Race with time
Treatments and drugs
There is not a known cure for Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria, but there are ways to treat the symptoms of the affected individual by cardiac care, good nutrition, and physical therapy.
Certain therapies may ease some of the signs and symptoms. They include:
- Low-dose aspirin. A daily dose may help prevent heart attacks and stroke.
- Physical and occupational therapy. These may help with joint stiffness and hip problems, and may allow your child to remain active.
- High-calorie dietary supplements. Including extra calories in your child's daily diet may help prevent weight loss and ensure adequate nutrition.
- Feeding tube. Infants who feed poorly may benefit from a feeding tube and a syringe. You can use the syringe to push pumped breast milk or formula through the tube to make it easier for your child to feed.
- Extraction of primary teeth. Your child's permanent teeth may start coming in before his or her baby teeth fall out. Extraction may help prevent problems associated with the delayed loss of baby teeth, including overcrowding and
- developing a second row of teeth when permanent teeth come in.
Drugs known as farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs), which were developed for treating cancer, have shown promise in laboratory studies in correcting the cell defects that cause progeria. FTIs are currently being studied in human clinical trials for treatment of progeria.