Essay On Progeria

It is assumed by most that we will all be able to grow up, fall in love, get married, and then have children of our own. This is not the lifestyle that all people choose, but it is still the view accepted by the majority of society. What happens when the unthinkable occurs and a happily married couple is unable to get pregnant? This is a reality for 7.1%, or 2.8 million, of the married couples in the United States (Lenox, 1999). Today, there are many people all over the world that decide to use fertility treatments to help them conceive a child, and this often leads to the birth of twins, triplets, or even higher order multiples. There are many risk factors that are involved in this type of

Progeria is one of the least known genetic disorders. There are two types of Progeria, the only difference being the age group that it affects. The Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome is commonly called Childhood Progeria. The second type of Progeria is Werner’s Syndrome, which is the adult form of Progeria. What basically happens in this disorder is that age is accelerated seven times faster than that of a normal person. For example, for Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, a child could look like he is fifty when he is actually five years old. A twenty year old with Werner’s Syndrome could look similar to a sixty or seventy year old person. There is, even now, not much information known about this genetic disorder because

Genetics determine the traits an individual will inherit from their parents. In society today, the role of genetics is crucial; they decide ones physical appearance as well as their personality. However, if there is a mutation located in one of the genes that a child receives it is very likely a deformity will be present. A rare yet fatal defect from a gene mutation such as this is Progeria. This disorder is an unfortunate one that may occur in two forms, either Hutchison-Gilford Progeria or Werner syndrome. Not only do they affect the bone structure and appearance of the child, but they substantially shorten their life spans.

day one they watch their beautiful healthy child grow up and live a normal life.

A child with progeria does not show symptoms at birth; however, within the first two years the disease will make itself known. Signs of progeria include growth failure, loss of body fat and hair, aged-looking skin, stiffness of joints, hip dislocation, generalized atherosclerosis (the buildup of fat and cholesterol in the arteries), cardiovascular (heart) disease and stroke. Despite differences in ethnic

Some ways to detect Progeria are genetic tests of the patient’s blood and clinical exams. Furthermore, the major signs begin developing when the child is around eighteen to twenty-four months old and he will experience accelerated aging even though he was born looking normal. One major symptom is hair loss. Patients are born with hair texture and color, but around six months to two years, the hair begins to fall out. Then, from two to three years, they are usually bald, but might have some thin, light hair. Loss of eyelashes and eyebrows are also experienced. Along with hair loss, these children grow slowly resulting in a shrunken physique and minimal weight gain. For males, their approximate height and weight are 40 inches and 25 pounds; but females are about 32 inches and 20 pounds. In When Good Things Happen to Bad People, doctors have stated these kids will "grow to be very short," and "would never grow much beyond three feet."( Kusher 1-2) Moreover, there are distinctive physical traits in the face and body. "By the second year of life, there is also under development (hypoplasia) of the facial bones and the lower jaw." ("Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria") Also, "the face appears disproportionately small in comparison to the head, and bones of the front and the sides of the skull (cranium) are unusually prominent." ("Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria") Some other characteristics observed in the face are a thin

During the fifth year of my life, my mom gave birth to my little sister, Adreona and, a year later, Alona. The only thing, I liked about her

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “The Birthmark” you find a couple fairly prevalent disorders. Although psychology was as of yet not existence, Hawthorne describes them quite well. Alymer suffered from an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, while his actions caused Georgiana to develop a body dysmorphic disorder. Both of which attributed to the eventual demise of Georgiana.

Friedreich's Ataxia. after that she got bullied even more. She knew that she would soon have to be in a wheelchair. She also had to quit her passion ballet.

During his childhood, his mother, Alice, was diagnosed with puerperal fever, which meant that she had a high risk of passing during the birth of a child. In addition, his mother spent most of his childhood in a private hospital.

It is 7:11 on Friday night, the first of March 1996, in room 112 of Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine. Married couple, Chris and Veronica Meserve of Steep Falls, Maine are welcoming their second daughter into the world, Shawna Irene Meserve. She will grow to be a physically and developmentally healthy being because of, among many factors such as her genetics, the circumstances and significant relationships surrounding her birth. Starting at the beginning of Shawna’s parents’ relationship, these circumstances and significant relationships surrounding this infant’s birth will be highlighted and analyzed to determine how they may have affected her very early development.

Having the attitude and mental disposition of a child is something heavily mentioned in media. People crave to see the world with a youthful eye, being able to find joy and laughter in the worst of situations. This view of a child is shown in Lucy Grealy’s book Autobiography of a Face. In the following passage, Lucy describes getting her medical results back as a child and her reaction to her results. “I told them I had a malignancy. My mother said I seemed rather happy about it, and my teachers were shocked by my attitude. I told my teacher and all of my friends, probably with pride: I had a malignancy. I was going to have a big operation now” (Grealy 43). Her reaction is much difference than when an adult receives news of a disease. Most grown adults would begin to think of death, and how their mortality will affect their loved ones.

Hutchinson- Gilford Progeria Syndrome is reported about 1 in 8 million newborns (Parker 16). Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome equally affects both sexes and races of children and gives them an appearance of rapid aging (Nordqvist 1). The symptoms of this disease show around eighteen to twenty-four months of

Progeria, otherwise known as Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome is an extremely rare, genetic childhood disorder with a reported incidence of about one in a million. Hutchinson reported the syndrome in 1886 when he found the first patient with Progeria. In 1904 Gilford described a second case of Progeria, thus creating the term to reflect the syndrome’s senile features. There are only about a hundred reported cases since the disorder has been discovered over a century ago. Currently, there are about thirty to forty known cases worldwide of Progeria. Affected children age up to seven times faster, have “plucked bird” appearance, many health problems and their lifespan is about thirteen years. There is neither known cause nor cure for this

Birth of a child can be such a happy time, especially when the little one is very healthy. We all have seen the movies when a new child is born, some of us are lucky to see it first hand. Some of us do get goose bumps, me being one of them. It is just so exciting to see that little life come out of what has been in that big belly for nine months. We sometimes refer to the birth of a child as labor. If only it was as easy as the name sounds. However, it is not. There are three main stages in birth. The first stage is the longest stage that can last 12 to 14 hours with the first birth, and later births are shorter. Dilation and effacement of the cervix take place here. That is when the uterine contractions gradually become more frequent and