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Angelman Syndrome : The Happy Puppet Syndrome

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According to the US National Library of Medicine (2017), Angelman Syndrome, also known as Happy Puppet Syndrome is a “complex genetic disorder that primarily affects the nervous system.” Angelman Syndrome occurs when there is a change to the E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase Gene (UBE3A) located on chromosome 15.
Angelman Syndrome was first discovered by Harry Angelman, a Physician in 1965, when he witnessed three young children who represented similar symptoms. They all had bright, happy personalities, along with stiff movements, lack of speech and seizures. While in Italy for the holidays, Harry Angelman visited a museum that showed a picture of a puppet that had the same physical appearances as his patients. He diagnosed his patients with Happy Puppet Syndrome, which would later be known as Angelman Syndrome. In 1987, Ellen Magenis, who is also a physician, identified children who seemed to have Prader-Willi Syndrome, a similar genetic disorder to Angelman Syndrome. The difference between Angelman Syndrome and Prader-Willi Syndrome, is that Angelman Syndrome can be caused by the deletion of the maternally derived chromosome 15, while Prader-Willi Syndrome is the deletion of the paternally derived chromosome 15.
Symptoms of Angelman Syndrome include, but are not limited to sleeplessness, hyperactivity, short attention spans, feeding difficulties and sensitivity to heat. It is also common for people with Angelman Syndrome to have developmental delays, lack of speech,

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