Ali Hussain Khan: Teenage boy with body of PENSIONER due to rare disease

August 27, 2013
PENSIONERAli Hussain Khan ages eight times faster every year from the condition, which has already killed his five brothers and sisters
Tragic Ali Hussain Khan looks like a wizened old man – yet he is only 14.
Heartbreakingly, he’s also the last surviving child of SIX siblings hit by a rare, crippling ¬and incurable disease.
But despite suffering such a terrible loss, brave Ali refuses to give up hope a miracle cure will be found so he will reach adulthood.
Ali was born with progeria, a ¬genetic condition that ages his body eight times faster than normal.
There are only 80 known cases of progeria on the entire planet.
Yet Ali, his two brothers and three of his sisters had the condition, which ¬usually kills victims by the age of 14 with a heart attack or pneumonia.
But Ali refuses to give up hope a miracle cure may be found, even though he knows his life could end any moment.
He told the Sunday People : “I very much want to live and I hope there is medicine for my disease out there.
“I’m not scared of death but my parents have suffered a lot.

“I’d love to live much longer for them. I don’t want to burden them with any more pain.”
Dad Nabi Hussain Khan, 50, and mum Razia, 46, from Bihar – the poorest state in India – are first ¬cousins who were the product of an arranged marriage 32 years ago.
When their first daughter Rehana was born in 1983 they had no idea anything was wrong.
It was only after her second birthday when she couldn’t eat or walk properly they visited a local doctor.
But he was baffled and sent them home with a useless medicine.
They went back to the doctor after their son Ikramul was born in 1987 showing the same symptoms – and got the same reaction.
Nabi, who earns £20 a month as a factory guard, said: “The doctors were as clueless as us.
“If one of them had told us our children had some kind of genetic problem and we were connected we’d have stopped having children.”
Daughters Gudiya and Rubina were born in 1989 and 1992, Ali arrived in 1999 and a newborn baby boy died. All had progeria.
But the couple also had unaffected children – Sanjeeda and her sister Chanda are now 20 and 10.
Nabi and Razia only found out about progeria in 1995 after seeing an expert – who told them it was ¬incurable.
Nabi said: “No one in our community ¬believed it.
“Neighbours and extended family tormented us for not getting help for the children – they just couldn’t ¬understand a disease with no cure.”
Meanwhile, life was unbearable for Rehana, Ikramul, Gudiya, Rubina and Ali as they grew up with progeria.
They were ridiculed and bullied till none of them went to school.
Ali, who weighs just 1st 8lbs and is 3ft 7in tall, said: “None of us has had a childhood because we were confined to home.
“We had each other but that was it – we had no life.”
He added: “I’d love to be a normal person who can play, go to school, do some sports, take some risks.”
Gudiya and Rubina both died in 2004 aged 15 and 12. Rehana died three years later aged 24.
But 22-year-old Ikramul’s death in 2009 hit Ali hardest.
He said: “Ikramul was my best friend. He was very strong and didn’t pay any attention to the bullies.
“When he died I cried for weeks and couldn’t eat. But I realised I’d do him a huge injustice if I crumbled.” He added: “I have no one now – but I have to stay strong.
“It’s very lonely living this life since my siblings have gone.
“I’d like to be in the company of others like me again.”
Ali is cared for by expert Dr Sekhar Chattopadyay, who said: “There is nothing similar in the world where five siblings are affected.
“Ali’s parents are related to each other and that could be the reason for the disorder, though they have two children who are normal.
“We’re trying our best to keep Ali mentally and physically fit.
“The average life expectancy is 13 to 15 but let’s hope we can prolong Ali’s to 24 like his brother.”
There are four known cases of progeria in the UK.
They include Birmingham-born Dean Andrews, 21, who is the ¬oldest survivor in Europe.

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Agencies
April 21,2020

The Lockdown is not a cure but a critical strategy to prevent the geographical spread of COVID-19.

While pandemics at this level involves actual life threatening situations for individual's or significant others in one's immediate circle, it envisages a marked disruption in routine life. Even after the pandemic has been contained and will come to pass; it's aftermath will leave a trailblazer which demands planning and implementation of a post pandemic reconstruction of society with potentially traumatic experiences varying in intensity, multiplicity and duration.

Degree of Trauma

It would do well for each one of us to realise that the pandemic is "potentially traumatic", since not everyone will experience COVID -19 as a traumatic event in their lives. Yet, there will be those who may develop post pandemic stress reactions, depression and related dysfunction and pathological reactions while still other exhibit healthy reactions to the same set of circumstances.

"Psychological reactions to the pandemic can be distilled into four distinct prototypical patterns, namely, Resilience, Recovery, Chronic and Delayed patterns which may vary in intensity, multiplicity, and duration. Resilient individual have an ability to bounce back from adversity and experience modest or little disruption in normal functioning and are able to maintain a relatively stable, healthy levels of psychological functioning even after enduring the pandemic. Recovery pattern is characterised by relatively rapid reduction in symptoms and return to normal functioning whereas chronic pattern is characterised by symptoms and dysfunction of a long duration," says Pune-based military psychologist Lt Col Dr Samir Rawat.

Challenges at the Individual and Community Levels

From a psychological perspective, post pandemic reconstruction would entail catering to the problems, concerns and needs of those adversely impacted by the COVID -19 with stress symptoms typically characterised by individual's experiencing an overwhelming trauma of the pandemic (for example, recurring nightmares/ breaking into a cold sweat, flashback of stressful events, increasing irritability, low frustration tolerance or emotional numbing).

