Two years old, 30 pounds

The girl comes in the 34. A week in the Netherlands as a premature baby in the world. With 2.6 kilograms more weight to bring it to this point on the scale than the same old early. For ten days, the Baby must remain in the hospital and ventilated, then it can leave the clinic.

For the parents the first weeks of life of your baby are very demanding: The girl is screaming day and night. Nothing helps to calm it down, except for a vial. When the Baby is eleven weeks old, it weighs more than six kilograms. On the arms and legs of bacon to form wrinkles.

The Baby no longer fits in the stroller

The anxious parents ask a pediatrician’s advice and try to follow the dietary recommendations. The means, however, that the girl constantly cries and cries. In spite of all the efforts of the parents of the Baby to even faster weight. As it is half a year old, weighs 15 pounds and no longer fits in the stroller.

Three months later the parents to find again the child’s doctor sends you to a University clinic.

The child who is already suffering from the consequences of the strong Preponderance: level of cholesterol in the blood is too high, the body reacts only to a limited extent, on the metabolic hormone Insulin, as in type 2 Diabetes.

The Team of Mieke van Do from the Free University of Amsterdam will examine whether the Baby has a sub-function of the thyroid gland or whether other hormone malfunctions. Among other things, determine the value of the hormone Leptin, which is associated with Hunger and satiety. Here you will find no eye-catching values.

The Doctors suspect, therefore, that a genetic error causing the problems of the girl. The most common error in the so-called MC4R can exclude Gene, however. There are some disorders that are associated in addition to Overweight with other complaints, such as a delay in Growth. Also, this excludes the Team, because the girl, in addition to the strong Obesity and its consequences has problems, no other health.

In search of the Gen-error

As the child is a year and nine months old, take it for a while in the clinic, in order to establish a low-calorie diet and to investigate with further testing, after which the problems are based. Meanwhile, the young patient is 88 centimeters tall and weighs 30 kilograms. By the Overweight of their movements are restricted.

Now, new methods allow to check in the genome of the child a total of 52 with Obesity related genes. The and error the Doctors find the Gene for the Leptin receptor, as they report in the journal “BMJ Case Reports”.

This means that The child’s body produces enough Leptin, the hormone has no functioning docking port, through which it signals to the cells of the body can convey. It would be like a letter carrier who wants to deliver the Post, but in the street, all the letter are removed boxes.

That explains the constant, irrepressible Hunger of the child, because Leptin is involved because one feels saturation, and no longer hungry.

“Have me married with my daughter, barely in front of the door”

So far there is no therapy for a Leptin Receptor Defect. Nevertheless, the diagnosis of the family helps. “I’ve often wondered whether I debt am Overweight, my daughter,” the mother said. “Many people have told me that I was a bad mother because I allowed my child to be so thick. I dared hardly to going with my daughter in front of the door, because the comments from the people were so hurtful.” Strangers have asked if you feed your child with “deep-fried fat Shakes”.

The Doctors try to support the family in the best possible way and send the girl to a rehabilitation specialist that customizes your car, suitable footwear and a special children’s.

“It is a daily battle against Hunger, my daughter, and the comments of Strangers,” says the mother. “Since the diagnosis, we feel prepared us better to take him in.”