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
July 2,2020

The American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and the European biotechnology company BioNTech SE have conducted an experimental trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate and found it to be safe, well-tolerated, and capable of generating antibodies in the patients.

The study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, describes the preliminary clinical data for the candidate vaccine -- nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (modRNA), BNT162b1.

It said the amount of antibodies produced in participants after they received two shots of the vaccine candidate was greater than that reported in patients receiving convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients.

"I was glad to see Pfizer put up their phase 1 trial data today. Virus neutralizing antibody titers achieved after two doses are greater than convalescent antibody titers," tweeted Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist from Baylor College of Medicine in the US, who was unrelated to the study.

Researchers, including those from New York University in the US, who were involved in the study, said the candidate vaccine enables human cells to produce an optimised version of the receptor binding domain (RBD) antigen -- a part of the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 which it uses to gain entry into human cells.

"Robust immunogenicity was observed after vaccination with BNT162b1," the scientists noted in the study.

They said the program is evaluating at least four experimental vaccines, each of which represents a unique combination of mRNA format and target component of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

Based on the study's findings, they said BNT162b1 could be administered in a quantity that was well tolerated, potentially generating a dose dependent production of immune system molecules in the patients.

The research noted that patients treated with the vaccine candidate produced nearly 1.8 to 2.8 fold greater levels of RBD-binding antibodies that could neutralise SARS-CoV-2.

"We are encouraged by the clinical data of BNT162b1, one of four mRNA constructs we are evaluating clinically, and for which we have positive, preliminary, topline findings," said Kathrin U. Jansen, study co-author and Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccine Research & Development, Pfizer.

"We look forward to publishing our clinical data in a peer-reviewed journal as quickly as possible," Jansen said.

According to Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech, and another co-author of the study, the preliminary data are encouraging as they provide an initial signal that BNT162b1 is able to produce neutralising antibody responses in humans.

He said the immune response observed in the patients treated with the experimental vaccine are at, or above, the levels observed from convalescent sera, adding that it does so at "relatively low dose levels."

"We look forward to providing further data updates on BNT162b1," Sahin said.

According to a statement from Pfizer, the initial part of the study included 45 healthy adults 18 to 55 years of age.

It said the priliminary data for BNT162b1 was evaluated in 24 subjects who received two injections of 10 microgrammes ( g) and 30 g -- 12 subjects who received a single injection of 100 g, and 9 subjects who received two doses of a dummy vaccine.

The study noted that participants received two doses, 21 days apart, of placebo, 10 g or 30 g of BNT162b1, or received a single dose of 100 g of the vaccine candidate.

According to the scientists, the highest neutralising concentrations of antibodies were observed seven days after the second dose of 10 g, or 30 g on day 28 after vaccination.

They said the neutralising concentrations were 1.8- and 2.8-times that observed in a panel of 38 blood samples from people who had contracted the virus.

In all 24 subjects who received two vaccinations at 10 g and 30 g dose levels, elevation of RBD-binding antibody concentrations was observed after the second injection, the study noted.

It said these concentrations are 8- and 46.3-times the concentration seen in a panel of 38 blood samples from those infected with the novel coronavirus.

At the 10 g or 30 g dose levels, the scientists said adverse reactions, including low grade fever, were more common after the second dose than the first dose.

According to Pfizer, local reactions and systemic events after injection with 10 g and 30 g of BNT162b1 were "dose-dependent, generally mild to moderate, and transient."

It said the most commonly reported local reaction was injection site pain, which was mild to moderate, except in one of 12 subjects who received a 100 g dose, which was severe.

The study noted that there was no serious adverse events reported by the patients.

Citing the limitations of the research, the scientists said the immunity generated in the participants in the form of the T cells and B cells of their immune system, and the level of immunity needed to protect one from COVID-19 are unknown.

With these preliminary data, along with additional data being generated, Pfizer noted in the statement that the two companies will determine a dose level, and select among multiple vaccine candidates to seek to progress to a large, global safety and efficacy trial, which may involve up to 30,000 healthy participants if regulatory approval to proceed is received.

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Agencies
June 11,2020

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that more research needs to be done to better understand the extent to which COVID-19 is being spread by people who don't show symptoms.

