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).]

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.

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?

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.

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

Hi:
I would like to learn more about this disease. I just have a few questions:
1. Do the children with Progeria have a special gift (ex. blind children pick up music)
2. Are they often homeschooled?

Please help me if you can :)

The children start aging very young. I have seen a program on this. I cannot recall but it seems like the one I saw that the little girl and little boy had such a closeness to each other. They did not seem sad but their tiny bodies hurt so much. I recall that they had lost their hair early and they hurt when they walked like elderly people. You leave a program like that thanking the God in heaven for not having your child afflicted with this and wondering what you had done right in life that you have been so blessed not to have any serious problem health wise with your child.

Sometimes it seems to terribly unfair that a little child should have to suffer be it this illness or any other illness. They are so innocent and have done nothing wrong. It makes me constantly want to count my blessing and thank God every day and have so much more compassion for my fellow man when I see them hurting. I have seen as I age that I look at life so differently be in a little child or an elderly person who looks at me with pleading in their eyes to please talk to me, acknowledge me, I am a person in here but I am so lonely. I am able to see this now where years ago I was too busy to notice. I have become a friend to a few strangers because of this and I know a better person. Life is so confusing. Sometime I wonder why it took me so long to truly understand my fellow man and be a giver instead of just a taker. .........I guess it was time........