Bodyshock: The 80-Year-Old Children

First shown on Channel 4 in June 2006

In March 2003 doctors at Calcutta's Institute of Child Health made an astonishing and ground-breaking medical discovery. Quite by accident they had unearthed the only family in the world known to be struck by more than one case of progeria, a rare and incurable genetic disease. There are currently only 48 known cases worldwide, all of them isolated and seemingly random. But the doctors in Calcutta were faced with a mother who had given birth to five affected children.

Progeria is caused by a single tiny defect in a child's genetic code, but it has devastating and life-changing consequences. On average, a child born with this disease will be dead by the age of 13. As they see their bodies fast forward through the normal process of ageing they develop striking physical symptoms, often including premature baldness, heart disease, thinning bones and arthritis.

The 80-Year-Old Children follows Dr Chattopadhyay who diagnosed the Khan children in 2003 as he returns to Calcutta to treat them. This is the first time that the family have been filmed for a documentary. Ikramul, 17, and Rehanna, 19, the two eldest progeria children, see this film as their opportunity to tell the world their story before they die.

The 80-Year-Old Children describes the race to solve this scientific riddle and ultimately cure this devastating disease. It also offers a moving testament to human dignity under tragic circumstances.

Find out more about progeria and the organisations that provide support for people affected by it in our help and info section.