this little girl feels no pain

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http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/11/01/painless.child.ap/index.html

In the school cafeteria, teachers put ice in 5-year-old Ashlyn's chili. If her lunch is scalding hot, she'll gulp it down anyway.

On the playground, a teacher's aide watches Ashlyn from within 15 feet, keeping her off the jungle gym and giving chase when she runs. If she takes a hard fall, Ashlyn won't cry.

Ashlyn is among a tiny number of people in the world known to have congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, or CIPA -- a rare genetic disorder that makes her unable to feel pain.

"Some people would say that's a good thing. But no, it's not," says Tara Blocker, Ashlyn's mother. "Pain's there for a reason. It lets your body know something's wrong and it needs to be fixed. I'd give anything for her to feel pain."

The untreatable disease also makes Ashlyn incapable of sensing extreme temperatures -- hot or cold -- disabling her body's ability to cool itself by sweating. Otherwise, her senses are normal.

Ashlyn can feel the texture of nickels and dimes she sorts into piles on her bedroom floor, the heft of the pink backpack she totes to school and the embrace of a hug. She feels hunger cravings for her favorite after-school snack, pickles and strawberry milk.

That's because the genetic mutation that causes CIPA only disrupts the development of the small nerve fibers that carry sensations of pain, heat and cold to the brain.

sad or... kind of cool?

― m. (mitchlnw), Monday, 1 November 2004 13:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Kind of cool, that's practically a superpower

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 1 November 2004 13:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember a case like this in two twin boys, or two brothers. Sometimes they would hurt themselves deliberately, because it didn't mean anything to them, and people had to check them for cuts and things in case they had hurt themselves and not noticed. It's very odd.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Monday, 1 November 2004 13:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Kind of cool as long as everything's in good working order. But not being able to tell if you're really ill or not is scary.

Can she feel other sensations, incidentally? Would tickling her do anything, for example, or is she completely numb?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 1 November 2004 13:45 (twenty-one years ago)

She feels hunger cravings for her favorite after-school snack, pickles and strawberry milk. she pregnant!
serioulsy though, what are the odds on her working in black ops?

― lukey (Lukey G), Monday, 1 November 2004 13:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Poor wee petal. So if she had for example appendicitis, or migraines, she wouldn't know? That would make diagnosing illness very difficult, even impossible.

Shit condition to be in.

― Rumpy Pumpkin (rumpypumpkin), Monday, 1 November 2004 13:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I doubt it's usefull, there are usually complications with this kind of disorder that news storys tend to gloss over.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Monday, 1 November 2004 13:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I think this is extremely sad actually. her parents must be in a constant state of panic in case she is injured.

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 1 November 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I hadn't thought about the appendicitis thing - that is very worrying. I guess though that there may be other symptoms? And with migraines, it seems that this is one incident where she'd be a very lucky girl (though again, vomiting/distorted vision might give the game away).

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 1 November 2004 14:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I also wonder how it would affect her moral development - I think empathising with other people's pain is an important step, and it seems that she will never be able to do that. What would happen if she got into a playground fight? You would imagine the mix of not realising what hurting someone combined with not feeling the pain inflicted on you could make you pretty dangerous, at least while you are too young to have an intellectual appreciation of these things.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Monday, 1 November 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20041101/capt.gasm60211010419.painless_child_gasm602.jpg

I'm thinking that this is really an updated version of that "Small Wonder" robot.

It's sad, I guess, but look at her face. It's the look of a little girl who has never felt pain. Doesn't even know what it feels like. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

In 9th grade health class, our teacher said, "Raise your hands if you think it would be a good thing to live without physical pain." I was like, awesome! So I quickly raised my hand, only to find that I was the only one in the classroom who hadn't given this serious consideration and realized the troubling consequences.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, the photo of that girl makes me want to smack her while she just keeps sitting there.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

serioulsy though, what are the odds on her working in black ops?

OTM.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

If she survives adolescence, that little girl just might grow up into a woman that will make some sexually demanding man very happy some day.

― """""calum""""", Monday, 1 November 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

http://93ol.myrice.com/dyhb/007/00780.jpg

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, the photo of that girl makes me want to smack her while she just keeps sitting there.

I guess that her parents will have to find other ways to discipline her besides spanking. (And no, this is not a response to calum's post either.)

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

" . . . that little girl just might grow up into a woman that will make some sexually demanding man very happy some day"

but does she feel pleasure?

― kelsey (kelstarry), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Once they start menstruating, her friends are gonna be so jealous at her.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought this thread was gonna about people who let their children drink the booze.

― Huk-L, Monday, 1 November 2004 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)

What is there that causes pain but doesn't actually hurt the body? Like, will she be able to run literally until her legs give out without worrying about cramps or soreness? Maybe she can be a linebacker. Will she be able to drink all she wants and not have to worry about having a hangover at work the next day?

And what happens if they "cure" her in ten years? Imagine going all of your life without pain and suddenly being able to feel it one day.

Ouch.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

especially if it has a cumulative effect.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

You know who I feel sorry for: Her little brother, if she has one. http://www.user.tu-berlin.de/mrejiqgg/peanuts/peanuts_lucy.gif

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

PICKLES AND STRAWBERRY MILK?

― Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Monday, 1 November 2004 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

You mean all those little specks on a strawberry are actually teats?

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 1 November 2004 20:41 (twenty-one years ago)

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