Hutchinson Gilford Syndrome

SLE diagnosis is made on 4 findings present at the same time or in a series. 11 common findings include: malar rash, disc shaped rash, photosensitivity, oral ulcerations, nonerosive arthritis, serositits, presence of ANA, and renal, neurologic, hematologic, and immunologic disorders. The X-ray finding is also significant, because the inflammation without erosion of the joints is a key finding in SLE. Other labs (like those listed above) are used in combination to also aid in diagnosis of SLE.

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome, also known as HGPS, or Progeria, is a very rare genetic disease caused by a mutation in the cell. In 1886, Jonathan Hutchinson first reported case of a 3 ½ year old boy who had the appearance of an old man. In 1897 Hastings Gilford reported a second case with similar features. However, this mystery disease didn’t have a name until 1904, when it was named after the two men. People who have HGPS usually star showing symptoms by the age of 2, and only live to be a teen-mid-20s.

     Progeria is an autosomal recessive disease, which means it is not carried on a sex chromosome. Hutchison-Gilford Progeria is caused by a mutation in Lamin A. Lamin A is a fibrous protein involved in the structure of the nuclear membrane. When there is a mutation in Lamin A it is likely the nucleus loses its normal shape and therefore its function is compromised. As of now, it is known that this is the cause of Progeria itself; however, neither doctors nor scientist can determine what this mutation has to do with the aging-like deformities of Progeria (Kugler).

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

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

In the beginning of the second year, and last half of the first year the children will stop growing and gaining weight which is accompanied by the hair loss. Between the ages of two and three year the classic facial feature of the Progeria begin to show (Hennekam, 2006 pp. 2603-2624).

They went to Washington to get money and help from Congress. While there, they got lucky and met Dr. Francis S. Collins and his wife Diane Baker. They agreed to help Sam and his family. They started at Chromosome 1 for answers. Dr. Brown already treated twin boys with troublesome chromosomes. The chromosomes split, turned over, and reattached themselves. This made them find flaws in skin cells. They narrowed it down to a specific spot on the chromosome. Next, they went online to find what genes were in that spot. They realized it was lamin A. This protein can sometimes lead to rare conditions and other problems. The researchers discussed the results together and tested patients. They came to the conclusion that the lamin A was the problem and named the protein progerin. They looked through reports and realized the protein was found in one of Collins’s own patients, Meg Casey. Collins realized she did not have progeria after all. She had mandibuloacral dysplasia

Children who suffer from Progeria are genetically susceptible to premature, progressive heart disease. Nearly all Progeria patients die from heart disease. Heart disease is also one of the leading causes of death globally. Children with Progeria commonly experience cardiovascular events, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke, angina, enlarged heart and heart failure-conditions linked to aging. Experts say that any research into finding a cure for Progeria would probably have results which would benefit adults with diseases linked to aging.

The type of Progeria Sam had is called Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, “child Progeria” rather than Werner’s syndrome, also know as “adult Progeria”, that does not occur until late teens, resulting in longer lives into the 40’s-50’s (“Progeria 101/FAQ"). Progeria has a vast amount of symptoms that the majority of those suffering deal with as well as symptoms that are seen less often. Throughout early infancy, children with Progeria resemble normal infants’ physical appearance. Around age 1 or 2 they begin to display extreme growth delay causing them to be short, and have low weight. Their faces appear to be small compared to their head size; furthermore, their faces seem shrunken, wrinkled, and slender. Skulls will have visible veins along the forehead, nose-bridge, as well as the other areas across the head. Other symptoms include having a small jaw, delayed or failed tooth development, deformity of teeth with crowding, beaked nose, prominent eyes, brittle nails, dislocated hips, skeletal defects, and loss of hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes (Chandravanshi et al.). More damaging symptoms are atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), cardiovascular issues (strokes heart attacks), arthritis, and osteoporosis (“Progeria 101/FAQ"). The children who have Progeria are very similar in appearance with little effects from various ethnicities (“Progeria 101/FAQ"). Normally the complications of atherosclerosis lead to the deaths of the children around

Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is an extremely rare genetic disorder where symptoms resembling aspects of aging are displayed at a very early age (Progeria 101). A genetic disease is an illness caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome, especially a condition that is congenital (present from birth). Genetic diseases are rare and may or may not be heritable. There are thousands of extremely rare genetic diseases, one being Progeria. Progeria affects its victims and their families more than physically; it takes a toll on the mental and emotional state of mind.

In conclusion, progeria is a deadly genetic disease characterised by premature aging. Caused by a chance occurrence in the egg or sperm, families have no warning until symptoms manifest around the age of two. Though there is treatment for the disease, there is no cure. Donating your time or money to help progeria patients is a worthy cause. Hopefully, in the future a cure will be found and progeria will not affect children around the

As of 2012, Progeria Research Foundation provided over 3 million dollars for progeria related research projects performed in many states and in 6 other countries. As of right now, there are not any treatments to help cure progeria but there are some medications to help some of the problems such as arthritic, respiratory, and cardiovascular problems and to help make people living with progeria more comfortable. Doctors suggest that children with Progeria take aspirin to help with their heart health. Once the child has hypertension, strokes or seizures, the child will take medicines similar to what adults would take for these

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is a genetic disease which consist of the rapid beginning of aging when you are an infant. This rare affection only affect 1 of 7 millions of newborns. It doesn't have a gender in particular, however, the majority of children with this condition are light skin (97% of patiences). Progeria damage different tissues like bones, muscles, skin, subcutaneous tissue and vessels. This disease do not have a cure so the kids with progeria their average life is between 8-21 years old.

There is a final problem that the account of the overall losses has to face: the progeria patient. Progeria is a congenital condition that accelerates the aging in such a way, that the children suffering from it, start ageing at age two and do not normally survive their teens or early twenties. They have average to higher that average mental capabilities and they do not suffer from anything apart from the conditions we normally link to old age, such as cardiac condition or kidney failure. Imagine a little girl aged 12 that dies from the complications of the disease. We would normally think, according to McMahan, that the progeria patient suffers a bigger loss than the geriatric patient. However, according to our assessment, it should be the

The first role is that there is a predisposition to cancer development, meaning that a mutation in Mlh1 or Msh2 provide alternate causes for LS2,5. These mutations are distinguished because of the presence of CpG islands and following transcriptional loss of single genetic alleles of the affected gene, which results in the comparison of a heterozygous mutation2,10. CpG islands are clusters of the sequence CG which may be gathered near promoter regions in a gene10. Another role is when the Lynch-associated tumors developed as a result a somatic loss-of-function of the last normal allele of the mutated gene2. Somatic loss-of-function is a genetic change that takes place in a somatic cell, but the change is not aquired2,10. Finally, the last role is the role of more derived epigenetic changes that may be gained to assist the growth and advancement of associated Lynch tumors2. The studies of these roles have shown that tumor suppressor genes occur within Lynch syndrome