10. K-2 or Spice

This product is actually a ‘legal’ potpourri product that is produced in China and imported into the United States. K2 or spice has been advertised as an herbal blend of potpourri that is to be inhaled and not ingested. K-2 is alleged to produce the same or similar effects as smoking marijuana. The problem with this product is that teenagers and young people have resorted to smoking the “Imitation Marijuana Potpourri”, which has resulted in symptoms like hallucinations, vomiting, and schizophrenia. In 2009 Germany banned the substance, stating that is was a hazardous drug and just recently several states have passed state legislation to make the substances illegal, a total of 11 states have taken the necessary actions to make the purchase of K-2 or spice illegal.

9. Crack Cocaine

Crack cocaine made its debut in the 1970’s and was estimated to contain 75-90% pure cocaine. In 1985 it was reported that 4.2 million people in the United States were admittedly using crack cocaine and the addiction rate of this substance increased dramatically. The crack cocaine epidemic began in the 80’s, raged into the 90’s and continued on into the twenty-first century. State law enforcement agencies have been enforcing the distribution and possession of crack cocaine for nearly 40 years and have continuously felt the negativity of this illegal substance. This has been reported to be one of the most highly addictive drugs currently on the market. Many officials have suggested that the high addiction rate is attributed to the cost of crack cocaine, which has been called “the poor man’s drug” and the accessibility, because it is easy to make. Many crack cocaine addicts have felt the repercussions and devastation of addiction; losing everything that they have worked for in a matter of years. The euphoric effects are short lived, forcing the user to want more and more of the drug, resulting in addition. It has been stated by many crack cocaine addicts that “One hit was all it took” and the damage was done.

8. Molly Plant Food: The Ecstasy Pill

Molly is a form of ecstasy that has been recently developed and is ones of the most dangerous street drugs currently available. This drug is normally in capsule form and is crushed and snorted by users. Molly has been suspected to provide a “rolling” high similar to ecstasy. The Manufactures of this drug, like many other producers of designer drugs has advertised this as “Plant Food.” Law officials have struggled with the legality of these new and up-coming substances and in some reported instances law enforcement agencies can only confiscate the drug, because Molly plant food is currently legal to possess and distribute in many states within the United States. The side effects associated with Molly are teeth grinding, nausea, paranoia, hallucinations, rapid heart rate, dehydration, organ failure, and in some instances death. States, like New York has experienced the destruction of the Molly Drug and are fighting to make this drug illegal to possess or sell; punishable by the New York judicial system.

7. NRG-1

Naphyrone is the chemical compound that makes up NRG-1. Sold as an Energy enhancement and produced in China, this deadly street drug has found its way to the hands of youths throughout the UK. This substance is suggested to be stronger then crack cocaine and highly addictive, allegedly even more addictive then heroin. The side effects are as follows, brain damage, hallucinations and paranoia, suicidal tendencies, and even death. NRG-1 is a supernova combination speed ball with the attributes of combining, cocaine, crystal methane, and ecstasy together, and has been suggested that NRG-1 produces the ultimate high. What they neglect to mention is the physical and mental damage that has been associated with this sought after highly addictive street drug that has swept across the UK like a plague. This drug is no longer legal in the UK and like the popular Bath salts that were being sold in the United States NRG-1 was being falsely advertised as ‘Plant Food.”

6. Whoonga

With 5.7 million reported HIV cases in South Africa the thought of HIV patients and clinics being robbed for the anti-retroviral prescription (ARV) is unsettling. Like the HIV virus, whoonga addition has spread across South Africa and other surrounding countries like an epidemic. This highly addictive street drug is a lethal cocktail combination of (ARV), rat poison, laundry detergent, and marijuana. Whoonga has been reported to have a very high addition rate and one of the reasons may be the effects associated with withdraw symptoms, which include, headaches, severe abdominal cramping, and night sweats. Users avoid these unpleasant symptoms by using again, and again, in return creating a whoonga addict. There has been no suggestion that crushing and smoking (ARV) provides the user with any mind altering effects, but the popularity of whoonga continually increases throughout South Africa just like other myths like sleeping with a virgin will cure and individual of the HIV virus.

5. Prescription Drugs

The abuse of prescription drugs is nothing new, but within the last decade we have seen an increase of substance abuse and addiction in association to medication being subscribed by physicians. Pain pills are forever in high demand, being snorted, ingested, and injected such as Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycodone. Each year it is estimated that over 500, 000 people are rushed to the hospital because they have overdosed and abused the prescription directions, or taken the substance illegally. Narcotic painkillers are not the only prescription drugs that users are abusing, sedatives and tranquilizers like Xanax and Valium are also in high demand and have been known to produce a competitive street value for prescription drug pushers. In addition, stimulants and medications that have been prescribed for ADHD and other behavioral diagnoses have made their way to the streets in many areas throughout the United States, medications such as, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Ritalin have been reportedly abused and sold for profit. Prescription drug abuse requires constant awareness and random monitoring by the prescribing physicians.

4. Bath Salts

Manufactured and produced in China and India ‘Bath Salts” or “Plant Food” is being sold at convenience stores, head shops, tobacco shops, and your everyday service stations. The warning label clearly states “Not for human consumption.” Yet, law enforcement officials and Emergency Room Physicians throughout The United States may be questioning the manufactures intent for distributing this deadly and toxic product. Bath salts or being snorted, smoked, and injected, which has resulted in life threating situation for many users. The side effects have been likened to Chrystal Methane and Cocaine, and until recently could be purchased at any local convenience store. The side effects associated with Bath Salts are irritability, delusional paranoia, aggression and psychotic behavior, accelerated heart rate, suicide, hallucinations, seizures, and even unexplainable murder has been reported as a result to the use of bath salts. State officials throughout the United States quickly recognized the life threatening dangers associated with bath salts and twenty five states have made the purchase of bath salts or plant food illegal, now punishable by law for possession or distribution.

3. “Cheese” Black-Tar Heroin

Opiates have been cultivated from the poppy plant since as early as 3400 BCE. Heroin was introduced to the market as a non-addictive morphine alternative and cough suppressant (cough medicine) from 1898-1910. Scientists thought that Heroin was less addictive then morphine, but soon discovered that the pain relief substances was potentially more addictive then morphine. In 1924 The United States concluded that Heroin had no known medical benefits and would no longer be manufactured, sold or prescribed or imported into the United States; hence, the first heroin addiction outbreak of the 30’s. While heroin addiction has been a global concern and it is estimated that 50 million people throughout the world from the ages of 15-64 either use or have used this illegal substance, no one was prepared for the production of black-tar heroin or “Cheese”. Black-Tar heroin is illegally produced in Mexico and transported into the United States for distribution. This form of heroin is a low-grade opiate that is normally mixed with over the counter sleep enhancements drugs, such as Tylenol PM and is inexpensive. Users become addicted quicker as the effects of black-tar heroin doesn’t last very long and withdraw symptoms begin to settle in quickly, which include bone aches, severe headaches, cold sweats, and vomiting. Rehabilitation facilities have felt the impact of “Cheese Heroin” treating patients as young as 9 years old for addiction. Mexico is now ranked the 2nd opiate producer in the world drug mules have been apprehended by border patrols, one of the oldest and shocking participants was and elderly grandmother trying to smuggle black-tar heroin into the United States.

2. Crystal Methane

The Chinese have been using ephedrine (amphetamine) as a natural healing agent for thousands of years. It was purchased by the United States in 1937 and its initial purpose was to treat sinus inflammation and later used to treat sporadic sleep disorders.
The first recorded addiction outbreak was during World War 2. Allied forces received “The work pill” in their MRE‘s (meals ready to eat) alongside the gum, toilet paper, and chocolate. Government officials thought the “work pill” could be beneficial to soldiers in relationship to coping with fatigue.
Since then, Crystal Methane has become one of the most abused and highly addictive street drugs currently being manufactured throughout the United States. The ingredients are all lethal and poisonous substances not intended for ingestion, such as, farming fertilizers, ether, battery acid, cold medicine, and many other everyday household items that can be harmful and life threating if consumed. Yet, addicts continue to use this deadly substance and some users have even attempted to cook the crystal meth from their kitchens, which has in many instances ended with an explosive outcome.
Each year thousands of Americans are arrested for either the possession of crystal methane or operating an illegal cook lab; where meth is being produced. The effects that this venomous street drug has on users could be compared to the deadly ingredients used to make it.

1. Crocodile or Krokodil

While the United States is dealing with Meth labs and manmade illegal substances like Crystal Methane, Russia has experienced their own fatalities related to drug addiction. Crocodile (one of the latest manmade drugs to sweep across Russia has produced epic drug addiction numbers that continue to rise throughout the country. Crocodile is a synthetic substance that is alleged to produce the same effects as heroin or morphine, and the results have left governmental officials speechless. Made up of deadly ingredients such as, paint thinner, gasoline, and red phosphorus (found on the tip of matchsticks) and several other lethal combinations, a crocodile user’s life expectancy is three years from the moment they begin using. With that said, if an addict would seek treatment with a rehabilitation program, there is a good chance that they have already began to experience the long term effects of this illegal street drug. The consequences and health risks attributed to this street drug are anything but mild, disfigurement, speech impediments, brain damage, blood poisoning, meningitis, pneumonia, gangrene and the most punishing side effect, is simply watching your flesh rot away from your body. This deadly street drugs named crocodile was given by users and Russian law enforcement officials, because the injection sight turns green with days of using the drug and the skin around the injection site begins to appear scaly like a crocodile, because the drug it eating away at the dying flesh.

As you can clearly see this list is composed of many new over the counter street drugs that have been falsely advertised, such as, bath salts, and K-2. Each of these now illegal substances were manufactured and produced in China and imported into the United States, European countries, and the United Kingdom for consumer purchase. The results have been deadly; hospitals have found that treating an overdosed individual on bath salts different and more challenging then treating someone that has overdosed on heroin. Law enforcement agencies across the world have felt the devastating impact that these designer street drugs have left among teenager, college students and anyone searching for a quick and cheap high.

The effects of 21 century designer street drugs have been proven to be life threating and have resulted in catastrophic drug addiction throughout the world, leaving addicts with long lasting and physically damaging side effects, incarceration, and sometimes even death.

However, between the conspiracies and the terror campaigns is a fascinating list of diseases that could fit the criteria. Within these there has to be recognition that not all, if any, man-made diseases are created intentionally and some are more the result of the progress of the species than of any dire plan.

10. Obesity

Although it is more than cause of disease rather than the disease itself, it is probably worth recognizing that obesity in the twenty-first century is the product of a society that has removed, through changing work habits or the provision of convenience, the practices that previously kept it in check. In this way, man has made the basis of a plethora of diseases.

In the last twenty years, obesity rates in the developed world have virtually doubled. This has had a profound effect on the number of number of people suffering Gall Bladder Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension and Dyslipidaemia, as well as increasing a number of other health concerns. This has led to obesity being acknowledged as being virtually epidemic in its spread through and impact on the human race.

There are those who are genetically disposed to obesity and for these people it remains a condition to be managed. But for the greater part of the industrialised world, almost a third of all people are afflicted with a disease that is “caught” through inactivity, poor diet and a lack of awareness.

9. AIDS

The AIDS virus has been blamed on any number of institutions, just as it has on various species and continents. While many of us believe that its eruption and the misery it has caused is similar to other dreadful epidemics, such as the Black Plague, that have afflicted the human race and whose origins have never been fully determined, there are also many who mount strong arguments for human intervention.

As a largely sexually transmitted disease, AIDS has the capacity to infect and decimate the human race. However, as it primarily attacked the homosexual community, the ravages of AIDS were mostly limited to a minority. Yet it is this limitation that has raised so many questions. Was it a stroke of “luck” that AIDS began in the gay community? Or was it a planned assault on a sector of the community that offended the establishment?

The circumstantial evidence has led theorists to consider the role of the American Government, the World Health Organisation and even the Catholic Church as players in a diabolical scheme to rid the world of homosexuals. But as any more substantial proof is not forthcoming, it is difficult to accept that any human could inflict such tragedy on another, let alone on millions.

Whether through the volume of voices raised in protest or through the bizarre series of facts that seemed to have fallen into place to see it begin as it did, there is enough conjecture to consider that AIDS may have been a man-made disease.

8. Cardiovascular Disease

While there is little, if any, evidence to suggest that Cardiovascular Disease is the product of direct or deliberate intervention by an individual or group of scientists, it must be considered that it incidence has risen dramatically in the light of modern living. This would suggest that, while not exactly man-made, the danger and spread of the disease is clearly attributable to man’s cultural and social progress.

