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
AMAZING AURORA BOREALIS
A GLOWING range of greens and blues sweep across the sky in a spectacular display of light .
FUNKY BUMP
HOTSPOT MEDIA - FUNKY BUMP: FROM MIRROR bellies to rainbow bumps these pregnancy casts of stone and bronze could be the funkiest way to preserve your bump for posterity .
GRAND PRIX-INSPIRED ESPRESSO MACHINE
This may look like a monster car engine that will leave petrol heads in a spin, but it is in fact a rather snazzy looking COFFEE MACHINE .
CHEEKY GORILLA
A cheeky gorilla sticks her tongue out and plays up for the camera at Bronx Zoo .
ABANDONED CALIFORNIAN GOLD RUSH TOWN
A once bustling gold rush town in Mono County, California now stands completed deserted .
CUDDLY TRAVEL BUNNY IS STOLEN AFTER JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD
An intrepid explorer hopes to be reunited with his travel partner, after his cuddly toy companion was stolen .
£10,000 REWARD FOR JOHN ANSLOW
Pictures of John Anslow a prisoner who escaped from a prison escort van in North Worcestershire Monday, 23 January .
WORLD’S LARGEST JIGSAW
Made up of 40,000 pieces, putting in over 200 hours of work and blunting endless blades, this is the final result for the world’s largest jigsaw, finally finished on Wednesday .
TWO FIRES ON MY WEDDING DAYS, EXACTLY ONE YEAR APART BUT WE MARRIED ANYWAY
On June 23, 2017, Coral Denakis, now 27, woke up on the morning of her wedding day to find a car on fire outside her hotel .
WOMAN'S LIFE-CHANGING OP AFTER THREE BOTCHED NOSE JOBS
A woman who had three botched nose jobs finally feels pretty after forking out £8 .
GOING BALLISTIC - 15 FOOT RED BALL ARTIST
This is the crazy art project that is going ballistic - placing a huge squishy 15ft red ball into tight spaces .
ORDEAL: RAILING HORROR MAN HAD BEEN IMPALED BEFORE
A man who spent 30 minutes impaled on iron railings after attempting to scale an 8ft fence has told of his agonising ordeal - and how he suffered a similar mishap as a child .