Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. About 2500 people in the world have a rather bizarre disease. Their flesh turns to bone, thus making them living statues. The disease converts muscle, tendons and ligaments into bone. Eventually joints are locked into place, making movement impossible.
In childhood, tendons, ligaments, and skeletal muscle begin an inexorable transformation into an armament of bone. Eventually, ribbons, sheets, and plates of bone cross the joints and lock them into place. Surgically removing the extra bone just makes it grow back faster. Slight traumas such as bumps, bruises and injections can stimulate further transformation into bone.
Victims often die, typically in their 40s, from complications related to difficulty breathing as the bone restricts the space available for their lungs to move. There is no effective treatment, other than avoiding much physical activity, but researchers hope the gene’s discovery will change that. From
Grumpy Owl