Abigail And Brittany Hensel

---

Abigail And Brittany Hensel

Meet Abigail and Brittany Hensel, conjoined Minnesota twins who deal with more struggles in a single day than many of us do over a lifetime. 

It wasn’t long after they were born that their mom and dad were given the devastating news that their twins were conjoined - and that they might not survive much longer. 

The tenacious pair beat the odds, and are living happy lives aged 23. 

Viewers have been given a portal into their world thanks to a TV show - Abby and Brittany - which shows viewers how tough living as a conjoined twin actually is. 

Abby and Brittany are incredibly rare. Firstly, a person has a 1 in 40,000 chances to been born conjoined.

Secondly, only 1% of conjoined twins survive after birth. 

The sisters, who have two years, an incredible four lungs, two spines and a shared liver, were became conjoined when a fertilised egg did not separate inside their mother’s womb.

It was a fluke of nature - and it’s a miracle that they survived it.

The girls can only feel one half of their body, but they are sill able to play the piano, volleyball, softball - and they can even ride a bike and swim!

Although they were born with three arms, one arm was removed when they were born. They have undergone surgery numerous times, but both girls are in good health. 

Their mom and dad have always wanted them to develop their own unique personalities, but they still have to work as a single body - even though they would love to be able to eat and sleep at different times. 

Abigail and Brittany have not only had to live with each other, but they’ve also lived a life largely in the media

Polydactylism

---

Polydactylism, or the disease where extra fingers or toes are present on the body, is considered to be one of the more common diseases within the development of birth. One out of every 500 children have Polydactylism. The extra finger or toe tends to be nothing more than soft tissue with no bone. Surgery to remove the extra digit is the only option.

Accelerated Aging Syndrome

Source 

---

Progeria or the Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome 3 is a disease in which children begin to look elderly even before they’re two years old. There is no disruption in intellectual development or motor skill development and the effect are mainly physical.

Children with this syndrome develop characteristic prominent eyes, a thin nose with a beaked tip, thin lips, a small chin, and protruding ears. They start looking like old people as in hair loss, aging skin, joint abnormalities, and a loss of fat under the skin. They experience severe hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) beginning in childhood that lead to heart attack or stroke at young age. Unfortunately, this is a life threatening condition.

Rare ageing condition - Progeria

This newborn baby has the looks of an 80-year-old after being born with rare condition

View photos

A boy has been born with a rare ageing condition that makes him more like a pensioner than a baby.

The tot was born with progeria, which has left wrinkles on the boy’s face, hollow eyes and extremely shrunken body.

Doctors in Magura, Bangladesh, are stunned at the condition of the baby.

One said: “The baby does not look like a newborn at all.

“There are prominent sings of ageing such a excessive wrinkles and rough skin texture.”

Despite his unusual look, the boy’s parents are ecstatic with the birth of the “miracle” child.

View photos

Dad Biswajit Patro said: “We can only thank God. There is no need to be unhappy about the appearance of my son.

“We will accept him the way he is. We are so happy to have a baby boy in the house.”

He added: “We have been getting a lot of visitors. Relatives, neighbours and even people from neighbouring villages have come to see our son.

“We are happy to host them all.”

Biswajit and wife Parul Patro already have one daughter and hope their new addition will grow up to be a healthy boy.

Doctors say the boy will do well for the time being but they are unsure what measures will be needed in future to treat him.

Macrodactyly

---

Macrodactyly or other wise known as local giantism is a condition in which a certain part of the body acquires larger than normal size due to excessive growth of the fatty tissue, tumors and inflammation. It is more common in fingers and toes. However in more extreme cases sometimes an entire limbs may be enlarged.

Neurofibromatosis

Though not many know of this health condition, Neurofibromatosis is a hereditary condition that carries higher chances of tumor formation in the nerves, particularly within the brain region. It is also the same disorder which the well-famed Joseph Merrick (AKA Elephant Man) was afflicted with.

Cutaneous horns

---

Cutaneous horns, also known by the Latin name cornu cutaneum, are unusual keratinous skin tumours with the bizarre appearance of horns.  They are usually small and localised, but can, in very rare cases be much larger. Doctors are unsure of causes but believe they are linked to excessive exposure to radiation.