Top 7 Rare Brain Diseases Ever Discovered

Our brain controls most of what we do in our daily lives which includes our thoughts, what we say, and our actions. According to the American Institute of Neurological Disorders, damage to the brain and nervous system will cause negative impacts on our weakly bodies.

Whether the damages are caused by diseases, injuries or infections, there are more than 600 types of neurological disorders or diseases that can occur which will weaken the body or even worse, death.

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We would like to share with you the list of the top 7 rarest brain diseases that have ever been discovered.

7. Batten Disease

This rare disease which involves the terminal is a neurodegenerative disorder that started during children's age and will result in vision problems, motor actions, seizures together with teeth abrasion, hyperventilation, and the decrease of fat and muscle mass.

Dementia and premature death are the final effects of Batten disease which are caused by a genetic mutation that impacts the cells' ability to remove toxic waste from the body. The Batten disease got its name from the discoverer, Fredrick Batten who found this disease in 1903.

6. Cantú syndrome

This neurological disease that rarely occurs was said to be due to the mistake of spelling in the genes which causes mutation with less than 50 cases of Cantú syndrome ever recorded in medical journals.

The main clinical manifestation of this disease includes excessive hair growth with its own facial features and is sometimes overwhelming. For instance, thick eyebrows with some patients having stunted growth.

Cantú syndrome can sometimes be hereditary and can be diagnosed by genetic testing.

5. Bobblehead Doll Syndrome

A syndrome that usually happens to children aged 3, the Bobblehead syndrome is like its name. The kid will start to spin around their head and move their shoulders at once repeatedly with a rate of 2 to 3 spins a second.

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With only 34 known cases since 1966, this condition rarely happens and it is believed to be caused by a tumor at the third ventricles of the brain. Other symptoms include difficulty in walking and losing control of the movement of the body.

4. Kuru

It is closely related to the mad cow disease, kuru often occurs among the New Guinea tribes that practice cannibalism since it is considered their usual ritual to preserve the spirits of the dead.

Due to the accumulation of abnormal tissue caused by a protein called a prion, this disease causes permanent damages that cannot be repaired and can also cause death. The word Kutu means shivering or trembling in fear since the person will experience non-stop shivering.

3. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

A degenerative brain disturbance that rarely occurs can simply happen out of the blue and can be inherited or obtained through infected tissue. This can possibly be caused by eating contaminated meat or tissues that are infected while performing a transplant.

Some of the clinical manifestations include depression, anxiety, loss of memory, and usually ending with coma. There have been reported cases of 1 in a million each year around the world. 90 percents of the recorded cases happen at random without a clear explanation.

2. Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Syndrome

This neurodegenerative disorder hardly ever happens and it's also known as GSS and it is inherited exclusively in a few families around the world. It usually occurs when the person is between the age of 20 to 60 years old.

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The Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Syndrome is a progressive type of disease that comprises symptoms such as loss of memory, vision problems, speech issues, blindness, death, and also dementia.

1. Ribose 5-Phosphate Isomerase(RPI deficiency)

RPI deficiency is one of the rarest brain diseases and to find one out there would be a miracle. There have only been 3 cases of RPI deficiency throughout history whereby the patient is believed to have an abnormal absorbed white matter.

This disease was first discovered in 1999 by Dr. Van der Knaap and his team. It affects the deepest and biggest part of the brain which will cause psychomotor regression and late progressive development.

Symptoms such as seizures, eye damage, spasm as well as slow emotional and physical reactions will be present in this disease.

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