Inside every old person is a young person, they say. In his story, Nihal Shrinivas Bitla is the old and the young – both, together. Nihal ages 8 times faster than the rest of us. He was the first child in India to be diagnosed with progeria.
Nihal turned 15 this January. Doctors say it is rare for a person suffering from progeria – the average age is 13.
Nihal is one of the 40 children from around the world, part of the human clinical trials at the Progeria Research Foundation in Boston. The scientists there are working on a drug that can slow down the ageing process of these rapidly ageing kids. Currently there is no treatment for progeria. The drug could be the answer to the woes of the 80 children in the world who suffer from the disease.
The drug Lonafarnib is being investigated as a potential treatment for the disease. Research has shown that the drug reverses changes in blood vessels that cause heart attacks and strokes killing patients of the disease, according to Neurology. org, the official journal of the Academy of Neurology.
For the first time since the Boston clinical trials, Nihal has put on 2 kgs.
The drug worked on mice and if the results are exhibited in the human trials too, a cure could be developed within a year, reported CNN IBN. This, when doctors took six years only to diagnose Nihal with the disease.
Nihal’s teeth fell off almost as soon as they appeared. He can only nibble on his favourite food. He likes to run, but soon runs out of breath. He wants to play but his joints ache. Nihal’s father runs a tiny mobile store in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra.
Given Nihal’s passion for sports cars, Lamborghini Mumbai even organised a special trial for him. Nihal is also fond of Asimov robots.
Nihal doesn’t like the 2009 movie Paa so much. The movie had Amitabh Bachchan play a progeria patient, Auro. Kids at school would say Nihal too, would die of a heart attack, just like Auro, said the Mumbai Mirror.
Once a bright student, Nihal has stopped going to school now. Repeated attempts by teachers have failed to get him back to class.
His disease may be rare – Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria has only 80 known cases in the world – but Nihal is like any typical teenager. He is hooked to his phone and iPad. And has a love hate relationship with his younger siblings.
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