PROGERIA
Progeria, or Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, is a condition that is increasingly being suggested as a possible explanation for the Starchild Skull. It is a multi-symptomatic condition, meaning it affects multiple systems in the body and not every patient will display all of the possible symptoms. Progeria research is a relatively new field, and Progeria is a very rare condition, so there are few true experts. These factors add to confusion and make it easier for amateurs to make questionable statements without being questioned.
After extensively studying the Starchild Skull, Dr. Ted Robinson M.D., L.M.C.C., F.R.C.S (c) is convinced the Starchild Skull is not the result of Progeria. No medical doctor or specialist who has ever examined the Starchild Skull has diagnosed Progeria.
Progeria is a fatal genetic illness which causes features of premature aging in children. In most cases it is fatal by age 13, with only a handful surviving to 20 and the oldest survivor on record living only to age 29. Symptoms include hair loss, wrinkled skin, stunted growth, cardiovascular degeneration, small and unusual facial features, osteoporosis, age-related loss of sight and loss of hearing, joint abnormalities, and dental abnormalities such as dental crowding and failure of teeth to erupt.
child with progeria
Genetic research into Progeria has found that those with the condition have a point mutation on the LMNA gene, a section of the human genome that gives instructions to create different proteins called “lamins.” This specific gene has not yet been recovered in the Starchild Skull, however it is being actively sought as part of the testing process and is expected to confirm the physical diagnosis by Dr. Ted Robinson that the Skull did not have Progeria.
The physical appearance of a bulged head too large for the rest of the face is a hallmark of Progeria. One of the reasons for this unusual shape and size is that in children with Progeria the Fontanelle remains open. Fontanelles are “soft spots” on infants' heads that are caused by gaps between the plates of bone in the skull that later close together.
The Starchild Skull has normal, healthy, closed sutures, a fact confirmed by numerous experts including Dr. Bachynsky and Dr. Robinson, and by CT Scans. It does have a lower face much smaller than a normal human, which gives it a look similar to Progeria and contributes to the common amateur misdiagnosis. However Progeria does not radically change the shape of the skull, and does not increase the brain size.
An overlay of a normal human skull and the Starchild Skull on a Progeria patient (aligned to the eyes) clearly shows that Progeria does not alter the skull to look at all like the Starchild, and in fact the cranial shape (the skull without the face) is essentially normal and human in every sense. It even retains a normal inion, a feature noticeably absent in the Starchild Skull.
