Nature sometimes presents surprises to man, which would not have been better. These are developmental abnormalities that occur during the division of the fetal egg. One example is parasitic craniopagi, when a second head without a body grows to the head of a normally developed child.
How does the fetus develop normally?
Pregnancy is still the most studied and at the same time the most mysterious process of interest to scientists around the world. The development of the fetus is studied in stages, days and even minutes, but so far no one knows how and why failures of this amazing process occur.
The head and torso begin their development from the first minutes after the fertilization of the egg. You can see the fetal head already at 4-6 weeks, when its length is not more than 7 mm. At 8 weeks, when the face is fully formed, the size of the head is almost equal to the size of the body. At week 9, using special devices you can already hear the heart rate, although it is still very far from full maturity. Even a full movement of the fetus, the mother will feel only after 10 weeks - on the 19th week after fertilization.
Why does the second head appear?
A fertilized egg is called a zygote. This is the beginning of all beginnings - the fusion of the genomes of the father and mother, a complete chromosome set. Most often, the zygote begins to evenly divide immediately after formation. But sometimes the zygote for some reason splits into 2 or even 4 parts. Each of the parts begins an independent division. In this way monozygotic, that is, twins formed from one common cell, are formed.
Mergers can be very different. If the heads grow together, these are parasitic craniopagi, the bodies are thoracopagi, the spines are ishiopagi and so on. Until some time, both parts of the twins develop identically, and then one part stops developing and simply parasitizes to the other, using the general circulatory system.
How do the fused twins live?
Much worse than a normal child. These are initially disabled people, forced to live together at the whim of nature. Parasitic craniopagi are the most difficult cases, because it is far from always possible to separate an unwanted head surgically. The second head also lives, sometimes it can smile or blink, feels pain and reacts to irritants. Two heads have a common brain, and therefore the surgeon can no longer change nature.
The most amazing thing is that there is a face on the extra head, and it does not always look like the main one. Still, the development of the parts of the zygote goes a little differently, with different speeds and its own characteristics, which is why big differences are obtained. The face on the additional head often looks like a caricature, from this parasitic craniopagi cause emotional rejection in others.
The most famous two-faced man
This is Edward Mordrake, the heir to the English peers, one of Britain’s richest families. His fate is tragic. He took his life at a very young age. He was only 23 years old when he laid hands on himself. He had an extremely rare anomaly - the second face was located on the back of the head. It is not known why, but the second person expressed emotions directly opposite to what Edward was experiencing at the moment. So, if he was crying, then the other person was smiling, and vice versa. There was something demonic in all of this. The sad thing is that Edward clearly suffered from a mental disorder: he claimed that the second head whispers terrible things to him. The reason for Edward's suicide was the desire to get rid of an ominous whisper forever. In his death letter, he begged the doctors to remove the second person. It is still unknown whether this request has been granted. Edward's tragedy inspired many writers and directors, a song and a thriller are dedicated to him.
The life of another fused twin - Pascal Pinon - fell on the same time period. He was more fortunate. While Edward Mordrake suffered from physical and mental illness, Pascal performed in a freak show and lived for 40 years.
Children known to the world for their ugliness
This is, first of all, a two-headed boy from Bengal, whose skull is stored in the Royal College of Surgery of England. There is documentary evidence of his life, and this is the earliest confirmed fact of the birth and life of such a child. Preserved drawings depicting a boy. Both heads were the same size and had their own brain. Normal hair grew at the junction of the heads. One person, normally located, functioned correctly. The second person almost always maintained a neutral expression. The child lived only 4 years - from 1783 to 1787. He died not from natural causes, but from an accident - he was bitten by a cobra.
This is a rare developmental anomaly, and to date there are documented evidence of only 10 such cases.
In August 2008, a two-headed child was born in Bangladesh - a boy to whom his parents gave the name Kiron. The news of this quickly spread throughout the country: such children are considered the embodiment of a living god. The mother and newborn had to be hidden from the crowd, so great was the desire of people to touch the deity. All those who came considered it their duty to give the baby something — some money or clothing. Kiron at birth weighed a little more than his peers - more than 5 and a half kilograms. However, his development is normal, he is not ill with anything.
Are developmental malformations common?
So often that the study of developmental anomalies and congenital malformations is singled out as a separate science - teratology. Statistical data in different countries differ because there are different scientific approaches. The International Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death for deformations, abnormalities and chromosomal abnormalities distinguishes XVII class. According to various sources, the total incidence of congenital malformations is 15%.
The complexity of the calculations also lies in the fact that a physical anomaly can be detected at any age, not necessarily at birth. The diagnosis of congenital malformation in the last 40 years has become more common than in all the past years. This is explained by the fact that the diagnosis has become more advanced, and those cases are found that previously could not be found in principle. That is, it is not known whether there really were more deformities or if they simply learned to find them well.
What else are people sick with?
It’s not just cancer, heart disease, or seasonal colds that affect people. Changes in radiation background, diet, industrial hazards lead to the fact that every week about 5 new diseases are registered in the world. They are described and trying to somehow fight them. In the world there are a variety of the rarest diseases, the existence of which we have never heard of.
Fortunately, smallpox, plague and cholera, or especially dangerous infections that could destroy the population of entire cities in a couple of days were among the rare ones. The curbing of these diseases is the merit of man.
Quite often there is childhood progeria or pathological aging. The child begins to age immediately after birth, and old age ends with death. Rare children suffering from this disease live up to 10 years. There were also werewolf syndrome, or body hair, eating inedible, or allotrifagia, vampire and blue skin syndrome. These diseases are best studied.