Too Young to Be Old
What if you had the soul of a child in a senior’s body?
Imagine yourself at the age of twelve. You were hopefully a happy child with a life comprised of your parents, a few siblings, school, and youthfulness- the key word being here youthfulness. However, for some twelve year olds, youthfulness is not an option. Welcome to the world of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria Syndrome.
For every one in eight million children in this world, one will grow too old to soon compared to others of our race. For that child, this fate was decided right at conception and will become apparent at the age of two though there will be symptoms well before this age.
The altered gene that has been with this child since the moment of fertilization simply does not know the normal levels of dividing. Young children who should be developing stronger bones start developing smaller ones. It’s not just baby fat that disappears but all fat instead. Hair that should be coming in fuller and thicker just becomes thinner and thinner until they eventually go bald. They will not be able to reach sexual maturity and usually die between the ages of three and fifteen. All of the children affected look surprising similar despite coming having different ethnicity.
There is now cure that has been found. A new drug (farnesyltransferase inhibitors) has been suggested for treatment. However, it is still in the early stages of testing and is mostly used on animals. Thankfully, it moved into the second stage which is a clinical trial in May of 2007.
Hopefully one day a cure will be found because these children are much too young to be old.
Liked it
Mys Lyke Meeh | Jan 19, 2009 | Reply
lol–by watchin ur picture i’ve reemember ‘The Case of benjamin Button” hahaha!
anyways, i don’t want to think that i’m getting old–and i dont want to think that i’m getting young—lol , i live day by day!
Dry INk | Jan 19, 2009 | Reply
Great read.
Tennessee Thompson | Jan 19, 2009 | Reply
Good piece. It was very informative.
CHAN LEE PENG | Jan 19, 2009 | Reply
Really great piece, thanks.
Betty Carew | Jan 19, 2009 | Reply
Tuassni what a wonderful article on such a sad subject. I have seen many documentaries on these children and each one takes a piece of my heart.They live such short lives and yet they live them so fully. I wonder if we could do that with nothing wrong with us? God Bless these children. A very special article and well presented.
Renita | Jan 19, 2009 | Reply
Very good article and a sad one. It is a shame that this desease has such an impact on human life. Very well written, and very informative.
eprom | Jan 19, 2009 | Reply
Very interesting artice.
djonghs | Jan 20, 2009 | Reply
Very interesting, thanks for the informations.
S A JOHNSON | Jan 20, 2009 | Reply
I think it is so sad, and must be hard on not only loved ones but also the kids themselves. So the cure went into stage two in 2007, do we know if is still in the process?
Tusaani | Jan 20, 2009 | Reply
^ In response to the comment by S A Johnson, there is still no definite cure as it’s still in early stages.
denus | Jan 20, 2009 | Reply
aw ive never heard of it thats really sad for those kids,
definently reminds me of benjamin button!
Good job.
eddiego65 | Jan 25, 2009 | Reply
I never heard of the condition. Thanks for the information. Great piece.
jjblue104 | Jan 25, 2009 | Reply
Very informative. I really liked it. I never even knew this type of disease existed, so I appreciate you brought me this great chunk of knowledge.
Wrightwords | Feb 9, 2009 | Reply
Great tusaani.. In formative all through. I pray this kids get help as fast. Gonna add you….