If someone tells you something like... "Pare you look PROGERIAL" don't be flattered
Chances are, he just wants to tell you that you look old.
What is curious about progeria patients is that they have accelerated aging.
It is so rare, only about a hundred patients have been documented since 1886.
These patients live for just about thirteen years old, and they appear normal at birth (unlike “Benj†in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Somehow, their genes encoding for the protein LMNA (Lamin-A) got mutated. This protein is responsible for nuclear stability, so if it gets messed up, cells become unstable, and premature aging is manifested.
Scientists are trying to find ways to study this special disease, however they are limited by the fact that this patients die young (you know, when you get old, a lot of complications could set in). Ninety percent of patients die of strokes and atherosclerosis. Parang ka na kasin lolo... so mga sakit ni lolo meron ka
Signs of this disease include :
* Hair loss (alopecia), including eyelashes and eyebrows
* Hardening and tightening of skin on trunk and extremities (scleroderma)
* Loose, aged-looking skin
* Head too large for face
* Prominent scalp veins
* Prominent eyes
* Small lower jaw (micrognathia)
* High-pitched voice
* Delayed and abnormal tooth formation
* Loss of body fat and muscle
* Stiff joints
* Hip dislocation
These disease can occur spontaneously, and they have found that parents may not transfer the disease to their children. (Affected children do not live long enough to have children themselves).
