MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries

During World War 2, the small town of Mattoon, Illinois erupts into a panic. Some of its residents are falling prey to what seem like random gas attacks from an unidentified assailant. But who is the man known as “the Mad Gasser”? And why is he doing this? Is he a local madman, conducting a twisted experiment? A Nazi saboteur? Or something else entirely?

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One day at the park, a mother notices her young son is walking strangely – almost like Frankenstein. At first, she writes it off as an oddity. But soon, her son’s legs stop working altogether… and the rest of his body starts shutting down with them.

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In Evangelical homes across the United States, sex outside of marriage is a sin against God. So, when Abbi becomes pregnant at 16, her devout parents hide her away at the Liberty Godparent Home, a little-known facility for pregnant teens on the campus of Liberty University. The Home says it helps girls decide what comes next – whether that’s parenting their babies or placing them for adoption. But inside the facility, the ...

A teenage girl panics when clumps of hair start to fall off the right side of her head. From there, the problem gets even worse - the entire right side of her face starts to crumple in. But the problem isn’t just cosmetic. It’s extremely painful… and her doctors have no idea how to stop it.

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“15,000 Coughs”: When an 11-year-old girl develops a worrisome cough, her workaholic mom drops everything to get her help. But nothing seems to work. Soon, her daughter is coughing almost constantly – 15,000 times a day – and doctors have no idea how to stop it.

“The Putrid Smell”: A woman spends her life dealing with an embarrassing and infuriating problem: she smells like dead fish. But she can’t smell it herself – and sh...

After a difficult pregnancy, a woman is delighted to give birth to a baby girl. Her new child is perfect – though she has an unusually large head. Although the problem seems to be benign, the baby soon develops other problems. Desperate to help her child, the mother takes her to every specialist possible – but will anyone be able to find the answer she needs?

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“Out of This World”: In 2003, a treasure hunter in Chile makes a shocking discovery: a tiny, 6-inch skeleton of what appears to be a human. But parts of its anatomy just don’t make sense. It’s too well-formed to be a fetal skeleton, and its skull is strangely elongated – making some people wonder, is this a medical mystery… or an extraterrestrial one? 

“A Good Scrub Down”:

After thoroughly cleaning his apartment, a youn...

After a successful overseas tour, an American rock guitarist comes home with a troubling affliction. All of a sudden, his hearing is extremely sensitive – like everything is turned up to 11. When it doesn’t go away, he’s forced to give up everything he loves, including music. Trapped in his own personal hell, he desperately tries to find an answer before it becomes too much to bear.

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“The Sick Snowbird”: After a lovely winter in Southern California, an older woman is excited to enjoy the spring in her native New Jersey. But when she starts experiencing inexplicable nausea and headaches, she ends up in the hospital. With her baffling symptoms appearing and disappearing seemingly without reason, her condition seems inexplicable – but it turns out, her doctors just aren’t asking the right questions.

“A Spo...

When a vivacious preteen girl with Down syndrome suddenly becomes shy and withdrawn, her mother worries her precious daughter is getting depressed. But soon, it becomes clear that something else is wrong. With every passing day, the girl withdraws deeper into her shell. Her mother is determined to figure out what’s wrong before she loses her daughter forever.

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A young, active mother is dismayed when she starts feeling weak and exhausted – with small children and a business to run, she can’t afford to get sick. But none of her doctors can offer an explanation. And when she finally does get an answer… it feels like a betrayal of everything she’s worked to accomplish.

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“Unraveling Bolero”: When a middle-aged scientist experiences unexpected success as an artist, it seems like little more than a surprising career change. But then, she becomes obsessed with interpreting a repetitive orchestral piece called “Bolero.” As her obsession deepens, her health takes a turn for the worse – and the cause has a surprising connection to her favorite piece of music.

“Crossing Over”: A few days afte...

When a little girl in Vietnam starts mysteriously bleeding from her scalp and hands, her doctors wonder if she’s faking it for attention – to make it seem like she’s experiencing stigmata, the wounds experienced by Jesus Christ in Christian scripture. The blood on the girl’s skin is real enough, but nobody is ever around when she starts to bleed.

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In the early 1900s, a young woman gets a coveted job at a clock factory. But her work is interrupted when she feels terrible pain in her mouth. Soon, her whole jaw is rotting away. It’s up to her dentist to try and stop it. But his misguided moral judgements about the young woman’s life send him in the completely wrong direction.

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“The Sliver”: After a man survives a terrible car accident with only a cracked vertebra, he feels grateful to have emerged relatively unscathed. But after undergoing surgery to fix the problem, his pain only grows worse – and soon, he’s on the verge of death. And there are only hours left to save him. 

“Killer Style”:  A young man in Turkey leaves his small village for the big city to chase his dream...

When a high-achieving teenager suddenly starts to freeze up in social situations and her grades plummet, her mother tries to get her help. But doctors can’t explain why the girl is suddenly struggling to do ordinary things like talk. Before long, she’s a shell of herself… and her mother fears that soon there may be nothing left.

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In the town of Oakville, Washington, chaos erupts when mysterious blobs start falling from the sky – and anyone who touches them ends up in the hospital. As scientists struggle to understand what the blobs are, Oakville’s terrified residents are left to wonder if they’re the victims of a natural disaster… or a targeted attack.

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When an elderly man in New Brunswick, Canada, dies from what seems to be rapid-onset dementia, his doctor believes he had a rare condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. But then, dozens of people around the area start experiencing the same awful symptoms, making the doctor fear he’s dealing with something entirely new… and completely terrifying.

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