"Since early February, we have said that asymptomatic people can transmit COVID-19, but that we need more research to establish the extent of asymptomatic transmission," the WHO chief said at a virtual press conference from Geneva on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"That research is ongoing, and we're seeing more and more research being done," he added.

Saying that the world has been achieving a lot in knowing the new virus, the WHO chief told reporters that "there's still a lot we don't

"WHO's advice will continue to evolve as new information becomes available," he said.

Tedros stressed that the most critical way to stop transmission is to find, isolate and test people with symptoms, and trace and quarantine their contacts.

"Many countries have succeeded in suppressing transmission and controlling the virus doing exactly this," Tedros said.

Meanwhile, Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, said Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving.

"If we look at the numbers... this pandemic is still evolving. It is growing in many parts of the world," he said. "We have deep concerns that health systems of some countries are struggling, under a huge strain and require our support, our help and our solidarity."

He said "each and every country has a different combination of risks and opportunities, and it's really down to national authorities to carefully consider where they are in the pandemic."

In Europe, the risk issue now are about travels and the opening of the schools, around risk management, mass gathering, surveillance and contact tracing, said the WHO official.

In Southeast Asian countries, where to a great extent transmissions have been under control, governments are more concerned about the re-emergence of clusters, while in South America, the issue of PPE for health workers has not gone away, said Ryan.

As regards Africa, Ryan said the death rates have been very low in the past week, but the health system can be overwhelmed, as it would have to cope with other diseases such as malaria.

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Agencies
June 29,2020

Washington DC, Jun 29: Young children with narrow retinal artery diameters were more likely to develop higher blood pressure, and children with higher blood pressure levels were more likely to develop retinal microvascular impairment during early childhood, according to a new study.

The first study to show this connection in children was published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

High blood pressure, the main risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), can manifest as early as childhood, and the prevalence of high blood pressure among children continues to rise. In previous studies, analysis of blood vessels in the retina has shown promise as a predictor of CVD risk among adults. In the study titled, "Retinal Vessel Diameters and Blood Pressure Progression in Children," researchers sought to predict the development of high blood pressure in children over four years based on retinal blood vessel measurements.

"Hypertension continues as the main risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases and mortality," says Henner Hanssen, M.D., the study's lead author and a professor in the department of sport, exercise and health at the University of Basel in Switzerland. 

"Primary prevention strategies are needed to focus on screening retinal microvascular health and blood pressure in young children in order to identify those at increased risk of developing hypertension. The earlier we can provide treatment and implement lifestyle changes to reduce hypertension, the greater the benefit for these children."

Researchers screened 262 children ages six to eight from 26 schools in Basel, Switzerland, in 2014, for baseline blood pressure and retinal arterial measurements. Both measures were taken again in 2018. Blood pressure measurements at both baseline and follow-up were performed in a sitting position after a minimum of five minutes of rest and were categorized based on the American Academy of Pediatrics' blood pressure guidelines. These guidelines utilize the same measurements as the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology 2017 Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults.

Results from the analysis indicate: children with narrower retinal vessel diameters at baseline developed higher systolic blood pressure at follow-up; retinal vessel diameters could explain 29 -31 per cent of the changes in systolic blood pressure progression between 2014 and 2018; children with higher blood pressure levels at baseline developed significantly narrower arteriolar diameters at follow-up, depending on weight and cardiorespiratory fitness; and initial blood pressure measures explained 66-69 per cent of the change in retinal arteriolar diameter from baseline to follow-up.

"Early childhood assessments of retinal microvascular health and blood pressure monitoring can improve cardiovascular risk classification. Timely primary prevention strategies for children at risk of developing hypertension could potentially counteract its growing burden among both children and adults," said Hanssen.

Researchers noted limitations of their study include that they could not confirm blood pressure measurements over a single 24-hour period, so they would not account for "white coat" hypertension, a condition where patients have high blood pressure readings when measured in a medical setting.

Developmental stage including puberty status of each child was not accounted for in the study, as well as genetic factors or birth weight - variables that could impact blood pressure development and microvascular health.

In addition, reference values for appropriate retinal vessel diameters in children do not currently exist, so future studies are needed to determine age-related normal values during childhood.

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