Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
It's called a teratoma....and it's literally the most terrifying thing I've ever heard
about in my life.
Hello hello everyone, Laci Green here for DNews. When you think of places where you
might find TEETH growing, I bet your...brain...doesn't come to mind. But that's exactly what happened
last week in Maryland in the body of a 4 month old infant. The baby had a brain tumor, and
when doctors went to remove it, they found several fully formed teeth in there, similar
to the teeth normally found in the lower jaw. The baby is now in recovery. It's a WTF moment
that is currently making my whole week. Nature is a beautiful freak, yall.
Why --or how-- on earth were there teeth growing in his brain? While the exact causes are unknown,
scientists have hypothesized that the reason teeth might grow in a tumor is because the
tumors themselves develop from the same cells that create teeth. This case is a particularly
~strange~ occurrence because teeth have never been found in a craniopharyngioma, which is
the rare brain tumor the infant had. However, this isn't the first time doctors have found
teeth growing in strange places....
Take the bizarre case of Miguel Belcon, who had always had breathing troubles growing
up that were blamed on his heavy weight. When he was 18, he began coughing up blood, leading
scientists to find a basketball sized tumor in his chest, which was growing not only teeth,
but hair, and what may have been the beginnings of fetal eyes. He lost nearly 30 pounds from
the surgery and is now doing a-OK. Another 23 year old woman in India was born with an
abnormal left eye, which continued to swell throughout her youth. Finally, desperate and
losing her vision, she went to the doctors and found out that she had a tumor in her
eye which had grown 2 fully formed teeth. While it's EXTREMELY rare, she was not the
first to have teeth growing in her eyes -- there have been 70 cases documented since 1850.
The types of tumor in question with these cases were teratoma tumors, which, unlike
a craniopharyngioma, contain all 3 types of tissue that are found in human embryos. They're
an aggressive (but usually benign) type of tumor that can pop up all over the body -- like
the brain, lungs, or liver. But what about....the ***? Yes, I am referring to so-called "***
dentata"". Is there some truth in there?
This 21st century folklore has endured all the way from Ancient Greek mythology. The
story goes that women's bodies have secret abilities that are quite dangerous - and having
sex with her could result in male castration. If there was ever a story that summed up the
enduring fear of female sexuality throughout history, this is the one. Although.....teeth
HAVE been found growing in ~ovaries~ so.... better be on the lookout just in case ;)
Thanks for joining me for DNews everyone, don't forget to subscribe because we'll be
back soon with more science updates!