Kaya News Reporter
An Eastern Cape mom gave birth to a baby girl with Progeria, a rare condition which causes rapid ageing.
Progeria is also known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a condition that Ontlametse Phalatse bravely battled before she died at the age of 18.
The baby girl was born 2-months ago in Libode with wrinkly skin that makes her resemble an old woman. The 20-year old mother gave birth with her grandmother as one of the mid-wives who immediately picked up that there was something different with her great-granddaughter.
The rare genetic condition is not inherited and affects around 1 in 4 million children.
Children diagnosed with the condition have a life expectancy of just 14 and a half years.
The family of the little girl are considering treatment options and medical advice. HGPS is an incurable condition but the symptoms can be managed.
In the documentary Born Different, 11-year-old Adalia Rose shares her story of living with the condition.
Signs of the condition include growth failure, loss of body fat and hair, aged-looking skin, stiffness of joints, hip dislocation, generalized atherosclerosis, cardiovascular (heart) disease and stroke.
Children with Progeria begin to display many characteristics of accelerated ageing within the first two years of life.
People with progeria often have small, frail frames compared to their heads, and have a distinctive appearance of a shallow jaw and pinched nose.
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