Cardiovascular Disease was the cause of less than ten per cent of deaths at the start of the twentieth century, yet today has a role in at least thirty per cent of deaths. Eight out of every ten of deaths from this disease today occur in the developed nations of the world.

The causes of Cardiovascular Disease include smoking, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and poor diet. This would suggest that as we have become more prone to stress, as we have lost the need to work in ways that maintain physical effort and as we have been provided with convenient food sources as opposed to healthy ones, we have become more susceptible to this disease.

Man has made his life more pleasurable, convenient and comfortable, but has simultaneously made a disease that is growing in its prevalence.

7. Swine Flu

Viruses can have a debilitating effect on susceptible organisms and when people are sick they have a tendency to look for someone to blame. While it is occasionally satisfying to growl at the dog or snarl at the cat when one isn’t feeling well, the prospect of blaming a pig for a potentially fatal virus offers little comfort. On this basis, a number of broadly termed “scientifically-minded” people have decided that Swine Flu is a man-made disease.

There is a strained, but compelling logic to the argument. Swine Flu is believed to be the result of a combination of four previously identified viruses, a Swine Flu strain from Asia/Europe, North American swine flu, North American avian flu and human H1N1 flu. The possibility of four viruses from different parts of the world and different species coming together by accident is incomprehensible, so there must have been human intervention. That is, bioterrorists are at work.

However, with the speed and ease with which people and animals now move around the world, it is quite possible that a virus could be carried enormous distances by multiple hosts. The high rate of vaccination and immunization that occurs in the general population means that non-symptomatic carriers are far more common than was once the case. The sad predicament of the pig in being susceptible to both human and bird diseases, not to mention his own collection of bugs, makes him an effective breeding ground for a huge gathering of virus component. The endpoint being a nasty virus, combining four previously known viruses, that comes from swine, that is the Swine Flu.

As neat as this explanation is, the scientists can’t realistically claim to have it all their own way. Their scenario makes sense, but the probabilities behind it must give something to the “scientifically-minded”. On this basis, the man-made versus quirk of nature argument remains a nil-all draw.

6. Myxomatosis and Calicivirus

The role of man in the creation of Myxomatosis and Calicivirus is contentious and, in some quarters, highly sensitive. This is probably because of the mix of cruel and unusual effect of the diseases on their victims, the soft, cuddly, highly destructive, rabbit population of Australia. While there is evidence to suggest both viruses were adapted in laboratories to meet the needs of pest control, the greater part played by man in their story was in their release to a non-indigenous environment.

Both viruses had a history of eradicating huge numbers of rabbits in their lands of origin and the argument ran that, as rabbits were an introduced species, controlling them with an introduced virus was almost logical. So in 1950 and 1995, myxomatosis and calicivirus, respectively, were released into the Australian rabbit population. Myxomatosis began slowly, but after a short time spread through the rabbits of Australian virulently. However, the effects of the disease, blindness and a painful neurologically focused death, shocked many people and while accepted as a necessary evil did little to convince, it did little to encourage the use biological controls.

By the early 1990’s, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), had begun testing a new biological control for rabbits, the Calicivirus .They hoped that this would be more palatable to the general public, but while running field tests in 1995, the virus “escaped” from Wardang Island, in South Australia, to the mainland. It spread through South Australia and into New South Wales and Victoria quickly and efficiently amidst much public angst around human susceptibility to the virus.

Perhaps it’s a reflection of humans’ love of their pets, and the political pressure a pet rabbit can apply, that since the release of both viruses, a significant amount of research time, money and energy has gone into the development of a vaccine for both viruses.

5. Pathogenic Mycoplasma

Mycoplasmas are usually the harmless genus of bacteria that exist without a cell wall. Most of the two hundred species go virtually unnoticed, although four or five have the potential to cause illness. But the development of a mycoplasma from the nucleus of the Brucella bacterium created an agent that is neither bacterium nor virus and is therefore unlikely to be bothered by antibiotics or penicillin.

The pathogenic Mycoplasma was basically innocuous until scientist began to experiment with it during World War II. Both sides of the conflict were looking for biological weapons that could be used to kill or disable the opposition’s armies. In the course of this research the pathogenic Mycoplasma was armed with the potential to play a vital role. Since then, scientists have continued to study the Mycoplasma from the Brucella bacterium, refine it and arm it. There are some that actually believe it has already been tested on the public of North America.

Depending on the genetic make-up of the individual, the mycoplasma enters the cells of the body; neurological diseases can occur if it destroys cells in the brain, Crohn’s colitis if it has damaged cells in the gut. The pathogen can lie dormant for many years and will be triggered by trauma or a misfiring vaccination; it then grows by feeding on the nutrients in the cell it has infiltrated. Among the diseases believed to be within the scope of pathogenic Mycoplasma are chronic fatigues syndrome, AIDS, Crohn’s colitis, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Although it may be fair to point out that pathogenic Mycoplasma is not itself a disease, its potential to cause so many debilitating or fatal diseases and its man-made origin must make it relevant to this list.

4. Polio

Although the polio virus itself is on the brink of extinction worldwide and many governments have been considering the abolition of vaccination against the disease, US researchers were able to add it to the list of man-made diseases in 2002 by “building” the first synthetic virus based on the genome of the polio virus. That is to say, while the rest of the world celebrated the defeat of a monster, scientists put time and effort into reviving it once again.

While there may have been good reason to create the virus, such as studying it to discover the best means of defeating its like in future, the people responsible had a more simplistic motive for their work. The reason they did it was to prove that it can be done. They also admitted that they had achieved the feat by following a recipe that “they downloaded from the internet” and were able to use gene sequences that they attained from a mail-order service.

In answer to criticism that they had made the way clear for terrorists to create new and deadly viruses, the researchers explained that there are only a handful of people who would have the knowledge to carry out the task successfully. But they did advise that all governments should follow the lead of the World Health Organization and stockpile significant quantities of polio vaccine just in case.

3. Polyplexes

About five years after the creation of the first synthetic virus, researchers announced that they had made significant advances in the production of “polyplexes”. These are synthetic viruses that are designed to carry healthy genes into the cells of people suffering from diseases that are the result of genetically defective genes. The most common of these is cancer, some forms of which are believed to be the result of mutating cells restricting the ability of healthy cells to operate normally.

Through the introduction of “polyplexes”, these mutant cells have their faulty genes replaced with new healthy genes. This occurs because viruses have to take over cells in order to replace their host’s and use its metabolism to replicate the virus. In this way, the “polyplexes” act as a microbiological bus that transports the genes. However, the bus is made synthetically and carries healthy genes which reach the same endpoint and leave its passengers in place of the malfunctioning genes.

This means that the synthetic virus is actually a man-made disease that is being manipulated into using its powers for goodness rather than evil.

2. Cancer

Despite the number of articles and the well-honed theories to the contrary, it is almost certain that no-one created cancer. However, it is also almost certain that the propensity of modern society to contract the disease has something to do with lifestyle and the environment in which we live.

Smoking cigarettes, using asbestos as a building material and the inclusion of carcinogenic material in photocopier toner are examples of ways that we have increased the risk of contracting cancer. Damaging the ozone layer has caused a rise in the incidence of skin cancer and polluting water supplies with carcinogenic chemicals increases the incidence of cancers.

So, while the scientists argue about the intent behind the creation of the circumstances that lead to cancer, it can be argued that, in addition to naturally occurring cancer, man has made a significant contribution to the disease.

1. Vaccines

As broad as this topic is, by the very nature of the process through which vaccines are made and administered, they must be the most effective and impressive of man-made diseases. The earliest medical practitioners would probably have noticed that those who survived a virus, however nasty (the virus, not the people), were somehow immune to its effects should it return. This must have given some hope, even if they didn’t know how to use this knowledge.

The Chinese had a revolting, but clever attempt at harnessing this process in their struggle against smallpox, but it wasn’t until the 1700’s that the idea really found an audience in Europe. Now the study and production of vaccines is continually being improved, but the basic procedure remains the same.

Simplistically, a virus contains two parts, that which makes us sick and that which contains antigens that stimulate the immune response. By isolating the antigens a vaccine is able to be created that will tell our immune system to build up defenses against a particular virus. Then when the virus reaches us, we already have the defenses in place.

There are a number of means to reach the same end in the creation of an effective vaccine, but the end product is usually the creation of a form of a disease that will lead to our immunity from its more offensive big brother.

1. Misdiagnosis

The United States Supreme Court recognizes that psychiatry, although a science is also an opinion. To misdiagnose a mental patient and mistakenly brand them as insane is a malpractice and a crime.But, over the years many a case of deafness has been misdiagnosed as mental retardation, behavioral changes because of allergies, toxicity and brain tumors have been misdiagnosed as Bipolar Disorder or Schizophrenia. The person is rendered completely helpless because the psychiatrist is put on a pedestal and a failure to take a second opinion has led to the destruction of many lives. Not only are the misdiagnosed individuals subjected to the isolation and abuse which is psychiatric ‘care’ but they are also refused treatment for their actual disease often resulting in a worsening in their conditions.

2. Labeled for life

Even if we were to believe in the opinion of the expert psychiatrist and his tools such as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the institution is uncaring enough to subject individuals to a label, they fully recognize can be incorrect. When someone faces adverse conditions and undergoes behavioral changes, the psychiatrist bound by only his ‘scientific’, ‘objective’ approach simply labels him / her without a thought to the ostracization and suffering that label entails. The mental illness label affects every part of the patient’s life, be it their personal relationships, their professional lives or their health. An hour long psychiatric interview can determine the entire life of another. No one should be allowed such power. One mistake on the part of the ‘expert’ can ruin someone’s life. When you are labeled mad or insane, your thoughts, your speech and every action are plagued by that label. You are rendered ineffectual to society and helpless within and without.

3. Disregard of Consent

Unfortunately, many people do not realize that the right of informed consent applies to psychiatric patients, just as they would to any other medical patient. They have legal rights to be properly notified, at the right time, about the dangers of the treatment they are about to receive. But since they are labeled as insane, the institutions take it upon themselves to meet out any kind of treatment, they want to. Even if the patient complains, even if the treatment is not working for the patient, since every spoken word of the patient is treated as babble, the institution has its way with them.

4. Over – drugging

Seldom do psychiatric drugs aim to cure the patient; mostly they are aimed at making them invisible. Quieting them down, making them into functional individuals for the sake of society’s normalcy. Every depiction if a psychiatric institution has ghost like creatures dragging their feet down endless corridors. It’s true, mostly the patients are kept on a high dose of medications so that they can be controlled. Daily living difficulties, disorientation, side effects such as abnormal weight gain, impaired coordination, anxiety and the onset long term illnesses are a result of such over-drugging.

5. Violent Restraints

There have been an alarmingly large number of reports of cases where patients were harshly and violently restrained, often leading to serious injury, sometimes even death. Restraint procedures for psychiatric patients qualify as assault, and should be listed as criminal, though unfortunately, the law does not state this. The CCHR (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) has reported upto 150 restraint deaths that occur without accountability every year in the US. These grisly fatalities have been known to be caused by barbaric practices such as harsh beatings, bloodletting, chest compression, traumatic asphyxia and other psychiatric brutality that is part of the routine make up of a psychiatric institution.

6. Punishments & Isolation

In most psychiatric institutions, the patients are treated as mere children who need to be punished with childish measures such as standing with the hands in the air, solitary confinement etc. While we all understand a need for structure, basic respect cannot be compromised on. Because complains and resistance to such treatment is never fully acknowledged and it is easy to curb someone who is labeled mad, such practices continue.

7. Abusive Therapies

In the name of therapy, the mentally ill have had to undergo torture, physical and emotional abuse since time immemorial. Today, in our civilized psychiatrist institutions, some practices such as the use of electric shock therapies and hydrotherapy (the use of ice cold towels or high pressure jets to calm the patient) still exist. The mentally ill have enough trouble orienting themselves to their everyday, psychiatric institutions only make it worse, all the while feigning cure. Even in the so called sophisticated clinical setting, often patients are verbally abused and treated in a condescending manner because by virtue of being the subject matter expert on ‘normalcy’ and ‘sanity’, the psychiatrist simply can.

8. Sane Cruelty

The custodians of mental health aren’t supposed to turn perfectly humane and many measures are taken in-keeping a requirement for structure and protecting the sanity of the staff but a nature of cruelty towards the mentally ill has been seen time and again. Because the patients are mostly incapacitated in the institutions, drugged out of their senses, some staff members tend to use this inability to their advantage. Cases of rape, sexual molestation, rage beatings are not uncommon. Where within the patient already suffers from the pain, anguish and turmoil of being subjected to psychiatric treatment, the staff takes out its own frustration or uses the helplessness of the patients to their own advantage. There is truly nothing worse.

