Growing old takes its toll on everyone's body, but at just 20 months old a Stevensville boy is already dealing with the side effects of aging that are more typical of someone eight times older.

Spend an afternoon at the playground with Cameron Howard and you will see he acts like most boys his age.

"He's a pretty happy-go-lucky kid, he really is. He's always laughing," Jason Howard says of his son.

"He pretty much behaves just like any other kid his age; cognitively and emotionally he develops just like any kid his age. So it's just the physical things that are different," his mom, Stephanie, adds.

The couple first noticed Cameron was different from other kids when he was just a month old. He was considerably smaller than other babies his same age.

"From there we tried to figure out what was causing the poor weight gain. We ended up going to three different hospitals," Stephanie recalls.

After six months, doctors finally diagnosed little Cameron with Progeria.

It is an extremely rare gene mutation which causes tight skin, poor weight gain, stiff joints, and other conditions commonly associated with aging.

"They also get arthritis, as well as some of the other aging things, and they predominantly pass away from heart disease," says Stephanie. She tells us, on average, a child with Progeria lives to 13.

Progeria affects only 12 other children in the United States.

It may seem like a grim diagnosis to many parents, but once Stephanie and Jason found out what they were dealing with they became proactive.

"It was a relief to get the diagnosis, and just to finally have that part of it over with and to know how to deal with it and kind of move forward," Stephanie tells us.

The Howards are involved with the Progeria Research Foundation, and recently opened their own chapter. They say the work the foundation is doing gives them hope for Cameron's future.

"To get from being founded to finding the gene to having a drug trial in less than ten years is amazing. So we are very hopeful that the research foundation is going to be able to find a cure," Stephanie says.

Clinical drug trials, with a drug used by terminally ill cancer patients, are underway right now.

The Howards hope this drug will prolong the life of the little boy they say has changed their outlook on life.

"I think it kind of refocuses you to what's really important. The main thing that I think we’re looking for is to make sure he's happy, and prolong his life, and to keep the quality of life as high as possible for as long as possible," Jason says.

The Howard family is planning a 5-K benefit run/walk next fall, in St. Joseph, Michigan.

For more information on how you can get involved with the run, learn more about Progeria, or see Cameron's website click on the Big Red Bar.