I wasn't sure wether to put it here or in the General Forum, but I figured this leans to the Science-way...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6379795/
I picked some of the (in my opinion) most interesting bits, since the article is very long.
Quote:
Ashlyn is among a tiny number of people in the world known to have congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, or CIPA — a rare genetic disorder that makes her unable to feel pain.
The untreatable disease also makes Ashlyn incapable of sensing extreme temperatures — hot or cold — disabling her body’s ability to cool itself by sweating. Otherwise, her senses are normal.
Ashlyn’s baby teeth posed big problems. She would chew her lips bloody in her sleep, bite through her tongue while eating, and once even stuck a finger in her mouth and stripped flesh from it.
Family photos reveal a series of these self-inflicted injuries. One picture shows Ashlyn in her Christmas dress, hair neatly coifed, with a swollen lip, missing teeth, puffy eye and athletic tape wrapped around her hands to protect them. She smiles like a little boxer who won a prize bout.
Her first serious injury came at age 3, when she laid her hand on a hot pressure washer in the back yard. Ashlyn’s mother found her staring at her red, blistered palm.
“It’s a lot to take in. It opens your eyes to things you wouldn’t normally think about,” says Tara Blocker. “If she sees blood, she knows to stop. There’s only so much you can tell a 5-year-old.”
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There was a documentary here about that a long long time ago, I don't think it was the same girl though. It was also a little girl, and for example when she would crawl outside, she would crawl on the cement on her backyard and her knees would start bleeding and she wouldn't feel a thing. Isn't that awful?
I mean, it does sound like something cool, when you first think about it. I know I would be the worst troublemaker at school.
People could try to hurt me but.. MUAHAHA! ....
People who have the disease probably learn what's harmful and what isn't, but just imagine that you could be hurting yourself at any minute without noticing! For example, let's say someone just boiled soup on the stove and you are standing with your back against the hot plate, and you accidently put your hand on it without even noticing! You could get serious burns without having a clue!
And you would have to constantly be checking your body and what's going on around you, to be sure something bad isn't happening to you. Awful.
