Traditions that have been passed along the generations can be hard to break, even if they prove detrimental over time. Traditions are embedded in culture, and are often rooted in religion to a group of people. If an activity has been practiced for generations, the new generational group may unquestioningly follow it even if it seems inhumane or strange from an outsider point of view because it is the only thing they know. You may think that it’s foolish to continue practicing something that causes harm to your body. However, studies have inferred that a wide variety of the things we do as modern Americans — talking on our cellphones, drinking diet soda — can cause cancer. Below are some strange traditions that have been practiced all over the world and throughout history that have been proven to cause disease to those that practice them.

1. Herpes from Jewish circumcision

   U.S. News recently reported on the “oral-genital suction” performed by a couple of Orthodox Jewish sects, which can cause the infant to come down with a fatal case of herpes. In the practice, an adult performs circumcision on the infant and then places his mouth over the wound to suck the blood off. New York City and federal health authorities began looking into and eventually issuing a public advisory on the practice after it resulted in 11 infants conducting type one herpes. In fact, twin boys contracted herpes in 2004 shortly after receiving oral-genital suction for their circumcision, resulting in fevers and lesions around their genitals, buttocks and abdomen. One of the twins died from the illness. As a rule, medical procedures should always aim to employ the most sterile methods possible. Transmitting bacteria and disease through saliva to an infant who can’t fight off the resulting illness should be avoided at all costs.

2. Gangrene from footbinding

   The Chinese practice of footbinding was banned in 1912, but up until that point, was seen as a prized trait of any woman who wanted to marry a man with money. Once bound, the feet fit into tiny lotus shoes, and were seen as much more beautiful than typical “large” feet. To bind her feet, a young Chinese girl would have to bend the arch of her foot so that her toes were beneath the sole, which required breaking the bones. She would then wrap them in about 10 feet of cloth as tightly as possible. The feet constantly had to be rebroken and rewrapped, until the painful process was complete in a span of two years. Given that the feet were so tightly bound, circulation could be cut off and cause gangrene. National Public Radio profiled Wang Lifen, a Chinese woman with bound feet, in 2007. She notes that with bound feet, women could not stray far from their homes, given their limited mobility.

3. Diseases caused by female genital mutilation

   The World Health Organization has stated that around two million African girls undergo female genital mutilation per year. The mutilation takes varying forms. Sometimes a girl will only have part of her clitoris circumcised, while others have the inner labia entirely cut and stitched back together partially. Regardless of how severe, the practice almost always results in constant infection and fertility complications. Girls usually suffer repeated urinary tract infections, which can damage the fallopian tubes over time and cause infertility. Generally, the practice is done as a way to decrease the girl’s libido and prevent her from having sex before marriage or outside of marriage, as she would perceive it as painful. Likewise, removing parts of the anatomy that are seen as “unclean” or male in nature is meant to make the girl more feminine.

4. Kuru caused by cannibalism

   In Papua New Guinea at the beginning of the 20th century, a lethal disease developed called Kuru. Kuru affects the brain and nervous system, causing palsy, contracted face muscles, and the loss of motor control. Eventually, the lack of motor skills takes its toll on the ability to walk or eat. Within six to 12 months, death is virtually inevitable. The people of Papua New Guinea, particularly in South Foré, were contracting this disease with a high frequency, and could not understand why. The disease seemed to favor women, and the natives thought that witchcraft was behind it. In fact, Kuru was caused by the cannibalism that the South Foré people subscribed to up until it was banned in the 1960s. Since the South Foré consumed their dead relatives in funerary practices, the disease was transmitted through the brain tissue. Women primarily ate the meat, while men saw the practice as unmanly, explaining why women mainly contracted the illness. Even though cannibalism has been stopped, Kuru is still a problem in Papua New Guinea because of the extensive incubation period.

5. Dysentery caused by public defecation

   In many of the slums in India, toilets are still a luxury that people can’t afford. As a result, people defecate in the rivers and on solid ground, causing fecal matter to enter their water source. This causes hundreds of people to contract water-bourne illnesses, jaundice, dysentery, and skin problems. Some villages have a primitive sort of sewage system, but their water source is derived directly from it without much in the way of filtration. Thus, they eat, drink, and bathe in their own excrement. Even in some rural towns in which toilets are becoming more common, Indian cultural tradition dictates that humans eliminate waste far away from where they live, prompting people to still take their business out in the adjacent fields. It has been difficult for the people to break this tradition and get used to the idea of modern sanitation.

6. Enteroptosis caused by tight-lacing

   Enteroptosis or Glénard’s disease is a condition in which the internal organs shift to lower abdomen, causing a variety of symptoms such as loss of appetite, heartburn, nervous dyspepsia, constipation, or diarrhea, abdominal distention, headache, vertigo, emaciation, and loss of sleep. In the 1800s, enteroptosis was commonly caused by tight-lacing, in which corsets were so tightly bound that the internal organs had no choice but to shift in the woman’s body. Women of that time wore corsets day and night, shrinking their waists down into a tight, hourglass shape. Some women had compressed their waists so small you could wrap your hands entirely around them. As a result, the organs had nowhere to go except above or below the compressed area in the lacing.

7. Leprosy caused by eating armadillos

   Eating armadillos is fairly common in South America, but you can contract an illness of biblical proportions from it — leprosy. Researchers at the National Hansen’s Disease Programs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana discovered that frequently handling or eating armadillos can be a major source for contracting leprosy. Of the 15 patients with leprosy surveyed for the study, eight admitted to having regular exposure to armadillos, with one who often hunted them for their meat. Leprosy first shows up as skin lesions and then attacks the nerves.

8. Measles from holistic approaches

   Even some well-off house wives in America subscribe to a cultural tradition that has the potential to cause disease. Many mothers that believe in holistic parenting, eating organic, and yoga are also strong advocates of not getting their children vaccinated. It goes against the very fiber of their natural parenting technique, and can have some hefty consequences. Unvaccinated children are subject to a myriad of possibly lethal diseases, such as measles, mumps, and pertussis. On the opposite end of the spectrum, anti-vaccine parents believe that vaccines can have developmental consequences down the line, causing learning disabilities or autism. Although this has been debunked by the very scientist who originally proposed the link, many parents do not realize the study was retracted, as it received a substantial amount of press when it was originally released.