Proteus syndrome, also known as Wiedemann syndrome (named after the German paediatrician Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann), is a congenital disorder that causes skin overgrowth and atypical bone development, often accompanied by tumors over half the body.
Proteus syndrome is highly variable, and is named after the Greek sea-god Proteus, who could change his shape.
The condition appears to have been first described in the American medical literature by Drs. Samia Temtamy and John Rogers in 1976 Dr. Michael Cohen described it in 1979, only a few more than 200 cases have been confirmed worldwide, with estimates that about 120 people are currently alive with the condition. As attenuated forms of the disease may exist, there could be many people with Proteus syndrome who remain undiagnosed. Those most readily diagnosed are also the most severely disfigured.
Read more about Proteus Syndrome: Presentation, Genetics, Treatment, Classification, Notable Cases
Famous quotes containing the words proteus and/or syndrome:
“I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“Women are taught that their main goal in life is to serve others—first men, and later, children. This prescription leads to enormous problems, for it is supposed to be carried out as if women did not have needs of their own, as if one could serve others without simultaneously attending to one’s own interests and desires. Carried to its “perfection,” it produces the martyr syndrome or the smothering wife and mother.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)