It has long been speculated on this thread that FLEK suffered from Marfan Syndrome. It seems unlikely to me that he really did have the disease because it seems like this is something people would talk about and because it is an autosomal dominant disease, it would be such a strong lead in discovering her family (many family members would also have it). It is a rare disease affecting about 1 in 10,000 people so about 200,000 people in the U.S. have it. So that would really narrow down the search for her family. From my research, it sounds like many people have no idea they have it and there have been several cases of high profile athletes who had no idea until they had a sudden heart attack. So FLEK and he family may not have even known.
However, I thought I would summarize some of the research I did on Marfans and FLEK
1) FLEK had unusually long fingers or Arachnodactyly (see photos of FLEK holding the dreamcatcher in the Texas Business Womans meeting). This is one of the key features of Marfans.
2) Shes was tall. Her Idaho ID card says she is 56 which isnt all that tall, her Texas license says she is 510 and her passport application says she is 511. In the livechat interview they say that her medical records say she is 58. She does look tall in her photos, definitely more than 56. I did find one medical diagnostic that recommended that all women over 510 be screened for Marfan (but it also recommended that for all men over 60 be screened and that does not seem all that tall for a man to me).
3) FLEK had breast implants (ST article). Because she was linked to being a stripper it is assumed she did this to increase her tips. However, one of the symptoms of Marfans that may be present is either an indented or protruding breast bone. It is common for sufferers to have corrective surgery for health and/or purely cosmetic reasons.
4) Heart problems. This one confuses me. If you look at the time line/facts that has been put on here you see the line Widely speculated in the WS community that she might have Marfan syndrome. Correlates with genetic marker for heart disease, height, large hand size and mental health issues. I think the second sentence is saying that Marfans correlates with a genetic marker for heart disease. I dont think there is any evidence that FLEK was tested for or was ever reported to have heart disease. Someone please correct me if I am wrong but after this excellent timeline was put together, I started seeing people talk about how FLEK had a genetic heart disease marker and I dont think there is any evidence for that.
5) It has been stated that FLEK had a dental plate (post #1692 but no reference to where they heard it. I searched but couldnt find it anywhere but I might have missed it) and in the photo with her in the hat holding the baby her teeth look gaped and it has been speculated that she had her teeth capped or wore veneers (post #886 and #887 and more recently). Many people with Marfan syndrome have narrow jaws and high, arched palates, which can create dental and orthodontic problems.
6) Most people with Marfans suffer from some ocular problems. Do we know if she wore glasses or contact lenses? I have never heard this mentioned or seen a photo of her wearing glasses. Someone brought up that her Texas drivers license had a restriction on it which may mean she did have vision problems
7) Fertility problems (ST article). FLEK had at least one miscarriage and was only able to conceive her child via IVF. There is no link between Marfans and infertility. However, a woman with Marfans would be at high risk for having a heart attack during delivery and the entire pregnancy would be treated as high risk. But there is nothing medically to link her miscarriages to possibly having Marfans.
8) FLEK used IVF to have her child. If conceived naturally, there would be a 50% chance of that child also having Marfans. It is now possible to use IVF to select embryos that do not have the gene for Marfans and selectively implant those embryos. In Texas, and in with a reportedly very Christian family, this practice probably would have been very frowned upon. It seems unlikely that they would have opted for this, but could explain why no one is saying that she has the disease.
9) If she had the disease, there is a 50% chance that her daughter also had the disease. This could be the only reason for keeping quiet about her having this disease that I can think of. The R family wants to protect the privacy of the child.
10) Marfans would be a strong link to her family and I would think because this is a missing persons case and there is no real crime involved other than using a fake SSN there is no reason for them to withhold information that would be such an identifier.
11) There is a National Marfan Syndrome Clinical Database. This would contain protected patient information and would not be accessible. However, posting on the National Marfan Foundation might be a good way to see if anyone has a missing family member that could be FLEK.
Sorry for the length, but a lot of connect thoughts
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