Rare hormonal condition keeps 41-year-old looking forever young

“For hormonal deficiency, it depends on how many hormonal axes are affected and whether it is a complete or partial one. Patients with a single affected hormonal axis can go undiscovered for quite a long time… You can have the more drastic ones where the symptoms present much earlier. Not only do (these patients) lack the sexual hormone and cannot have puberty, they also lack the steroid hormone cortisol, which is important for survival,” he added.

Cortisol, or the stress hormone, is responsible for maintaining constant blood pressure and blood glucose levels, regulating immune function and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, and it dictates the fight-or-flight response. The lack of testosterone can be associated with a younger-looking appearance.

Cheong was diagnosed only at the age of 21. He still looked like a boy in his mid-teens then.

“That year, I realised I was getting fatter. I also realised I was heat intolerant… The first thing I did was to see an endocrinologist, and I was given a blood test. That was when I found out that I had hypothyroidism. I was also told if I continued being in this state (without treatment), I would have died,” he said.

Cheong added that scans showed that his condition was caused by a tumour near his hypothalamus. In 2005, he had both the tumour and his hypothalamus removed, he told ST.

Once the hypothalamus is damaged or removed, dysfunctions can manifest in various areas. These include body temperature, growth, weight gain, emotional control, sleep cycle, and a deficiency of antidiuretic hormone (ADH), resulting in frequent urination and thirst.

“I had trouble sleeping over the next 10 years until 2015 when I was given medication to deal with my sleeplessness,” Cheong said.

Currently, he is still on a battery of medication, including an ADH, to help him manage the symptoms caused by the condition.

While most people in their 40s try to look younger, Cheong tries his best to look much older. He said one trick was to try to have a lot of facial hair. He told ST that he managed to grow a goatee once.

“When I look back at my 20s and my 30s, I looked young then,” he said.

“Whenever I tell doctors that I have panhypopituitarism, they, especially the women, wish they had it too,” he added, laughing.

And whenever he is in public places such as a mall or hawker centre, older women call him “ah boy”.

“I guess at my age now, it is nice to be called ‘ah boy’,” Cheong said.

Judith Tan

The Straits Times

Asia News Network