It could also manifest in depressive symptoms which may result in lack of interest or diminished pleasure in activities and things which you earlier liked to do, feelings of worthlessness or even survivor guilt in case of a loss of a loved one due to COVID-19, fleeting thoughts of death and suicidal ideation. Physical symptoms, on the other hand could be a decrease in appetite, weight and sleep problems, inability to focus and lack of concentration.

Undoubtedly, the pandemic will cause a financial loss of varying magnitude to many, especially the marginalised and economically disadvantaged strata of daily wage earners; it will also lead to loss of jobs (already beginning to show), homelessness, occupational difficulties and new challenges in interpersonal relations at work and on the home front, besides physical health problems and psychological barriers with new norms of accepted social behaviour (social distancing, handshakes, an obsession for cleanliness to name a few).

Emotional battles

Many factors may influence whether individuals come out stronger and more resilient or surrender to the pandemic. Emotion Regulation is one such long term critical factor that can play an important role in contributing to varying degrees of adaptation with negative or positive outcomes. While we know that primary emotions are fear, anger, disgust, joy, anticipation, acceptance, sadness and surprise, other basic emotions include wonder, love, desire, joy, hatred, sadness, attachment, disgust, rage and even expectancy .

To be able to regulate these emotions and avoid negativity , especially on social media platforms is likely to increase efforts in emotion regulation which involves initiating, increasing or maintaining an emotional response.

This means by regulating or on the other hand by stopping, decreasing or avoiding an emotional response, that is, by down-regulating, depending on the individual's objectives and goals or his /her ability to regulate emotions in the valued and given direction.

"One of the best ways to regulate emotions is through cognitive restructuring wherein we change the way we think; after all it is not the event but the interpretation of the event which is perceived as stressful and finding meaning promotes resilience and reduces risk and vulnerability to stress," advises Dr Rawat.

Adding, "Clearly, we need to have a psychological plan to prevent, mitigate and minimise negative outcomes by post pandemic reconstruction of society at an individual and community level all over the country; this has to be integrated by all leaders across verticals in diverse domains."

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Agencies
January 25,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 25: A new study conducted by a team of researchers reveals why individuals who have a history of early life adversity (ELA) are disproportionately prone to opioid addiction.

The study conducted examined how early adversities interact with factors such as increased access to opioids to directly influence brain development and function, causing a higher potential for opioid addiction.

The study was lead by UCI researchers and was published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Tallie Z. Baram, MD, PhD, the Danette Shepard Chair in Neurological Sciences at the UCI School of Medicine and one of the senior researchers for the study, was on the take that the widely known factor genetics that plays major role in addiction vulnerability, cannot be solely held responsible for the recent rise in opioid abuse.

To further clarify, the researchers simulated ELA in rats by limiting bedding and nesting materials during a short, postnatal period of time.

In female rats, this led to striking opioid addiction-like characteristics including an increased relapse- behaviour, for example.

As observed in addicted humans, the rats were willing to work very hard (pay a very high price) to obtain the drug.

Baram said: "Ultimately, we found that conditions during sensitive developmental periods can lead to vulnerability to the addictive effects of opioid drugs, especially in females, which is consistent with the prevalence of ELA in heroin-addicted women."

These findings can be used to highlight the importance given to sex differences in future ELA-related studies on opioid addiction, and in future prevention or intervention strategies being developed to address the growing opioid crisis.

The study conducted examined how early adversities interact with factors such as increased access to opioids to directly influence brain development and function, causing a higher potential for opioid addiction.

The study was lead by UCI researchers and was published in Molecular Psychiatry.

The study found that unpredictable, fragmented early life environments may lead to abnormal maturation of certain brain circuits, which profoundly impacts brain function and persists into adolescence and adulthood.

Tallie Z. Baram, MD, PhD, the Danette Shepard Chair in Neurological Sciences at the UCI School of Medicine and one of the senior researchers for the study, was on the take that the widely known factor genetics that plays major role in addiction vulnerability, cannot be solely held responsible for the recent rise in opioid abuse.

To further clarify, the researchers implanted ELA in rats by limiting bedding and nesting materials during a short, postnatal period of time.

In female rats, this led to striking opioid addiction-like characteristics including an increased relapse- behaviour, for example.

As observed in addicted humans, the rats were willing to work very hard (pay a very high price) to obtain the drug.

Baram said: "Ultimately, we found that conditions during sensitive developmental periods can lead to vulnerability to the addictive effects of opioid drugs, especially in females, which is consistent with the prevalence of ELA in heroin-addicted women."

These findings can be used to highlight the importance given to sex differences in future ELA-related studies on opioid addiction, and in future prevention or intervention strategies being developed to address the growing opioid crisis.

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Agencies
March 11,2020

With the sales of chicken and mutton going down due to the coronavirus scare, it is the humble 'Kathal' (jackfruit) is emerging as an acceptable alternative.

'Kathal' is now selling at ₹120 per kilogram -- an increase of more than 120 per cent over the normal ₹50 per kilogram.

The jackfruit, in fact, is now priced higher than chicken which is selling at ₹80 per kilogram due to poor demand.

"It is better having a 'Kathal' biryani instead of a mutton biryani. It tastes reasonably good. The only problem is that 'Kathal' has been sold out in the vegetable market and is difficult to find," said Purnima Srivastava whose family savours non-vegetarian food on a regular basis.

The corona scare has hit poultry business so hard and the Poultry Farm Association recently organized a Chicken Mela in Gorakhpur to dispel the misconception that birds are carriers of the deadly virus.

"In fact, we gave away plateful of chicken dishes for Rs 30 to encourage people to savour the delicacies. We cooked one thousand kilograms of chicken for the Mela and the entire stock was sold out," said Vineet Singh, head of the Poultry Farm Association.

However, the Mela did not do much to dispel the fears about chicken, mutton or fish consumption amid the virus outbreak.

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