They also enjoyed a picnic, and spent time with each other at parties and other special events designed especially for them. Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Guilford Syndrome, is a rare aging disease that affects only one in eight million births. Children with Progeria suffer accelerated aging and only live to an average of 14-16 years. The Sunshine Foundation is a Philadelphia based non-profit children s charity that answers the dreams of chronically and terminally ill children and young adults. Since 1976, the Sunshine Foundation has helped over 27,000 special children.
Progeria is a rare genetic condition characterized byan appearance of accelerated aging in children.
Its name is derived from the Greek and means 'prematurely old. The classic type is the Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome which was first described in England in 1886 by Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson and again in 1886 and 1904 by Dr. Hastings Gilford. The classic syndrome has a reported incidence of about 1-8million newborns, and the total incidence is estimated to be about I in 4 million. It affects both sexes equally and all races. Since first described, more than 100 cases have been identified around the world.