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
POOCHES POSE IN THEIR ELABORATE HEADSCARF COLLECTION
WRAPPED up in classy headscarves, these adorable pooches are the picture of sophistication .
KUNG-FU LEOPARD CUBS
Pouncing down on top of his twin brother, these two snow leopard cubs practice their kung-fu moves .
SHOP BRANDED RACIST FOR ‘ZIP UP IMMIGRANT’ AD
A SHOCKING cartoon of a black man carrying bags saying‘’zippadydoohdah zip-up immigrant bags’ has appeared in a shop window and is being investigated by police .
WOMAN LOSES 13ST AFTER BEATING HALF-TON POTATO ADDICTION
A woman has lost over 13st after beating her addiction to POTATOES .
AURORA BOREALIS ILLUMINATES LAPLAND
From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .
TERMINAL CANCER MUM MIRACLE RECOVERY AFTER UK-FIRST OP
A mother told she had terminal cancer by doctors who ignored her pleas for help 13 times has made a miracle recovery following the UK's first operation of its kind .
TUNNELS OF WAVES
With blue waves tumbling over them, these surfers glide underneath a tunnel of water .
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 .
MY SLEEPING BEAUTY NIGHTMARE
MEET the real life sleeping beauty - who snoozed for TWO months when a rare sleep disorder took over her life and turned it into a nightmare .
SLEEPING BEAUTIES
Lying angelically with a range of expressions etched on their tiny faces, little bundles of joy are innocently captured in their first few days in these adorable photographs .
SCULPTURES THAT WILL LEAF YOU SPEECHLESS
GIANT garden sculptures don't beat about the bush .