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
STUNNING SUMATRAN TIGER CAUSES A SPLASH
BURSTING from the water, a beautiful but deadly Sumatran tiger jumps for food in an Indonesian zoo .
HOPE FOR HOMELESS HEDGEHOG
SNUGGLED up in the hay away from the elements, this adorable hoglet has sought solace with a familiar friend .
ZANZIBAR FISHERMEN RISK THEIR LIVES FOR FOOD
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
WORLD’S ONLY ONE ARMED PRO-DJ
DANCE guru Matt Howes leaves crowds in a spin when he gets behind the decks - as the world's only one-armed professional DJ .
WOMAN WHO SUFFERED 200 ALLERGIC REACTIONS CROWNED BEAUTY QUEEN
A woman who has suffered over 200 allergic reactions in seven years, has been crowned a BEAUTY QUEEN .
WELSH HOTEL ONCE HOME TO WWI SOLDIERS NOW LIES ABANDONED
A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned .
GIRL NICKNAMED JAWS BITES BACK AFTER SURGERY
A GIRL nicknamed JAWS by bullies who taunted her because of her underbite is em-bracing her new post-surgery life .
SLEEP PARALYSIS DREAMS TURNED REALITY
SITTING on a burning sofa unable to move, one man turns his terrifying dreams into reality .
LONDON LANDSCAPES PHOTOGRAPHED FROM ROOFTOPS
A British photographer has captured the beauty of London in a stunning series of landscapes shots .
FROZEN WATERFALLS
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .
LOST LEAPING BABY WHALE
LEAPING for joy five-feet above the waves this baby whale cutie is saying HELLO to its family after being lost .
MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED COTTAGE
THIS is the fascinating abandoned house, complete with mystery portraits and homely items, that has been dubbed - crooked cottage .