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30 Things That Make People Statistical Anomalies, And It Shows How Bizarre Biology Can Be
Human beings are a bit of a puzzle. There’s a paradoxical desire for connection with others while also staying unique. On the one hand, each and every single one of us has unrepeatable life experiences and relationships. On the other hand, there’s nothing new under the sun. There are tons of commonalities to be found between us and the people living all over Earth, from our similar wants and needs to psychology and biology.
However, some people have such bizarre genetics and medical histories that they feel like anomalies. Today, we’re featuring some internet users’ stories about some of the things that make them statistically rare, including niche allergies, biological quirks, and surviving against the odds. Scroll down to have a read.
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#1
I’m an 18 month survivor of Stage 3 pancreatic cancer and currently in complete remission.
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#2
I'm not part of the 77% of felons that went back to prison within 3 years of getting out. 7.5 years and going strong.
#3
I lost 110 lbs, it's been 20 years now and I've not gained any back.
HangryHangryHippo 2 days ago
That's amazing! Shredding the extra weight is hard, but keeping it off is harder! Chapeau to OP
Pollen, dust, animal, and certain food allergies (e.g., to nuts, shellfish, and dairy) are fairly common. But their severity has a huge range. You probably know someone who has hay fever (hey!) or can’t be around cats or dogs for a long while without sneezing (hi again!). Or you may have a person in your life who has to carry around an EpiPen in case they get stung by a bee or accidentally ingest food that has traces of nuts.
Other allergies are incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that you may not even have heard of them before. According to Penn Medicine Becker ENT & Allergy, some of the most uncommon allergies known to medical science include water allergy, also known as aquagenic urticaria. In short, people who suffer from it develop itchy and painful hives when their skin comes into contact with water. So, they have to limit their exposure as much as possible.
#4
According to my grandma I’m the smartest young man alive.
#5
I am born on the same date as my dad and great grandpa.
Elladine DesIsles 2 days ago
When I was a teen I used to babysit for a family with three kids. First their eldest, a daughter, was born on her grandmother's birthday. Three years later, they had fraternal twins also born on the same date.
#6
I was one of the few Romanian orphans to receive a good life.
Another very rare allergy is sun allergy, aka polymorphous light eruption (PMLE). Similar to aquagenic urticaria, PMLE means that people’s skin develops hives, but this time when exposed to sunlight, not water. People with PMLE have to avoid exposing large areas of their bodies to the sun and manage their symptoms with the help of sunscreen and antihistamines.
Some other rare allergies include cold urticaria (allergy to cold temperatures, whether that’s air, water, food, or beverages) and exercise-induced anaphylaxis (allergy to exercise which means you may need to have emergency adrenaline shots if you’re too physically active). And in some cases, you can find individuals who have cholinergic urticaria (sweat allergy) and nickel allergy (essentially, an allergy to coins).
#8
I was cured of Stage 3b lung cancer.
#9
I'm an Asian and also a natural ginger.
Leoninus Fate 2 days ago
I am albino Asian {japanese fyi} I Lost my birth mother to people who saw "albinoism" as "demonic", Im in a good place now, and 39, it happened over 30 years ago..
What makes you a statistical rarity or total anomaly, dear Pandas? Do you have any bizarre allergies? Were you born with any genetic quirks? Have you ever been in a million-to-one situation?
How have all of these niche experiences affected your life? Would you rather be one-of-a-kind or have more things in common with everyone else? Let us know in the comments!
#10
I actually had an allergic reaction to a vaccine as a kid. I passed out and stopped breathing. I almost died. I had a speech impediment as a kid that was probably a result of lack of oxygen to my brain during the incident. True allergic reactions like this are one in a million.
I couldn’t finish my vaccines and can’t get boosters shots because the chance of another reaction is higher than the chance of me actually contracting anything we vaccinate against. Or it was, until we starting losing our herd immunity. If I had kids I’d still vaccinate them.
smugdruggler 2 days ago
This is exactly the kind of person that mass vaccination produced herd immunity protects.
#11
I'm allergic to the chemical released when fresh oranges are peeled. That first spray when you open an orange will put me into anaphylactic shock. Super specific, super rare when the allergy is that severe. Bad oranges.
#12
Survived premature birth without any defects
Edit: For all those wondering I was born 4 months early at 1 pound 6 ounces.
#13
I have sickle cell anemia.
My skin is white.
Ive had doctors ask me ‘are you sure you have sickle cell? Want to be retested?’ This has happened 6 times that I remember. Ive never seen my mom angrier lol.
DowntownStevieB 2 days ago
People may not know how rare this is. Trust me, it's very VERY rare.
