This article from the New York Times chronicles a 13 year-old named Rachelle (above) who suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome as she goes into treatment. Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a congenital disease that causes reduced muscle-tone, obesity, limited cognitive capacity, and reduced sex hormones. People with PWS often suffer from many obesity-related diseases such as pulmonary-hypertension, Type-Two diabetes, and heart disease (among others). PWS is caused by a missing part of the 15th chromosome, generally missing from the Paternal side, if not the person will usually have two copies of the maternal chromosome 15. People with PWS often have learning disabilities and cognitive dysfunctions, however, they have a great spatial memory. A child with PWS can actually memorize their parents' credit card numbers and order food that way. Their whole brains are wired to acquire food, because they believe they are starving all the time, and they will do anything to obtain it.
This article also chronicles how the scientific community and pharmaceutical industry are studying how individuals become obese, including pathways between the stomach and hypothalamus. It is very interesting how they are using these extreme cases to figure out a hint about the genetic nature of obesity in the general population. There needs to be more research into this field of study to help individuals with this crippling disease and to further our knowledge of obesity.
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