.-') _ .-') _ | |
( OO ) ) ( OO ) ) | |
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,' | |
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\ | |
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | ) | |
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/ | |
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ | | |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ | | |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--' | |
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Imagine living in a 4-foot body that doesn’t develop chronic diseases | |
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN | |
Updated: | |
11:34 AM EDT, Tue April 30, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
In the Los Angeles restaurant where Nathaly Paola Castro Torres works, | |
customers never fail to comment on her short stature. | |
“People stare at me too much and make comments or jokes,” Torres, | |
42, said. “Many times they also (take) photos of me and I don’t | |
like it. I feel very bad.” | |
At 4 feet, 2 inches tall (127 centimeters), Torres is a “little | |
person” who isn’t used to such reactions. While she was growing up | |
in Quito, Ecuador, people seldom mentioned her height. She worked at a | |
car dealership, felt embraced by her community, and considered her size | |
an advantage. | |
“Since I was a teenager, I saw my height as (an opportunity) to | |
develop — the growth problem is part of my personality,” Torres | |
told CNN in Spanish. | |
“I am also quite lucky because in reality my body protects me a lot | |
from diseases that other people have every day,” she added. “This | |
height, at the same time as being a limitation, is also a blessing.” | |
Torres has a rare disorder called Laron syndrome that is caused by a | |
genetic mutation. It stunts her growth but also provides a hidden | |
silver lining: Her body is protected from chronic diseases such as | |
cancer that often take life away long before old age. | |
“I wonder what people who make fun of Nathaly would say if they knew | |
she lived in a body that may some day provide information on how to | |
live longer, disease-free lives,” said Valter Longo, professor of | |
gerontology and biological sciences at the University of Southern | |
California in Los Angeles. | |
“We have shown in studies people with Laron have a very low incidence | |
of cancer, diabetes and cognitive decline,” said Longo, who has | |
studied Laron syndrome for nearly 20 years. “Brain scans have shown | |
they have more youthful brains — the equivalent of someone 20 years | |
younger. I have yet to see a case of Alzheimer’s in this | |
population.” | |
And according to a new study in the journal Med, Torres and other | |
people who have the condition may also be protected from heart disease, | |
Longo said. | |
“It doesn’t mean that they are immune to these diseases, but people | |
with Laron syndrome certainly seem to be very protected,” added | |
Longo, who was a coauthor of the latest research. “This is how | |
powerful this mutation seems to be.” | |
What is Laron syndrome? | |
The first cases of little people who seemed to shrug off disease were | |
among children of Jewish immigrants from Yemen and other parts of the | |
Middle East. Today, there may be between 350 and 500 people with Laron | |
syndrome in the United States, Ecuador, Israel, Croatia, Ireland and | |
other European countries, Longo said. | |
In 1987, Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, then a young physician just | |
starting his career, discovered a group of about 100 people with Laron | |
syndrome scattered across rural towns in Ecuador. Guevara-Aguirre, who | |
was first author of the new report, is the founder of the Institute of | |
Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Reproduction in Quito. | |
These people all carried a mutation in their human growth hormone | |
receptor gene, according to Guevara-Aguirre’s research. That genetic | |
disruption blocks the body’s ability to use insulin-like growth | |
factor, or IGF-1, a hormone created primarily in the liver. Growth | |
hormone and IGF-1 work together to promote normal bone and tissue | |
growth, so a deficit stunts growth. | |
People with Laron have IGF-1 in their tissues, where it can be called | |
upon to help heal wounds and other body processes. However, unlike the | |
rest of us, these folks have little of the hormone circulating in their | |
bloodstream, where it wreaks havoc and contributes to aging. | |
Fortunately, the lack of circulating IGF-1 also blocks the uncontrolled | |
growth of cancer cells and creates an extra sensitivity to insulin that | |
protects against diabetes. | |
In 2005, Guevara-Aguirre reached out to Longo, who had been studying a | |
similar mutation in yeast cells that extended their existence. | |
“In addition to yeast cells, worms, flies and mice with similar | |
mutations all live extraordinarily long lives,” Longo said. “Mice | |
with the same mutation we are studying in humans hold the record in | |
longevity — they live 40% longer than mice without it, and 50% of | |
those mice never develop any pathology. So they are living longer and | |
