Buffy days I guess.)
Enjoy your vacation. If you find out how to set blogspot to post at a later time, let me know.
I think those diseases are things that were made up to explain werewolves, cause otherwise it's just too scary ;-)
Professor Lupin: scary as a werewolf, hot otherwise!
Fenrir Grayback: just plain scary
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