9. Ineptitude

Since the mentally disabled are not a functional part of society, the quality of their care is barely a concern to institutions that house them. There are 450 million mentally ill people in the world (Source: WHO Mental Health Survey, 2010) and barely enough caretakers and institutions. People with no training are also employed just because they are willing. But this supremely compromises on the care that the patient gets. There is a general attitude of ineptitude amongst mental health workers. Of course, there are many qualified and adept psychiatrists and support staff, but the everyday care quality is not a concern for them.

10. Inducing fear & force

In 1818, Dr. Benjamin Brush, renowned father of American psychiatry, and the first President of the APA (American Psychiatric Association) had been known to advocate the following “Terror acts powerfully upon the body through the medium of the mind. It should be employed in the cure of madness. Fear accompanied with pain and the sense of shame has cured many a disease.” Fear is a powerful motivator in enforcing conformity, obedience and submission to authority. But it is not a cure. To induce fear in the mentally ill, and force them into actions and behaviour, is the cruelest of acts simply because of their inability to fight back. To induce such emotion, measures such as solitary confinement, public humiliation, violent restraints and threats are used. This is a clear violation of basic human rights.

A person who is undergoing trauma every living day internally should ideally be taken care of, comforted and supported, and helped through as much as possible. Family members and people close to the patients admit them to psychiatric institutions seeking such utopia. Instead, the person is denied basic human rights, punished and cheated cruelly and stripped off free will, which is fundamental to human existence itself.

Most sexually transmitted infections are not deadly, and many are just inconvenient. Many people live their whole lives with an STD—but this doesn’t mean you should just “wait until it goes away” if you think you might have one. No one wants to go to the doctor for problems down there, but STDs can cause anything from the downright disgusting to pain, infertility, and death. Here are the top 10 most common STDs, arranged in order from most common to least common in the U.S.

10. Bacterial Vaginosis

Okay, so this isn’t technically an STD, but it is classified as a sexually transmitted infection by the CDC because of its possible causes. Bacterial vagniosis, more commonly known as a yeast infection, can affect every woman of child-bearing age (regardless of sexual activity), and many women get 3 or 4 yeast infections per year—making this by far the most common STI and #1 on our list.

No one really knows what causes yeast infections. Simply put, bacterial vaginosis is when the normal growth of healthy bacteria in the vagina becomes unbalanced for any reason. One possible cause of a bacterial imbalance in the vagina is getting a new sex partner or having multiple sex partners, but many other undetermined factors can cause a yeast infection, and even women who have never had sex can get it. Symptoms may include itching, burning during urination, vaginal discharge, and unpleasant odors in the tender regions. Fortunately, treatments are fast and simple and can usually be found at the local drugstore.

9. Trichomoniasis

Trichomoniasis (Trich for short) is actually not a disease. It’s a parasite. This single-celled organism can affect both men and women and most commonly lives in the vagina or urethra. It infects an estimated 7.4 million people per year. Fortunately, it’s not hard to cure, but that doesn’t mean having Trich is fun. Most men with Trich never exhibit symptoms, so it can be difficult to tell if a man has it. Symptoms for men include irritation, burning after urination, and mild discharge. For women, the symptoms are itching, strong odor, and frothy yellow-green discharge. Trich can only be treated with prescription drugs, so if you exhibit any of these symptoms, you should probably contact a doctor as soon as possible. But the effects of Trich are relatively mild compared with the next most common STD on the list.

8. Genital Warts

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infects about 6 million men and women every year, making it one of the top 3 worst STDs in the country. Most people who carry HPV never exhibit any symptoms, but the virus can be transmitted easily through vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or even oral sex with an infected partner. When symptoms occur, the health problems HPV can cause are among the most unpleasant of any STD, ranging from colonies of cauliflower-shaped bumps throughout the genital region to cervical cancer, anal cancer, throat cancer, and even death.

The good news is HPV is not deadly if it is diagnosed early. The bad news is it can take years for symptoms to appear, and there is no cure for the virus itself, though genital warts and cancers caused by HPV can be treated. Vaccination and regular screenings are a must.

7. Pubic Lice

The fourth most common STD in the U.S. infects about 3 million people per year. Luckily, this STI is more embarrassing than dangerous, but it is definitely on the top 10 list of things that make you go “ew.” Pubic lice are tiny parasitic insects that live in the hair of the genital region. They spread through almost any sexual contact. The lice are clearish in color and hard to spot, but both eggs and adult bugs are visible with the naked eye. Beyond an irritating itch, pubic lice don’t cause any health problems. Lice can be treated with most lice-killing shampoos available at the nearest pharmacy, but admitting to your partner that you have them can be punishment in itself!

6. Chlamydia

Each year there are about 1.2 million new cases in the U.S. alone. It can be transmitted by men, but the effects of Chlamydia are worst in women. It is a “silent” and dangerous infection. The majority of people infected don’t show any symptoms, but Chlamydia can cause serious permanent damage in the meantime. In women, Chlamydia often causes pelvic inflammatory disease. If left untreated, it can lead to infertility and highly dangerous ectopic pregnancy. Symptoms of Chlamydia, if there are any, are common to many STDs: discharge from penis or vagina and burning during urination. This makes Chlamydia especially difficult to catch. The good news is, it’s easily treated with antibiotics.

5. Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is another common sexually transmitted bacterial infection, and one of the most infectious. The disease can be transmitted through any sexual contact or oral-sexual contact with an infected partner. There are about 700,000 new infections of Gonorrhea each year. Like Chlamydia, there are often no symptoms or very mild symptoms with a gonorrheal infection, and these symptoms can be very similar to the symptoms of other common STDs. Many women even mistake Gonorrhea for a yeast infection.

Also like Chlamydia, Gonorrhea can cause serious and even fatal complications if it is ignored. In women, Gonorrhea is another common cause of pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. In men, Gonorrhea can lead to epididymitis, a painful infection of the ducts in the testicles, which can also lead to sterility. Fortunately, Gonorrhea is usually curable with antibiotics.

4. Herpes

This disease is a byword in STDs. There are between 500,000 and 1 million estimated new cases of Herpes (HSV-2) infection each year. The disease can be spread by intercourse as well as by oral sex. The Herpes virus is characterized by small sores or lesions around the mouth (cold sores) and/or similar sores in the genital area. Herpes can also cause a variety of more or less serious secondary infections such as encephalitis and Herpes genital disease.

However, Herpes complications are generally mild. Most infected persons experience only a few outbreaks of the sores per year, and Herpes sores can be treated with topical creams and ointments or antiviral prescription medicine. The worst part of the disease is that it is incurable, and it can be transmitted even when there are no sores present.

3. Hepatitis

Of the three common strains of the Hepatitis virus (Hepatitis A, B, and C), only Hepatitis B and C are considered to be sexually transmitted diseases. Routine Hepatitis vaccinations for children have reduced the incidence of the disease in the U.S. to only about 60,000 cases per year for both strains. Hepatitis C is most commonly contracted from using “dirty” needles for drug injections, while Hepatitis B is transmitted through bodily fluids and blood like HIV (see below). Infection with Hepatitis can cause severe and deadly liver problems. so even though Hepatitis has been reduced to #3 on the most common STDs list, it is still one of the most dangerous.

2. HIV/AIDS

Contrary to what many believe, HIV is not one of the most common STDs out there. At 50,000 new cases per year, it only makes #9 on the list. However, HIV is incurable and eventually deadly. Even if it is not the most common STD, it is definitely one of the worst. The deadly effects of HIV and AIDS (as the disease progresses) come from its ability to attack and severely weaken the immune system, making the body more susceptible to other illnesses.

Another factor in the transmission of HIV is the pre-existence of another STD. People who already have another STD are much more likely to contract HIV. STDs that cause lesions or inflammation in the genitals provide a portal by which HIV can enter the body through blood, semen, or vaginal fluid. This is why protection during intercourse and regular testing for all STDs, not just HIV, are essential.

1. Syphilis

Last but not least, Syphilis barely makes the list of top 10 most common STDs at about 14,000 new infections per year. However, Syphilis is possibly the scariest STD on the list. The disease imitates so many symptoms of other diseases that it is difficult to diagnose, and during the third, latent stage of infection, the symptoms disappear. Syphilis can remain latent in the body for 10-20 years. Meanwhile, the virus attacks the internal organs, muscles, heart, brain, nerves, eyes, and joints, causing muscle spasms, loss of coordination, numbness, paralysis, brain damage, dementia, and finally death. All this damage can begin with a single small sore on the genitals called a chancre, which most people might not even notice.

Conclusion: To protect yourself against any and all STDs, always use protection during intercourse and other sexual activities. Get regular check-ups and get tested if you think you might have an STD. Lastly, the most recommended way to protect against STDs is to abstain from sex, or limit your number of sexual partners to one.

1. Heimlich Maneuver (Abdominal Thrust)

When someone starts choking, it should come as no surprise to anyone that they may start panicking. This is the reason why it is important that you stay calm, and know that you can help someone who is choking on a dislodged piece of food or other item. The Heimlich maneuver provides an increase in pressure in both the chest and abdomen, this sudden increase in pressure can lead to the object being pushed out of the person’s throat.

If you ever have the opportunity to take a class in the Heimlich maneuver, it is a great thing to do. Most people are going to be understandably nervous when someone starts choking before their very eyes. In such a situation, it will be beneficial that you have hands-on training.

2. Learn to Perform a Tracheotomy

It can be a scary sight to see someone choke. If you have attempted the Heimlich maneuver and the person is still not able to breathe properly, (medical experts recommend that you try the Heimlich maneuver three times before moving onto this next step) a Tracheotomy may be necessary to help them breathe and thus save their life.

Before you continue you are going to need a knife and something similar to a tube (a ballpoint pen works, as does a soda straw). Preferably, you would sterilize the knife with fire before you proceed. A Tracheotomy involves making an incision (from top to bottom) in the soft spot of the throat. This provides access to the airways and allows the person to breathe again circumventing whatever is hindering their ability to breathe. While it may be a scary notion to make an incision in someone’s throat, not doing so can lead to a person choking in front of you.

3. Learn to Treat a Serious Burn

It is true that burns can be a very common household injury, and a small or minor burn is going to sting a while but it is going to heal on its own. However, severe burns not only require special care because of the possibility of severe scarring, but also to reduce the chances of infection. Here are some steps you have to take if you are dealing with a more severe burn.

• Even though it seems counter intuitive to what you want to do, never take the clothes off a burnt body part. In the worst-case scenario, the clothes are stuck to the skin and this is going to add bleeding to the already bad burn.
• Make sure you only use pure and cool water, and if that is not available, you can use a saline solution should you have it. Creams, lotions, or butter should never be used to treat a serious burn.
• First instincts are going to be to help the person as soon as possible, but it is important that you wash your hands before you do anything to limit the risk of infection, which could lead to far more complications than just the burn itself. If possible, wear plastic gloves that have not been used.

4. Learn Fireman’s Carry

Sometimes it is vital that you get someone out of a certain situation immediately, but the person is either unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. In that situation, the Fireman’s Carry can be used to get someone away from their current location. The importance of knowing the Fireman’s Carry comes from the fact that it makes it much easier to carry someone (because you are distributing their weight across your shoulders) and it also stabilizes the person you are carrying, thus reducing any potential for further aggravating or adding additional injury.

Because you are able to distribute the weight more evenly, there is less chance that you are going to become tired as quickly and people have been known to transport others 50 feet or more which should be enough to get them out of harm’s way. Without learning the Fireman’s Carry, you risk the possibility of further injuring the other person by dragging them, or may simply not have enough strength to bring them to safety.

5. Learn to Perform CPR

Even if you have been CPR certified in the past, a refresher course is always a good idea because the American Heart Association made some rather drastic changes to their recommended CPR process in 2010. The major change is that research established that just applying the compression technique of CPR without the mouth-to-mouth breathing works just as well as the previous method. Before you do anything though, it is important to get qualified medical personal on the scene as quickly as possible to provide aid.

As discussed earlier, the American Heart Association identified that chest compressions are more important to correcting abnormal heart rhythms. The 30 chest compressions that are recommended should only take about 18 seconds, this is why rescue breathing and airway opening are not significantly delayed by focusing solely on chest compressions.

• Always place your ring finger on top of the nipple of the person (this reduces the likelihood of you breaking one or more ribs)
• Get hands-on training, when someone is lying motionless before you, it can be a scary situation. Having done the training beforehand allows you to revert to basics.
• If you do compressions, do them at a rate of at least 100 compressions per minute

6. Treating a Puncture Wound

Most people know what a puncture wound is, and if you do not, they are easy to identify. The problem with puncture wounds is that they can be quite deep, yet narrow. Especially if there was quite a bit of force that drove the object into the skin. Nevertheless, puncture wounds are not the same as cuts or scrapes; they require you to act a bit differently.

