Mysteries of the Human Body

The human body is an amazing machine, but when things go wrong it can be a real mess. Most of these messes are understood by the medical community after decades of research and study. But some simply defy explanation. From diseases that accelerate aging to diseases that stop aging, ones that cause your muscle to turn to bone and ones that make filaments grow out of your skin, to allergic reactions to water and deadly cannibal conditions, here are some of the weirdest.

Weird diseases are one thing. But what happens when a weird disease starts to spread, eventually affecting dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people in various areas around the world? There are stories of unexplained maladies, from a disease that leaves you dead in a puddle of sweat within hours, to epidemics of uncontrollable dancing, to hundreds of people pulling on their private parts (yes, this is a real thing). These are the strangest epidemics of all time.

Carnivals have long entertained audiences with spectacle and delight. But they also had a seedier side - the famed sideshow, featuring grotesque acts and human oddities. These curiosities included people with physical deformations, extra limbs, hair all over their bodies, and exaggerated features, usually with a sensational fake backstory to heighten the drama. Many a performer were exploited in despicable ways, but others went on to fame and fortune most of us could only dream of. But they all showed us that the human body may take many forms, but that doesn’t change who we are on the inside.

Life gets weird sometimes. In fact, it happens so often, there are weird anomalies in all of us. From vestigial organs to strange masses to unnecessary bones, here are some of the weird abnormalities that we all have.

We've come a long way when it comes to treating disease. But there are still some conditions that seem to lie beyond our understanding. Many of these are rare, which we've already covered in this series, but some are extremely common and affect millions of people. So why do they continue to baffle the medical community? Let's find out.

Aging and death are ubiquitous facts of life and always have been. It's just something we've learned to accept. But should we? Could aging be treated like any other disease? In the final episode of our series, we ask about the greatest mystery of all - why we age and die.