progeria - aging disease - Aging Issues Message Board

gmondayeuk · 06-14-2002, 06:35 PM

my cousin has an aging disease which means that every year means her body ages 8 years therefore she will not live past about 13 years of age. If you would like to know more then please post a reply.

hope to hear from you soon
gemma

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 06-14-2002).]

EseStud · 11-30-2004, 10:02 PM

Progeria...is this the same one from the movie Jack with Robin Williams? I didn't know this was actually true, I just thought that movie was an exaggeration. Does that mean when a person turns 5, he really looks 40? Or are there other side effects which make the person look disabled? I know that other diseases such as Werner's involve other effects like being abnormally short and fragile. But do Progeria patients look like regular old people? This is quite intriguing.

jinglebts · 12-26-2004, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EseStud

But do Progeria patients look like regular old people?

yes, but worse, b/c you know that they're so young -- there's a look to these children that shouts "i am not old!!", and it's tragic ... in general, symptoms begin to show in babyhood, when afflicted children don't gain weight ...eventually, the skin becomes thin and the child begins to look like a little old man ... baldness, thin eybrows, prominent scalp veins and eyes, small jaw, thin limbs with swollen joints, withered muscles and tendons, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, joint stiffness, hip dislocations, heart disease and COPD, and add to that a sort of "dwarfism" ... every possible insult that can come with age comes at an extremely accelerated pace with these kids ...

yes, they look 40 at age 5, and 70 at age 10 ... most don't survive beyond 13

... they usually die of heart disease ...

fortunately, it's very rare ...

jb

~~ i don't know that movie "Jack" -- is it available on DVD? when was it made?

hillaryb · 12-26-2004, 05:15 PM

Progeria is nothing like that movie. I saw a program on it, and basically the children look like tiny elderly people. They become very tiny and thin, lose their hair,and they dont really look like regular elderly people. The condition is extremely rare. The children all ended up looking exactly the same as well. Kind of like twins or something. It is tragic, because their life expectancy is so short, and they experience all the health problems that come with getting old. I believe the oldest child with progeria right now is somewhere around 14, 15 years old right now.

jinglebts · 12-26-2004, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillaryb

Progeria is nothing like that movie. I saw a program on it, and basically the children look like tiny elderly people. They become very tiny and thin, lose their hair,and they dont really look like regular elderly people. The condition is extremely rare. The children all ended up looking exactly the same as well. Kind of like twins or something. It is tragic, because their life expectancy is so short, and they experience all the health problems that come with getting old. I believe the oldest child with progeria right now is somewhere around 14, 15 years old right now.

yeah -- "tiny elderly people" and exactly the same ...

jb