Strange Diseases in Closed Communities

Naked Mennonite children, sleeping under cold blue light…eerie!

It’s always creepy to hear about strange diseases in closed communities, especially when those communities exist within larger developed areas like the US or Europe. It couldn’t happen here. I can picture the poor, suffering deformities hiding in root cellars and dark attics.

So many great horror stories are based on this idea. “Children of the Corn,” “The Secret of Harvest Home” or to a lesser degree M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Villiage”…not to mention numerous Lovecraft stories.

There’s an interesting article on Crigler-Najjar syndrome posted today on Yahoo News. It talks about rare diseases, particularly Crigler-Najjar syndrome, that have higher rates of occurrence in Mennonite communities. The names alone conjure up grotesque images… Crigler-Najjar syndrome, maple syrup urine disease, glutari aciduria, pigeon breast disease, pretzel syndeome, etc.

I imagine that before the Internet and other more immediate forms of mass communications developed, stories of disease and misfortune occurring in such closed communities were passed on in whispers that were embellished with each transmission.