• Your first instinct is going to be to remove the object, but if the object is larger than about half an inch, you are going to want a professional to remove it for you. This not only reduces the chances of permanent damage, but also limits the chances of increased bleeding. In fact, if there is major bleeding, the object itself may be the only thing that is blocking more extensive bleeding.
• Make sure that the wound is clean, that means no additional pieces of fragments left. This is important when it comes to staying one step ahead of infection.
• Let the wound bleed a few minutes, it seems like the exact opposite of what you would want to do, especially if you are dealing with a loved one, but the bleeding actually cleanses the wound.

7. Treating a Concussion

A concussion happens when the brain is literally shaken between the space of the skull and our brain. For most people a concussion does not have lasting effects, unless they are not treated properly in which case it can become a serious problem over time. Because concussions can happen with even minor blows to the head, it is a good idea to know what to do in a situation where you believe another person may suffer from a concussion.

One of the first things to do is see whether the person suffers from two or more of the following: sensitivity to light, a severe headache, blurred or double vision, loss of consciousness after the trauma to the head, vertigo, loss of balance and coordination, numbness, tingling or weakness in the extremities, vomiting, and nausea. If they suffer from two or more, it is safe to assume the person is suffering from a concussion.

• If you believe they are suffering from a concussion, seek medical attention.
• do not use aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs in case there is internal bleeding.
• If the person wishes to sleep, wake them up every 15 minutes for the first two hours, then every half hour for the following two hours. While it may be annoying, both to you and the patient, it is an important step to take.
• Ask simple questions, this not only provides a clear example of whether the person still has their wits about them, but also keeps them awake.

8. Treat a Broken Bone

Whether you have broken or fractured a bone, it is going to need immediate medical attention. Nevertheless, there are few things you can do to prevent further injury and keep the person comfortable until emergency personnel arrives.

• Make sure you immobilize the area of the broken bone. Whatever you do, unless circulation is cut off, do not try to move it back to the original position. Not only can the pain cause the person to go into shock, but it can also cause further damage.
• If a person has a neck, back, pelvis or hips fracture do not to move them. If you have no choice but to move them because of imminent danger, make sure you immobilize the affected area so there is no chance of further damage.
• You can splint the affected bone by tying it to a stiff object such as a stick or board. Make sure you secure this splint on both sides, but not directly on top of the broken bone.
• If a person has broken their hand, wrist, finger or foot, remove all jewelry from that area, it can become virtually impossible to do this afterwards once swelling has occurred.

9. Treat Poisoning

Thousands of people each year die because of unintentional poisoning, this has nothing to do with poisons or chemicals, but with products you can find around the home. With a fast response and good assistance, you can prevent someone from dying. It is important to know the following.

• If possible, find out what may have poisoned the person. Make sure you have the bottle or container with you when you call emergency services, this makes it easier to answer any potential questions
• Realize that poison is not just the cartoon version of a glass bottle with a skull and crossbones on it, it can be gas, vapor fumes, liquid, solid, or gas.
• If you believe the source is located in the victims mouth in solid form, for example in case of pills, make sure you place your fingers in a clean cloth or put on gloves, and remove any residue that may still be in the mouth
• If the poison was corrosive, flush the affected area with water for 30 minutes. Doing this does not mean you should not still call poison control.
• If the poison has entered the person’s eyes, make sure you flush the eyes with water. Do not use cold or warm water, use lukewarm water for at least 15 minutes. Even though it will seem natural to them, instruct them not to rub their eyes.

10. Treat Severe Bleeding

Severe bleeding is quite different from the regular cuts and scrapes you may have encountered before, and requires much different treatment. Some of the signs of severe bleeding are that the wound is not clotting and that blood sprays or gushes from the wound. If you are putting pressure on the wound for several minutes and this does not stop the bleeding, it should be considered severe bleeding. In that case, immediately call emergency services. The most important thing to do in the case of severe bleeding is to try and prevent the bleeding as much as possible by keeping pressure on the wound, if you do not, the person risks losing too much blood. This can lead to them becoming unconscious or even passing away.

10. Blood Transfusion

This medical procedure has a long history that saved many lives as well as taking many lives in the process. Some researchers believe that successful blood transfusions were performed by the Incas tribes of South America more than five centuries ago. Their success might be based on the fact that people of the tribe probably had the same blood type.

Documented blood transfusions in Europe, started by Dr. Denys in France in 1667 with a transfusion of sheep’s blood to a human, were not always successful. The milestone discovery of different blood types in 1901 by the Austrian doctor Karl Landsteiner paved the way for safer blood transfusions. However, blood type compatibility is just one factor for complication-free blood transfusion. Different humans have a unique set of compounds in their blood that can create various immune and allergic reactions. Also, there are many life-threatening infections, including HIV and hepatitis B or C viruses that can be delivered from a donor to a recipient during a blood transfusion. Even with modern tests for blood type compatibility and possible infectious contamination, blood transfusion remains a serious procedure with careful considerations of benefits and complications. Some religious groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses oppose blood transfusion as blood is considered to be a sacred substance that cannot be transferred from one human to another.

Ideally, there would be an artificial blood free of individual human antigens and possible infections that would be compatible with anybody; it will be free of potential health hazards and will not put discomfort on personal beliefs. Practically, the main blood function of transporting oxygen is so complicated that we do not know for sure its exact mechanism and cannot yet engineer a similar artificial substance.

9. Organ Transplantation

It literally means “planting” when the organ (rare, multiple organs) is removed from one body and is placed into another (donor—recipient interaction) in order to replace the recipient’s damaged body part. The organ donor might be a brain-dead person that brings many bioethical issues about brain death definition. Often it may influence serious legal debates whether the donor or the family would indeed will to donate organs. Organ transplantation may also create criminal issues like kidnapping people and using them as potential organ donors, or illegal trade of human organs. Some experts say that there are many people in the third world countries who had to sell their kidney or part of their liver to the richer recipients from developed countries to make ends meet. However, it is not the end of possible problems connected with organ transplantation.

After the transplantation is performed, the recipients may undergo complications of organ rejection or from severe side effects of medications that are supposed to prevent various rejection reactions. This experience demonstrates a fine line between saving the recipients life and possible harm for the recipient as the result of this procedure.

8. Autopsy

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This term from the Greek language translation means “see for myself” and means dissection of a corpse in order to determine a reason of the death. Autopsy allows you to investigate pathological changes in human organs and tissues, and also helps to analyze whether the correct diagnosis and treatment were provided for this person. This procedure paved its way through underestimating and prohibitions—just think of the scene at the cemetery from the Mark Twain book, “Tom Sawyer.” It took about 200 years, from the 17th to 19th century, to develop proper understanding of human anatomy and standardized autopsy protocols. However, at Western hospitals, the number of autopsies continues to decline since the middle part of the 20 century because families often do not want to give permission for autopsy on the dead loved one. Such a practice creates controversy between compliance with family wishes and possibility to investigate pathological processes and possible medical errors that could benefit other living people.

7. Physicians and Tortures

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This issue is extremely controversial and usually is not widely discussed. Many physicians agree that their participation in tortures opposes the goal of medicine for better human well being. However, there is a rhetorical question–what to do if information obtained from the “bad gay” will help to save many innocent lives. Also, will the absence of the physician supervision make the torture outcome better for the tortured person? Even if there is not much information, there is speculation that some physicians cooperated with people who implemented torture processes.

6. Euthanasia

This word is composed of two Greek roots and means “good death.” In its common meaning, euthanasia is aimed to terminate the life of those people suffering from debilitating diseases. Legal definitions of euthanasia are various in different countries. Euthanasia can be voluntary (when an ill person acts to terminate own life, like taking lethal dose of certain medications) and involuntary, when an ill person receives life termination actions of another person. Euthanasia is also considered as active, when some substances given to the ill person, would terminate a life, and passive, when withhold of treatment like oxygen mask or antibiotics would be create incompatible with life situation. Active euthanasia is generally prohibited, but there is exception to this rule for children and their families in the Netherlands known as “Groningen protocol.” Euthanasia issues created two active camps of life defenders and right to die activists. Because of various cultures and religious views, euthanasia will remain very controversial theme among physicians and bioethicists. Recent death of Dr. Jack Kevorkian highlighted a physicians complicity in euthanasia.

5. Patients with Debilitating Illnesses

This issue has strong ties with euthanasia. “To treat or not to treat” certain conditions will be an issue bringing many discussions and controversies. Some health care professionals suggest that use of the huge amount of medical costs in the last 2-3 months of life for a terminally ill person creates unsustainable situation for medical funds; and in many countries, it puts the medical system into deep debt. Others argue that such statements are the health care system rationalizing. Such critics compare these medical practices with Action T4 executed by Nazi during the Second World War. Paradoxically, this Action had a name of “Euthanasia Program,” but this program definitely targeted people with severe physical or mental conditions without their consent for own euthanasia.

4. Pregnancy Related Issues

Modern medicine allows an advance degree of autonomy for a patient, meaning that a person has a right to make their own decision about own body. Autonomy opposes paternalism, when someone who knows better makes decisions. This paternalism model reflects the relationship between a father and a child when decision making is assigned to a more knowledgeable person. However, autonomy creates a great controversy when we have a deal with a pregnant woman. Her body belongs to her, but her body is also a source for the life of a new person. According to the autonomy rules, a pregnant woman may refuse any procedures, like blood transfusion or Cesarean section, even if without them her baby might die. Also, a right to perform medical abortion is based on a patient’s autonomy. This practice is a very controversial issue as health care providers should deal with two (or more lives) and often make non-beneficial for one part decisions.

3. In Vitro Fertilization

In 1978, the first child was born using test-tube techniques. This practice gave hope to thousands of people to have their own biological children if their certain medical conditions were prohibiting a couple from having children naturally. This outstanding medical achievement was recognized last year with the Nobel Prize. However, there are many critics of Dr. Edwards pioneering decision of infertility treatment. The main ethical issue was that usually many embryos should be created in test-tubes, but only a few of them are implanted into womb and develop into human. In-vitro technique creates many debates how ethical to destroy “unwanted” embryos. There are also many questions about long-term health prognoses for embryos frozen for 10-20 years and implanted into a woman after this long dormitory. Many of us also remember the story of “octo-mom”, when the woman became a mother of six, and later eight children as the result of in-vitro fertilization and implantation of multiple embryos. Many experts question the adequate decision making capacity of this woman (and the doctor who did this procedure). These critics question her ability to provide well being for her children and have concerns about health issues resulting from a very unnatural early development for these babies.

2. Embryonic stem cells

Every cell in our body has its unique functions, like a red blood cell that transports oxygen or a pancreatic beta cell that produces insulin. A human body consists of billions of cells with very specialized functions. However, all of these very different cells incredibly have just one ancestor, the very first conception cell resulting from the merging a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm. We are thrilled and do not know for sure how this single cell gives the development of billions of other cells, and how information which cell would perform a certain function is transferred. Such cells with unlimited possibilities to be developed into the certain type of cells are called stem cells. Logically, stem cells are typical for an embryo, even if many researchers try to determine the presence of stem cells in a human body later in life. The idea to use stem cells to harvest new organs and tissues sounds tremendously promising for many people whose own organs and tissues become damaged. However, the opponents of embryonic stem cell use warn us whether the price for well being of one person should be paid by the destruction of a potential life of the other person.

1. The Best Possible Health Care for Everybody

This main controversy determines future development of the medicine. New medical diagnostic and treatment techniques require huge financial investments and constant financial return to keep medical companies and health care providers in business. Ideally, it would be great to provide every person with every possible medical treatment that the person needs; practically, if the person cannot pay this fair share for themselves and for own family, how these skyrocketing medical expenses can be paid?

This article has identified 10 the most controversial medical issues. This list is not all inclusive. Each individual can add additional issues based on their expediencies. But in the end, we all agree that health care is complex, costly, and often controversial.

10. Marla Runyan

Olympic runner Marla Runyan never let her disability slow her down. Born in 1969 in Santa Maria, California, Runyan has Stargardt’s disease, a degenerative eye condition that caused her to become legally blind. A three-time national champion in the women’s 5000 meter, Runyan competed in the 1500-meter finals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

An avid marathon runner with a master’s degree in special education, Runyan is a professional motivational speaker, encouraging people to look past barriers and reach their full potential. She said she was inspired to succeed as a young child, after a doctor told her that her blindness would prevent her from achieving success in life.

