11 Diseases that can make your body or face change

Speaking of diseases, what might come to our mind is a medical condition that wreaks havoc on the internal organs and parts of the human body. Call it heart disease or cancer.

But some diseases not only affect overall body functions, but also completely overhaul your physical appearance. Anything?

1. Vitiligo

Vitiligo causes your skin color to fade, streaks in various areas of the body, such as widespread patches of tinea versicolor. Vitiligo occurs when the body's immune response is disturbed, which destroys melanocytes, cells that make skin pigments. The patches of vitiligo can extend into the mouth, scalp, and even the eyes. This condition can also make your hair gray quickly. In some cases, your skin can lose all pigment and turn completely paper-white.

Pop king Michael Jackson, comedian Graham Norton, and ANTM model Winnie Harlow were born with this condition. There is no cure for vitiligo, although therapeutic treatments are available to even out your skin tone, from the use of makeup foundations, oral and topical medications, to skin grafts or tattoos.

2. Diabetes

People with diabetes who don't control their blood sugar levels can have a number of complications that can change their physical appearance. For example, an infection in a hand or foot that is difficult to heal can lead to putrefaction, which may eventually require amputation. Another diabetes complication, acanthosis nigricans, makes the skin thickened, darkened, and has a velvety rough texture.

In addition, uncontrolled diabetes can increase your risk of developing gum inflammation (periodontics) because the body becomes more susceptible to bacterial infections due to an inadequate immune system. A severe case of periodontists can cause the gums to recede and become hollow, causing pus to appear. If left untreated, this can damage the bone around your teeth, causing them to fall out easily.

3. Osteoporosis

About 200 million people worldwide suffer from osteoporosis. Recent research from International Osteoporosis (IOF) reports that 1 in 4 Indonesian women aged 50-80 years are at risk of osteoporosis. Losing the bones causes the spine to curl, it can even crack and squeeze, which in turn causes your body to bend over.

4. Lupus

A red, butterfly-shaped rash along the nose and cheeks is a hallmark of lupus, an autoimmune disorder that starts when your body attacks organs and tissues and causes inflammation. You may also experience lesions on your skin after sun exposure.

5. Pernicious anemia

Pernicious anemia can be caused by an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks cells in the stomach, making it difficult for the intestines to absorb vitamin B12, which is needed to make red blood cells. Symptoms of perniosal anemia may include extremely pale skin, swollen tongue, and bleeding gums, as well as fatigue and loss of appetite.

6. Alopecia areata

If you start experiencing hair loss so intense that it creates many large, patchy bald areas all over your scalp, you may have alopecia areata. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack hair follicles. You may lose all the hair on your scalp or even your entire body.

7. Epidermodysplasia verruciformis

Also referred to as Tree Man disease, epidermodysplasia verruciformis is a rare genetic disorder that causes tumors such as bark and tree roots to grow all over the body. This rare disease that shocked the world several years ago when it was discovered by a man from Bandung was caused by an increased susceptibility to the body to HPV.

8. Hypertrichosis

Hypertrichosis is a rare autoimmune disorder that causes the entire body to become covered in long, thick hair, including on the face. Therefore, this disease is also often referred to as Werewolf Syndrome because a person infected with this disease looks very much like a werewolf with hair.

9. Progeria

Progeria is a very rare genetic condition that affects children, caused by a small defect in the genetic code. There are only about forty-eight people living with this disease worldwide. The word "progeria" comes from the Greek, "progeros" which means prematurely old.

Although mentally they are still minors, children with progreria will get older physically. A five year old child may have a physique that looks like a man in his 80s to the eye celong protruding, thin nose with beaked tip, thin lips, small chin, wrinkled skin, and protruding ears. They also display the classic symptoms typical of old age, such as baldness, heart disease, bone loss (osteoporosis), and arthritis. Unfortunately, children born with progeria will die at the age of 13.

10. Fibrous dysplasia

Fibrous dysplasia is a rare bone disorder that causes scar tissue such as fibers to grow to replace normal bone. This abnormal tissue growth can cause the surrounding bone to break or break easily, and it is also prone to new bone growth.

In most cases, fibrous dysplasia affects only one bone - most often the skull or long bones in an arm or leg. This type of fibrous dysplasia usually occurs in adolescents and young adults. In some cases, new "bones" develop throughout the joints of the body parts, limiting movement and forming a second skeleton, turning them into living statues. That's why fibrous dysplasia is also often called Stone's disease.

11. Bell's palsy

The symptoms of Bell's palsy can appear "just" as a mild twitch, but in more severe cases, it can cause weakness or even paralysis of a part of the body - which usually occurs on one side of the face only. Bell's palsy occurs when the nerves that control muscle movement in the face get swollen, inflamed, or squashed, but the exact cause isn't clear.

Since facial nerve movement also controls eyelid motion and facial expression, these functions can also be affected, leading to changes in physical appearance. But nerves are also involved in the function of the tear and salivary glands, as well as the ears and tongue. This means that other symptoms of Bell's palsy can include drooping eyelids such as lazy eyes, drooping corners of the mouth like a permanent frown, and saliva and tears that can keep dripping.