healthier lives.” | |
The two began to collaborate, hoping they might identify a drug that | |
could potentially be used to lower circulating IGF-1 in the general | |
population and provide antiaging and disease-preventive benefits, Longo | |
said. | |
“The idea would be for people who have high circulating IGF-1 levels | |
to get drugs that lower the IGF-1 back to the range that seems to be | |
associated with the lowest mortality rate, much like people take a drug | |
for high cholesterol,” Longo said. | |
A Western diet packed with protein and sugar also increases circulating | |
levels of IGF-1, thus hastening aging, Longo said. | |
“There are IGF-1 lowering diets, such as fasting for five days a | |
month, which is called a fasting-mimicking diet,” he said. “We have | |
which found circulating IGF-1 levels remained depressed for a while | |
after doing this.” | |
Guevara-Aguirre and Longo are also looking for funding to provide | |
IGF-1-boosting injections to children in Ecuador born with Laron | |
syndrome. Given during childhood to encourage height, the drugs could | |
then be stopped to allow the mutation’s genetic protection against | |
disease to take over. | |
“So far, the (Ecuadorian) government and pharmaceutical companies | |
will not pay for it,” Longo said. “We are having to do it more | |
slowly with diet, and we have had a bit of success.” | |
New study on heart disease | |
There are health risks connected to Laron syndrome as well. The | |
condition leads to extreme obesity, a trigger for diabetes, heart | |
disease, cancer and other diseases. In addition, many of the people | |
Longo studies “never exercise” and often drink, smoke and reside in | |
disadvantaged communities without adequate health care, he said. | |
Instead of dying from chronic diseases connected to obesity, however, | |
there is an unusually high rate of alcohol- and accident-related deaths | |
as well as convulsive disorders among the Laron population, he said. | |
And because low levels of IGF-1 in those without the mutation have been | |
linked with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, “everybody | |
assumed that people with Laron probably had a lot of heart and | |
cardiovascular problems, too, especially considering their obesity,” | |
he added. | |
To find out, Longo and Guevara-Aguirre examined Torres and 23 others | |
with Laron syndrome and compared them with 27 of their first-degree | |
relatives without the condition, most of whom live in Ecuador. | |
“We found people with Laron certainly do not have an increased | |
incidence of cardiovascular disease despite the fact that they are | |
often obese and live in poor environments, and some markers of | |
cardiovascular disease were even improved,” Longo said. | |
People with Laron in the study had better insulin sensitivity, lower | |
blood pressure and no heart rhythm disturbances — all positive | |
outcomes, he said. | |
In addition, people with Laron syndrome had plaque deposits in their | |
arteries of only 7% despite having high cholesterol, which typically | |
leads to clogging of the arteries and a higher risk of heart attacks, | |
stroke and other heart diseases. | |
The control group of first-degree relatives, who shared the same diet | |
and lifestyle, had plaque deposits of 30%, Longo said. | |
However, additional signs of cardiovascular wear and tear were absent | |
from the study, leaving some questions unanswered, said Dr. Andrew | |
Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National | |
Jewish Health in Denver. | |
“Still, I think it’s an interesting and promising study,” said | |
Freeman, who was not involved in the research. “It lays the | |
groundwork to see what we learn from this to reduce harms that affect | |
people as they age.” | |
Hope for the future | |
Torres recently went to the doctor for a checkup. While technically | |
overweight at 100 pounds (45.4 kilograms), she was in good health, with | |
no signs of diabetes or heart disease. | |
“(The doctor) tells me, ‘If you want, you can lose weight, but | |
it’s not a health problem for you, you’re perfect,’” Torres | |
said. “I feel very fortunate and find the response of my body to | |
these other more serious diseases very interesting.” | |
She plans to stay in the United States to take advantage of educational | |
opportunities and to see whether she “can get a chance for a better | |
job, a career.” However, she said she misses her family and the ease | |
of purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables abundant in Ecuador. | |
“I learned is that even though my body is a little more adaptable, I | |
still have to be careful with my diet,” she said. “Because although | |
it is true that we have a health advantage over other people, we do not | |
know for sure to what extent this will protect us.” | |
She also said she’s proud of her role in the research on Laron | |
syndrome. | |
“The objective is to be able to develop some medical help in order to | |
help the rest of the people who struggle with diabetes and cancer, two | |
of the most catastrophic diseases,” she said. “This is my hope.” | |
<- back to index |