Arthur C. Clarke, acclaimed British science fiction writer once said: "Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying ". Either there is life out there, potentially dangerous and with the ability to wipe us out with the same ease with which we destroy an ant nest, or we are totally alone in an infinite universe, and were we to become extinct by some cataclysmic event, the universe would be without sentient life until some other species evolve and takes our place. Probably mosquitoes, just when you manage to kill one, two more appear to continue to annoy you.

But there are some who believe that we have already had contact with these extraterrestrial beings, and even that they live hidden among us, in our society, or that they have interacted with us in a significant way in the past. Personally I respect these beliefs (to some extent; it is unlikely that the world elites are secretly reptilian aliens, it is quite obvious that they are mole people from the center of the earth in human disguise, come on), because, who knows? Maybe in the end they will turn out to be right (unfortunately, in that case we will be too busy sacrificing virgins and giving offerings to our space overlords as to give them the recognition they deserve). One of the most common theories, along with that they abduct cows and that for some reason they enjoy leaving weird drawings in crop fields, is that they have already managed to mate with humans, creating hybrids with human and alien DNA and an anatomy that is a combination of two races. One of these supposed hybrids is the subject of today's article (I know you were wondering why this talk about aliens in a medical blog), the so-called "Starchild":

Medical Mysteries: The Starchild Skull

Our story begins about 80 years ago, when a young American living in Mexico decided to explore an abandoned coal mine near her village, because horror movies were not popular at that time and she did not know that in the future, most would begin in that way. Inside, she found the kind of things one would expect to find in such a place: two complete skeletons, that of an adult woman, and of a small child. Instead of running away screaming like a normal person, she decided to take them home, because common sense and decency were not invented until the 1980s. She left them outside her house, and the next day she discovered that a storm had washed away the remains, leaving only the skulls behind. She kept them for the rest of her life (saving a good amount of money on Halloween decorations), and after her death they passed into the possession of an American man, who having more normal tastes, gave them to a couple; Ray and Melanie Young.

The Youngs immediately noticed that although the adult's skull was completely normal, the child's was grotesquely deformed: the top was excessively large, 400cm³ larger than it should be, the face was proportionally very small, the orbits of the eyes were very oval, there were no frontal sinuses, and the back was flattened. They took it to be evaluated by several professionals, among them Lloyd Pye and Mark Bean, who after seeing it affirmed that it could not possibly be a human skull, at least, not entirely.

Lloyd and his team of researchers proposed the theory that it was an alien-human hybrid, the product of the union of a human mother (the female skeleton found next to him), and an extraterrestrial father. This is supported by some legends of the indigenous people who inhabit the area, who tell stories in which, several centuries ago, beings from the stars came down to earth and impregnated women of the region´s tribes. These children, called "starchilds", were raised by their mothers; until after a few years later their parents came down to take them to their home in the heavens. According to Pye, the skeletons were those of one of these hybrid children, and of his mother, who, not wanting her son to be taken away, went with him to a cave, where they hid until they died of unknown causes.

What women saw in them is anyone´s guess, their pick-up lines must have been out of this world

A carbon 14 test was carried out, which determined that both remains were about 900 years old, and since the rest of the skeletons were missing, there was no way of knowing if the child´s skeleton also had anomalies. Lloyd Pye continues to defend his hypothesis even today, but is it really possible that the skull is at least partially alien? Can we have the proof that, not only have we been visited by beings from another planet, but they managed to mate with our specie? Well, after several investigations, the answer to these questions, unfortunately for those with curiosity of what freaky space sex would be like, is no.

You see, not only were carbon studies conducted to determine the age of the skulls, they were also tested for DNA, which determined that in the first place, both remains had no genetic relationship, that is, they were not mother and son, and secondly, the boy was decidedly human, only with a weird shaped head. However, if we look at this from a medical perspective, we can find the reason for his deformity; after being analyzed by a neurologist at Yale University, it was determined that the cause was a condition called hydrocephalus, acquired congenitally.

Hydrocephalus is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid, which is normally responsible for keeping the brain floating and passing nutrients to it, and is present in concentrations of 100 to 150 ml. When this amount is exceeded, symptoms such as enlargement of the skull, headache, nausea, vomiting, diplopia (double vision), irritability, drowsiness, and the presence of a sharp cry in children of nursing age occur. In its chronic form it can lead to learning disorders, loss of vision, motor difficulties, and precocious puberty in girls. Its cause is usually congenital, that is, from birth, although it can also occur due to brain tumors that obstruct CSF flow, alterations in its absorption, abscesses or intracranial hematomas, trauma, or infections such as meningitis.

It is usually quite easy to diagnose; it is kind of difficult not to notice the grotesquely swollen head, but in addition to the symptomatology, a hydrocephalus can be confirmed using a computerized axial tomography, or an MRI, in order to observe the increase in the amount of intracranial CSF. If it is congenital, it can be detected during pregnancy with a prenatal ultrasound. Finally, its treatment depends on the type of hydrocephalus and its severity. It begins by removing the obstructions that block the CSF outflow, if that is the cause, to subsequently remove the fluid through a drainage tube that is surgically inserted into the cerebral ventricles and goes to the peritoneal cavity in the abdomen, where it is naturally absorbed. If it is a hydrocephalus of the communicating type, in which the CSF can flow freely between both ventricles, and is not very serious, a ventricular or lumbar puncture can be performed, and the liquid can be extracted directly with a syringe.

Typical skull of a pacient with hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus is a serious but relatively common disease, and perfectly explains the abnormalities in the skull of the Starchild. This case shows us that although there are many theories that seek to explain events and situations for which we have no answer, most fall short when they are analyzed with the appropriate scientific method; There will always be questions, but the fact of not being able to answer them now does not mean that in the future we will not find a solution based on science. And as for the existence of extraterrestrial beings? Well, this case turned out to be unrelated to the subject, but I would like to finish this article with another quote from Arthur C. Clarke (I'm a fan, I admit): "The fact that we have not yet found the slightest evidence for life — much less intelligence — beyond this Earth does not surprise or disappoint me in the least. Our technology must still be laughably primitive, we may be like jungle savages listening for the throbbing of tom-toms while the ether around them carries more words per second than they could utter in a lifetime.”

References:

• The Starchild Project
• Feder, Kenneth L., Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum, 2010.
• Alterations of cerebrospinal fluid - Diseases and Hydrocephalus
• Hydrocephalus
• Beers, Mark H., et al. The Merck Manuals of Diagnosis and Therapy, 11th ed., 2007.


If you enjoy medical-themed articles, or general curiosities, remember to follow me, there is much more on the way! And as always, I leave my thanks to @steemstem and @air-clinic for their constant support to all scientific content; you inspire us to keep improving.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://mike961.timeets.xyz/2018/09/05/medical-mysteries-the-starchild-skull/

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Publicado desde mi blog: SteemPress : http://mike961.timeets.xyz/2018/09/05/medical-mysteries-the-starchild-skull/

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