Woman must eat every 15 minutes or die

AN Austin, Texas, woman is living with an unusual condition.

She must eat every 15 minutes in order to stay alive.

Lizzie Velasquez, 21, has a rare condition which prevents her from gaining weight, even though she eats up to 60 small meals a day.

Velasquez weighs just four stone. The communications student downs between 5,000 and 8,000 calories daily, but can’t put on any weight.

“I weigh myself regularly and if I gain even one pound I get really excited,” said 5ft 2ins Velasquez.

Doctors once speculated she may suffer from De Barsy syndrome, but ruled it out when she showed no signs of learning difficulties, which is one of the symptoms.

Velasquez, who barely tips the scales above 60 pounds, was born four weeks premature, and doctors found there was minimal amniotic fluid protecting her in the womb. In fact, they’re not even sure how she survived.

Now, it’s believed she may have a form of Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome, which causes accelerated aging, fat loss from the face and body and tissue degeneration.

She’s now the subject of a genetic study, run by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in Dallas.

Her condition is so rare, there are only three known cases in the world.

“I eat small portions of crisps, sweets, chocolate, pizza, chicken, cake, doughnuts, ice cream, noodles and pop tarts all day long, so I get pretty upset when people accuse me of being anorexic.”

“They told us they had no idea how she could have survived,” said Lizzie’s mother Rita, 45.

“We had to buy dolls’ clothes from the toy store because baby clothes were too big.

“(The doctors) told us she would never be able to walk, talk or have a normal life,” said Rita, mother of two other children with Lizzie’s father Lupe, 44.

“I was normal but really, really tiny,” said Lizzie, who at the age of two still only weighed 15lb – the same as a five-month-old baby.

Velasquez began to eat plenty of fat, carbohydrates and sugar following doctors’ orders when she was aged six.

When it came time to go to high school, she was nervous but gradually made friends who accepted her appearance. “I started to think: “Well this is me, like it or lump it,” she said. “I was always the one at the top of the pyramid during cheerleading,” she laughed.

Lizzie’s case has fascinated doctors across the world. Now she is part of a genetic study run by Professor Abhimanyu Garg, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Professor Garg and his team now believe Lizzie may have a form of Neonatal Progeroid Syndrome (NPS). He said: “We cannot predict what will happen to Lizzie in the future as the medical community are yet to document older people with NPS.

“However, Lizzie is lucky to have healthy teeth, organs and bones so the outlook is good. We will continue to study her case and learn from her.”

Lizzie has ambitions to become a motivational speaker when she graduates.

“I want to make a positive difference in people’s lives and show them that you can get through most hardships if you are strong, positive and have a sense of humour,” she said.