Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Research Paper

Only one in a million newborns born in the world will develop Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria. Even though this disease is strikingly uncommon, it still effects children and death cannot be given. Progeria is a genetic disorder that affects children starting at a very young age. Because Progeria affects so much of the body, has many symptoms, and there are not many treatments for it, more people need to be educated on this frightening disease. Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria influences the cells and many body systems. Many body parts are effected including “skin, bones, heart, and blood vessels,” (Yan 4). The systems affected would be the skeletal, integumentary, and circulatory. Because of the many systems affected, the body is continuously strained. Meager research is done on this disease simply because of its rarity. The doctors who are accredited with discovering Progeria are Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson in 1886 and Dr. Hastings Gilford in 1897, (Progeria Research). Neither knew how to treat it because Progeria is simply such an uncommon disease. It was likely to be a disease before, but doctors did not document it. The genes of the children affected are not forming correctly as they grow. The LMNA gene
Children will experience premature aging. A child will never grow larger than a 5-year-old, and will look like they have aged to be in their sixties, (Britannica 1). This along with the next symptom all make the child look deformed and elderly. Another “symptom is baldness”, (Haldeman). The children suffering from this condition lose all of their body hair including their eyebrows and arm hair. Lastly, they are extremely underdeveloped. Short stature, small jaw, and soft spots in their skull are all part of this symptom, (Haldeman). This means that the children are very fragile and in need of great care. Accordingly, Progeria has terrible symptoms and causes the children to be