Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Congenital word blindness is a term used to describe poor readers. Morgan assumed that the disorder was congenital rather than acquired by postnatal injury or assault.  Congenital word blindness was first thought to be caused by a defect in the angular gyrus of the left cerebral hemisphere, an area of the brain associated with visual…

Colorado tick fever is an acute viral infection transmitted by the bite of a tick. This disease is characterized by a sudden onset of symptoms including fever, severe muscle aches (myalgia), joint stiffness, headache, sore throat, sensitivity to light (photophobia), nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and occasionally a raised rash. More severe symptoms include sequelae such as…

Coffin-Lowry syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by craniofacial and skeletal abnormalities, mental retardation, short stature, characteristic hands, and hypotonia. Characteristic facial features may include an underdeveloped upper jaw bone (maxillary hypoplasia), an abnormally prominent brow, down-slanting eyelid folds (palpebral fissures), widely spaced eyes (hypertelorism), large ears, and unusually thick eyebrows. Skeletal abnormalities may…

Cockayne syndrome is characterized by growth retardation, microcephaly, photosensitivity, and a prematurely aged appearance. In the classical and most common form of Cockayne syndrome (Type I), growth and development generally proceed at a normal rate in infancy, with symptoms becoming apparent after 1 or 2 years of age. An early-onset or congenital form of Cockayne…

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that became extremely popular and widely used in the 1980s and 1990s. It is typically sold on the street as a fine, white, crystalline powder. Cocaine can be sniffed or snorted, injected, or smoked. Street names include coke, C, snow, flake, or blow (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2001a).…

Coats’ disease, or exudative retinitis, is a rare eye disorder that is characterized by a white or yellowish matter called telangiectatic malformations in the macular area or peripheral retina. The abnormal enlargement of the retinal blood vessels results in leakage of the yellow matter into the retina. This disease usually occurs within the first 10…

Clubfoot is a descriptive term for a number of congenital deformities of one or both feet that vary in severity and etiology (Clubfoot.net, 2001). Involving both the soft tissues and the bone of the leg and foot, clubfoot generally occurs in isolation with no known cause, but it may also occur with chromosomal abnormalities and…

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a rare neurological disorder that results in swelling of the nerve roots and the destruction of the myelin sheath, the fatty covering that surrounds the axon of nerves in the body (National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc. [NORD], 2001). The presentation, course, and severity of this disorder vary from…

18p syndrome occurs when any piece of the short arm of Chromosome 18 is missing. There are three classes of Chromosome 18 deletion syndromes; 18q, 18p, and Ring 18. Deletion syndromes of Chromosome 18 are the second most common of the autosomal deletion syndromes. Most deletions occur very early in the embryonic stage of development.…