Why is the elephant man famous and why is the photograph famous...
2007-03-25 13:15:21 · 6 answers · asked by somegirl 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
Why was he intelligent, and what disease did he have..
2007-03-25 13:28:18 · update #1
A normal, perhaps more intelligent than most, man trapped in a bloated and twisted body because of a disease.
2007-03-25 13:24:22 · answer #1 · answered by Terry 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ganesha - Elephant Man
Every September, Hindus gather to celebrate one of Hinduism's most popular deities, Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed figure who is said to be the destroyer of obstacles and a patron-saint to business people.
http://www.pulseplanet.com/feat_archive/Sep99/index.html
Elephant Man Disease
It's a genetic or disformity of the body, and especially, the lips and the nose which makes someone's head look like an elephant.
Joseph Carey Merrick is the first known person in recent history to have beem inflicted with this disease.
http://www.santacruzpl.org/readyref/files/d-f/eleph.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Merrick
2007-03-25 16:10:59 · answer #2 · answered by kampirus 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Joseph Merrick was originally thought to be suffering from elephantiasis. In 1971, Ashley Montagu suggested in his book The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity that Merrick suffered from neurofibromatosis type I, a genetic disorder also known as von Recklinghausen's disease. This disease is still strongly associated with Merrick in the mind of the public; however, it was postulated in 1986 that Merrick actually suffered from Proteus syndrome (a condition which had been identified by Michael Cohen just seven years earlier).
Unlike neurofibromatosis, Proteus syndrome (named for the shape-shifting god Proteus) affects tissue other than nerves, and is a sporadic rather than familially transmitted disorder. In July 2003, Dr. Charis Eng announced that as a result of DNA tests on samples of Merrick's hair and bone, she had determined that Merrick certainly suffered Proteus syndrome, and may have had neurofibromatosis type I as well. As it stands, many people still mistakenly refer to his condition as elephantiasis.
2007-03-26 03:14:00 · answer #3 · answered by soulburner 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because he was one of the first cases with this disease to be studied scientifically.
2007-03-25 13:22:09 · answer #4 · answered by Dan B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Watch the movie.
2007-03-25 13:22:40 · answer #5 · answered by Pen 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because he was the first to have such a rare disease called elephantitis i believe.
2007-03-25 18:08:45 · answer #6 · answered by Bonzai07 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