Runyan also reaches out to children and families dealing with vision loss. “The future is not written and you have control about how you respond to the vision loss,” she has said. “Your child will show you what he or she wants to do.”

9. Joseph Pulitzer

The namesake for one of the world’s most coveted honors was also legally blind. Joseph Pulitzer, of whom the esteemed Pulitzer Prize for journalism, music and literature is named, was born in Mako, Hungary in 1847 and emigrated to the United States in 1864, where he began his reporting career. Pulitzer soon made a segue way into politics, winning a state legislature seat in Missouri. He was known for his hard stance against corruption and illegal gain.

In 1872, he bought the St. Louis Post and later the St. Louis Dispatch, which he combined with the Post. Pulitzer used his political clout and investigative reporting skills to expose illegal lotteries, gambling rings and tax dodgers. In 1883, he bought New York World and worked to expose the seedy underbelly of public government waste and fraud.

During these acquisitions, Pulitzer’s eyes were failing him and he was completely blind by 1889. However, he never turned a blind eye to social crimes and continued to be a watch-dog for injustice. Pulitzer died in 1911 and left behind more than $2 million to establish a school of journalism at New York’s Columbia University. In his honor, the Pulitzer Prizes – which are considered the top national honor for music, literature and journalism – are awarded every year.

8. Andrea Bocelli

He’s one of the world’s most famous opera singers, and he’s totally blind. Andrea Bocelli is a man that overcame many odds to become a household name worldwide. Born in 1958 in Lajatico, Italy, Bocelli went blind at age 12, when a blow to his head during a soccer game further complicated his congenital glaucoma.

Though he is known for his angelic and soaring opera tenor, Bocelli did not find a career in music until later in life. He worked for years as a lawyer and practiced his “hobby” of singing in piano bars and parties on weekends. A talent scout happened to hear him sing at a party he attended and signed him to a recording deal.

Andrea has worked with the famous Luciano Pavarotti and Sarah Brightman, and has sung for the Pope. He is best known for his sweet songs, such as “Con Te Partirò”, a duet with Sarah Brightman and has released several multi-platinum albums throughout Europe and the United States.

Bocelli’s velvety voice and inspiring personality have won him fans worldwide. “All that counts in life is intention,” he is quoted as saying. “You have to persevere, you have to insist.”

7. Claude Monet

Claude Monet is one of art’s most important and influential figures and the leader of the Impressionist movement. Born in Paris in 1840, Monet was a rebel from an early age, preferring to spend his time outside, sketching nature, rather than being confined to a classroom. He later enrolled at the famed art school, Academie Suisse, where he began to explore his craft of painting landscapes. In Paris, Monet befriended several like-minded artists, including Pisarro and Renoir, who became a part of the Impressionist movement, which was a type of painting that stressed light, movement and emotion over realism.

Monet’s style used complex short brush strokes and dots of contrasting color that, when viewed up close, looked chaotic. When viewed far away, however, the large scale painting looked like a beautiful soft-focus image. His most famous works include “Water Lilies” and “Sunflowers.” Many critics wondered how Monet’s eyesight – severely compromised by severe cataracts – had impacted his work and style. Monet died in 1926. His paintings, most worth millions each, hang in prestigious museums throughout the world, including Paris’ Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

6. Harriet Tubman

She led hundreds of slaves out of darkness, even though she lived in partial darkness herself: Harriet Tubman was a true American hero and also partially blind. Tubman was born a slave in 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Sold as a slave as a child, Tubman escaped the South and became a leading abolitionist in the Civil War era.

Tubman helped black slaves escape slavery by establishing the “Underground Railroad,” a network of safe houses and locations stretching north where slaves on the run could seek shelter, food and protection from other abolitionists.

Tubman, who was mostly blind due to a cruel head injury she received as a teen when a man lobbed a weight at her head, is estimated to have helped more than 300 fugitive slaves escape their Southern captors and relocate to Canada, where slavery was illegal. She died in 1913 and spent her last two decades caring for sick children and the elderly in her own group home. Throughout her life, Tubman never let her race, or her blindness, make her feel like less of a person. “Don’t be pushed by your problems,” she once said. “Be led by your dreams.”

5. Galileo Galilei

Known as the “Father of Modern Science,” Italian scientist and scholar Galileo Galilei was a visionary – even though he was visually impaired. Born in 1564 in Pisa, Italy, Galileo was an inventor and astronomer whose theories on the Earth’s place in the universe and laws of motion helped shape modern science as we know it. A prolific inventor, Galileo is credited with inventing the modern telescope, thermometer and the compass.

Galileo was the first person to use a telescope to view the planets and stars. During his viewings, he noted on important fact: it did not appear that the sun and planets orbited the Earth, as it was believed; rather the Earth and planets orbited the sun. His findings forever changed the course of astronomy and got him in trouble with the Catholic Church, which put him on trial for his “crimes” and forced Galileo to confess that he was mistaken in his belief that the Earth was not the center of the universe.

In order to avoid jail, Galileo spent the rest of his life on house arrest in Florence. During this time, his vision began to worsen to the point of blindness due to cataracts and glaucoma. Though nearly blind and confined to his house, Galileo continued to study, invent and write until his death in 1642.

4. Louis Braille

Every blind person who has the power to read can thank one man: Louis Braille. Born in Coupvray, France in 1809, Braille is the inventor of the modern Braille system, which uses a series of raised dot formations to spell letters and words. This allows visually-impaired individuals to use their fingers to “read” books and important signs in public areas.

Braille was blinded at the age of three, after he was hit in the eye by a tool in his father’s barn. An infection of the injury took his sight completely. Since few opportunities existed for the blind, Braille’s parents encouraged him to attend regular school, where he succeeded by relying on his memory, rather than reading and taking notes. In 1819, Braille received a full scholarship to France’s National Institute of Blind Youth, where the teen began to develop a system of embossed symbols, based on a military communication strategy used by soldiers to communicate in the dark.

By age 20, Braille had perfected his six-dot based code and used it to code letters, common words, numbers and scientific symbols. He published these codes and debuted them at the Paris Exposition of Industry in 1834. It took 20 years for Braille to become accepted by the blind world, two years after his death in 1852. Now Braille’s code is used worldwide and is considered the official “written language” for the blind.

3. Ray Charles

He was one of America’s most influential musical performers and paved the way for African Americans in the music industry – and accomplished it all while completely blind. Ray Charles, born in 1930 in Albany, Georgia is a great American songwriter who helped change the face of modern music.

Charles is credited with the early development of soul music, which blends jazz, gospel and rhythm and blues. Born with the visual condition glaucoma, Charles went completely blind by age seven. He attended a special school for the blind, but left at age 15 to pursue his self-taught passion: the piano. A talented singer and songwriter as well, young Ray Charles soon built a following at his small club performances, eventually landing a record deal with Atlantic Records, where he recorded hits such as “I’ve Got a Woman,” “Hit the Road, Jack” and “Georgia on My Mind.” Many of his albums went multi-platinum and Charles helped break down racial barriers as one of the first black musicians to hit the mainstream radio waves.

Charles died in 2004, after receiving a total of 13 Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. Never one to let his blindness stop him from succeeding, Charles quipped: “I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t able to hear.”

2. Stevie Wonder

It’s no wonder that Stevie Wonder has thrilled music lovers for decades. Aside from being one of the most talented and prolific singer-songwriters of all time, Wonder has accomplished it all, even though he was born blind. Born Steveland Judkins in 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan and raised Detroit’s inner-city, Wonder was a child prodigy, teaching himself to play piano, organ, harmonica and drums at the age of eight. Wonder’s blindness was caused by an excess of oxygen in the incubator following his premature birth, but his disability did little to slow him down.

Discovered in 1962 by famed Motown producer Berry Gordy, he was re-named Little Stevie Wonder and released his first recording at the age of 12. His first single, “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” which he performed and wrote made him a rising star. His collaborations with Motown powerhouses like Smokey Robinson, with whom he co-wrote “Tears of a Clown” cemented his image as a great American songwriter. He continued to reach audiences with his hit songs “My Cherie Amour” and “For Once in My Life” and his 1971 album Where I’m Coming From went multi-platinum.

Known for his songs, such as “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” Wonder also has an electric stage presence. Wearing dark glasses like his idol, Ray Charles, and sporting full braids, Wonder is an animated and energetic performer known for his signature “bob and weave” dance as he sings and plays piano. With more than 20 successful albums, Wonder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and received the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005.

1. Helen Keller

The most famous visually-impaired person of all time was Helen Keller, a woman who overcame virtually insurmountable obstacles to live not only an ordinary life, but an extraordinary one. Born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama a childhood illness left Keller deaf and blind at age 18 months. Though her parents were told to place their child in an institution and that she would never be anything close to normal, they fought to give young Helen a chance. Though she made little progress as a young child, Keller’s life changed completely at age seven, when she began being tutored by a young teacher, Annie Sullivan.

Through a unique and incredibly patient approach, Sullivan taught Keller not only to speak, but to read Braille, write and play music. Keller’s progress astounded family and friends. Keller continued to amaze as she graduated from Radcliffe College, married and began writing the first of numerous published magazine and journal articles. Her book, “The Story of My Life” was a worldwide bestseller and has been published in more than 50 languages.

During her lifetime, Keller traveled the world, met 12 presidents, received several honorary doctorate degrees and countless awards, including the being elected to the Women’s Hall of Fame. In 1962, Keller and Sullivan’s story was made into an Oscar-winning movie with “The Miracle Worker.”

Known for her inspiring speeches about overcoming all obstacles, Keller summed her life up as this: “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

10. Ionizing Radiation

High dose of ionizing radiation over a short period of time leads to abnormal brain development, mental retardation, and leukemia in children. This information has come from studies of consequences the atomic bomb explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, medical diagnostic x-ray procedures have much smaller dose of radiation and appear to be safe even with several performed procedures during pregnancy. There is a different situation with a computer tomography (CT) diagnostic procedure. Even a single computer tomography scan (CT-scan) creates a radiation exposure dose that equals to tens of x-rays and should be avoid during pregnancy.

9. Chemicals

Organic mercury (methylmercury) compounds can be extremely dangerous for the developing fetus in a small dose that would not bring any symptoms to an adult human. Pregnant women should not eat some type of fish with possible high methylmercury levels as this mercury compound would be easily delivered to the baby’s body. An individual can find more detailed information about contaminated fish at www.seafoodwatch.org . Organic mercury exposure can lead to damage of neural system, mental retardation, behavioral and cognitive problems, and blindness in a baby.

Lead exposure, received through some leaded glass products and pottery that have contact with food, can be a culprit of spontaneous abortions, delayed fetal development, increased risk of infant death, or abnormal mental or physical development of the child.

Large doses of potassium iodine, found in anti-cough syrups or medical cocktails for x-ray diagnostic, can be a cause of abnormal thyroid development and function in a fetus. This effect will lead to mental retardation or cretinism in a child.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were linked to delayed fetal growth, abnormal neural system development, and impaired behavioral and cognitive functions in a child. Products containing PCBs were banned in the late 1970s. Since that time level of PCBs in the environment is gradually declining. Pregnant women should avoid PCBs exposure by not consuming some types of fish, washing and possibly peeling fruits and vegetables before eating them, and not handling old fluorescent lumps or old mechanisms with hydraulic or heat transfer fluids.

8. Category D Drugs

About 30 years ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created a list of pharmaceuticals or drugs categories from A–no teratogenic effect was shown, to X–very strong evidence of teratogenic effect on a human fetus, prohibited to use during pregnancy. Many countries have similar lists of drugs allowed or prohibited for use during pregnancy.

Category D drugs include several drugs with definite teratogenic effect on a human fetus. However, in some situations these drugs can be used if benefits of drug use outweigh potential risk. Among these drugs are several antibiotics, neurologic, and psychiatric drugs.

7. Category X Drugs

Category X drugs should not be used during pregnancy because their teratogenic risks outweigh drugs benefits. Among these Category X drugs is thalilomide. Thalilomide was widely used in many countries in the late 1950s as a sedative and anti-nausea drug. In fact, it was often prescribed to prevent pregnancy related “morning sickness”. The result of use of this highly teratogenic drug was catastrophic: thousands of babies were born with severely underdeveloped arms and legs, multiple defects of internal organs, and facial abnormalities. Thalilomide use was called, “One of biggest medical mistakes” and this drug was withdrawn from the market in the early 1960s. This tragic outcome paved the way for much stricter drug tests for and drug prescriptions to pregnant women. In fact, in the U.S.A. thalilomide impact was minimal as FDA inspector Dr. Frances Kelsey had refused to approve thalilomide for sale in the U.S.A. pharmaceutical market after she analyzed some speculations about possible teratogenic effects and inquired more investigations.

