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.
Most people bend over backwards to keep children entertained, but this baboon show us how it’s done .
The aurora lights captured in Blair Nebraska, America - WITH electrifying purple and illuminous green brightening up the night sky, this is the rare moment a flash of 'sprite' lightening was captured on camera .
A Romanian photographer has captured the unique patterns of hundreds of human eyes in a series of striking macro shots .
A luxury caravan with a price tag of ONE MILLION DOLLARS is due to hit the road later this year .
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TOMORROW (Saturday) marks the 28th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that left the city of Chernobyl devastated .
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WIDE EYED with a huge smile across her face, this little elephant is a picture of happiness .
Dogs catch waves at the Coronado Bay dog surf championships Saturday 22nd June 2013- DOG SURFING mutts have never looked so gnarly .
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .