TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A 10 YR OLD: TEENAGE GIRL BORN WITHOUT HORMONES

She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl. Unlike other 17-year-olds, Poppy is more interested in Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber than wearing make-up, experimenting with boys or staying out late. This is due to a rare condition which means she was born without any hormones, meaning she has never gone through puberty, never had a growth spurt and never thrown a teenage tantrum. To many parents of teenagers, Poppy must sound like the perfect child, but unbeknown to her or her mother Karen Webb-Meek, her condition posed a deadly risk to her health throughout her whole childhood. Poppy was born with a condition called panhypopituitarism meaning she lacks most of the hormones essential for life. Hypopituitarism is the decreased secretion of one or more of the eight hormones normally produced by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. If there is decreased secretion of most pituitary hormones, the term panhypopituitarism (pan meaning "all") is used. Poppy has no growth hormone, meaning her bones stopped growing around the age of 11, and she has no thyroxine, which regulates the metabolism and energy levels. In addition she has no oestrogen, which controls the onset of puberty and the development of secondary sexual characteristics.

Other great stories
BOARDER” COLLIES AND SURF MAD MUTTS HIT THE WAVES

Dogs catch waves at the Coronado Bay dog surf championships Saturday 22nd June 2013- DOG SURFING mutts have never looked so gnarly .

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Staring death in the face, a little field mouse bravely confronts a hungry cat .

BUG LOOKS JUST LIKE SATAN

This longhorn beetle demon-strates a dark side as it looks just like the devil .

CRICKET FINDS AN UNUSUAL SEAT

A cricket perches on an unusual seat after crawling up the snout of a crocodile .

TRIG-OF -THE- EYE STREET ART

At first glance what might look like ordinary rusty bridge and road railings, are in fact amazing works of art .

AMAZING LANDSCAPES

From giant mountains to vast deserts, an American photographer spent a year capturing the diverse and beautiful landscape of the United States .

LIFE-LIKE PENCIL DRAWINGS

AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .

McDIVING

HOTSPOT MEDIA - McDIVING CRAZE GOES VIRAL - DRUNK students have brought the term 'extra-value meal' to a new level in a bizarre internet craze sweeping across McDonalds chains - McDiving .

UNDERWATER DIVING DOGS

WITH A STERN look of determination on their faces, these adorable pooches perfect their doggy paddle as they dive head first into a swimming pool .

ABANDONED WILD WEST THEME PARK

The gunslingers are long gone and tumbleweeds have taken over at this abandoned American Wild West Theme Park in Cornwall .

BENGAL TIGER PLANS ATTACK ON UNSUSPECTING DEER

SNEAKING slowly into the water, this Bengal tiger plans a vicious attack on three unsuspecting deer .

PEEK-A-BOO FISH: BRIT SNAPPER MAKES RARE FIND

A Brit photographer has captured one of the world's most camera-shy species of fish - during a game of underwater peek-a-boo .