Apr 2, 2009 10:44 am US/Eastern
Toddler With Rare Condition Has Super Strength
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A three-year-old Michigan boy is super-strong. Liam Hoekstra can move furniture, hold five-pound weights, and do sit-ups with ease.
CBS
A three-year-old Michigan boy is super-strong. He can move furniture, hold five-pound weights, and do sit-ups with ease.
Liam Hoekstra likely has a condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, which means his body has very little fat and enlarged muscle fibers that make him exceptionally strong, Early Show Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said Thursday.
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As a toddler, Hoekstra had very defined muscles. Today, he doesn't look so different from any other normal child his age. He's actually a bit smaller, but much stronger, Ashton points out.
It was first believed that since the heart is a muscle, it could be affected by this condition. But we know now that's not the case, she says.
Because of his fast metabolism, Hoekstra needs to eats constantly, as many as six meals a day to avoid a caloric deficit.
Because Hoekstra is so strong -- he falls, for instance, without getting hurt – he is not learning the appropriate fear judgment of a child testing his or her limits.
Scientists hope to figure out how to mimic Hoekstra's condition to help treat people suffering from muscle-wasting diseases such as cancer, heart failure and HIV.
The first human case of myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy was documented in 2000 in a German boy, the Early Show reported.
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