On September 2005 in Trafalgar Square in London, the statue of one of the people who was born with birth defects caused by thalilomide was erected. It was a statue of a British artist Alison Lapper. Ms. Lapper presented this project as a symbol for equal opportunities for people who were born looking different in the 21 century. More information about Ms. Lapper and her projects is on the official site: www.alisonlapper.com

Category X drugs includes birth control and fertility drugs, an oral medication used for treatment of severe acne, some anti-cancer and anti-seizure drugs.

6. Toxoplasma

Toxoplasma is a single-celled protozoa—“pre-animal”—that can be an infection of other animals. Cats are known hosts of toxoplasma and a human might be infected after handling the infected cat’s feces and not washing hands properly after that action. Toxoplasma may also be contracted by eating undercooked meats, trying raw minced meat while cooking, or not washing hands or utensils properly after meat handling. If a pregnant woman was never exposed to toxoplasma before pregnancy and had not developed the immunity, the obtaining of toxoplasma infection during pregnancy can be extremely dangerous to the baby. It can lead to spontaneous abortion or delivery of the dead infant; or the baby might have underdevelopment of the brain, brain calcifications, blindness, and seizures.

5. Syphilis Bacteria

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by very small, corkscrew shaped bacteria—Treponemes. If left untreated, this disease progresses through three clinical stages, causing severe damage to a person’s health. If a pregnant woman has syphilis and is not treated quickly, these tiny bacteria travel with her blood to the baby’s body. Syphilis infection can be a cause of fetal death and spontaneous abortion, or can result in the delivery of the dead baby, or the baby can die within several days of life. If the baby survives, there is a high risk that this baby will have copious nasal discharge (snuffles) packed with treponemes and severe inflammatory reaction as a consequence, destroying nasal cartilages and bones. The baby will likely suffer from liver and spleen enlargement and dysfunction, meningitis or meningoencephalitis, and inflammatory skin rash—all of these are symptoms of early congenital syphilis. Some babies will not develop signs of early congenital syphilis, but around eight years of age or older they will demonstrate symptoms of late congenital syphilis: their vision will become deteriorated due to inflammatory changes in eyes, some of their central permanent teeth will have unusual conic shape and notching, and they may become deaf with complaining of vertigo and ringing in the ears. Their bones will be deformed, resulting in the look of “saddle” nose and “saber” shins.

4. Viruses

Viruses are incredibly small live particles composed of RNA or DNA that cannot produce their own energy for multiplication. In fact, they are parasites that live on certain cells of other creatures, called viral hosts. A virus penetrates the host’s cell and uses the host’s cellular mechanism for its own multiplication by millions of viral copies inside of the cell. Finally, millions of new viruses will leave the cell either killing it or creating certain damage. These new millions of viruses will target other cells of the viral host, one virus per one cell, to produce more viral copies and create more damage on the host’s cells. Most of the time, the host’s immune system will defeat these invaders. However, loss of certain cells or their damage in a growing fetus can be catastrophic. Certain types of viruses are well-known to create birth defects.

• Rubella or German measles virus exposure to the fetus can be a culprit of congenital heart defects, deafness, and blindness. Rubella virus can also be a cause of abnormal brain development and other internal organs, and creates characteristic bluish-red skin lesions known as “blueberry muffin spots.” Fortunately, if the mother had rubella in the past or was vaccinated against the rubella virus before pregnancy, her immune system will eliminate the rubella virus before it can reach the fetus.

• Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common type of fetal infection because of the ubiquitous nature of this virus. Fortunately, 90% of the babies born with CMV exposure have no symptoms. However, in some babies, CMV can be a cause of underdevelopment of the brain, calcifications inside of the brain, blindness, deafness, dysfunction of the liver and spleen, jaundice or lesions on the skin known as “blueberry muffin spots.”

• Herpes virus infection, in about 5% of cases, can infect a baby in the uterus. The consequences are catastrophic—from fetal death to permanent problems like underdevelopment and/or calcification of the brain, blindness, or abnormal limb formation. If the herpes virus was acquired by the baby during or just after the delivery, the baby will get herpetic pneumonia or meningoencephalitis.

• Varicella zoster virus is a cause of chickenpox (mostly in children), and herpes zoster or shingles (mostly in seniors). If a pregnant woman would contract varicella zoster virus for the first time during the pregnancy, there is a 25-40% risk that the fetus will have underdeveloped limbs, brain or eye malformations, and specific zig-zag skin scarring. If varicella zoster virus was transmitted to the baby just before the delivery, an infant can suffer from severe varicella zoster pneumonia. Like with rubella virus, if the mother had chickenpox in the past or was vaccinated against the rubella virus in her childhood or before pregnancy, her immune system will eliminate the rubella virus before it can reach the baby.

3. Cocaine and Amphetamine

Cocaine and amphetamine act on nerve cells and nerve fibers. In medical practice, cocaine compounds are sometimes used for local anesthesia; amphetamine compounds are used to treat some neurologic or psychiatric disorders. Cocaine and amphetamine are also well-known recreational drugs of abuse. They belong to the stimulant type of abused recreational drugs, creating similar affects of euphoria, increased capacity, and self-esteem. Some individuals develop drug dependence very quickly, and these drugs are easy to overdose. Pregnant women who use cocaine or amphetamine during pregnancy put their children at risk for the abnormal development of many organs. For instance, cocaine use was linked to the development of hollows (cysts) in a baby’s brain. Amphetamine use has shown evidence of congenital heart defects. Both cocaine and amphetamine use during pregnancy may lead to low birth weight, or even to the fetal or infant death. Babies born to mothers who use cocaine or amphetamine may have cocaine or amphetamine dependency, and severe symptoms of drug withdrawal. Such children usually have behavioral and learning problems in the future due to damage of brain cells. Cocaine is a known cause for placental abruption, a rapid tear of the blood vessels in the placenta that joins the baby’s body with a mother. Placental abruption can lead to the death of the infant, and the mother, if medical help is not delivered immediately.

2. Nicotine

Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical substance found in tobacco products. Smoking, chewing tobacco or even second-hand cigarette smoke exposure during pregnancy delivers nicotine to the mother’s blood and has a significant impact on the mother’s body and on the fetus. Additionally, cigarette smoke contains other toxic substances like cyanides and carbon monoxide. One of nicotine’s effects is an action on blood vessels and the reduction of blood flow in the uterus. This effect lasts much longer than the time of tobacco exposure. As the result, not enough nutrients are delivered to the baby and nicotine creates fetal “starvation.” Decreased blood flow in the uterus is also a cause of diminished oxygen delivery to the fetus and a reason of fetal hypoxia, when the developing baby cannot “breathe” normally. These nicotine effects lead to fetal growth retardation, premature delivery, and low birth weight. Avoiding nicotine during pregnancy would help to elude its teratogenic action on the baby.

1. Alcohol

The most common effect of alcohol impact on an unborn child is mental retardation. Alcohol is extremely toxic to developing brain cells. In fact, consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is the leading cause of mental retardation in children. This very sad consequence can be easily avoided if a pregnant woman would not consume alcoholic beverages during pregnancy. Alcohol may also be a cause of birth defects like an abnormally small head, abnormally small eyes or other deformities in the middle portion of the face, congenital heart defects, and deformities of the legs or arms. Consumption of alcoholic drinks during pregnancy is also a common cause of delayed fetal growth and a low birth weight that can have a remarkable negative impact on a child’s physical and mental health in the future.

Time when the baby is growing in mother’s uterus is extremely important for this human well-being and appropriate development in a future. Even if there are no absolute measures to avoid all possible teratogens, future parents should do their best to know about teratogenic effects on a baby and to prevent teratogenic exposure on their baby. Happy and healthy child make happy parents.

10.  MRSA or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA is a type of bacteria that causes a variety of infections that belong to the Staphylococcus family. In simple terms it is a staph infection that has morphed over time making it resistant to the most used antibiotics. Most people who contract MRSA do so in the hospital. This is because people in the hospital have weak immune systems from being sick and or they have open wounds which allow the bacteria to get in their body. It is also a problem in other confined setting such as prisons, daycare centers, nurseries and also in athletes who share locker rooms and gyms. MRSA is highly contagious and can cause severe health problems and even death if not treated in time. Although the bacteria are resistant to most antibiotics it does respond to vancomycin and some other antibiotics.

9. Escheria coli and Klebsiella

Most commonly referred to simply as E Coli, the escheria coli and klebsiella are two of the most dangerous bacteria that are easily transmitted through foods that have not been washed or undercooked foods. Years ago, E Coli was mainly responsible for severe stomach aches and diarrhea; however, as the two bacteria have become drug resistant the bacteria are causing severe health complications that can lead to death. The klebsiella bacteria can lead to pneumonia and eventual death. This bacteria, although becoming resistant to antibiotics, is also one of the easiest to avoid through the simple practice of washing raw foods, cooking foods to their proper temperature and washing hands.

8. Acinetobacter baumannii

This pathogenic bacterium, like many of the other deadly bacteria has become resistant to most antibiotics and causes thousands of deaths every year. It has been nicknamed the “Iraqibacter” due to the number of soldiers in Iraq who have contracted it after being wounded in war. The bacteria are able to enter the body through open sores, wounds, catheters and other openings into the body. This bacterium is not new but the prevalence of its outbreaks is increasing in number. The only way to lower the incidence of this bacterial infection is to increase and monitor hand washing.

7. Aspergillis

Aspergillis is a common bacterial mold that can cause pulmonary and blood infections which can lead to death. It also occurs commonly in cancer patients and patients with other diseases. This bacterial mold is most often found in air conditioning systems where it is then spread through the air ducts. This bacterium is hard to diagnose due to the people who have it generally having illness symptoms due to major diseases like cancer, leukemia, and HIV. Some people with asthma have the illness because of the bacteria. The best way to treat an aspergillis infection is to prevent it; however, this is one bacterium that is hard to avoid because is found practically everywhere.

6. Rabies

The rabies virus is a species of the Lyssavirus genus which is passed from animals to humans through their saliva. Dogs are the most common domesticated animal to carry the virus; however, bats, fox, monkeys, raccoons and other animals do carry it and can transmit it through biting. The virus, once contracted, takes several months to incubate. It travels to the brain and nervous system and eventually causes the person to appear to go ‘mad’ before they die. Rabies can be treated if the person goes to the hospital when they are bitten by an animal in order to receive the treatment. Rabies shots for domesticated animals have been one way to prevent the spread of this maddening disease.

5. Measles

This virus, which has been eradicated in many countries with the administration of inoculations, continues to claim the life of more than one hundred thousand people every year. That number is small compared to the numbers from years before vaccines were discovered. In 1529 two-thirds of the population of Cuba was wiped out due to measles and it is estimated that in the last 150 years over 200 million people have died from measles. This deadly virus spreads through the respiratory system by direct contact or through droplets in the air. Severe illness can result including pneumonia, encephalitis, and secondary infections. In developed countries the measles virus can be treated; however, in many undeveloped countries an outbreak of measles is certain death.

4. Rotavirus

The rotavirus is a virus that mainly affects children, particularly because of how it is spread. Rotavirus is spread through the ingestion of contaminated feces. While this sounds like something that could be totally avoided, in children it is easy for them to have the germ on their hand after potty training or even sticking their hand in their diaper. Later, they put their hands in their mouth as all children will and the rest is downhill. The rotavirus does not have to cause death but can if the outbreak occurs in areas where there is not proper treatment available. Rotavirus can cause vomiting, severe diarrhea, dehydration, mucus in the stools, dehydrations and high fever.

3. Bacillus Anthracis – Anthrax

Anthrax is caused by the bacteria bacillus anthracis and is a dangerous disease in practically all cases. It affects humans and animals. For many years anthrax was found naturally and killed millions of people. While it is still possible to find the anthrax bacteria, the most common form seen today is created in vitro and used in biological warfare. The United States was attacked with anthrax in 2001 and received worldwide coverage. The spores of the anthrax are either inhaled or enter the body through open cuts. These spores can come from attacks such as warfare or by handling infected animals. Once a person is infected, treatment options are relatively small. The person cannot pass the infection to another person but it usually spreads to other people due to the spores being on clothing hair. Anthrax is more commonly considered a biological warfare tool due to the absence of it occurring naturally as often as it used to.

2. Ebola

Ebola is a virus that causes EBH or Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The virus is named for the Ebola River in the Congo where it was first discovered. Once contracted, the virus interferes with blood coagulation and with the cells lining the blood vessels. Patients most always die. When first contracted, Ebola is not contagious; however, as the disease progresses and body fluids become voluminous the disease spreads easily through vomiting, bleeding, and diarrhea. It takes six months to complete an immunization for Ebola which makes the vaccine all but useless in areas where there is an outbreak. There is no treatment for Ebola other than offering comfort care during the time it takes for the virus to run its course, which can be between two and twenty-one days.

