What is Progeria? Progeria is a rare disorder of childhood that is known by rapid growth of the physical changes, typical seen in old age; usually resulting in death before the age of 20. But what this all means is you will age seven times as fast as an average person would. .
So, how do you know if you have it or not? There is a genetic test that can be taken or the symptoms will show signs of the disease. The symptoms are really hard to spot in newborns and young children because children born with Progeria have normal appearance and weight at birth, symptoms do not usually show up until the child is about 6-12 months. The first sign is usually the failure to gain weight, followed by other abnormalities that make the child resemble an old man or woman. Some features that would make them look old are: short stature, prominent scalp veins, loss of subcutaneous fat, prominent joints, inelastic skin, and/or beaked nose. Although you may look old, you won't have the mind of one who is, the disease doesn't affect intelligence.
Progeria is also known as premature aging syndrome, early aging disease and Warner syndrome. It's a very deadly disorder and you will die if you have it, which means you have no chance of living if you have it. Although theirs no cures for it. Progeria is an extremely rare genetic disorder that only has a 0.08% chance of coming up. The disorder is inherited and transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait. The gene for Werner syndrome (WRN) was mapped to chromosome 8.
So in conclusion, Progeria could be one of the worse disorders you can be born into, but just keep in mind that the chances are 1 to 8,000,000 births. Good-Luck!.
