progeria

Term: progeria

Literally meaning: “prematurely old”

Origin: Anc Greek

προ-/pro-(= suffix denoting “toward”, “in front of”, “precede”, “before”)

γήρας/geras(=old age)

Coined/History

In 1886,the English surgeon and pathologist Dr Jonathan Hutchinson (1828 –1913) presented a case of a 3-year-old boy who had features resempling those of an enderly man. In 1887 nglish surgeon, Dr Hasting Gilford (1861-1941) described the second known case of this particular syndrome and he coined the term “progeria” in order to describe his findings.

Definition

Progeria (or "Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome”) is a rare genetic disease characterised by symptoms resembling with normal human aging. The disese is caused mainly by mutations affecting lamin-A protein.