I Love My Thrift Shop / People Who Don't Perceive Pain

I know I keep going on about it, but I managed to find the best stuff at my local thrift shop the other day, this baby blue sweater and orange blazer included. I really like pairing light blue and orange together, it's one of my favourite colour combinations (after lilac + orange). sweater - Thrifted blazer - Thrifted skirt - c/o Sheinside shoes - Chicory tights - c/o Oasap necklace - c/o Merrin & Gussy In psychology the other day, I learnt about a really interesting (and somewhat terrifying) super rare condition called "congenital analgesia". People with the condition, like Ashlyn Blocker, don't ever feel physical pain. Congenital insensitivity to pain is usually caused by a mutation in DNA on what is known as the "SCN9A" gene. The normal function of the gene is to assist in sending signals from nerve cells to the brain. An essential part of one type of nerve cells is to detect and transmit pain signals (so you know to draw your hand back when you touch something hot, for example). The mutation in this gene inhibits the sensation of pain, and so people with this particular mutation don't ever feel physical pain. This is chromosome number 2 (out of 23), and this is the location of the gene on that chromosome. We all have this gene, but in people with congenital analgesia, it has become mutated (image source) At first, not feeling pain might sound like a gift or some kind of superpower, until you consider how important pain really is for our survival. For example, Ashlyn could happily plunge her hands into boiling water, and the first hint she might get that something is wrong  (apart from now having learnt from experience that putting body parts in boiling water is not a good thing to do) is when her hands are totally cooked and melted away. Or, you might know that you're sick and have to go to the doctor when you get really bad stomach pains - but if you have congenital analgesia, you wouldn't get this warning signal that something is wrong. This article tells of a woman with the condition who gave birth, and didn't realise her pelvis had been totally shattered in labour and was bleeding internally until she was physically unable to walk a few weeks later. Although life without pain is actually a lot tougher than you would think, Ashlyn Blocker and other people with congenital analgesia have helped science greatly by providing clues as to what can cause pain signals to go the other way - being over-sensitive and causing chronic pain for no reason, for example - and may be able to help with treatments of these conditions in the future. Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr