MEET THE Newborn baby who looks like an 80-year-old

A boy has been born with a rare condition that means he looks like an 80-year-old man. The baby was born in the district of Magura, Bangladesh, on Sunday. Local doctors, who have been left stunned, say the baby suffers from a rare condition called progeria. The baby boy has wrinkles on the face, has a very shrunken body and hollow eyes. ‘The baby does not look like a new born at all. There are prominent sings of ageing such a excessive wrinkles and rough skin texture,’ said a doctor who has been treating the baby. However, the parents of the baby are jubilant with the birth of their ‘miracle’ child. Biswajit Patro, father of the baby, who is a farmer, is ecstatic and can’t hold back his happiness. ‘We can only thank God. There is no need to be unhappy about the appearance of my son. We will accept him the way he is. We are so happy to have a baby boy in the house,’ he said. WHAT IS PROGERIA Progeria is a rare genetic condition that causes a child’s body to age faster than it should. Most children with the condition – which affects just one in every 4million births worldwide – don’t live past the age of 13. It is caused by a single mistake in a particular gene, which causes it to make abnormal protein. When cells use this protein, called progerin, they break down more easily. Progerin builds up in many cells of children with progeria, thereby causing them to age more quickly. Although most children with the condition appear healthy when they are born, they start to show signs of the disease during their first year. Biswajit and his wife, Parul Patro, have been busy attending curious guests who have been thronging their home to catch a glimpse of their son. ‘We have been getting a lot of visitors. Relatives, neighbours and even people from neighbouring villages have come to see our son. We are happy to host them all,’ said Biswajit. ‘We are already blessed to have to have a daughter. Now we are a family of four. What else can we ask for.’ The doctors at the local hospital have assured the Patro family that the baby will do well for now. However, it remains uncertain what measures can be taken to treat the baby. The family also hopes that the baby grows up to become a healthy boy.