#14
My mother was born with an upside-down uterus. They told her it would be impossible to have a child. I was born with my umbilical chord wrapped three times around my neck, and was presumed dead. Yet here I am with no birth defects- perfectly healthy. I was paraded around the hospital as a miracle child. Having been born in a small town, everyone always told me I was going to grow up to do miraculous things.
I feel as though I uh... have not lived up to the hype.
Edit: wow this really blew up. Thanks for the kind words everyone. Don’t worry I’m a happy guy.
Bonus fact: I actually had a twin brother, but there wasn’t enough food for the both of us. My chances were 50/50 from the get-go. I live my life not only to live up to the expectations set for me, but also for my brother who never got to live his own.
#15
Being reasonably well-adjusted despite spending years as a foster kid where some of the homes were abusive.
Seán Baron 2 days ago
Yeah, I was in care, moved around 11 times in 13 years, abusive parents, foster parents, lived in care homes etc, and I seem quite level headed. I mean, I’m depressed to buggery, and have mental health issues, but I’ve coped.
#16
I’m chimeric, except, I have two twins. I’m walking around with my fraternal twin brothers DNA and identical twin sisters spinal tube next to my spinal tube. I was supposed to be three individuals.
#17
I found out I had synesthesia the first time I got into an argument about how Wednesday is green.
Ana Klekijeva 2 days ago
I have it with a certain shade of blue. I tastes like rusty iron and wallpaint.
#18
I am a leap day baby! Coming up on 6 years old. :).
#19
I’m naturally a redheaded, blue eyed, left handed human and the only one in my family with those characteristics.
#20
For exactly 2 years, I served as the trashman for the International Space Station.
#21
I suffered a stillbirth last year... which is sadly not that rare.
But the autopsy discovered the cause was a disseminated herpes infection which I contracted from my partner.
Intrauterine herpes infection is very rare. For it to cause death is very rare. Neither of my two OBs, the perinatologist, nor the pathologist has ever seen a case of it. Not only that, I had no symptoms at all - never experienced an outbreak, had normal CBC, etc. The pathologist could only find cases where the mother also had a disseminated infection which passed to the baby.
My doctor said it’s the medical equivalent of being struck by lightning.
The good news is that this did not put future pregnancies at risk, since this typically only happens during a primary infection. I am now 36 weeks with another baby boy and other than being on preventative acyclovir, they are not concerned for him.
#22
I'm a colorblind woman. Apparently, it's 8x rarer in women than in men.
#23
Hmmm... There are a few things... I have centralized heterochromia, which is a mutation of a mutation... Of a mutation. On top of that, it's hereditary and not linked to any horrific condition that's normally linked to hereditary centralized heterochromia.
However, if you want incredibly rare...
My wife is alcohol intolerant. I didn't learn about it until she recounted a tale about her grandmother trying to calm her down as a baby by putting whiskey on her gums. Yeah, she calmed down alright... Then her face turned blue and she wasn't breathing. This anomaly is rather rare. But what makes this crazy? My dad is allergic to alcohol, which is very similar but just as rare! Not just grain alcohol, he's allergic to isopropyl as well. He can't even have it on his skin for too long, otherwise it will start burning. There was even a malpractice suite because a doctor didn't believe him when he said he was allergic. Her words were, "It's not possible to be allergic to alcohol." I won't go into details, but the doctor almost fainted and my dad has an insane scar because of it.
#24
I was present the two times the US was attacked on American soil. I lived in Pearl City, Hawaii just outside of Pearl Harbor when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on 12/7//1941,. I worked in the Pentagon when a missile strruck it on 9/11/2001.
Edit: To all those correcting me, yes it was a plane and not a missile. In my very old age I get confused sometimes. When I evacuated the Pentagon as ordered, I could see the part of the plane that was sticking out of the side of the Pentagon. Took me a hell of a long time to get home because of the incredible traffic jam that occurred in the aftermath.
#25
Instead of sweating I just get really really cold when working out. So far no health problems just a cool way to freak out my friends.
#26
Benign brain tumor that may have been sitting there my whole life.
my doctors say lots of people could be walking around and not even know it so who knows how rare it is.
Xenia Harley 2 days ago
I don't think this is that rare. I had a stroke, and due to having an MRI, brain tumor was discovered. I also have a friend who had a benign tumor near her ear that did start to grow. She had to have it removed. She said it is more rare that doctors have to treat it than having a tumor.
#27
I have a 34th vertebrae in my spine normally there is only 33.
HTakeover 2 days ago
Nah, it's fine, though 34 at birth is uncommon but not rare. People are born with 33 but 9 of them fuse at the bottom as we grow older - down in the coccyx and sacrum. In adulthood it's not uncommon to have one or two not fuse properly, and why it's not too difficult to break a piece of the tailbone off in a broken butt accident.
