On March 3, a 20-year-old died at her home in the south-west of the United Kingdom while she slept. The young Briton had Gardner’s syndrome, a hereditary genetic pathology which is characterized by the occurrence of numerous tumors throughout the body.
- For the last two years before her death, Danielle Marie Lewis suffered from sleep apnea.
- Mutation of the Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene causes the onset of Gardner syndrome.
“Thursday morning at 8.10am I was asked to help Danielle wake up as she wouldn’t get out of bed, I walked into her room and knew she was gone. Her body was cold and her lips and her face was blue. I screamed for help, but I knew deep in my heart that she was gone. I have never suffered so much in my life.” These are the words used by Kristen Lewis to explain how she found her 20-year-old daughter, Danielle Marie Lewis, dead in the early hours of the morning at their home in Plymouth, England (UK).
A disease that is passed down from generation to generation
To finance his funeral, his family created a kitty on Go Fund Me website. In the description of the fundraiser, she indicated that Danielle Marie Lewis was affected by a genetic condition called “Gardner’s syndrome”. “My husband carries the gene, as does his mother, and he passed it on to our children. It is this gene that causes desmoid tumors to develop. They can be sporadic and appear in any part of the body. My husband’s mother had many surgeries all over her body to remove them. But she’s 77, she’s had a full life. But she’s lived with this disease.” said daily The Daily MirrorKristen Lewis.
A mutation of the gene in question
According to a study published in the magazine Journal of Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery in 2013, Gardner syndrome is a variant of familial adenomatous polyposis, namely an inherited genetic condition. This disease is manifested by the appearance of numerous polyps, namely benign tumors. “The major problem of this disease lies in the polyps which turn into adenocarcinomas from the fourth decade”, can we read in the works. Gardner’s syndrome is caused primarily by a mutation in the Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, according to a search published in 2016.
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