Lizzie Velazquex of Austin
Her’s is a case which has fascinated doctors all over the world. Meet: Lizzie Velasquez, the 21-year-old woman from Austin in the US who eats every 15 minutes to stay alive.
Velasquez, who is now part of a genetic study run by an Indian-origin researcher, Prof Abhimanyu Garg of University of Texas, has a rare condition which prevents her from gaining weight even though she eats up to 60 small meals a day, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported.
Despite consuming between 5,000 and 8,000 calories daily, the 5 feet 2 inches communications student, who wears size triple zero clothes, weighs just over four stone and has almost zero per cent body fat.
“I weigh myself regularly and if I gain even one pound I get really excited. I eat every 15 to 20 minutes to keep my energy levels up.
“
I
eat small portions of crisps, sweets, chocolate, pizza, chicken, cake,
doughnuts, ice cream, noodles and pop tarts all day long, so I get
pretty upset when people accuse me of being anorexic,” Velasquez said.Prof Garg believes Lizzie may have a form of Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome which causes accelerated ageing, fat loss from face and body, and tissue degeneration. People with PRS have triangular and prematurely aged faces with a pointy nose.
He said: “I am aware of a small number of people that have similar conditions to Lizzie but each case is slightly different. We cannot predict what will happen to Lizzie in the future as the medical community are yet to document older people with NPS.
“However Lizzie is lucky to have healthy teeth, organs and bones so the outlook is good. We’ll continue to study her case and learn from her.”
Courtesy : www.phenomenica.com , www.ripleys.com
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