Overweight Toddler in India For Hormone Treatment After Doctors Say His Obesity Was Genetic

An overweight toddler in India is set to go on a hormone treatment after doctors discovered his condition was genetic and not because of overeating.

Shrijit Hingankar, from Pune, in Maharashtra, central India, weighed 6lbs and 10oz at birth, but 18 months later, he has ballooned to more than three times that weight at three-and-a-half stone.

At first, the child was thought of as just fat, but further study showed that the boy has a hormone deficiency that causes him to always feel hungry.

Professor Sadaf Farooqi, a metabolism and medicine expert at the University of Cambridge, has tested Shrijit’s blood and found he suffers from a form of Leptin disease which she can cure with hormone injections. Leptin is the hormone that makes people feel full after eating.

Prof Farooqi and her team of 25 scientists at the Institute of Metabolic Science at the university have identified a specific gene which causes the disease. The researchers have found a treatment for the toddler’s condition which involves injecting specific hormones twice a day.

“This treatment is now used all over the world and is readily available in the UK and it’s effective. It replaces the hormone that your body is missing which controls appetite and it balances your body. This baby has this missing hormone and with our help I’m confident we’ll be able to help him,” Prof Farooqi said.

Shrijit’s parents, Amol Higankar, 29, and mum Rupali Hingakar, 25, first turned to Dr Shashank Subhash Shah, a director of the Laparo Obeso Centre, in Pune, for help. “Shrijit is continually gaining weight. He gains at least one kilogram every month, which is not good. He is mentally very strong and is able to walk with the help of a special walker we have created for him because he couldn’t fit into a regular walker, but his weight stops him from doing several other activities,” he said.

“Leptin deficiency does not have a cure in India. He needs to be given hormone shots daily to control his problem. But this injection is not available for commercial use anywhere in the world. It is only available for free on a trial basis in the UK and USA,” Dr Shah said, who then contacted Prof Farooqi to help treat Shrijit.

Mr Higankar said that Shrijit often suffers from breathlessness, chest infections, pneumonia, and high blood pressure. “Doctors have clearly said that if he is not treated then his life is in danger. He needs immediate attention,” he said.

“Our only hope is in the UK as we have been told that he can only be treated there. I am really tense for my son. His life is dependent on their approval. An injection available only in the UK can cure him and save his life. I will be indebted to the UK for life if we could go there for his treatment,” Mrs Higankar said.

Prof Farooqi is confident she will be able to help the family in the next couple of months. They are now preparing the family for the trip to UK and getting everything in order.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk