Pakistan's 'solar kids' turn to normal life after treatment

Islamabad - Children look normal at night with no adverse symptoms

'Solar kids', the brothers who remained active during day but lapsed into vegetative state, unable to move or walk once the sun goes down, have turned to normal life after being treated at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).
Doctors said Abdul Rasheed, 9, Shoaib Ahmed, 13, and one-year-old Mohammed Ilyas had been suffering from a peculiar disease, which made them almost paralysed at night time, have successfully been treated, reported a private TV channel on Saturday.
The children were looking normal again at night time with no adverse symptoms. Medicines, given to children, have proved to be efficacious.
Children's father, Mohammed Hashim, said he was joyous to see his children healthy and normal.
The three children are residents of Mian Kundi, a village about 15km from Quetta. They were brought to Pims earlier where doctors were mystified with the condition. The children remained active in the day full of energy but once the sun set their bodies were unable to function normally and they could not move or talk or eat.
Known as the 'solar kids' in their village the children got back to normal life and started moving around once the sun rises everyday.
The brothers were admitted to Pims in Islamabad for tests and possible treatment.
"It is a rare medical condition we have never encountered before and we investigating it," Pims Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said.
A nine-member board was formed to conduct tests while blood samples and test reports have already been sent to 13 international collaborators, including Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins Medical Institute in the US and Guys Hospital in London.
According to the early diagnoses, the three may be suffering from a congenital disease called Masthenia Syndrome which is a rare illness with only 600 cases reported all over the world so far.
"From what we know theirs is the first reported case of such an illness in Pakistan and we are trying to solve this condition with the help of medical science," he said.
"Their bodies are clearly synced to the movement of the sun."
Their father Hashim, who works as security guard at the IT University in Quetta, told doctors his sons were born with the condition.
"Their bodies appeared to be dependent on sunlight from birth. When villagers heard about them, they were amazed, and they were christened 'solar kids'," Hashim told a television channel.
Interestingly, Hashim, who married to his first cousin, has three more children, two boys and a girl, who are normal.
"They are like normal children and two of them go to study at the local madrassa everyday. The sun rays appear to give them energy and life. But as soon as the sun starts setting in their strength and energy appears to vanish and their bodies are paralysed," he said about his affected children.
The children attend classes at the seminary and also play cricket with their siblings and friends.
They also tend to help out their father with his part-time livestock farming, tending to the sheep and goats.
Dr Akram said that his team of medical experts is working with a team of 27 Pakistani and 13 international doctors to treat the three brothers.

> The three may be suffering from a rare congenital disease Masthenia Syndrome with only 600 cases reported all over the world so far.
> Blood samples and test reports have been sent to John Hopkins Medical Institute in the US and Guys Hospital in London.
> Their three other siblings, two brothers and a sister, live a normal life.
> One-year-old Ilyas is in the village with his mother. A team of experts is looking after the toddler.
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> Caucasus provinces have been plagued by violence Ud magna faciliquat, si Minciduis adion hendiat ionsed
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• Pakistan