Genetic hereditary diseases 4-year-old child looks like an 80-year-old man

Doctors uncertain: Rapidly aging four-year-olds should be helped
Doctors in Bangladesh are unsure how to help a boy who looks like an 80-year-old at the age of four. Some physicians assume that the four-year-old suffers from progeria, a very rare, incurable hereditary disease. Others suspect that the condition of the boy is the result of inbreeding.

Four-year-old looks like 80-year-old
In South-Asian Bangladesh, doctors are puzzling over the rare disease of a boy who looks like an 80-year-old at the age of four. According to media reports, Bayezid Hossain not only has "too much" skin hanging loose on his small body, but also discomfort that usually occurs only at an advanced age. The boy suffers, among other things, from vision, hearing and heart problems.

Four-year-old Bayezid Hossain from Bangladesh looks like an 80-year-old man. Physicians are puzzling whether the rare hereditary disease progeria or inbreeding is responsible for his condition. (Image: Source: Youtube)

Doctors do not know any advice
As the British Mirror reports, parents were desperate after the birth of their son. "I was startled when I saw him. He was just flesh and bone. He looked like an alien, it was heartbreaking for me, "said Mother Tripti. However, the doctors said they have never seen such a baby and have told parents that there is nothing they can do.

Boy is extremely intelligent
Even in their small home village, the young parents initially found little support. But over time, the inhabitants have become accustomed to his presence and call him now the "old man". The 18-year-old mother, who was only 14 when she was born, said, "He does not look like other kids," but "I'm proud of him. He is extremely intelligent compared to other children of his age. "

Doctors want to examine the boy
In the meantime, doctors at the university hospital in the capital Dhaka have agreed to examine and treat the son of the poor peasant family for free. For family man Lablu Shikdar the clinic is "the last hope". He explained, "We sold our land to have it treated in our hospitals. We brought him to healers, shamans and herbalists, but nothing helped. "

Rare untreatable hereditary disease
In the provincial clinics, the doctors assume that Bayezid suffers from Progeria ("Progeria infantilis), a very rare, incurable hereditary disease. According to the Progeria Research Foundation, there are only 124 cases worldwide. According to the Internet platform "www.progerie.com", premature aging causes diseases that generally develop in old age. A prograining in infancy, called Hutchinson-Gilford-Progerie syndrome (HGPS), usually appears in the first year of life.

Affected people usually die very young
According to the experts, the aging process in HGPS is five to ten times faster than in healthy people. The average life expectancy of the so-called "old-age children" is only 13 years. Mostly a heart attack or stroke is the cause of death.

Inspiration for a movie
Last year, the world became aware of the disease when 17-year-old Hayley Okines from England died. The girl suffered from prograny and was an "old woman" at a young age. The disease is said to have inspired the creators of the film "The Strange Case of Benjamin Button". In it, Brad Pitt is born an old man and is getting younger and younger.

Inbreeding may be responsible for the boy's condition
Whether at the small Bayezid but really Progerie is the cause, is still unclear. The doctors in Dhaka point to significant differences in Bayezids disease history. Rather, they suspect that the condition of the four-year-old could be a result of inbreeding, as marriages between close family members in rural areas of Bangladesh are still commonplace. (Ad)