The "Muffin Syndrome"

This evening, I got an urgent call from my mother. She frantically wanted to know if I had ever heard of the "Muffin Syndrome." She asked me if I had been tested because her friend's daughter was just told that she should be tested because she had freakishly long fingers. Apparently, I should measure my arms tonight! Furthermore, she informed me, people with the "Muffin Syndrome" rarely live past 45 years of age. She was obviously disturbed by this, wondering what it was and saying that she had never heard of this strange "Western" disease until today. Nobody she knew back in China or Taiwan had ever had a disease such as this!

Now, rewind this conversation back in your mind, and replay it. This time, imagine a middle aged chinese woman (Who does not speak English as her primary language) talking to her daughter's doctor. Now imagine, said chinese woman, talking to my mother and telling her of the diagnosis. (Again, my mother's native language is not English.) Now imagine my mother's urgent call to me. This simple conversation had turned into the strangest game of Telephone.

Please understand that I am in no way, shape or form mocking those with disorders of the connective tissues. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, I had my arms measured by my friend in Austin. We discovered that I am freakishly symmetrical in arm length and height. My friend's wife, however, has extremely long arms, though we came to the conclusion that she is just less evolved than most humans.

Edited to Add: At the request of one of my friends, I'd like to point you to The National Marfan Foundation. Here you can find out all sorts of information about this disease.