The emergence of the myth of mermaids, possibly due to the syndrome siren

Once again, we see that the mythology originated on the basis of real facts. We recently wrote about porphyria - a real illness "vampirism" and now tell you about the siren syndrome whereby people may well have invented the mermaids.

Siren Syndrome (sirenomelia) - an anomaly of embryonic development when the fetus spliced ​​legs. It may look different: sometimes the legs are fused along the whole length, sometimes - some part, such as feet. It may be an option when one leg is completely absent in the infant, and the rest looks excessively huge. As a rule, people born with this rare disease die within 1-2 days after birth, but in rare cases they live long enough.

People with the syndrome of the siren can not walk, but, oddly enough, most of them are able to swim. Moreover, being in the water gives them pleasure because it facilitates suffering from excessive dryness in the "tail", which is an epiphenomenon of the disease. Women suffer from this disease three times more frequently than men. So, it is possible that ancient mariners could, in rare cases, to see these women off the coast, but as they approached them, embarrassed deformities and tried to hide. Thus might arise legends about mermaids.

via factroom.ru