Taqlima Jahan Nitu, the Girl who Fights Against the Progeria Syndrome

Jahan Nitu is a girl from Bangladesh who, at only 10 years old, must face the eyes of a society that puts her aside only because of what she looks like. This is the story of Nita, the girl with Progeria Syndrome.

Society can be very cruel sometimes, especially when it comes to differences. When the human being does not comply with a natural parameter of life, that is, in terms of appearance, he is isolated, that is the case of Jahan Nitu, a 10 years old girl from Habiganj, Bangladesh. Despite having her father Kamrul Hasan and her mother Josna who love her unconditionally, many people turn away from her for just being different.

This brave girl, daily fights with the looks and offensive comments of a society that for lack of information and ignorance, instead of asking what is this syndrome about, they prefer to say offensive things and give hurtful looks to a girl who has not done anything but being born with Progeria Syndrome. For this reason, Nitu has no friends and only plays with her sisters at home.

Jahan Nitu’s Life

Nitu was born on September 10, 2007, being the 4th girl of 6 siblings, in total, they are 3 boys and 3 girls. At birth, her mother did not notice anything strange but around 3 months old, she observed that her body began to be different with respect to when her other children had been born. Of course, her parents worried took her to the local doctor, who could not give a diagnose.

As the days passed, physical changes in Nitu were more noticeable, such as complete hair loss, which, her parents made the decision not to continue waiting and were referred to a hospital in the Dkaha city, the capital of Bangladesh for getting some diagnosis.

After some tests in the hospital, the doctors could reach the conclusion that Nitu was suffering from Progeria Syndrome and that being a genetic disease, still, science does not find a cure for it and the average life in children suffering from this syndrome does not exceed 13 years old. Despite receiving this bad news, Nitu's parents do not give up and have faith that there may be a cure for their child.

What is Progeria Syndrome?

Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford's Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is a genetic disease that affects very young children causing them to age prematurely.

But, what causes progeria? It is known to be caused by a mutation in the LMNA gene and causes the production of an abnormal protein called progerin that replaces the correct protein and induces an incorrect develop of the cell nucleus and gives rise to genetic expressions that make the patient look from outside, in a characteristic way.

Progeria Symptoms

Children with Progeria look normal at birth, so the disease is hard to be detected until the first symptom begin to appear, which usually happens approximately between 12 and 24 months old. They suffer from pathologies typical of an old age person and without the discovery of new treatments, all children with Progeria will have an average life expectancy of 14 years.

The intellect of children with progeria diagnosis is not affected. Despite the important and obvious physical changes in their bodies, these extraordinary children are intelligent, brave and full of life and Nitu is a clear example of it who goes to school and likes to do the same as all girls of her age, makeup, draw and play.

Among the most common visible disease, symptoms are short stature, dry and wrinkled skin, hair, eyebrows and eyelashes loss, a large skull, protruding cranial veins, rigid joints and the presence of typical degenerative disease of old age, such as arthritis.

Why is the Average Life so Short?

The cause of death in children with Progeria is arteriosclerosis, a heart disease that affects people who have aged normally.

Arteriosclerosis appears when arteries are deposited fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances in the blood until a plaque is formed. Over time, the plaque hardens and narrows the arteries, which limits the oxygen flow in blood but for those who suffer from progeria, arteriosclerosis does not wait, it is the leading cause of death in young children or teenagers.

In the absence of knowledge in society about progeria causes and even the lack of interest in having information about this genetic condition, Nitu often receives the bitter look from the people. Despite that, she has accepted that she is different and also, that there is not a progeria treatment yet, without losing her smile and the love she receives daily from her family will be forever.

Photo courtesy Joya Korem - Freelance Photographer