Abraham Lincoln? Victim of Marfan's Syndrome?
Unfortunately we don't have enough evidence to actually prove this, reasearchers say though it's most likely that he had another disorder similar to Marfan's syndrome....
Description:
Marfan's syndrome is a disorder of your fibrillin,or connective tissue. Connective tissues are proteins that support your bones, blood vessels, skin and ther organs. Microfibrils are what fibrillin help become. Microfirils are what allow us to strech our tissue without damaging or weakening it. Because of Marfan's syndrome, people have loose fibrillin and that can cause damage to our body, weakening it. Loose fibrillin also causes people that have Marfan's syndrome to have abnormally long limbs (most people with Marfan's have a longer armspan than height) and have very flexible or loose joints (hypermobility). Marfan's syndrome also causes oscular, other skeletal problems, and cardiovascualar abnormalities. Marfan's syndrome is a disease that mostly only affects a person physically, not mentally, but evidence shows that children have slightly higher ADHD rates than children without the disease.
Patients with Marfan's syndrome normally have a shorter life span, but depending on how severely you are affected, it can differ for your symptoms and your life could hardly ever need to make room for Marfan's syndrome or your life could revolve around it.
One in every 5,000 people are diagnosed with Marfan's syndrome. It can affect all races and bo.th genders, making it autosomal. Marfan's syndrome is usually inheirited but can be caused by an unplanned mutation to the fibrillin gene
Patients with Marfan's syndrome normally have a shorter life span, but depending on how severely you are affected, it can differ for your symptoms and your life could hardly ever need to make room for Marfan's syndrome or your life could revolve around it.
One in every 5,000 people are diagnosed with Marfan's syndrome. It can affect all races and bo.th genders, making it autosomal. Marfan's syndrome is usually inheirited but can be caused by an unplanned mutation to the fibrillin gene
Mode of Inheiritance
Marfan's syndrome is an autosomal dominant disease that is caused by a single gene for fibrillin is on chromosome 15.
Marfan syndrome can be mild to severe, and the symptoms can vary. People with
Marfan syndrome are often very tall, thin and loose jointed. Most people with
Marfan syndrome have heart and blood vessel problems, such as a weakness in the
aorta or heart valves that leak. They may also have problems with their bones,
eyes, skin, nervous system and lungs.
Marfan syndrome can be mild to severe, and the symptoms can vary. People with
Marfan syndrome are often very tall, thin and loose jointed. Most people with
Marfan syndrome have heart and blood vessel problems, such as a weakness in the
aorta or heart valves that leak. They may also have problems with their bones,
eyes, skin, nervous system and lungs.
Detection & Treatment
Marfan's syndrome is easier to spot as people age because the traits of the disease are more evident. Though it can be spotted before you arrive at a ripe age. For instance, if you know or want to know if Marfan's syndrome is in your family tree you can check that to detect the chance of recieving Marfan's syndrome. Also, when you're young, symptoms can appear and doctors can test you for the syndrome. And when you're older you can also check for Marfan's, but because of the lack of detectable biochemical and cellular changes, tissue samples cannot be used; instead you can use CT and MRI scans. You can also develop Marfan's syndrome from a mutation to your 15th chromosome with the gene that controls your fibrillin.
No exact cure is availible right now, but there are treatments attainable for all ages and can be tailored to fit your severity of symptoms. Whe your older, you will usually get an EKG (electrocardiogram) test for information on if your aorta has grown in size every six months until they find that your aorta isn't increasing in size; then the exams will change to once a year. For children, they are first checked for scoliosis each year by their pediatrician with a simple test where the child will bend forward and the doctor will examine the curvature in their spine, looking for any changes. They also will x-ray the spine if they do indeed have scoliosis. If there is a curve of 20 degrees or less usually stay the same and don't get worse, between 20-40 degrees have the likelihood to increase and are treated with a back brace that has to be worn 23 hours of the day, and a curve of greater than 40 are sure to increase, even affecting adults as well as children. Those people almost always have to have surgery to protect their lungs, prevent back problems, and other problems. Medicine such as beta-blockers are used to decrease the rate of aorta enlargement and dissection. Pains in the limbs can be treated with the medication acetaminophen. One more treatment is surgery on your heart where you sew a prosthetic heart valve onto the end of a Dacron tube connected to your heart. The medication warfarin needs to be taken if you recieve the surgery to prevent the likelihood of blood clots. Therse are many other treatments in addition to these treatments because depending on your type of Marfan's syndrome, you might need treatments such as metal bars used to straighten and raise a deformed breastbone and ribs, a prosthetic hip, etcetera.
Side effects of the treatments could include failure to be able to adjust to foreign items such as the prosthetic heart valve mentioned earlier resulting in possible death.
No exact cure is availible right now, but there are treatments attainable for all ages and can be tailored to fit your severity of symptoms. Whe your older, you will usually get an EKG (electrocardiogram) test for information on if your aorta has grown in size every six months until they find that your aorta isn't increasing in size; then the exams will change to once a year. For children, they are first checked for scoliosis each year by their pediatrician with a simple test where the child will bend forward and the doctor will examine the curvature in their spine, looking for any changes. They also will x-ray the spine if they do indeed have scoliosis. If there is a curve of 20 degrees or less usually stay the same and don't get worse, between 20-40 degrees have the likelihood to increase and are treated with a back brace that has to be worn 23 hours of the day, and a curve of greater than 40 are sure to increase, even affecting adults as well as children. Those people almost always have to have surgery to protect their lungs, prevent back problems, and other problems. Medicine such as beta-blockers are used to decrease the rate of aorta enlargement and dissection. Pains in the limbs can be treated with the medication acetaminophen. One more treatment is surgery on your heart where you sew a prosthetic heart valve onto the end of a Dacron tube connected to your heart. The medication warfarin needs to be taken if you recieve the surgery to prevent the likelihood of blood clots. Therse are many other treatments in addition to these treatments because depending on your type of Marfan's syndrome, you might need treatments such as metal bars used to straighten and raise a deformed breastbone and ribs, a prosthetic hip, etcetera.
Side effects of the treatments could include failure to be able to adjust to foreign items such as the prosthetic heart valve mentioned earlier resulting in possible death.
Bibliography
Berkrow, Robert, et al., eds. The Merck Manual. 14th ed. Rahway, NJ: Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories, 1982.
Print.
Kugler, Mary. "President Lincoln and Marfan Syndrome." About.com. N.p., 4 Aug. 2009. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/marfansyndrome/a/092402.htm.
"Marfan Syndrome." MedlinePlus, 8 March. 2012. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/.
"Marfan Syndrome." The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. Vol. 2. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. p941-947 Web. 8 March. 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?prodId=GVRL&authCount=1.
Print.
Kugler, Mary. "President Lincoln and Marfan Syndrome." About.com. N.p., 4 Aug. 2009. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/marfansyndrome/a/092402.htm.
"Marfan Syndrome." MedlinePlus, 8 March. 2012. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/.
"Marfan Syndrome." The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. Vol. 2. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. p941-947 Web. 8 March. 2012. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?prodId=GVRL&authCount=1.