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What is the strangest disease of all?
Graves’ disease is quite rare.
Have you ever seen Mel Brooks’ horror comedy called Young Frankenstein ?
If you saw her, you certainly remember Igor, the hunchback with the big googly eyes.
That (magnificent) actor was Marty Feldman, and he had Graves’ disease.
It is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. Although some common symptoms are muscle weakness, trouble sleeping, heat intolerance, diarrhea, and a thickening of the skin on the shins, by far the most famous and recognizable symptom is bulging eyes.
According to Wikipedia, Graves’ ophthalmopathy is characterized by:
Upper eyelid retraction, lid lag, swelling, redness (erythema), conjunctivitis, and bulging eyes.
Although this disease is rare, it is also not uncommon: Approximately 0.5% of all people in the world suffer from it and women are 7 times more likely than men to acquire it.
Since I am not a doctor, rather than try (and fail) to go into purely medical matters, I want to mention some famous people who suffer from the disease, both to a large degree and to a small degree as well.
Are here…
Marty Feldman (one of my favorite actors of all time)
Gail Devers (Olympic champion and 100m runner)
Rodney Dangerfield (the famous comic actor)
Sia (The famous musician is known for hiding her face from the public. Apparently her bulging eyes due to Graves’ disease are among the reasons for her voluntary social seclusion) [ 5 ]
If the Cookie Monster of Sesame Street suffers from the disease, dear reader, the decision is yours.
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