Fibrodysplasia Research Paper

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva which is sometimes referred to FOP is a very rare genetic disorder in which bones grow uncontrollably to the point of causing disability (Fibrous Dysplasia). As one of the rarest and most disabling diseases, FOP causes bone to form in and over muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues (What is FOP). Bridges of this extra bone develops across joints which causes immobility (What is FOP). These bridges also create a second skeleton that imprisons the body in bone.

So far, there are no other known examples in the history of medicine of one normal organ system turning into another (What is FOP). This rare genetic disorder affects only one in two million people across the world (Demographics

Jeannie Peeper was born in 1958 (The Girl Who Turned to Bone). Everything about Jeannie was normal. The only difference between Jeannie and another baby girl would be her toes. Her big toes were short and crooked (TGWTB). Doctors did not seem to concerned with this. The doctors who took care of Jeannie fitted her toes with toe braces and sent her on her way home (TGWTB). This was her first sign of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. Two months later, a bulbous swelling appeared on the back of her small, baby head (TGWTB) Her parents hadn’t a clue where if had come from for she had not hit her head on the side of her crib and she did not have an infected scratch (TGWTB). After a few days however, the swelling suddenly vanished (TGWTB). Another sign that Jeannie had FOP was when her mother noticed something. Her mother noticed that she couldn’t open her mouth as wide as her brothers and sisters (TGWTB). This scare caused Jeannie’s mother to take her to several different doctors. When Jeannie was four years old, she was diagnosed with Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva by the Mayo Clinic (TGWTB). Because this is one of the rarest diseases in the world, this name didn’t really mean anything to Jeannie’s mom. Having this disorder would cause Jeannie to grow a extra skeleton outside of her own skeleton. This would cause Peeper to become immobile and need life long care and in some cases an early death. The doctors at the Mayo clinic didn’t tell the Peepers this. The only thing they told them was that Jeannie wouldn’t live long (TGWTB). As it turns out, Jeannie did live long. She did live to be a teenager despite what the doctors at the Mayo clinic told the Peepers. In 1988, Jeannie Peeper founded “The International Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Association” in Oviedo Florida despite Jeannie’s condition being far worse than other cases.(TGWTB). The only free