1 HIV- Human Immunodeficiency Virus

HIV or Aids is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency virus and has become the most deadly virus known to man, claiming over three million lives every year, in both developed and undeveloped countries. The HIV virus is thought to have started in the Sub-Saharan areas of Africa where it claims the lives of more people than in any other area of the world. HIV is spread through the contact of body fluids including semen, saliva, breast milk, blood, tears and vaginal fluids. This makes sexual contact the easiest way to contract HIV. Drug users who share needles and babies whose mother is infected are also high risk groups. HIV causes a host of health complications which eventually end in death, including various types of herpes and pneumonia. Even in the most developed countries there is neither a vaccine nor a cure for HIV infected people. The disease can be staved off for some time through the use of antiretroviral drugs which slow the progression; however, this is but a battle win, the HIV virus ultimately wins the war and claims victory in death.

10. Framing Effect

The manner in which information is presented or framed can affect the conclusions people draw from the information.

Public relations firms and marketing managers constantly exploit this bias to “spin” circumstances and sell products to consumers. One of the common tricks advertisers use is presenting actors in lab coats to talk about beauty products because people trust this image. In other words it isn’t what you say; it is how you say it. For example, when people are shown a video of a car crash and then asked to estimate the speed the vehicles were travelling at the time of impact they estimated higher speeds if the cars were described as “crashing”, “hitting” or “smashing” rather than “contacting”. Framing is used extensively by politicians as well to remain on the positive side of public opinion. Buzz words such as “global warming” have evolved into “climate change” to be less scary to the voting public. In order to overcome this bias it is important to look past how the information is presented and focus on the actual message.

9. Restraint Bias

The tendency of human beings to overestimate their control over impulses and resist temptations such as sex, food and addictive substances.

It is impossible for most people to exhibit iron self-control over themselves when confronted with temptation; just ask anyone trying to stick to a diet. People can temporarily ignore a growling stomach but cannot will their hunger away permanently. Smokers can quit smoking but should not underestimate the temptation to relapse when standing in a crowded, smoke filled party. This misconception of control can cause people to overexpose themselves to the dangers they are trying to avoid and doom themselves to failure.

8. Anchoring

A very common human trait to fixate or rely too heavily on a single piece of information to make a decision.

Once a specific anchor is set people find it easy to overlook any other pertinent facts. A very common situation where this type of bias occurs is in the process of buying a used car. People can fixate on color, odometer reading, year of manufacture or any other characteristic and completely ignore crucial considerations such as whether the vehicle has been maintained or the state of the engine. Buying a vehicle because it is pretty and red can be a costly error. Anchoring also occurs frequently when numbers are part of a decision process. For example, it has been found that people pay their credit cards off slower when presented with a minimum payment amount even if they have the means to put more money down on the debt.

7. Loss Aversion

The inclination for people to strongly favor avoiding losses over obtaining gains.

People hate to lose anything whether it is money, possessions, respect or even significant others. Loss has a more profound negative impact on people than gain in psychological terms. This bias is used as a motivating factor by employers and parents every day. Employees will work harder to keep a bonus already awarded (one that is lost if productivity falls) than a bonus not yet given until the employee is productive. Children also fall into the loss aversion bias trap when a loss of privilege rather than a promised reward evokes good behaviour.

6. Reactance

The inclination to do the opposite of what you are being influenced to do especially if the proposed direction constrains your personal choices.

People engage in all sorts of behaviors, often detrimental, when pressured by others to do the opposite. Many parents try and manipulate the reactance bias by resorting to reverse psychology with their children. Kids in the middle of a tantrum will often perversely stop yelling or crying when told to do so louder. Marketing professionals will often promote certain new games by plastering the packaging with warning labels about content and prohibiting certain demographics to play. This perceived loss of freedom of choice manipulates people into purchasing the game even if they wouldn’t have initially. This bias can also make people commit to an opinion more strongly if they are challenged or pressured to adopt another viewpoint. Reactance can have a very negative effect in any negotiation process.

5. Outcome Bias

A tendency to evaluate the success of a decision on its outcome rather than the merit of the decision when it was made.

It is very easy to Monday morning quarterback when evaluating decisions after knowing how they play out. People always feel they would have taken the positive path and avoided errors in judgement leading to negative outcomes. The choice to change jobs, invest money, get married and take professional risks is an easy one to make if the result of that change is already known. However, most decisions are made with an element of uncertainty surrounding the consequences. People should never judge decisions in the aftermath as good or bad using information hidden from the decision maker.

4.  Self-Serving Bias

The human urge to claim more responsibility for successes than failures or view unclear information as positive for them personally.

People tend to slant situations in their favour which enhances self-esteem and makes them appear more successful (talented, smarter etc.) to others. Attributing success to skill or personality and failures to external factors occurs in countless everyday occurrences. Children and adults alike are guilty of this bias. When discussing grades it is common to hear a child state “I got an A and the teacher gave me a D.” The child is claiming the good grade as a result of being smart while distancing themselves from the bad grade. The same situation occurs when parents discuss the grades or behaviour of their children. How often has a disappointed mother labelled a child as “your son” to the father when recounting a transgression? The self-serving bias occurs for several reasons such as the natural inclination to protect one’s self esteem, the need to appear favourable in the eyes of others and the fact that the reasons for success are often more memorable than the cause of failures.

3. Illusion of Control

People tend to believe they can control or somehow influence events which are out of their power.

This bias is very prevalent in the realm of gambling where people are convinced that blowing on the dice or engaging in certain body postures will create a positive outcome. Lotteries feed on the illusion of control bias by letting people pick their own numbers which gives the players more confidence in winning. People can become angry when their rituals are interrupted and feel bad luck is the result of that interruption. Professional athletes are famous for attributing strings of winning games to not shaving or the wearing a certain pair of underwear rather than their own skill and ability. Rationally this type of superstition does not make sense but people are pulled in emotionally quite readily. It is also very common for people to feel more comfortable or “in control” when driving their own car rather than riding as a passenger in someone else’s vehicle.

2. Rosy Retrospection

When past events are rated more positively by people when looking at the event from the present.

Memories are not exact copies of an actual event that we can pop into a mental DVD player and see exactly what has occurred in the past. Memories are our own reconstructions of the past filtered through a complex mesh of feelings and circumstances. How many vacations, relationships and jobs look better when viewed through “rosy” time hazed glasses from the present? Even boring vacations look fun when you’re in the middle of a staff meeting! Rosy retrospection is the leading reason for many ill-fated reconciliations between incompatible couples. Minor annoyances and nuisances tend to fade faster in our recall than the pleasant experiences attributed to people and moments in our past.

1. Pareidolia

Misinterpretation of a randomly occurring stimulus as something specific or familiar.

People are hardwired from birth to recognize faces and with very little effort by the brain this bias continues throughout life. While looking at drifting clouds how many people see ships, bunny rabbits and the occasional glimpse of Elvis? Psychologists use pareidolia to gauge the mental state of their patients during the Rorschach Inkblot Test. What a person sees in the blots helps the doctor see inside their thought processes. This cognitive bias can be construed as a bit strange but it enters truly weird territory when people have profound religious or supernatural beliefs. There have been very famous cases concerning images of Jesus on grilled cheese sandwiches and the Virgin Mary in peeling paint. Unfortunately, uncertainty about the images can be construed as direct attacks on the religion itself rather than scepticism about why a sandwich would be the chosen means of communication by a deity. Most people can reason out that these random likenesses are accidental and without deep meaning but that doesn’t mean watch companies will stop advertising their watches set to 10:10. You never know, people might buy a watch more readily that looks like a little smiley face.

We all know there is an obvious difference between ‘black’ hair and other cultures. Some say kinky hair is a gift – you can wear it in so many different ways, but others call it a curse and have made the decision to permanently change the texture of their hair with the use of chemicals. I said permanently because once you add chemical relaxers or perms to your hair it is changed forever. There is no way to get back the natural wave pattern, even if you let the perm grow out. This is why the ‘older generations’ of African American women frown upon relaxing children’s hair. They say it will stunt their hair growth and ruin their hair forever. Well, the same it true for adult hair.

Before we review the top 10 list, let’s talk about the difference between perms and relaxers. A perm makes hair curly. This is also called a “Jerry Curl,” or “texturizer,” and used by African American men and women to create ‘waves’ on a short hair style. A relaxer, straightens the hair transforming the original curl pattern by loosening or relaxing the kinky texture. This is where the evolution of your hair takes place changing it from its original natural state to a lifelong process of having to reapply chemicals to maintain the same look each time causing more damage to your hair.

As odd as it sounds, the relaxer was actually invented by an African American man trying to create a product for a sewing machine shop back in 1910. He wiped his hand on a wool cloth and found that the chemical gave the cloth a smooth appearance. This must have been some kind of strong chemical to turn a cloth into a different texture. Did you know that this is the same chemical used to make drain cleaners to unclog sinks? It is even used to remove fur from animals in the leather making industry. And this is the same chemical that you want to apply to your precious hair? Are you really willing to risk the damage resulting from the use of chemical hair straighteners?

9. Hair Breakage

If you think using no lye relaxers are less damaging than those containing lye, think again. There are two basic types of chemical hair relaxers – Sodium Hydroxide (relaxers containing lye) and Guanidine Hydroxide (relaxers containing no lye). The manufacturers of these products want you to believe that no-lye relaxers will not damage your hair. This is simply not true.
The truth is those stunning pictures you see on the relaxer kits of black women with silky smooth hair are usually individuals who already have a good grade of hair. Don’t be fooled into thinking a mere $10 for a home relaxer kit will give you the same look; it is not that simple. There is only one full proof method to avoid hair breakage from chemical relaxers and that is to avoid them. Relaxers permanently alter the natural pH balance and chemical breakdown of your hair. This process weakens each strand of hair. Hair breakage and scalp irritation are common side effects from relaxing or perming your hair and is not a solution for hair that is damaged despite what you may have heard.

Let’s discuss a natural remedy for hair breakage using egg yolk and olive oil treatment. Applying one egg yolk and two tablespoons of olive oil to your hair while showering and rinsing with a mild shampoo is a home remedy that will help with hair breakage. You can use this remedy once a week and see a decrease in hair breakage. No chemicals, no burns; just positive results.

8. Hair Thinning

Hair thinning is inventible with applying chemicals. What we believe to be improving our hair is actually causing irreversible damage. Many women think leaving the relaxer in a little longer, or ‘getting the edges’ a little straighter by smoothing it down with a fine toothed comb will give them the look they want. Well, the truth is, this overprocessing is causes more damage resulting in thinning hair, especially around the natural hairline. You see women all the time with thinning ‘edges,’ and while there may other logical causes for this, it is a clear sign of the damage chemical hair straightening can cause.

An easy fix is don’t use a chemical agent to try to thicken your thin hair; try oat flour. Two little tablespoons added to your regular conditioner will thicken thinning hair. Oat flour can be found at your local grocery store or health food store and costs far less expensive than over the counter beauty products.

7. Permanent Hair Loss

Permanent hair loss is not uncommon with the use of chemical hair strengtheners. What starts out as a burn and turns into a scab can ultimately end up being a permanent bald spot where your hair does not grow back. This is frustrating, not to mention embarrassing as you try to cover up the unsightly area. Permanent hair loss can also start out with an area of thinning and as time goes on the hair continues to fall out. The likelihood of permanent hair loss is increased with the use of hot combs, curling irons, and hair that is pulled tight by hair rollers.

Instead of applying harsh chemicals, try a natural method to straighten your hair. As crazy at it sounds fresh coconut can gradually straighten those kinky locks without the fear of damaging your hair. You simply blend fresh coconut with lime and refrigerate. This will create a creamy mixture. Rub this on your scalp and cover with a hot towel for about an hour and rinse with a mild shampoo. If you do this three times a week you will notice the kinks start to straighten out.

6. Frizzy hair

Frizzy hair is a result of dry hair. This can be caused by a number of things – lack of moisturizer, infrequent or too frequent washing, lack of conditioning, or use of a perm or relaxer. Black hair does not take well to overconditioning. It can leave the hair flat and unable to hold a curl. Perms and relaxers do not help with frizzy hair; they only add to the problem creating dry brittle ends that lead to hair breakage. Flat irons and hair curlers only add to the problem.

