Symmetrical Disease

That Symmetrical Butterfly

In our blog, we have discussed the connections between symmetry and molecules. However, too many people will respond to a question about symmetry by, not by talking about quasicrystals, but rather mentioning items such as butterflies and trees. This blog post will talk about the real life implications of symmetry, but instead of talking about pretty butterflies, we will dive into the topic of disease. This post will contain relatively few pictures due to the graphic nature of disease, and also the fact that some diseases are not visible to the human eye.



One rare disease in particular is named symmetrical peripheral gangrene, or SPG. The "normal" version of gangrene can be quite graphic, of course not as graphic as watching Gang Green (a.k.a The New York Jets), as the effected body part loses blood supply and turns a greenish, and eventually black color  (for your own sake DO NOT look up pictures of this!). The symptoms involve loss of feeling, confusion, fever, low blood pressure, and an intense pain. A couple of methods of contracting gangrene involve frost bite, surgery, diabetes, or a serious injury. However, the interesting stuff comes with the incredibly rare disease named symmetrical peripheral gangrene. This disease has an incredibly high mortality rate of 40%, and half of the people who survive must have a limb amputation.

If the left side is affected by SPG, so
is the right side

Now the interesting part of this disease comes with the symmetry in its name. Essentially this gangrene affects the extremities on both sides of the body, not just one limb like normal gangrene. Therefore, symmetrical gangrene would be seen on both legs, both feet, or both arms. Being an incredibly rare condition, there has not been much research conducted on the disease, so it is left up to us to hypothesize why symmetry is associated with the disease.  Could it pertain to the bacteria that infect the host? Maybe these bacterium are symmetrical in nature or grow colonies that are symmetrical. However, this would still not explain how the disease is in both limbs considering the large gap in between them. Since humans are known to be symmetrical, should whatever causes the blood vessels to constrict on the left side automatically occur on the right side? This theory seems to make the most sense, but if this is true, there would be no explanation on why this disease is so rare. It should then occur every time one is diagnosed with gangrene. There are many mysteries about this symmetrical disease that are still unsolved, and once scientists have a better understanding of the symmetry, a cure will follow soon after.

Knee Osteoarthritis

A study had been conducted to determine whether osteoarthritis is a symmetrical disease. Osteoarthritis, or OA, is the most common joint disorder that appears due to aging and over use. Some causes of OA are firm cartilage, the breakdown of cartilage  or the development of bone around a joint. As pain and stiffness are some of the worst symptoms of OA, which are MUCH less severe than SPG, (as in you will not die if you have OA), the symmetry in this disease is interesting but you do not  need common sense to determine where the symmetry comes from. The study which was mentioned previously focused on bilateral knee OA and studied patients over a 12 year span to determine if the condition is symmetrical. Now, your probably saying in your head right now: "Well of course this guy is going to find that the disease is symmetrical. If it is caused by wear and tear on a joint, such as running, and you run with two legs, both legs should develop OA". However knee OA is actually considered an asymmetrical disease. This is because each joint is considered its own, single, entity. After the conclusion of the study, it was determined that 80% of people with knee OA have it in both knees. The disease may not occur simultaneously in both knees, but over time, if one develops knee OA, he/ she can expect to get it in the second knee.

These symmetrical diseases have brought up many interesting questions for doctors and researchers alike. Does a symmetrical bacteria give rise to a symmetrical disease? How can a disease be symmetrical in two separate locations that are quite a distance away. Does the symmetry of the human body play a roll in this? Is the human body even symmetrical? Maybe scientists have to look deeper into the symmetry of the disease and human to realize, along with everyone else, that symmetry is not just that simple butterfly after all.