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Can't decide if this sounds like the backing story for an episode of X Files, E.R. or Good Doctor. Really weird stuff, and slightly scary in its alien-ness. I'

by unwind 5y ago

Can't decide if this sounds like the backing story for an episode of X Files, E.R. or Good Doctor. Really weird stuff, and slightly scary in its alien-ness. I'm glad the Wikipedia page includes details of his appearance and how his stomach's skin and so on behaved, since it sounds kind of impossible for all that food to simply fit within a body. It sounds like he must have had his metabolism turned up to 11, perhaps due to some genetic mutation that also caused the other abnormalities found in the autopsy? I know absolutely nothing about medicine, and was a bit sad that the page doesn't include some kind of modern-day analysis/diagnosis, but I guess nobody source-worthy has attempted that, then.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
There is a relatively common (still very rare) genetic mutation that is known to cause constant hunger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader%E2%80%93Willi_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader%E2%80%93Willi_syndrome It is the product of a genetic arms race between mothers and fathers over whether a child should take its nutrition from the mother (by nursing) or the father (by eating). Prader-Willi syndrome occurs when the mother's genetic instructions are not appropriately counterbalanced by the father; the converse -- exactly the same genetic deficiency, but coming from the maternal side rather than the paternal side -- is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelman_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelman_syndrome . The same genetic conflict occurs in lions, which is why ligers (lion father, tiger mother) are much larger than tiglons (tiger father, lion mother). > It sounds like he must have had his metabolism turned up to 11, perhaps due to some genetic mutation that also caused the other abnormalities found in the autopsy? Tarrare didn't suffer from Prader-Willi syndrome, since as you note he metabolized all the food he ate. I would speculate that his metabolism was sufficient to cause his hunger in the 'normal' way, and the hunger didn't need its own cause. I would also guess that the enlarged throat and stomach were caused more or less 'mechanically' by his consumption of large quantities of food. A response to his eating habits, rather than a suite of mutations working together to both cause and accommodate a large appetite. In other words, my causal model would go metabolism -> hunger -> large meals -> large throat/stomach
- caminante 5y ago
  For Tarrare, Wiki supposes hypothyroidism or a malfunctioning amygdala.
  - unwind 5y ago
    Thanks for pointing that out, I missed that part.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  I would agree that his enlarged stomach is probably a bi-product of his illness. In the periods when I've eaten a lot, I could eat a lot. In the periods when I was eating only tiny meals on a regular basis, my stomach would shrink and I would only need tiny amounts of food to fill satiated.

by unwind 5y ago

thaumasiotes 5y ago

There is a relatively common (still very rare) genetic mutation that is known to cause constant hunger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader%E2%80%93Willi_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader%E2%80%93Willi_syndrome It is the product of a genetic arms race between mothers and fathers over whether a child should take its nutrition from the mother (by nursing) or the father (by eating). Prader-Willi syndrome occurs when the mother's genetic instructions are not appropriately counterbalanced by the father; the converse -- exactly the same genetic deficiency, but coming from the maternal side rather than the paternal side -- is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelman_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelman_syndrome . The same genetic conflict occurs in lions, which is why ligers (lion father, tiger mother) are much larger than tiglons (tiger father, lion mother). > It sounds like he must have had his metabolism turned up to 11, perhaps due to some genetic mutation that also caused the other abnormalities found in the autopsy? Tarrare didn't suffer from Prader-Willi syndrome, since as you note he metabolized all the food he ate. I would speculate that his metabolism was sufficient to cause his hunger in the 'normal' way, and the hunger didn't need its own cause. I would also guess that the enlarged throat and stomach were caused more or less 'mechanically' by his consumption of large quantities of food. A response to his eating habits, rather than a suite of mutations working together to both cause and accommodate a large appetite. In other words, my causal model would go metabolism -> hunger -> large meals -> large throat/stomach

caminante 5y ago
For Tarrare, Wiki supposes hypothyroidism or a malfunctioning amygdala.
- unwind 5y ago
  Thanks for pointing that out, I missed that part.
kingcharles 5y ago
I would agree that his enlarged stomach is probably a bi-product of his illness. In the periods when I've eaten a lot, I could eat a lot. In the periods when I was eating only tiny meals on a regular basis, my stomach would shrink and I would only need tiny amounts of food to fill satiated.