Liam has a rare genetic condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, or muscle enlargement. The fact that Liam was adopted by a physician assistant’s family hundreds of miles from his birthplace — a stable family with the knowledge and means to give him all the food, nurturing, horseplay and love he needs to thrive — might be the most miraculous part of his story. Larson, the first physician to suspect Liam had myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, said he was amazed by the toddler’s strength. An ultrasound performed on Liam when he was 14 months old revealed he had 40 percent more muscle than average, Dana Hoekstra said. Dana Hoekstra said she was prepared to allow Liam to be part of the Johns Hopkins study if it could have led to new treatments for muscular dystrophy patients. read more

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Liam has a rare genetic condition called myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, or muscle enlargement. Liam can run like the wind, has the agility of a cat, lifts pieces of furniture that most children his age couldn’t push across a slick floor and eats like there is no tomorrow _ without gaining weight. The fact that Liam was adopted by a physician assistant’s family hundreds of miles from his birthplace _ a stable family with the knowledge and means to give him all the food, nurturing, horseplay and love he needs to thrive _ might be the most miraculous part of his story. In 1997, researchers at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore determined that Belgian Blue cattle, an unusually muscular breed, had mutations in the gene that produces myostatin. In Liam’s case, the myostatin his body produces is rejected by muscle cells. read more

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