Let’s go with a natural method to prevent the frizzies. Create a rinse of apple cider or vinegar and lemon (1 ounce to 1 quart of water). Since acidity helps restore the ph balance and tames the hair shaft by closing the cuticle, applying after shampooing is a natural way to get rid of frizziness without damaging your hair. The best thing about this remedy is that you probably already have it in your kitchen.

5. Scalp Irritation/Burns

Leaving perms and relaxers on too long can case scalp irritation or burns. The problem is only worsened by using additional products containing alcohol such as hair gels or sprays. Alcohol-containing hair products can aggravate the affected area causing slow healing, further irritation, or permanent scalp damage.

Treating scalp irritation should include removing dirt and oil from the affected area with a gentle shampoo and conditioning the hair. Applying antiseptic ointment to the area will help the healing process. Remember not to scratch or further irritate the area.

4. Split Ends

Your hair is made up of layers. The outer layer protects the hair shaft. When layer of protection is damaged with the use of chemical relaxers this causes the ends of your hair to split. This damage can travel up the hair shaft and cause hair breakage resulting in damaged uneven hair. Some say just trim the ends, but the truth is, perms and relaxers actually promote split ends. They dry the ends of your hair and wear down the protective layer. While trimming your hair is recommended with or without a perm, think of how much hair you are destroying each time you get a perm or even a touch-up. If you are trying to grow your hair long, you are fighting a losing battle with the use of chemicals.

3. Dry Brittle Hair

We all know that chemicals dry out your hair. This is not a secret. The makers of these hair products try to sell a dream and too many African American women buy into it to the tune of billions of dollars each year being spent. As their pockets get bigger, more and more consumers end up with damaged hair. This only means more money in their pockets as they (the companies) advertise different remedies to help restore the damage that their products have caused in the first place.

Not everyone has bought into this pipe dream though; many African Americans are going back to their natural roots with dreadlocks and natural kinky twist hair styles. Even the ‘afro’ has made a come back and it looks stunning. You need to know that chemicals do not repair dry brittle hair; they create it. If going straight is a must for you there are natural ways to get this look without applying chemical hair straighteners.

2. Scalp infection

Scalp infection as a result of perms and relaxers not so uncommon. There are several cases where consumers have filed lawsuits against the manufactures after using their products. In fact, some women are left with permanent bald spots due to scalp infection after the use of chemical hair straighteners requiring medical treatment. This is not the look that you want to achieve with the use of chemical straighteners; however, it may very well be the end result.

1. Respiratory (Breathing)/Gastrointestinal (Stomach) Problems

As strange as it sounds respiratory problems can occur from using perms and relaxers. Potassium hydroxide, also called ‘potassium lye’ is a very strong chemical and inhaling the chemical may cause coughing, sneezing, and breathing problems. If exposed to for long periods it is strong enough to cause damage to your lungs.

Ingesting potassium hydroxide can be equally damaging resulting in burns to the mouth and/or throat, vomiting, severe stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and even death.

The effects of using perms and relaxers sound dangerous and it is; not just to your hair but to your overall health. Imagine something you apply to your hair having so many side effects – is having straight hair really worth the risk?

While the pictures of silky shiny straight hair are enticing, the health risks are overwhelming and not advertised nearly as much as they should be. Hair breakage, going bald, stunted hair growth, scalp infection, thinning hair, respiratory and GI problems – seems like a big price to pay for having straight hair. Consider natural alternatives to hair straightening or even going natural with braids, twists, or locks. Look good and feel good inside and out without the risk of permanent hair damage from the use of perms and relaxers.

Phobia sufferers experience physical symptoms when confronted with the source of their dread, including sweating, shivering, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, rapid breathing and an overall, pervading feeling of dread.

When you suffer from a phobia, in fact, your whole life is affected. Germ phobic’s become unable to touch anything that may transmit bacteria to them. Arachnophobics go into blind panic when they see even the smallest spider, and agoraphobics won’t leave their houses.

We’ve also probably all heard of claustrophobia, and a few of the other more common fears, but for just about everything out there, there’s a phobia to match it, and, as quickly as we can invent new things, new fears are born.

Then again, there are some celebrities with strange phobias too. Billy Bob Thornton for one lives in dread of antique furniture. The thing is, there are phobias about everything. Somewhere, sometime, on our planet, there’s at least one person, it seems, and who is afraid of just about anything you can think of. Some are stranger than others though, and here is our collection of the top twenty weirdest phobias we could come up with, in no particular order:

20. Chorophobia

To most people, the idea of going dancing sounds like great fun, and a good way to spend an evening, especially a Friday or Saturday night. It’s a fun way to get out, spend some time with friends, and get a workout. Or maybe a little more romantic dancing with that special someone. However, if you suffer from Chorophobia, that’s not likely to be the case – since Chorophobics fear dancing itself. That means no clubs, no boogying, and even avoiding certain movies!

19. Decidophobia

Yup. You guessed it. Decidophobia is the fear of making decisions. Most of us avoid difficult decisions every once in a while. Some could even be classed as chronically indecisive, but it’s only when the thing that’s causing you to not decide is not the outcome, but the decision itself, that you would call yourself decidophobic. Imagine what life must be like for the decidophobic – never able to order in a restaurant, or even choose which one to go to. Shopping, work, even relationships must be shear hell! So next time someone calls you indecisive, you could always claim to be decidophobic instead.

18. Papaphobia

Of all the religions in the world at present, the pope is surely the best known. Revered for his benevolence and wisdom, he is nonetheless the subject of a bizarre fear, called Papaphobia. Papaphobia is the abnormal, irrational and pervading fear of the pope, and all things papal. In fact, sufferers may even be afraid of the Catholic Church in general, or symbols of the Pope, or the church. Come on guys, it’s been centuries since the inquisition. I think it’s OK now!

17. Anglophobia

As the name suggests, Anglophobics fear England, and in fact, all things English, whether spoken or written. Now, I know the English used to conquer other countries quite a bit, but they haven’t done that in a while! This is one phobia that must make a trip to the library, or the movies, difficult to stomach, and since English is the language of business, how on earth would you work anywhere?

16. Arachibutyrophobia

Have you ever eaten a peanut butter sandwich, only to have the butter stick to the roof of your mouth? Annoying, isn’t it. If you’re an Arachibutyrophobic, it’s not just annoying though. It’s terrifying. In fact, there’s a good chance you won’t even eat peanut butter sandwiches. You see, those who suffer from Arachibutyrophobia are phobic of peanut butter sticking to the roof of their mouths, and experience the usual phobia symptoms just from the merest thought!

15. Alektorophobia

Most of us don’t give a second thought to chickens, right? They’re just birds, until they end up at KFC, and then, they’re lunch! However, these feathered farmyard creatures strike fear into the heart of those who are Alektorophobic, since that is the fear of chickens.

14. Hellenologophobia

Being Hellenologophobic must be particularly difficult. This particular phobia is the fear of Greek, or complex scientific terms. And since most names of phobias are derived from the Greek, and are complex, and scientific, how would you ever get diagnosed? How, indeed, would you explain your phobia to anyone who asked?

13. Nomophobia

This is a relatively new phobia, and proof positive that as long as we humans continue to evolve, and invent new things, we’ll just be giving ourselves more new things to be afraid of. Nomophobics are afraid of being outside of cell phone signal. Now, for most of us, having a low battery, or no call time, or even just being somewhere where there is no signal, is a little bit of a relief in our modern world, where we’re expected to be available all day, every day, but when it comes to Nomophobics, that’s simply not an option!

12. Asymmetriphobia

OK, so most of us like things to be symmetrical, and orderly, most of the time. But a little bit of asymmetry is not the end of the world, is it? It is if you’re a sufferer of Asymmetriphobia. Just imagine having to arrange everything in your life to be perfectly symmetrical, or suffer the symptoms of phobia? You desk, home, closet, and everything else will need to be completely reshuffled to accommodate your fear. And what happens when you leave home, and venture out into the anything but symmetrical world.

11. Scopophobia

I don’t think there’s anyone alive who enjoys that feeling you get when someone is looking at you. It’s unnerving and uncomfortable. However, when that goes beyond the merely uncomfortable, and becomes an irrational fear, you could be suffering from Scopophobia. Of course, those who suffer from Scopophobia have a hard time getting through the day. A trip to the mall is impossible, as is working in any normal job, or even driving. Let’s face it, as soon as you leave the house, there are going to be people looking at you. Just imagine what that must be like!

10. Phalacrophobia

Most men would consider this particular phobia appropriate, if not justified! Phalacrophobia is the fear of going bald, and let’s face it, most men who’ve seen a few extra hairs on their comb, or going down the drain, have felt a twinge of this one. Heck, there’s a thriving industry built up around hair replacers and baldness inhibitors, and although most of them don’t work that well (if at all) you’ll still find men using them religiously. Our opinion? If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, so bite the bullet, and shave it off. No more problem!

9. Phagophobia

Phagophobia is another fear that has the ability to impact on your life. Except that left unchecked, this one could even kill you! Phagophobics fear swallowing. In milder cases, this may lead to eating only soft or liquid foods, but some who suffer from this fear eating any kind of food at all. This might lead to a misdiagnosis as a fear of eating, or even an eating disorder, when in fact, it’s not the food, or even weight gain, that sufferers avoid, but rather, the physical act of swallowing.

8. Bromhidrosiphobia

This is one phobia that we think might actually be too rare. Those who suffer from bromhidrosiphobia, fear body odor. This type of fear though goes far beyond the normal, average type of fear, using deodorant and so on, which most people have. I mean, let’s face it, no one wants to smell bad! These people, however, become obsessed with their own body odor, and may even begin to imagine that they smell bad, when in fact, they don’t. Of course, when you consider the other end of the spectrum – those people who don’t realize they’re rather ripe, and who you’d rather share an elevator with, the choice is clear.

7. Hobophobia

If you live in just about any big city, anywhere in the world, chances are, on your way to work, or the store, or anywhere else, you’ll be approached by at least one homeless person. For most of us, this is an annoyance at worst, or you might feel pity, or anger at society. If you’re hobophobic though, the sight of a vagrant is enough to strike fear in to your heart, and have your palms sweating and your heart racing in no time at all.

6. Spectrophobia

We all have days when looking into the mirror is difficult, where we just know we don’t look our best, and we’d rather not rub it in. If you suffer from Spectrophobia though, looking in a mirror is a terror beyond all others for you. In fact, seeing your reflection anywhere is beyond your capabilities, and you’ll end up suffering the symptoms of panic if you do. Psychoanalyst Sandor Ferenczi boiled it down to one of two main causes – fear of knowing yourself (or self knowledge) or fear of exhibitionism.

5. Amnesiphobia

This one’s quite tricky to wrap your head around. We can understand being afraid of amnesia, I mean, no one wants to lose their memory, but then, how do we know that we’ve lost our memories? If you’ve lost your memory, would you remember enough to know that you had? This is exactly what amnesiaphobics fear though. The possibility of losing their memories.

4. Erythrophobia

None of us like to be embarrassed – that’s easy to understand, but did you know that there are a group of people who fear the act of blushing? Instead of fearing the potentially embarrassing situation that makes them blush, they fear the blush itself. It’s got to be tough being Erythrophobic – imagine going to the movies – you’d have to choose carefully! And what would you do when you met someone you thought was cute?

3. Melanophobia

It’s a fashion staple. On nearly every runway, or every shelf in every department store, every season, you will find at least one black item. It’s even become the way to describe the latest, hottest color – the “new black.” However, much as the little black dress or the classic tuxedo is the ultimate in stylish fashion, there are those, better known as Melanophobics, who fear black. That’s got to make life really tricky. Just think of how many black things there are in the world around you. Look around the room you’re in right now. Maybe your phone? Computer? Shoes? Black is everywhere – then again, what on earth would you do on Halloween?

2. Tapinophobia

Most of us fear being sick. Not the bone chilling, heart racing kind of fear that phobias induce, but a healthy sense of unease about the whole idea. We stay home, dose ourselves, and sleep more when we’re sick, but there are a group of people, those who suffer from tapinophobia, who are actually afraid of being contagious too. Their fear of illness extends beyond merely fear for their own health when sick, but fear of passing their illness on to others. Now, we all know it’s not nice to spread your cold, flu, or other illness around, but not many of us are actually afraid of the possibility!

1. Ephebiphobia

If you suffer from ephebiphobia, chances are, leaving your house is difficult. Going to the mall, or just about any fast food restaurant, must be well nigh impossible, and teaching in a high school would send chills down your spine. If you guessed that ephebiphobia is the fear of teenagers, you’d be right. Just imagine trying to parent a teen if you suffer from Ephebiphobia! It’s difficult enough, from what we hear. While it’s true that teenagers can be difficult and moody, we still don’t see the reason to have a mortal fear of them!