Medical Mysteries

Latest Episodes:

Leisure Sickness Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

Could being a workaholic actually have dangerous effects? Just ask the victims of Leisure Sickness—a psychological phenomenon in which individuals who are especially devoted to their work become physically ill when they try to relax.

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Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis Pt. 2 Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

Twenty-four-year-old journalist Susannah Cahalan’s illness continued to wreak havoc on her brain after a month-long hospital stay in 2009. With no change in her condition, one doctor would finally figure out her diagnosis using one simple test.

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Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis Pt. 1 Nov 05, 2019

Show notes

24-year-old journalist Susannah Cahalan began coming down with a troubling set of symptoms in 2009. She experienced hallucinations, numbness and delusions, which grew life-threatening as doctors struggled to diagnose her.

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Human Chimerism: Different DNA Oct 29, 2019

Show notes

A condition in which a person possesses cells with more than one distinct genetic makeup. This can alter DNA evidence linking a mother’s relation to her child—even if she had conceived, carried, and given birth to them.

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Leishmaniasis Pt. 2: The Deadly Parasite Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

It wasn’t until Doug Preston and his team returned from their expedition in Honduras in 2015 that tragedy struck. What they had contracted in the ruins was a horrifying, sometimes lethal and incurable disease of leishmaniasis, a tropical parasitic disease.

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Leishmaniasis Pt. 1: The Deadly Parasite Oct 15, 2019

Show notes

Explorers set out on an expedition into the wilderness of Honduras in 2015. They were seeking a lost city, but returned with far more than they bargained for.

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Encephalitis Lethargica Pt. 2: Under the Rug Oct 08, 2019

Show notes

A sleeping sickness that swept its way across the globe after World War I vanishes almost as abruptly as it arrived.

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Encephalitis Lethargica Pt. 1: The Great War Oct 01, 2019

Show notes

Swelling of the brain. Involuntary movements. Extreme exhaustion. A little-known and poorly understood disease swept its way across in the globe in the aftermath of World War I. But as the number of diagnoses swelled, so did the confusion. Agreeing on the symptoms was hard enough, how could anyone hope to find a cure?

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Graves’ Disease: George & Barbara Bush Sep 24, 2019

Show notes

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush was hospitalized with an erratic heartbeat. For three tense days, the nation watched with bated breath, planning for the worst - until the doctor came back with a surprising diagnosis.

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BetterHelp - Get 10% off your first month! Go to BetterHelp.com/MEDICALMYSTERIES and use discount code MEDICALMYSTERIES.

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Fatal Familial Insomnia Pt. 2: Dreaming of a Cure Sep 17, 2019

Show notes

Once modern medicine recognized Fatal Familial Insomnia as a disease, it faced a greater challenge of finding a cure. With research ongoing, the answer may lie in similar medical mysteries which have plagued humanity for centuries.

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