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
SO ALLERGIC TO WATER I CAN'T EVEN KISS MY FIANCE
A woman with a rare allergy to water has told how the condition is so severe it prevents her from KISSING her fiance .
GRANDMOTHER KICKED OFF FLIGHT FOR ASSAULT AFTER TOUCHING ATTENDANTS ARM
Grandmother Janet Kirby was told she couldn't board her plane home after being accused of assault .
IDYLLIC ICELAND
With stunning scenery and otherworldly vistas, Iceland’s rural beauty is inescapable – especially for Hollywood .
SUNBATHING OTTER
A lazy otter finds the ideal spot to soak up the sun and sleep off his lunch .
BIRD FISHING
DIVING down at a speed of 75mph, this is the moment a hungry osprey caught his prey .
GLACIER ICE CLIMBING
COURAGEOUS climbers descend 400 metres as they manoeuvre their way through thick walls of ice .
ADORABLE CHIMP SHOWS OFF GYMNASTIC SKILLS
WITHOUT a care in the world, this little chimpanzee shows off her gymnastic skills as she swings around her enclosure .
CUTE MINI LION
MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .
AMAZING AMERICAN LANDSCAPES
This tranquil setting stretches for miles as the sun sets behind the mountain .
N-ICE DAY FOR A WHITE WEDDING: COUPLE WED ON GLACIER
When couples talk about wanting a white wedding, few will be referring to getting hitched on a glacier sat on top of an active volcano .
BUNGLING DRUG DEALER CAUGHT IN TOP COP'S PARKING SPACE
A prolific drug dealer was caught red-handed in a car filled with amphetamines after he decided to park in a top copper's parking space - as a joke .
WOMAN’S 12YO SON BECAME HUMAN FIREBALL AFTER ‘TIKTOK FIREBALL CHALLENGE’ WENT WRONG – NOW HE’S SCARRED FOR LIFE
A mother-of-two has revealed how her son became a human fireball after a dangerous 'TikTok challenge' went wrong .