An 8-year-old Montana girl is much like other kids her age, except she has a rare disease that has kept her the size of an infant. Gabby Williams has a genetic condition that only a few other people in the world have that slows down the aging process.
The aging disease has doctors stumped, even though there are a few cases of it worldwide. Williams appears on TLC's 40-Year-Old Child: A New Case, a special depicting the aging disease she suffers from and the doctors trying to figure out the cause of it. Williams' story is truly remarkable…
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Doctors have been researching the genetic condition for the past two years to find out what slows down the rate of aging. According to ABC's Good Morning America, researcher Richard F. Walker, said that this "fountain of youth" is not as great as it may seem. He said that the growth rate of people affected by it is one-fifth the speed of others and most result with other medical issues that include being deaf, the inability to walk, eat or speak.
Walker calls the physiological change "developmental inertia." When it doesn't function he said it becomes complete chaos internally. Williams' mother, Mary Margret, told the morning show that her daughter has remained the same size since 2012 when the TLC special aired. In fact, weighing in at only 11 pounds, the girl still wears baby clothes intended for 3 to 6-month-olds.
The good news is that he found that the disease is not genetic and is an abnormality that happens by chance. The other thing he urges is that people with the aging condition are mortal like the rest of us and will also die one day.
Wow, talk about a sad and interesting case! I really hope doctors can find the cause of this disease and put a stop to it before it gets worse. Thankfully it isn't genetic, therefore not as many people will be affected, but those who do have the disease deserve a chance at a normal life. We can only hope that Gabby will have a medical miracle soon for this debilitating disease.
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