5/20    Are you tall and skinny and have long fingers? You may be at risk
        for having the Marfan Syndrome and may develop problems that
        cause you to age and die prematurely. Check out the symptoms
        to see if you have the Marfan Syndrome.
        \_ Why are you so worried about Marfan's all of a sudden? why not
           post a similar entry about other disease entities?
           \_ Because I think I have it though I haven't seen a doctor yet.
              I fit in the profile, AND I have very loose joints. In fact
              I've dislocated both of my shoulders and my joints hurt
              a lot especially my mouse finger and emacs pinkies. I am
              afraid of finding out that I actually do have Marfan, or
              maybe I'm just over-reacting, and in fact based on my
              past experience with the medical community and from what I've
              heard, I think they'll probably just ignore me and think that
              I'm just over-reacting. So, until I have serious problems,
              I think I'll just ignore my symptoms. BTW, erikred, what
              exactly is the connective tissue disorder?        -op
              \_ OP, please email me. I would happy to discuss this further.
                 --erikred
        \_ I was clinically diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome back in '84.
           Recent genetic testing (and a refinement of the clinical
           criteria needed to make a clinical diagnosis) reveals that I do not,
           in fact, have Marfan Syndrome. I may have some sort of connective
           tissue disorder, but it's not Marfan Syndrome. My point? Get a
           genetic test. --erikred
                \_ How tall are you, if you don't mind me asking? -pp
                   \_ Seven feet.