Twenty-three-year-old Fidelia Carrera Lopez, who suffers from the extremely rare premature aging con.., 1996-05-22 (photo)

Twenty-three-year-old Fidelia Carrera Lopez, who suffers from the extremely rare premature aging condition Cockayne's Syndrome, is cradled by her mother in their doctor's office, May 22. Fidelia, who displays the biological charateristics of a 90 year-old, is the eldest of six children in two families from the small village of Toxpalan in the highlands between Oaxaca and Puebla states who suffer from the condition which induces premature loss of sight and hearing, osteoporosis and senility. Toxpalan, which has 2,800 inhabitants, has had 11 recent cases of Cockayne's Syndrome which represent 8% of the 140 cases in worldwide medical history