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Symptoms Of Werner 's Syndrome

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Imagine being in your 20s- the ultimate period of youth and vitality, only to look into a mirror and see a reflection of yourself old enough to pass as a feeble senior citizen. Although many skincare companies are rapidly producing anti-aging products to consumers who fear getting old, aging is inevitable, and unfortunately to some, it comes significantly earlier than they expect. Werner’s syndrome (WS) is a genetically acquired disease that causes people to age at an abnormally rapid rate. The patients usually start experiencing symptoms around the age of 20 and undergo significant aging in a short period of time. During this time, patients will continue to develop other consequences that come with old age, and do not typically survive …show more content…

The patients also experience changes in their voices and even develop skin ulcerations as shown in figure 1. Figure 1 – as shown, those with the disease clearly show a beaklike face, skin ulcerations However, physical changes in appearance are not the only symptoms of this disease. As the body ages, the patients also become more susceptible to illnesses and diseases. In the case of a WS patient, they experience this exact same situation, but just 50 years in advance. This means that while they are aging externally, they are also prone to developing other diseases that usually come with old age. For example, patients have 91% chance of developing osteoporosis, 80% for hypogonadism, 71% for diabetes mellitus, and 40% for atherosclerosis. Although cataracts and osteoporosis are the most common effects of WS, these are very treatable. Thus, diabetes mellitus is seen as the most serious symptom of WS. Treatments for the mentioned conditions include surgery for cataracts, and frequent monitoring for tumors and heart diseases. In addition, patients can establish a healthy lifestyle that includes smoking avoidance, regular exercise, and weight control to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis (Muftuoglu et al., 2008). Although this disease can affect one’s overall physical and internal ealth, research has shown that it does not affect their intelligence

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