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
SLEEPING IN THE WILDERNESS

SLEEPING within touching distance of wild African animals might not be everyone's idea of a relaxing break .

HUNGRY GORILLA ENJOYS DINNER

SHOVELLING food into his mouth, this hungry gorilla enjoys a peaceful moment at dinner time .

CROC VS BAMBI

A BAMBI was dramatically caught in mid-air by a greedy Nile crocodile in a once-in-a-million flying pincer move .

COSPLAY COUPLE FIND LOVE THROUGH GAME OF THRONES OBSESSION

A Game of Thrones obsessed couple have fallen in love after meeting at a comic convention dressed as lovestruck characters Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drago .

WOMB STROKE SURVIVOR AMAZES DOCS BY TAKING FIRST STEPS

WOMB STROKE SURVIVOR AMAZES DOCS BY TAKING FIRST STEPS - A little girl who suffered a catastrophic stroke in the womb which would have killed an adult has stunned the medical world by learning to walk, talk and see .

CLOWNFISH OPENS WIDE TO REVEAL A CREEPY INTRUDER

A little clownfish opens its mouth to reveal a blood sucking intruder living on its tongue .

ADORABLE NEWBORN SEALS PLAY IN SNOW

WITH THEIR adorable big round eyes and fluffy white fur, these baby seals are cute enough to melt any heart .

FISH AND BIRD TANGO

A trout manages to escape the jaws of a hungry cormorant - only to find itself back inside the bird's long beak .

MAN DODGES DANGER TO COMMUTE ON PENNY FARTHING

Meet the Victorian gentleman who could not face sitting next to smelly commuters on the bus - so he dodges danger to go to work on a penny farthing .

I LOST HALF MY WEIGHT AND BECAME A WOMAN

Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror .

RING OF FIRE ECLIPSE IN OZ

THIS RING of fire in the sky is the annular solar eclipse that wowed our cousins down-under .