Most medical conditions are scary but what about those ones that are just downright weird and baffling?

Yeah, they would be pretty awful to have. Like these strange but true medical conditions that you might never have heard of before.

Alien Hand Syndrome

Also known as Dr Strangelove Syndrome, this is an extremely weird medical condition that is also very rare.  The main symptom is, quite simply, a mad flailing hand that the owner can´t control.  It is a neurological disorder that can happen after a stroke or when the two hemispheres of the brain are surgically separated. The people who suffer from this condition lose the ability to control one of their hands.      

Jumping Frenchman of Maine Condition

You don´t need to be French to get this condition and I don´t even think that it is strictly necessary to live in Maine, although it probably helps on some level. The rare condition gets its name from a group of French Canadian lumberjacks who were working in Maine in the late 19^th century.  These people seemed to over-react to any sort of stimuli, often behaving in a startled way or jumping uncontrollably. It is also known as hyperekplexia, while it is called Stiff Baby Syndrome when seen in new born babies. Unlike some of the other conditions on here, it can be controlled using drugs.

Stone Man Disease

This horrifying medical condition involves the affected person´s soft tissues, tendons and muscles turning to bone. This can eventually turn the sufferer into a human statue over time. There have been around 800 verified cases across the world and a shark extract has been cited as a possible help in treating the condition.

Nail Patella Syndrome

I have got to this stage in my life without being overly concerned about my nails. Sure, there was that time I clipped too much off one and it kind of hurt a bit but I gritted my teeth and got on with bloody life, old boy. However, the appearance in my vocabulary of Nail Patella Syndrome could end my years of care-free summer easy living. You see, this rare medical condition leaves you with no nails or with weird, spilt in two nails. It isn´t just limited to your nails though, as the condition can also affect your kneecaps and pelvic bone.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

This weird medical condition sees the affected person waking up after an accident or stroke and speaking with an unexpectedly false accent, a bit like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins but without all that lovable soot on their face. No one knows why this happens and there have only ever been a few dozen confirmed cases. Unconfirmed cases also mention people starting to speak a foreign language fluent after some sort of accident. 

Fish Odor Syndrome

This condition is less painful and less life-threatening than most of the others here but a lot smellier. It is very rare (thankfully) and involves – jeez, do you need me to spell it out for you? Ok then, it is when you have a buildup of trimethylamine in your body, like when you had a trimethylamine curry last night and then think, shucks I´ll just have some trimethylamine on toast and a trimethylamine smoothie for breakfast. Do that stuff long enough and you´ll smell like flaming Nemo.