Good News for Hypochondriacs: 'Stone Man' Disease Is Real!

Did you know that there’s a rare syndrome-- fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva—that can cause your bones to grow so uncontrollably that you become a “stone man”? That’s just one of the strange ailments described in the Hypochondriac’s Handbook, a new book chock-full of rare diseases. USA Today interviews author Ian Landau, but we’ve decided to cut to the chase and just list all the cool diseases he mentions. Like…

• Human Botfly Myiasis: Larvae grow below human skin, emerging as insects 6 to 10 weeks later.
• Guinea Worm Disease: Similar, only this time it’s a 3-foot-long worm growing in your foot.
• Alice in Wonderland Syndrome: A neurological disorder that causes objects to appear to be larger or smaller than they are
• Foreign Accent Syndrome: For example.
• Cutaneous Horn: A skin disease that causes actual horns to grow on your body.
• Human Werewolf Syndrome: Also known as “hypertichosis” or, in plain English, “excessive hair growth.”

(More hypochondriac stories.)