Progeria
Mallory Hayes
How Do You Get Progeria?
Progeria is a rare genetic condition that causes rapid aging in children. It is rarely seen in more than one child in the family.
Symptoms
Progeria's symptoms resemble normal human aging. Some usual symptoms include:
- Growth failure during the first year of life
- Narrow, shrunken or wrinkled face
- Baldness
- Loss of eyebrows and eyelashes
- Short Stature
- Large head for size of face
- Open soft spot (fontanelle)
- Small jaw
- Dry, scaly, thin skin
- Delayed tooth growth
Treatment and Life Expectancy
Currently there is not any treatment Progeria patients can have. Children with Progeria usually live to be 13 years old but there are some cases when patients live up to their early 20s.
Progeria Facts
- Today there is about 80 cases of Progeria on Earth
- Progeria does not effect brain development
- The biggest risk a child with progeria faces is the development of atherosclerosis, a disease that causes arteries to clog up and harden