Serious and very sad birth defect ((warnings))

[tnick777]

It is called lamelar ichthyosis or harlequin, based on what I read below on the comments, basically the baby is born well... you'll see.

They end up living long lives, but not really successfu.

It left me speechless

WARNINGS: I highly advise ANYBODY who has ANY sort of woosiness to something that may be 'discusting', I also advise any mothers (though I doubt there are any on the boards) to stray from this as it is terribly sad.

Again I warn you, this is something that is a serious birth defect and should not be taken lightly. This just shows how blessed most of us are

Again... warnings

Video (warnings)

[Hells Bells]

i truly am frightened, but you shouldnt talk about in terms of how lucky we are, because the people being talked about are usually bitter about how you degrade them so. Better to be warm and friendly, compassionate in our common human nature, which apart from major gene therapy, the kid really needs.

[Sétanta]

Oh ****. I saw the first 5 seconds and that was all I needed. Is that thing even alive? Is it even human?

I would seriously reccommend that nobody watches that.

[RZZZA]

I'm not looking.

[Hells Bells]

it was suckling milk so yes it is alive. It would be very bad to bring a dead guy to a talk show. And dont refer to him/her as it, thats not very freindly towards ur fellow.

[RusskiSoldat]

Oh Jesus...

[RZZZA]

haha...im glad I didnt watch it now. Because you can watch it, but you cant UNwatch it once its watched.

[vikrant]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlequin_baby

[Banned]

Even if it looks different it is still a human... as much as we don't want to say it.

That's what I thought after watching the video...it really looks like an alien
And one needs a strong heart to watch it...weak people,get off this thread!!!

[Mathias]

Bah, it wasnt that bad too watch.
Then again, that was what I said when I watched a vid that nearly made a friend of mine puke. I guess those visits to ogrish.com (site doesnt exist anymore) finaly paid off. Now Im immune to severly disfigured humans

[Metellus]

It may be awful to say, but death is certainly a better option. It would have been rather better should such things have remained untreatable. What hope does someone have like this for anything other than a miserable existence?

EDIT: Well apparently I was wrong. This 18 year old has it, and he's something approaching "normal":

http://www.10news.com/health/3919722/detail.html

[tnick777]

Yea I saw how they are red.. but why is he green with weird red eyes in the video?

[Sidus Preclarum]

It is called lamelar ichthyosis or harlequin,

ok. let me guess, from the disease name . Those people have scales ? some sort of keratinization of the skin ?
I've just come back from restaurant, I'm so NOT watching this :|

[tnick777]

it's discusting.. it was burned in my eyes.


I felt so bad... I just pray that he can live a sub-normal life at least.

[The Fish]

Okay, first of all, that video is misleading.

Children born with lamellar ichthyosis are initially encased in a collodion membrane (which accounts for the external appearance of this child), which sheds at about 10-14 days. This child has apparently not shed his or her membrane yet. The long-term effects of this disorder are disfiguring, but people with LI won't look like aliens for the entire life. Mainly it consists of cutaneous erythema (redness) and flakiness of the skin. The genetic defect basically results in an abnormally large turnaround time for skin cells. These people are mentally completely normal, but they are at increased risk due to infection and loss of necessary minerals (at the time of membrane shedding). Also, because the effects of the disease tend to destroy sweat glands, they are at increased risk of malignant hyperthermia (i.e. having a dangerously high body temperature). And of course, they are under considerable psychological stress due to their appearance.

EDIT: On looking at my dermatology book, this kid doesn't have lamellar ichthyosis, but rather another condition called Ichthyosis Fetalis. The "clown mouth," encased eyes, and malformed ears are classic for this disease. Unfortunately, it is much more serious than lamellar ichthyosis; the malformed skin results in a seriously compromised barrier, leading to severe infections, water and electrolyte loss, and temperature dysregulation. This child will almost certainly not survive childhood, unfortunately. This disease is extremely rare; about 100 cases have been reported internationally.

[tnick777]

Ah thank you for clearing that up.

[Banned]

If a child like him is born,I feel(remember,it's just my view) he must die....there's no use of a life like that when a person feels he is too unusual when he grows up.Life will be too hectic for him.Just imagine,a person with that disease coming to my office asking for a job.Most certainly,I would employ him but think about the embarassment he will carry throughout his life.Most people will poke fun at him at many instances.Life,in short would be impossible for him.He also won't get a nice girlfriend

[tnick777]

Yea... but also downs syndrome is like that too?

I'm just raising a debate now

[Da Skinna]

So... before I look at it, basically I just want to know what I'm looking at, and just what I'm s'posed to expect for when I do look at it.

Cuz the replies just make it all the sweeter...

[Banned]

So... before I look at it, basically I just want to know what I'm looking at, and just what I'm s'posed to expect for when I do look at it.

Cuz the replies just make it all the sweeter...

There a small n00b-baby in the video who has ridiculously amazing looks(must watch if ya can handle the heat).



Well,actually there's a very ugly baby there who would instill a never ending nausea into your senses if you aren't strong enough to see such a horrible scene.And he is suffering from a disease about which you can look in the posts above,probably a wiki article on that..