This is a picture of a child with Progeria 
What's Progeria ?------Progeria is a rare congenital disorder characterized by the rapid onset of aging. Children with Progeria age much faster than normal children. Progeria was discovered by Jonathan Hutchinson in 1886, but it was not named until 1904 by Hasting Gilford. Progeria is sometimes called Hutchinson-Gilfore Syndrome after these two scientists.
What causes Progeria ? One in four million children have Progeria. There is no definite answer of who will get Progeria, but there are three theories that offer explainations of what cause Progeria. The three theories are: new mutation, autosomal dominant, and autosomal recessive.
What's the life span of children with Progeria? Children with Progeria can live to be seven years old to 27.5 years old with the average life span is 13 years old.
What are the symptoms of Progeria ? Children with Progeria usually have these features: dwarf, bald head, pinched nose, large head with a small face, prominent eyes, and wrinkle skin. At birth, children with Progeria look normal, but at age one, the characteristics of Progeria start to appear. Not only does Progeria cause rapid changes in the appearances of children, but also affects the functioning of internal organs. The most common diseases that children with Progeria have are cardiovascular diseases.
What's the future of Progeria ? Doctors can not predict who will have Progeria because there is no known easy genetic screening test for Progeria. There is no cure for Progeria right now, but scientists are trying to find the exact location on chromosome number 1 that causes Progeria. Children with Progeria are living with diseases that are usually affect the elderly population because Progeria causes children to age very rapid. The only cure for children with Progeria is to monitor their health carefully.
What can one do to help children with Progeria ? The public needs to be educated about Progeria and more research money is needed to find a cure for Progeria.
Here are three very different links that will tell more about Progeria:
- http://www.mwc.edu/rmacmich/progeria/ -- listed many progeria links.
- http://pluto.njcc.com/~pbalint/sunshine.html --an organization that grants wishes to children with serious diseases like progeria.
- http://movieweb.com/movie/jack/index.html --a movie about a child with Progeria
Bibliography
- Thorton, Brendan and Weber, Scott (1997). Progeria. [on-line]. Available: http://chs-web.neb.net/~sdweber/progeria/index.html
- McKusick, Victor (1986). Progeria. [on-line]. Available: http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?176670