Methuselah syndrome

Methuselah syndrome

MEDIA & MEDICINE

A “condition” defined by various fiction writers or bloggers as one characterised by:

(1) Premature ageing–as occurred in JF Sebastian, a character in the film Blade Runner (1982), presumably corresponding to progeria (image, left).

Reference http://bladerunner.wikia.com/wiki/J.F._Sebastian

(2) Reverse ageing–as occurred in Rachel Weintraub, in Dan Simmons Hugo award-winning sci-fi classic Hyperion.

Reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(Simmons_novel)  

(3) The desire of a person to time-travel back to a happier past rather than face their current harsh reality

Reference http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2013/10/116_144361.html

For the record, the biblical Methuselah made a cameo appearance in Genesis 5: 21-27, and we’re told that he was Enoch’s son, Lamech’s father, Noah’s grandfather, and Adam’s seventh direct descendant and lived for 960 years. Obviously, none of these are real syndromes, nor are they part of the working medical parlance.