Can someone help find the name of this disorder/disease...?

Question

All I really know is that it causes the body to develop faster than the mind, like it'll make you look 10 when you're 4 years old. I think they made a movie about it starring Robin Williams in the late 90's but I'm not sure.

Any help is really appreciated ^.^

Also, if anyone knows how to find out if you have it or not, that would be helpful too.

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progeria

The disease I believe that you're talking about is called Progeria. Most people that have it die around the age of 13 years.
The movie you're referring to is called "Jack" which was released in 1996. Great movie but I couldn't quit crying. It was so sad.

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/p/progeria/symptoms.htm

This is a link that I found that lists the symptoms and how someone can tell if they have or know someone who has Progeria. I hope I have helped you.

Answer 2

Progeria is a progressive genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly, beginning in their first two years of life. The condition is rare; since the first child with progeria was described in 1886, only about 100 cases of progeria have been documented in the scientific literature.

Children with progeria, also known as Hutchison-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), generally appear normal at birth. By 6 to 12 months, signs and symptoms, such as skin changes and hair loss, begin to appear. The average life expectancy for a child with progeria is 13, but some with the disease die younger and some live longer — up to the age of 30. For at least 90 percent of children with progeria, the cause of death is a complication of the progressive stiffening of the arteries that lead to the heart and brain.

There's no cure for progeria, but ongoing research shows some promise for treatment.


Motor development and mental development remain normal. Other signs and symptoms of this progressive disorder include:

Hair loss (alopecia), including eyelashes and eyebrows
Hardening and tightening of skin on trunk and extremities (scleroderma)
Loose, aged-looking skin
Head too large for face
Prominent scalp veins
Prominent eyes
Small lower jaw (micrognathia)
High-pitched voice
Delayed and abnormal tooth formation
Loss of body fat and muscle
Stiff joints
Hip dislocation


Screening and diagnosis
No diagnostic test confirms progeria. Doctors typically make a diagnosis based on signs and symptoms, such as failure to grow and hair loss, that typically aren't fully evident until your child is nearly 2. However, with the discovery of the genetic mutation that causes progeria, it's possible to use genetic testing for LMNA mutations at the first suspicion of progeria. The sooner you know your child has progeria, the sooner your doctor can recommend treatments that may help ease the signs and symptoms of the disorder.

A blood test may reveal that your child has a low level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol that helps keep arteries open. This laboratory finding isn't diagnostic by itself, but may lend support to a diagnosis of progeria