The year 2024 is coming to an end, and that can only mean one thing: another dive into the weird medical conditions that made us gasp, cringe, and groan in horror this year.
Case studies are an important part of medicine, as they can sometimes be the first clue to a new discovery. But they are also a constant reminder that the human body can have weird things happen to it in all kinds of ways. Here are some of the most bizzarro medical discoveries published in scientific journals or otherwise making news in 2024.
The most vaccinated man in the world
In March, German scientists published a study showing a man who claimed to have received more than 200 covid-19 vaccines over two years. German authorities suspected that the man was initially being vaccinated in order to obtain vaccination cards that could be sold to others, although they ultimately declined to pursue fraud charges. However, when the researchers contacted him, he may have really liked getting shots—he even chose to get two more vaccines on his own during the study.
The researchers found no signs that the man had been harmed in any way by his mass vaccinations, and found some evidence that his immune system was better protected against the coronavirus than average. Perhaps the most compelling evidence is that this man had no reported history of covid-19 infection—a rarity in today’s world. Still, as researchers wisely point out: You don’t need a 200-plus shot to get the most out of your covid-19 vaccine. Only a few will.
Losing your guts
Two separate cases of people spilling their guts made waves this year.
In one incident, published in May, a 63-year-old man sneezed and coughed up his intestines during a recent operation involving his stomach. The man’s breakfast and shirt were ruined, but paramedics were able to get him to the hospital safely and he recovered without complications. Another case was first published in September 2022 but was only found online in January 2024. It involved a 52-year-old woman whose covid-induced cough caused her intestines to leak out of an old hernia operation. He was hospitalized, but his intestines were successfully reinserted.
Abdominal surgery is known to carry a risk of gastric emptying, but it remains rare. Still, I’ll probably panic a little for the foreseeable future every time I hear a sneeze coming on.
Hairy condition
In case you’re wondering, hairballs aren’t just a problem for cats.
In July, surgeons in Ecuador reported removing a two-pound hairball from a young woman’s stomach. Doctors in Massachusetts reported treating their own hairball case last November, involving a 16-year-old girl who experienced weeks of worsening abdominal pain and other abdominal symptoms.
These cases are examples of Rapunzel syndrome, a rare medical condition in which the mass of swallowed hair becomes large enough to obstruct the stomach and possibly the small intestine. Rapunzel syndrome can be life-threatening, although both cases were caught early before that happened. It is usually caused by a mental compulsion to pull and eat one’s hair.
Three
In October, doctors in the UK reported a medical miracle that repeated the big story of the bar: a man with not one, not two, but three. Perhaps the most surprising detail about this case is that the man himself may not have been aware of his unique makeup. The extra male genitalia was inside his body, and the external genitalia appeared and functioned normally. Scientists discovered his condition only after his body was handed over to science for a cadaver study. It is the second recorded case of a person with three genitalia—a condition created by triphallia—and the first found in an old man.
A hairy accident
As a cat dad myself, I can attest to the many benefits of being a cat. But sometimes these animals can cause health problems.
For example, this past May, doctors in Portugal explained in detail how a little girl was infected by a small kitten in her family. a disease that may have been caught from her newly ill cat. In both cases, the patients appeared to make a full recovery, although unfortunately the Oregon woman’s cat died from her infection.
Although these conditions are less known than most, they are an important reminder that cats are still animals and can be carriers of infectious diseases. If you are bitten and scratched by a cat, you should always wash the wound with soap and water for five minutes (do not scrub), clean it with an antiseptic, and seek medical attention if you see signs of infection. In the case of disease and other viruses, both cats and the fleas they carry can spread it, so flea prevention is important, too.
Brainworm migraines
The story of a Florida man with a very possible outcome: In March, doctors in the state reported a man whose months of severe and frequent headaches were caused by a parasitic brain invader: the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium).
This condition is officially known as neurocysticercosis, and is caused by tapeworm cysts. These cysts cannot mature into mature adults but will migrate to different parts of the body, including the brain. Their presence in the brain can sometimes trigger a dangerous immune response that causes a wide range of neurological symptoms, such as seizures and migraines. In this case, the man may have caught roundworms from eating undercooked bacon, and then re-infected himself with boils from not washing his hands properly after going to the bathroom. The man was treated with steroids and antibiotics, which helped reduce his symptoms. Some known brainworm survivors are thriving again.
Toilet problem
Some stories start out bad and somehow get worse. In January, Canadian doctors described a 70-year-old man who was bitten by a rat and entered his private toilet. The man then developed a life-threatening infection from the bite that sent him to the intensive care unit. The rat had given the man leptospirosis, which makes the case undiagnosed, as the virus is usually found in rat urine, not saliva. Next to the doctor, the rat may have started smearing its mouth with bacteria-soaked urine before biting the man—the most insulting form of injury I’ve ever heard. Thankfully, the man was successfully treated with antibiotics, but who knows if he’ll ever be able to use the toilet again without the underlying fear.
Margarita is burning
Here is one reason to limit your drinking for the day. In December, doctors detailed a rare case of phytophotodermatitis—also called “lime disease,” also called “margarita burn.” A man developed nasty blisters on his hands the day after he ate juiced limes and spent the day outside watching football. Phytophotodermatitis is caused by exposure to a class of chemicals commonly found in plants and fruits known as furanocoumarins, followed by exposure to ultraviolet A rays. Furocoumarins are absorbed into the skin and exposed to UVA light, causing an inflammatory reaction that destroys skin cells.
Unfortunately, there is no treatment available to speed up the diagnosis of lyme disease (not to be confused with Lyme disease)—victims must wait days or even weeks for the condition to go away on its own. The man was given a topical steroid cream and moisturizer to reduce his symptoms, and his hands eventually returned to normal.
A strange wall
Honestly, I would love to detail all the weird medical situations that happened this year, but we all have families to return to. So here is a short ode to some honorable mentions.
There is a person who saw the world in pink after having orgasms; a woman who went blind (temporarily, thankfully) from using hair dye; having an autoimmune disorder that keeps vitamin B from getting into your brain; two men caught a fatal fungal infection from bat guano they used or planned to use as fertilizer for home marijuana; a woman who contracted pneumonia caused by eating venison; and family reunions when people catch worms caused by contaminated bear meat (maybe people should not eat animal meat in general?).
The escape of the giant eel
Few cases have ever hit us at Gizmodo like this one.
In July, doctors in Vietnam reported removing a 61-foot eel from a man’s intestines after he inserted it into his groin—even before the foreskin started chewing on his intestines.
A man visits the emergency room with severe abdominal pain. Once there, he told the doctors that he voluntarily threw an eel up his anus, although he refused to give a specific reason why (as is often true of these cases, however, it may be related to sex). He made his situation worse by shoving a lemon up there, obviously wanting to keep the show where it was. However, the slithery rider did not cooperate. When the doctors operated on the man, the hole had entered the stomach by biting the intestines. The man survived his ill-advised experiment, although he did not lose part of his colon.
Notably, this was the second case of butt eel reported by Vietnamese doctors this year, although the other case involved a short eel, measuring 12 inches (30.5 cm) in length.
Here’s hoping that nothing in 2025 comes close to the weirdness of these two events. Eh, who am I kidding: the more amazing, the better.
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