A woman who doesn't feel pain • Hacker News Board

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#31

Post by watoc » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

olalonde wrote: post #13

Look up Gabby Gingras if you're not convinced how dangerous that condition is. She became legally blind from scratching her own eyes as a child (among other things).

There was a documentary called a life without pain a few years ago about her and a boy from Norway with the same condition. Kids with this condition usually die at a very young age due to injuries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Life_Without_Pain

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#32

Post by patates » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:12 PM UTC

fbnlsr wrote: post #28

Not feeling pain can have some really disabiliting effect on one's life. A rather famous player in the Counter-Strike community suffers from a rare genetic disease that make him feel much less pain than normal. He started to scratch his nose out of habit when he was a kid, and eventually it came off over the course of years of scratching. His name is lo0p__ : https://www.twitch.tv/lo0p__ Edit: You can see him explain…

I mean pain is, well, pain to deal with but we (and many other animals) evolved it for a reason.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#33

Post by kowdermeister » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:16 PM UTC

sigi45 wrote: post #20

kowdermeister wrote: post #18

I knew a girl who couldn't get drunk (bottle of vodka and no effect), she had to fake it sometimes not to look alcoholic. She said she wasn't the only one in the family.

Calling bullshit. Probably a alcoholic or something.

I was at first too, but it's an odd story to brag about and it actually was a complaint :)

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#34

Post by iforgotpassword » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

I'm baffled by the fact she only realized it when she was 65. I understand that when you were born like that it might just be normal, and maybe you don't put too much thought into it, but it's just... Didn't she ever wonder why other people scream like crazy when they touch a hot pan, hit their head, and she doesn't? Didn't other people realize in those 65 years that she doesn't have any reaction when it happens to her? Did she maybe just "learn" to say ouch when she hits her toe against the door frame, because that's what others do?

Also how did she not die as a child? When you never get the negative feedback of touching something got, cutting yourself, breaking a rib falling off a tree... This is just crazy to me, more than the fact that this condition actually exists.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#35

Post by drexlspivey » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

I can't find the condition name in the article but I remember a House MD episode (3x14) that the patient had this condition and it was called CIPA (Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_insensitivity_to_pa...

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#36

Post by coldtea » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:32 PM UTC

I feel her pain.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#37

Post by hi41 » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

I don’t think that this is a good thing to have. Leprosy patients lose their fingers because of lack of pain.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#38

Post by edoo » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:49 PM UTC

This confuses me a little. I remember when I was a kid watching a documentary about this condition. It is generally a severe danger to the person as they do not naturally learn the penalties for a broken bone or severe burn. Pain is a very important signal. The media articles on this at the moment are making it sound never heard of before and possibly something we want.

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#39

Post by googley » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

zerop wrote: post #29

Similar: Indian chef dips his BARE HANDS in searing 200C cooking oil to fry street food... and doesn't suffer any burns... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3317037/Indian-chef...

Can someone please flag this? This person is saying that magic is real

Re: A woman who doesn't feel pain

#40

Post by fma » Thu, Mar 28, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

iforgotpassword wrote: post #34

I'm baffled by the fact she only realized it when she was 65. I understand that when you were born like that it might just be normal, and maybe you don't put too much thought into it, but it's just... Didn't she ever wonder why other people scream like crazy when they touch a hot pan, hit their head, and she doesn't? Didn't other people realize in those 65 years that she doesn't have any reaction when it happens to h…

I read the same story from NY Times, which had a more detailed write up. She likely inherited the genes from her dad. "Likely" because they can't test her dad's genes since he's deceased. Her dad didn't really feel pain either, so growing up it was not that abnormal.

Her son has a similar mutation but daughter doesn't.

NY Times Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/health/woman-pain-anxiety...