FREE ESSAY ON WERNER SYNDROME

WERNER SYNDROME

Psychology 261
Instructor: Ms Anne Thomas, M.A.
October 5, 2000
Page 1
Imagine in your early adolescents being diagnosed with a disease that increases your
aging. Doctors tell you that there is no known cure and that you will die by the age of
fifty. There is a disease that increases your aging, that disease is known as Werner
Syndrome. A medical student named Carl Wilhelm Otto Werner (1879-1936) first diagnosed
this syndrome in 1905.
The University of Kiel invited Werner , to examine four siblings in their early late 30"s
with similar symptoms. He reported that they had cataracts, premature graying, and loss
of hair. Thirty years later, Oppenheimer and Kugel describe a similar case of what they
termed "Werner Syndrome"(Harvard, pg.1 of 1). 
Werner Syndrome is an inherited disease in which patients develop symptoms post puppetry
that resumes in rapid aging (Oppenheimer and Kugle 1 of 2). (WS) is a recessive disease
that had been found in DNA.
The gene for Werner Syndrome is found in the small region in chromosome 8.
The genetic disease is recessive meaning that a child must inherit a defective copy from
each parent to develop Werner. (Harvard 1of 3) One in out of every 200 people may carry a
single copy of the defective gene. 
Since the finding of Werner syndrome gene in 1995, up to 10 mutation have been reported.
Most people that are diagnosed with Werner Syndrome are of Japanese decent. Although this
syndrome is more common in Japan, Werner Syndrome strikes about three in every 1 million
people worldwide (SIRS Source 2of 3).
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Cataracts, Osteoporosis, Heart Disease, Diabetes, and other diseases are some of the many
ills that plague patients with Werner Syndrome. These diseases do not strike in the
seventh or eight decade of life it strikes in the third. (SIRS Source 3of 3). Victims of
Werner Syndrome appear to be normal during their teens, but they began to show dramatic
differences from there contemporaries in their 20's (SIRS Source 2 of 3)
Although there is no known cure for WS, recent studies show that the gene 
linked to Werner Syndrome has been cloned. Dwane Hewite states "That it appears to be a
DNA Helices. A DNA Helices are known to be involved in the repair and the replication and
expression of genetic material"(pg. 1of 2. The cloning of the Werner Syndrome gene is
important to scientist, because a cure could be found in the process of studying this
gene. Also in the future scientist can find other cures for disease, like cancers and
heart disease and decrease the aging process. Some studies show that gene therapy can
also contribute to slowing the process of Werner Syndrome. According to Schellenbrg " The
problem is that people with Werner Syndrome have so many different organs that a messed
up, that means that you would have to give gene theory to the entire body, and that would
be impossible to do"(1of 2).
The reason why studying Werner Syndrome is so important because scientist can get at the
underlining mechanism of what causes Werner Syndrome .Schellenberg states, "When you see
something go wrong then you've got a handle on when things go right.
RESOURCE PAGE
-  Hewitt, Duane Premature Aging gene Cloned. Science :272:199 December 10, 1996
www.lucifer@.com
-  Lombard, D.B and Guarantee , L. (1996). Cloning the gene for Werner syndrome: a
disease with many symptoms of premature aging. TGI 12, 283-236.
-  Los Angeles Times(Los Angeles California) Copyright, April 12, 1996 pp.A1+
-  SIRS Knowledge Source Copyright 2000 SIRS Mandarin , Inc. webmaster@sirs.com