Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes dramatically accelerated aging in children, caused by a mutation in the LMNA gene that produces an abnormal, toxic form of the structural protein lamin A. Affected children usually appear normal at birth and then develop growth failure, hair loss, aged-looking skin, stiff joints and cardiovascular disease resembling that of a much older person, with most not surviving past their early teenage years, typically from heart attack or stroke. English surgeon Jonathan Hutchinson first described the condition in 1886, and English physician Hastings Gilford further characterized it in 1897, giving the syndrome its combined name.