About the Disease
Do you think every day is a holiday? Is your wardrobe laden with holiday appliqué sweaters? Are your walls covered in holiday wrapping paper? Have you ever considered legally changing your last name to Claus?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be suffering from Holidayitis.
Holidayitis is a rare disease marked by an unrelenting enthusiasm for the holiday season. Symptoms may vary from person to person but can include
- Uncontrollable giggling
- Frivolity
- An unhealthy obsession with any or all holidays
What causes Holidayitis?
- Holidayitis is genetic – meaning it is an inherited problem that occurs in your genes (or DNA).
- Genes are areas of DNA that encode a specific function. When the DNA code of the gene has a problem, your DNA does not know how or when to perform the right function.
- People with Holidayitis don’t have a problem with the genes that tell us what to do around the holidays (medically termed holiday-associated behavior); instead, they have a problem with closely related genes that regulate holiday-associated behavior like singing Christmas carols, lighting fireworks, and hiding eggs around the house.
- Over time this genetic inability to regulate holiday-associated behavior can become worse, leading to excessive and/or extended celebrations of holidays.
- Regulatory genes (depicted in blue) control when and how holiday-associated behavior genes (depicted in white) are turned off in Holidayitis.
- In patients with Holidayitis, the abnormal “candycane-like” red and white appearance of the holiday gene area is pronounced, which your doctor may use to aid in diagnosis.
If you think you or a loved one might be suffering from Holidayitis or a Holidayitis-related disease, please visit the Patient Community to learn more.
