Prader-Willi Syndrome

Prader-Willi syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the loss of function of certain paternally inherited genes on chromosome 15, most often through a deletion of that region or through inheriting both copies of chromosome 15 from the mother. Infants typically show weak muscle tone and feeding difficulty, followed in childhood by an insatiable appetite that drives severe obesity risk if unmanaged, along with short stature, intellectual disability and behavioral difficulties. The syndrome was first described in 1956 by Swiss physicians Andrea Prader, Alexis Labhart and Heinrich Willi.