A Mexican mother whose 10-month-old son weighs the same as a nine-year-old has spoken out about his mystery condition.
Isabel Pantoja, 24, from the Pacific coast state of Colima, said at first she assumed the baby Luis’s growth was down to the fact that ‘I had good breast milk’ but now she is desperately worried for her son.
She also revealed the family take it in turns to push the boy to a local hospital where doctors are baffled by his condition.
Luis Gonzales, a 10-month-old baby from Mexico, weighs as much as a nine-year-old and doctors are at a loss to understand why
Mother Isabel Pantoja, 24, said she initially thought his rapid growth – from weighing 3.5kg (8lbs) at birth to 10kg (11lbs) aged two months – was because ‘I had good breast milk’
Now she and husband Mario have to push Luis for daily blood tests at a nearby hospital where doctors believe he may be suffering from Prader-Willi Syndrome
While most Prader-Willi sufferers constantly bed for food, Luis does not, leading to an alternative theory that he is suffering from a hormone imbalance
One of the main hypotheses is that the boy could have a disease called Prader-Willi Syndrome, a genetic condition in which children have an insatiable appetite and weak muscle tone.
However, Luis does not eat voraciously or spend the day demanding food.
Medics are considering giving him with hormone treatment that can cost $555 per shot, despite his father earning just $200 per month.
At birth Luis weighed 3.5kg (8lbs), about the same as his brother Mario, who is almost three but is now dwarfed by his baby brother.
At two months of age, Luis weighed 10kg (22lbs). Over the next eight months he gained a staggering 18kg (40lbs).
His parents have since created a Facebook page and opened a bank account for people to donate money for Luis Manuel’s medical care.
They take turns pushing him to the hospital in a decrepit stroller for daily blood tests.
‘It hurts to watch the nurses search among the rolls of fat on his arms for a vein,’ said father Mario Gonzales.
Father Mario said it is becoming difficult to lift or hold his son because of his weight
If medics are right and Luis is suffering a hormone imbalance, they may have to pay for shots costing $555 each – despite only earning $200 per month
Family members have to take it in turns pushing him to the hospital, and say the stroller once collapsed beneath him
Luis’s weight means he cannot crawl or walk, and even struggles to sit upright
Pantoja caresses her son as she recounts that when he was a little more than a month old, the boy had to wear clothes meant for two- or three-year-olds.
Now he has to go to the hospital as many as four times a week for tests. One day the stroller simply collapsed under his weight.
The excess weight means he cannot walk or even crawl and can only sit upright.
Pantoja said he is becoming exhausted from carrying him so much, despite being a well-built man who works at a juice plant.
But there is hope. Silvia Orozco, a surgeon who specializes in nutrition, contacted the family and examined the boy.
She concluded that his life might be in danger, but is awaiting the results of tissue sample analyses in the United States.
Orozco said that, rather than Prader-Willi Syndrome, his problem may be this: while pregnant with Luis Manuel, his mother’s diet lacked certain nutrients and this caused glands that manage his metabolism to underperform.
If that turns out to be the case, the prognosis is good and would involve hormone shots.