The Girl Who Does Not Age

Posted by Queuebot in Baby & Kids, Medicine on June 25, 2009 at 2:29 am


At 16 years of age and weighing only 16 pounds, Brooke Greenberg has a previously-undescribed condition which in many aspects seems to show an absence of aging of the body.

She is infantile in size, but she does not have ordinary dwarfism. She still has her baby teeth. Her cognition is that of a child. Her bone age is only that of a 10-year old.

Does Brooke hold the secret to the fountain of youth? Her physicians are hopeful that sorting out the mechanism for her persistent youthful characteristics might lead to more insights on the normal process of aging:



Brooke hasn’t aged in the conventional sense. Dr. Richard Walker of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, in Tampa, says Brooke’s body is not developing as a coordinated unit, but as independent parts that are out of sync. She has never been diagnosed with any known genetic syndrome or chromosomal abnormality that would help explain why.

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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Minnesotastan.


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COMMENT

19 comments to "The Girl Who Does Not Age"

  1. Idil
    June 25th, 2009 at 3:22 am

    What the hell, that's creepy

  2. Shurik
    June 25th, 2009 at 3:45 am

    I am assuming her brain has not developed, cos if it had, that would suck.

  3. Video Game Dork
    June 25th, 2009 at 3:49 am

    Very odd. How she healed a brain tumor an everything. I can see why medical scientists would be going crazy about this. I wonder what her lifespan will be, compared to most people.

  4. Rocus
    June 25th, 2009 at 5:21 am

    Little lady elf?

  5. Daniel Kim
    June 25th, 2009 at 6:26 am

    At the risk of being very insensitive, I'd be interested to know if this could be used to keep kittens from growing up into cats.

  6. aging hipster
    June 25th, 2009 at 6:41 am

    The first 6 months of a baby's life seem infinitely long - maybe mom is just so sleep deprived she forgot when the baby was actually born?

  7. Robolasse
    June 25th, 2009 at 6:44 am

    That boggles my mind.

  8. Sam Saturday
    June 25th, 2009 at 7:25 am

    The article sez that she has the mental capacity of an infant. This is an extremely severe disability, obviously, but strangely manageable. She is basically a baby that never grows up.

    This whole "not ageing" thing is a total crock. There is a certain age when our cells start to degenerate (age). If they can prove that this individual will live longer than what is normal, I will pay attention. But otherwise, stop with the dumb speculation. We all grow old, and we all die.

  9. Ashley
    June 25th, 2009 at 8:03 am

    I agree with Daniel Kim. Can we do this to puppies? ^_^

  10. Mouserz
    June 25th, 2009 at 8:08 am

    Oh hey its Maggie Simpson.

  11. Alli
    June 25th, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    Wow, how rough for the parents, I will be interested to see her story on 20/20.

  12. Kalel
    June 25th, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    "Everyone's here for a reason. Maybe that's why Brooke is here."

    Lovely.

  13. Gauldar
    June 25th, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    Bam! Evolution FTW!

  14. k'alj
    June 25th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    shes cute

  15. LisaL
    June 25th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    Very weird. Will be interesting to see how she ages far later down the line. If she'll still stay an infant, or if she'll finally start to grow. How old she'll be when she does die... just.... weird.

  16. Justin
    June 25th, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    That is crazy! However, stories like these are sometimes a bit misleading when it comes to sensational things such as a potential fountain of youth.

    Either way I hope we can learn a great deal about the aging process from this little girl and hopefully find a way to allow her to one day develop fully into an adult.

  17. VonSkippy
    June 25th, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    I wonder who's footing the bill for this little science experiment.

  18. Foreigner1
    June 25th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    Reverse progeria...?

    Still- looking at her I have a feeling she will not live a full human life in years.

  19. terre
    June 26th, 2009 at 9:04 am

    I LIKe COOKIES !


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