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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffSome steps you can take at home that may help your child include:
- Make sure your child stays well hydrated. Dehydration can be more serious in children with progeria. Be sure your child gets enough to drink, especially during an illness or in hot weather.
- Provide frequent, small meals. Because nutrition and growth can be an issue for children with progeria, giving your child smaller meals more often may help to increase his or her caloric intake.
- Provide opportunities for regular physical activity. Check with your child's doctor to learn which activities are right for your child.
- Get cushioned shoes or shoe inserts for your child. The loss of body fat in the feet can cause discomfort.
- Make sure your child is up to date on childhood immunizations. A child with progeria isn't at increased risk of infection, but like all children is at risk if exposed to infectious diseases.
- Provide learning opportunities. Progeria won't affect your child's intellect, so he or she can attend school at an age-appropriate level.
References
- Learning about progeria. National Genome Research Institute. http://www.genome.gov/pfv.cfm?pageID=11007255. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome). The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec19/ch286/ch286d.html. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Brown TW. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. In: Pagon RA, et al., eds. GeneReviews. Seattle, Wash.: University of Washington; 1993. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=gene&part=hgps. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Meredith MA, et al. Phenotype and course of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;358:592.
- Kieran MW, et al. New approaches to progeria. Pediatrics. 2007;120:834.
- Martini R. Helping children cope with chronic illness. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/developmentor/helping_children_cope_with_chronic_illness. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 6, 2011.
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