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Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Research Paper

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Progeria is a syndrome in individuals which causes physical signs and symptoms of premature old age. Progeria is a very rare and fatal disease. The syndrome’s name is Greek and means “prematurely old”. There are a few different types of progeria but the most common or “classic” type is called Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome. This was named after the doctors in England who first discovered and described progeria, Dr. Jonathon Hutchinson in 1866 and Dr. Hastings Gilford in 1897.
Children who are affected by Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome typically look normal at birth. But then grow more slowly, they don’t gain weight, and overall fail to thrive. They then start to develop an odd facial appearance. This includes prominent eyes, a thin nose with a beaked tip, thin lips, a small chin, and ears that stick further out the side of the head overtime. It also results in hair loss, older looking skin, joint abnormalities, and a loss of fat under the skin known as subcutaneous fat. Individuals with this type of progeria typically live to only 13 years of age. Luckily this is a rare type, only 1 out of 4 million newborns worldwide are diagnosed with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria.
Another type of progeria is the Werner syndrome. This is the progeria diagnosed in older teens and young adults. Individuals with this disease grow and develop …show more content…

Some people describe the patient’s facial appearances as “bird-like”. As the disease progresses the individuals will develop cloudy eyes, skin sores, and type 2 diabetes, hardening of arteries which is known as atherosclerosis, and thinning of the bones. Since their body is aging so quickly their immune system is weaker and could develop different cancers. Most patients diagnosed with Werner Progeria syndrome only live until their 40s or 50s. Every 1 out of 200,000 people are diagnosed with this type of progeria

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