Doctors at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Adilabad, are trying to treat a patient with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (Progeria), an extremely rare genetic condition characterised by ageing in childhood. A Gond tribal, 11-year-old Kudimetha Kavita of Gubdi village in Tamsi mandal, looks much older than her age. She has been admitted to the RIMS Hospital three days ago and doctors have diagnosed the ageing process to be progeria.
According to Kavita’s father Bheem Rao, a poor agricultural labourer, the girl was born in January 2003 and was normal until she was 2 years old. It was at this age that she developed rashes on her skin only to shed it entirely later.
“We noticed abnormality in her ageing process at the age of three. She was, however, treated as a normal child and subsequently admitted to the ashram school in Tamsi mandal headquarters,” Bheem Rao recalled.
“About two years ago, Kavita stopped talking as her classmates began teasing her. Also, her general condition deteriorated which is why we brought her to the hospital,” he added. Doctors at the RIMS have started the treatment and have asked her to be in the hospital for another week. There is, however, less hope of finding a remedy for the syndrome which is as rare as one in every four million.
