Most of us struggle to keep our weight down, but not Lizzie Velasquez. The 21-year-old woman from Austin, Texas actually has to eat every 15 minutes to say alive:
Miss Velasquez has a rare condition which prevents her from gaining weight even though she eats up to 60 small meals a day.
Despite consuming between 5,000 and 8,000 calories daily, the communications student, has never tipped over 4st 3lbs.
"I weigh myself regularly and if I gain even one pound I get really excited," said 5ft 2 ins Miss Velasquez, who wears size triple zero clothes. [...]
She is one of 3 people in the world with a rare disease that prevents her from gaining weight:
Interview at Motah: http://motah.us/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=51&task=videodirectlink&id=127Professor Garg and his team now believe Lizzie may have a form of Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome (NPS) which causes accelerated ageing, fat loss from the face and body, and tissue degeneration. People with PRS often have triangular and prematurely aged faces with a pointy nose.
Find that hard to believe. Lose wight maybe... But die?
I think that my 5 year old is 3/4 her weight. That's amazing.
(That's 4 stone 3 pounds. Stone = 14lbs and is a great example of why the British are crazy. ;p )
Seriously, though, such extreme genetic disorders, tragic as they can be, do help us further our understanding of exactly how and why we are what we are. Her unusual condition may later lead to treatments that could help millions.
And I'm pleased that Miss Velasquez seems in good health otherwise, and that she seems to have adapted well emotionally. I wish her well.