Strange disease makes girls unable to stop eating

Every minute of waking up during the day, 14-year-old Hannah Wilkinson (USA) must fill her fierce hunger.

"Even when she just finished eating, I set up the table and I would look at me pleading," Mom, I'm hungry, "said Tonya Wilkinson, mother of Hannah Wilkinson.

Tonya Wilkinson and his daughter live in Phoenix, Arizona. In order to prevent girls, this mother locked all kitchens, refrigerators and food storage areas. " We have a dog, I don't even think to hide its food. In my mind, I never appeared in this thought," Tonya said. 'But I caught her eating dog food.'

Strange disease caused little girl Hannah Wilkinson to stop eating.At 14, she weighed nearly 160kg.(Photo: abcnews)

Hannah Wilkinson has a rare disease called Prader-Willi syndrome , at a rate of 1 / 15,000 people. This syndrome causes some physical, mental and behavioral problems. The most prominent is an insatiable appetite , accompanied by obesity. This 14-year-old girl weighed nearly 160kg.

"The hypothalamus, part of the brain that controls hunger, for those with Prader-Willi syndrome , those signals are cut off. So they don't know they're not hungry," said Tonya.

For Tonya this means being cautious. She remembered once while cleaning the kitchen after dinner and her daughter stuffed half a pot of meat into her mouth."I turned around and she choked. It didn't chew. It swallowed. Many cases of Prader-Willi patients unfortunately died of suffocation , " said depressed Tonya Wilkinson.

Like Hannah Wilkinson, 12-year-old Alexis Shapiro in Cibolo, Texas also has a strong desire to eat. In 2011, the 9-year-old Alexis Shapiro had surgery to remove a brain tumor and when she woke up she began to eat relentlessly.

Before leaving the hospital, she increased 8kg. When I get home, things get worse. Alexis Shapiro gradually increased by 23kg and 45kg. At 12 years old, she weighed 92kg. It turned out that the surgery changed a part of her brain, causing the appetite phenomenon like the case of Hannah Wilkinson.

Dr. Robert Lustig is considering cases like Alexis Shapiro. According to him, the problem lies in the hypothalamus, part of the brain controls body temperature and is quite hungry . When this part has problems it releases insulin causing an insatiable appetite. Insulin control is a solution to fight obesity .

Her parents Alexis Shapiro gave her surgery. After the operation, she returned to normal, eating actively and reducing more than 22kg.

Hannah Wilkinson suffers from Prader-Willi syndrome, a chromosome deficiency so she is always hungry.People with this syndrome cannot operate like normal obese patients.(Photo: acbnews)

However, in the case of Hannah Wilkinson and Prader-Willi patients, the types of surgery are not a solution because they cannot do anything to prevent appetite. Mrs. Tonya Wilkinson now only hopes for her daughter to go to a facility with a supervisor and meal plan, but she is also worried because she is not covered by the insurance company.

"Insurance companies consider it a customer fault. They see their greed and laziness," said Dr. Robert Lustig. Prader-Willi syndrome is evidence that this view is not true, but sometimes insurance companies still beat the obesity and Prader-Willi as one.

"It's a matter of life or death," said Tonya Wilkinson. "And if I don't get help, I'll lose her."