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#28
My height. I'm around 6ft, which isn't that amazing, except that I have just turned 13.
#29
Left handed, dyspraxic and coeliac!
I’m like the unicorn nobody asked for.
#30
One of my eyes is sectorally heterochromatic. That's rare enough on its own, but I figure that the color combination and position on the iris makes it absolutely unique on Earth.
EDIT: Wow, this blew up! For those asking, [I'm Hazel with a chunk of brown.](https://i.imgur.com/5TgPutS.jpg).
What do you think ?
Warren Peece 2 days ago
At one time, I was the youngest person in the world and also the last person ever born.
Whoopdeedoo 2 days ago
I really hate how I have to subscribe to BP just to keep reading. Pleased to have found another 13 year old however, one who would Tower over me at 5'5"
Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 1 day ago
That doesn't sound healthy all goodness! Average is 80-100
Load More Replies...
Rick Seiden 2 days ago (edited)
I'm the only redhead in my generation. I have a single transverse palmar crease (one line across the palm of my hand in both hands). My last vertebra is fused to by pelvis bone. I caught smallpox from the vaccine when I was a child (born in 1969) making me one of the last reported cases of smallpox in New Jersey.
Petra Peitsch 2 days ago
You are not the only redhead in your generation.
Load More Replies...
Trisec Tebeakesse 2 days ago
I survived Stage III colon cancer. That's not the big deal; one day during treatment, I went to the hospital, turned in my infusion pump, and promptly went out backpacking with my Scouts on the highest mountain in Massachusetts. The following Tuesday, my Onc pointedly asked me - "Tell me again how you didn't die?" I since became a legend in the Oncology Ward.
Display_Name 2 days ago
My heart rate is extremely scary. My cardiologist had me take a picture of my EKG and told me if I have a cardiac emergency please call him before anyone does anything drastic.
Aerial (Any pronouns/Canadian/Jewish) 2 days ago
I recently found out I have central heterochromia, like I said on one of the posts, but my personal favorite weird body thing is that I've confused my doctor a few times. Getting false positive COVID rapid tests, getting a one-time childhood disease three times, colds that last for like a month, etc. I have a very strange immune system.
Apatheist Account2 2 days ago
People are saying these posts are 5 years old. Come on BP - there's surely enough content out there that you can fill the pages with recent stuff.
Probably Aoife 2 days ago
I always click onto these hoping I'll figure out if I'm not normal in some way. Can't tell if some of my 'weirdness' not being on the list means I'm actually normal or extra weird... I have other individuals living inside my brain and I have no clue what that is :/
Bartlet for world domination 1 day ago
That is either psychosis or a trauma response.
Load More Replies...
Warren Peece 2 days ago
At one time, I was the youngest person in the world and also the last person ever born.
Whoopdeedoo 2 days ago
I really hate how I have to subscribe to BP just to keep reading. Pleased to have found another 13 year old however, one who would Tower over me at 5'5"
Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 1 day ago
That doesn't sound healthy all goodness! Average is 80-100
Load More Replies... Rick Seiden 2 days ago (edited)
I'm the only redhead in my generation. I have a single transverse palmar crease (one line across the palm of my hand in both hands). My last vertebra is fused to by pelvis bone. I caught smallpox from the vaccine when I was a child (born in 1969) making me one of the last reported cases of smallpox in New Jersey.
Petra Peitsch 2 days ago
You are not the only redhead in your generation.
Load More Replies... Trisec Tebeakesse 2 days ago
I survived Stage III colon cancer. That's not the big deal; one day during treatment, I went to the hospital, turned in my infusion pump, and promptly went out backpacking with my Scouts on the highest mountain in Massachusetts. The following Tuesday, my Onc pointedly asked me - "Tell me again how you didn't die?" I since became a legend in the Oncology Ward.
Display_Name 2 days ago
My heart rate is extremely scary. My cardiologist had me take a picture of my EKG and told me if I have a cardiac emergency please call him before anyone does anything drastic.
Aerial (Any pronouns/Canadian/Jewish) 2 days ago
I recently found out I have central heterochromia, like I said on one of the posts, but my personal favorite weird body thing is that I've confused my doctor a few times. Getting false positive COVID rapid tests, getting a one-time childhood disease three times, colds that last for like a month, etc. I have a very strange immune system.
Apatheist Account2 2 days ago
People are saying these posts are 5 years old. Come on BP - there's surely enough content out there that you can fill the pages with recent stuff.
Probably Aoife 2 days ago
I always click onto these hoping I'll figure out if I'm not normal in some way. Can't tell if some of my 'weirdness' not being on the list means I'm actually normal or extra weird... I have other individuals living inside my brain and I have no clue what that is :/
Bartlet for world domination 1 day ago
That is either psychosis or a trauma response.
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