There have been other cases of early aging reported in China.

The son and daughter of a couple in Anhui province were found to have progeria at the age of 1, and the children died when they were 15 and 17, according to a 1986 report in the China Health Pictorial, a magazine sponsored by the Ministry of Health.

It was believed the progeria might have been a consequence of the parents being blood relatives.

However, grandpa Sang Fayu said that his son and daughter-in-law were not related by blood and he disputed that progeria was a hereditary condition.

Children with progeria in other nations include Hayley Okines, a 14-year-old girl in the United Kingdom. She remains active and in high spirits, and wrote her autobiography, Old Before MyTime, last year.

Another case is Seth Cook, from Washington state in the United States, who died at home, aged 13, from a heart attack in 2007.

The Progeria Research Foundation, a non-profit organization established in 1999 dedicated to finding treatments and a cure, said on its website that there are 89 children known to be living with the aging disorder in 39 countries.

There is still no definitive test for the disease, said the foundation, which is based in Massachusetts.

QUESTIONS

1 What is progeria?

2 What is suspected as the cause?

3 How many people live with this condition?

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