早老症又称儿童早老症、早衰综合征、早老矮小病，是过早地衰老，而结束了生命的过程的疾病。
它们的症状也称早老症，意味着它们比一般的小白鼠衰老的更快。
They had a condition called progeria, meaning that they aged much more rapidly than normal mice.
不过，4种早老性痴呆症基因的发现，使事情有了峰回路转。这4种基因导致了这种最常见的疾病。
But there may be hope in the discovery of four new genes that contribute to the most common form of the disease.
其中140多人患上了早老性痴呆症。
应用推荐