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by Greekgod on November 20th, 2009
mutiple sclerosis
by donbgvc on November 20th, 2009
how about a smoker? they look normal but are suffering a looong death...
or how about syphillus (sp) ??takes along time, gets ya from the inside, dont notice anything until your eye sight goes......
the virus known to effet cleveland browns fans ( I am one so dont get all worked up ) you look normal, act like a fan, get your heart broken every year, there MIGHT be a cure but its a bit less than 50-50 call it the nfl eastern division I aint had a winner in years virus....
by Vaporeongirl on December 1st, 2009
There is a rare inborn disease called Myasthenia Gravis that slowly paralyzes your body, makes you go insane and eventually goes to your respiratory cavity and kills you if untreated. However, the person looks normal on the outside. I think that would be a great illness for your character.
by Noobitron on December 1st, 2009
a heart murmur can often be a missed condition that can kill someone during times of increased stress or strain on the heart IE:first time running a 5k. It can be treated if caught and a pacemaker is installed.
The condition that is literally known as the "silent killer" in the middle community, (and I am in medicine) is high blood pressure. It can cause lots of serious heart damage over time that goes unnotices until the situation hits boiling point. It is one of those issues that will lead to many more fatal ones down the road. Let me know if you need more help
by Slightly less anonymous on November 21st, 2009
To clear up a little debate we're having on some comments, could you clarify exactly how slowly you want the person to die? Are we talking weeks? Months? Years? Decades?
At the very end, when it's death or a possible miracle cure, can the person be showing symptoms, or still nothing that couldn't be explained away by stress, or a cold--minor weight loss, paleness, that stuff?
That clarification would really help. Also, man or woman? How old?
Also, does it have to be exotic or can it be mundane?
And can the character have some small symptom that's easily not noticed or blamed on something else. Like the character is a little short of breath but he had childhood asthma and when to moved to ____, it flared up a bit. Or he isn't in great shape, keeps meaning to go the the gym, start a workout routine but somehow never does. Some sort of symptom like that that doesn't really concern people but they ask politely and they get some random piece of personal information (that the didn't necessarily want) about childhood, or information about someone's workout routine or lack thereof, that sort of thing and the moment's over, every continues on with their day, yada yada. And to everyone else it's a quirk that's now known about the character the way they know that so-and-so chews on pen caps every time he gets dumped.
So is that ok?
by JohnOBonno on November 20th, 2009
Hepatitis C transferred to him while inducted into the Army, the jet gun transmission of viral contaminants was in the range of 8-9 % from the sixties through the seventies. Conventional treatment is from 45-50% success rate, which leaves the question in grave doubt from the perspective of the one facing those odds.
Cirrhosis develops and you waste away, a couch potato for years and then suddenly a bed ridden shadow of memories and unfulfilled dreams.
Can people get round worms?
by Answerbag Staff on November 9th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
What does evidence-based rehabilitation mean?
by Answerbag Staff on July 22nd, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Is acid-fast a simple stain?
by Answerbag Staff on July 20th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Whats a disease or virus that affects your brain and spine and makes you have nose bleeds and is contagious through blood interaction??
by Amara22 on December 18th, 2011
| 1 person likes this
How to control the degeneration of neurons in the neck region
by ♥ "Nirmals309" ♥ on December 8th, 2011
| 1 person likes this
You're reading Hi! i'm writing a book and i'm (morbidly) looking for a disease or virus for a character to have, what i want is: for it to be slowly killing him, but on the outside he looks normal. a small chance of him being 'healed', but a fail rate of 50/50 thanks x
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Comments
what? that makes no sense?
by Slightly less anonymous on November 20th, 2009
it is disease, kills slowly, on the outside the person looks normal. That is what your questioned asked for
by Greekgod on November 20th, 2009
Although multiple sclerosis can attack the body in different manners, I don't know of a way that by the time it gets to the killing slowly part, the person wouldn't be showing symptoms. I mean a person who serious MS, could go for 15 years before losing the ability to walk, but they'd probably still show some symptoms, and if this is supposed to be an imminent threat, that the reader can feel looming, you'd have to have MS in the later stages, and I don't know how you can have that and no symptoms. If you have it in the earlier stages, you can have a character that sees their death coming and looks normal, but the death is years down the road unless a terrible relapse is triggered in which case, THEY SHOW SYMPTOMS.
by Slightly less anonymous on November 21st, 2009
Seriously, pretend you're writing the book. You need the person to get worse, try treatments, have them fail, get worse, etc--how does this work with MS without showing any symptoms?
by Slightly less anonymous on November 21st, 2009
so your looking for a disease without symptoms
by Greekgod on November 21st, 2009
not me, daveyt. and not no symptoms, but no visible symptoms. MS symptoms, they're visible, especially when dying. it's just not feasible for what daveyt is looking for.
it's also probably too common. a lot of people have MS in some form, whether serious or mild--there are multiple types of treatments, and no way to really give the author the result that he's looking for without really taking creative liberties with the disease, and that's harder when it's a disease people know about. you can take more creative liberties with a rare virus or something that no one ever gets because they aren't informed about it. and it also sounds scarier because they don't know a lot about it. the author is providing the story, the details. the disease should be a part of it, not a part of the backdrop on which the story is set, not details people know going in...it's not only less scary, but oddly, less real
by Slightly less anonymous on November 21st, 2009
brain cancer then.
by Greekgod on November 21st, 2009
I thought about cancers, but how would you hide going in for traditional treatments like radiation? even if you had no noticeable symptoms, which is rare, you'd still need treatment and no one has NO symptoms from that. plus, towards the end, you'd have pretty dramatic symptoms, which is when I think the 50/50 thing is supposed to kick in...I have a couple thoughts, but they all involve treatment and medication that would need to be hidden and they're all very mundane, and I mean VERY mundane ways to go. but they fit the description...so I'm waiting for an answer to my posted response before I offer anything else
by Slightly less anonymous on November 21st, 2009