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Suffering from a rare disease, this young woman is unable to feed herself in the normal way

Recently, the case of a young British woman recalled the existence of a particularly complex rare disease. This is Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), preventing this patient from feeding herself due to the onset of nausea and severe pain.

Unable to feed on its own

On his online platform, French anthropologist Claude Hamonet talks about Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. According to him, this is the clinical expression of connective tissue damage , representing approximately 80% of the constituents of the human body. The doctor also speaks of a disease of genetic origin attacking especially the production of collagen. Moreover, this syndrome is characterized by a richness of its symptoms due to the diffuse nature of the lesions.

In an article published on November 26, 2019, the Daily Mail describes the case of Gemma Levy, a 30-year-old Londoner. The fact is that the latter is connected 22 hours a day to a tube food! Indeed, the patient is unable to feed herself even though a simple sip of water is enough to cause her nausea and severe pain.

Suffering from a rare disease, this young woman is unable to feed herself in the normal way

A difficult disease to diagnose

In her testimonial, Gemma Levy goes over all the good things she won't be able to eat anymore. However, the feeling ofspending one's life in the hospital among doctors and lying on the sofa of her house is logically more painful. The person concerned also deplored the time it took before the diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome appeared. Indeed, the very first symptoms appeared at the age of 13!

First affected by recurring joint problems , unusual extensibility of the skin appeared. However, it wasn't until Gemma's stomach problems worsened dramatically a few months ago that the condition was finally identified. The fact is that there are several Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, more precisely classified into six types . Each case is very specific and the syndromes are varied and more or less pronounced, so much so that doctors often find themselves at a loss.

In 2017, we discussed the case of Sara Geurts, a "famous" patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. This young woman at the time aged 26 seemed twice that . The woman became known for sending photos of herself to Love Your Lines, a Tumblr page encouraging women to embrace their imperfect bodies.

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