MEET the woman with a rare condition that means she ages seven times faster than normal and who has surpassed her expected lifespan at twenty. Claudia Amaral, from Viseu, Portugal, was just four months old when she began experiencing symptoms such as hair loss, wrinkled skin, and changes to her skin pigmentation. When she was […]
MEET the woman with a rare condition that means she ages seven times faster than normal and who has surpassed her expected lifespan at twenty.
Claudia Amaral, from Viseu, Portugal, was just four months old when she began experiencing symptoms such as hair loss, wrinkled skin, and changes to her skin pigmentation.
When she was just one year old, her parents were told Claudia was suffering from progeria, a rare, genetic childhood condition characterised by premature ageing.
Doctors said she could die at any point, and that the average lifespan for girls with the condition was only 13 or 14 years.
Claudia has been defying the odds every since, and credits a tight group of friends and supportive family with helping her live a normal life.
At the age of 20, her “progeria age” is 140, and she has frequently had to undergo surgery to have her hip replaced due to bone wear.
But she hasn’t let any of her medical issues stop her from going out with friends, and her goal is to prove that the condition doesn’t limit her.
“I never felt different from my friends or the people around me,” she says.
“I was always treated the same, including at school.
“Even today, I walk on the street and often people stop and watch, others comment, many of the others approach me and ask what my disease is called, and ask me how old I am.
“It’s like everything, they have good reactions, as well as bad reactions.”
People suffering from progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, typically have a normal appearance for the first months of their lives.
Between nine and 24 months, they being to experience growth delays, giving them a short stature and low weight.
The condition is caused by a fault in a gene that disrupts the production of a protein in the membrane surrounding a cell’s nucleus.
It is estimated that only 350 to 400 people are living with the condition worldwide.
“Progeria has not prevented me from doing anything,” says Claudia.
“I live my life as if progeria does not live inside me.
“I’ve never really had any tough times when having progeria; even when I move my hip, because of bone wear, when my hip goes out of place, I don’t feel pain.
“My recovery has always been good, doctors have told me to have a rest after having my hip replacement, but I just forget about the rest, and I go out with my group of friends, dancing and all sorts.
“The times that were supposed to be difficult are seen as great battles overtaken with great success.
“I feel very good, nothing has knocked me to the bottom, as it was supposed to.
“I try to fully embrace my condition when I go to events with children with the same pathology as me and when I go for routine hospital appointments.
She added: “I have a perfect family and a large group of super dear friends who are always there to support me.
“My friends say I am a great warrior in a battle that could have been impossible to win.
“Of course, I’ve already won at this point, because I have exceeded the progeria average age, so I think I won the game, and I will continue to win, I hope.”
“The disease does not prevent us from anything, we have to prevent it from winning.
“If we depend on a disease, we will never be able to overcome all the obstacles that progeria puts in front of us.
“We have to think positive and live as if we were killing progeria.”
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